February 2020 Newsletter

God Continues to Amaze

February found Mary and I once again standing amazed at how God provides when you trust, obey and keep walking by faith. Our trip to Puerto Rico confirmed to us that it is the ideal location to base Sea Hope. It is in the center of the Caribbean Island chain and keeps us “on the mission field” as well as saves fuel instead of returning to the mainland every trip. Puerto Rico is a US territory with big box stores we are familiar with such as Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, etc. to support purchasing provisions.

Marinas

There are two marinas that can handle a vessel the size of Sea Hope. The marina we favor is close to the San Juan airport and to Calvary Baptist Tabernacle, and it has the better security. The only question is space availability when SEA HOPE arrives, hopefully later this year. Please help us pray for the Lord’s leading.

Puerto Rican Pastor

One of the highlights of our visit to the island was spending 3 days at Iglesia Bautista Berea pastored by David Arroyo. This congregation lived through Hurricane Maria, and when we told them one of our missions is Disaster Relief, they truly understood the impact Sea Hope can have. I am happy to report this church took us on for monthly support, and they are looking for ways to get involved with us once we arrive. Since they know what it is like to live through the aftermath of a major storm, they want to help others who have also been devastated.

Ship Update

Some amazing people have stepped forward to help get SEA HOPE “ready to sail.” The second weekend of January we had 24 people from 6 different churches working on the boat. We had never been to or even heard of one of the churches, but they had heard of us, and just wanted to get involved. Folks are coming from as far as Minnesota to work. The talents and skills God has brought to the boat are simply beyond belief. He knew exactly what we needed and supplied it. The quality of work that is going into this project is exceedingly beyond anything I could have imagined or hoped for.

Exceeding Abundantly Above All That We Ask or Think

Pastor Barton of Anchor Baptist Church and head of Anchor Baptist Missions International told me when we met that Sea Hope was a piece of a large puzzle that was coming together to reap the harvest in the Caribbean. We recently held a meeting where all the stakeholders in the puzzle met for the first time. Pastor Barton calls this the Joint Missionary Task Force. This is a coordinated ministry effort involving Anchor Disaster Network, Operation Renewed Hope, Anchor Baptist Missions, Mission Air Care, Reaching Our Caribbean Ministry, Calvary Baptist Tabernacle Ministries, and Sea Hope. Under Calvary Baptist Tabernacle Ministries are 2 Bible colleges and a network of national pastors. The initial effort of the JMTF is called Operation Caribbean Hope where the focus is on planting new churches through evangelistic tent meetings using the medical outreach to help bring people in, and when a natural disaster occurs, responding to the disaster. Each ministry is contributing its expertise for the cause of Christ. The sum of the parts of this effort is far stronger than the individual parts and will allow us to serve and reach more people more effectively. This is a huge door that has been opened. To God be the glory.

Download Printable Copy