“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1-2) I pray you are doing well when you receive this prayer letter. My family and I are doing well, and we greatly appreciate everything you continue to do for us during these difficult times in which we are living.
We are thankful that we have been able to conduct our church services since May 31. Even though many families have not returned to church yet, they have been watching our services faithfully through the Internet. We’ve been blessed to have first- time visitors every week since reopening. Souls have been saved and baptized, and two (2) families have been added to the church.
Recently, I led a man by the name of Ruben to Christ on his deathbed. As soon as he passed away, his wife asked me to perform the funeral. As I preached the message in the funeral, I mentioned that I was a witness of Ruben’s salvation. I immediately shared with the family what I had shared with Ruben and prayed the sinner’s prayer. I invited the family to attend church the next day, and Ruben’s brother Nelson came to church. After the service I invited him into my office, where he told me that he wanted to be saved like his brother was. I shared with him the Gospel, and Nelson was very excited and thrilled to get saved. He also mentioned to me that he used to ride with the Hells Angels, but he was now a soldier of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord for people getting saved, even during the pandemic. One thing Nelson and I have in common is that we were both born in Bronx, New York, and in the same hospital.
Because of COVID-19, we are not able to reopen our school until September 17. Even though our registration in down 25%, we are looking forward to reopening Lighthouse Baptist Academy online for the month of August. We are thankful and blessed that Miss Marriah Herrmann, from the First Baptist Church of Hammond, has come to Puerto Rico to help in our church and school.
We had a storm come through Puerto Rico, which brought us a lot of rain and flooding. We are thankful that we did not suffer any damages to our property, just some flooding, which we were able to clean up already. We would love to finish the
reconstruction of our Fellowship Hall and have it ready for hurricane season. The roof has been installed in our Fellowship Hall. We now need the electricity, plumbing, doors, windows, and other miscellaneous work. The Lord continues to provide, and we are thankful for all who have helped and given towards this need.
Sa
• Souls to be saved and baptized
• Lighthouse Baptist Academy
• Reconstruction
• Daughter Carolina’s health
May God continue to bless you as you serve Him faithfully. Thank you for loving our family and ministry. Thank you for giving during these difficult times. God has been so GOOD TO US! We love you and pray for you. God bless you.
In Christ,
Luis M. Martinez