Curfews & Restrictions
Since March of last year, we have gone through so many versions of COVID-related lockdowns and curfews. The past three months have been the worst. A few weeks ago, we had some weeks where the lockdown started on Saturday afternoons and ended on Wednesday mornings—that is half of each week where we couldn’t even leave our homes! The days that we were allowed to move had curfews between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.
The restrictions were eased a little following those days, but this time, for eight weeks, the only days that were dubbed as “no movement days” were Sundays! Initially, that meant zero church services on Sundays, but we thank God for someone who addressed the prime minister on behalf of the church. As a result, we received some leniency, allowing a maximum of 20 of us to meet each Sunday. Our ministry has not been unscathed due to the pandemic. I am sure that many of you can empathize.
Soul Winning Outside Our Community
After a few weeks of “dry spells” while church-wide soul winning, we decided to go soul winning in some communities outside of where we were accustomed to going. The change of environment proved quite refreshing! The Lord led us to folks who were very receptive to us and to the Gospel!
Hurricane Season
We are pretty much at the end of hurricane season and are very thankful that we didn’t have any direct encounter with any of the four hurricanes/tropical storms that narrowly passed us. Except for rains, winds, power and internet outages, the impact was not too significant on our side of the island.
Building Project
We want to thank each of you who have helped with our building project. I am happy to announce that since our last prayer letter, we have put the roof on! That was a major undertaking! While the entire project is still not completed, we are encouraged with the progress. We still need another $5,000 to complete this phase. If you would be interested in helping us further with this project, please let me know.
Parental Watershed Moment
As parents, we have come to a watershed moment in recent days. Our firstborn left home for college. For almost two decades, he has been an intricate part of our daily lives, but now our lives are different. We have been planning for this since he was a toddler, but I am afraid that the reality is harder than we had imagined.
Birthdays
Three of our children recently celebrated birthdays just a few days apart. Many of you have encouraged them with birthday greetings and cards. Thank you very much! You blessed us greatly!
Prayer Needs
- The church’s health through the lockdowns and curfews
- A church bus/van
- Laborers and finances to complete the current phase of the building project
The Oral Anderson Family
