Tag: Puerto Rico

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Let’s Hear from the Puerto Rico Mission Team!

Members of a Puerto Rico mission team will deliver the sermon atthe worship service of Princeton United Methodist Church (PrincetonUMC) on Laity Sunday, October 28 at 10 a.m.

Partnering with the United Methodist Church of Greater New Jersey Conference (GNJUMC), they worked in Puerto Rico for a week in early October.

“We aimed to help people feel a little more love and more restored in terms of their homes and their lives,” says Rev. Ginny Cetuk, who led the mission team along with Norm Cetuk of Martinsville, NJ;, Rev. Skitch Matson and Rev. Jenny Smith Walz, both of Princeton. The team includes Princeton UMC members: Susan Davelman of Hillsborough, NJ: Timothy Ewer of East Windsor, NJ; Jennifer Hartigan of Princeton, NJ: TJ Lee of Plainsboro, NJ; and Lori Pantaleo of Princeton Junction, NJ. Also participating: Paul Elyseev, Jesse Bickford of Washington, DC; Jennifer O’Donnell of Christ United Methodist Church in Piscataway, NJ; Rev. Hector Burgos of GNJUMC; and Eunice Vega-Perez, of Bishop Janes UMC in Basking Ridge, NJ.

In the year since Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has contributed more than $20 million, allowing the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico to establish the Renew, Rebuild and Reconstruct (Rehace) program.

 

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Mission to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Mission Trip Commissioning
Puerto Rico Team Commissioning

On Sunday, September 30, Princeton UMC will commission those leaving on October 6 for a mission trip to Puerto Rico. They include Rev. Ginny Cetuk, Norman Cetuk, Rev. Skitch Matson, Susan Davelman, Lori Pantaleo, Timothy Ewer, Jennifer Hartigan, and T.J. Lee. From other churches: Jesse Bickford, Jennifer O’Donnell, Paul Elyseev, and Eunice Vega-Parez.

Pastor Sammy Arroyo and Bishop Hector Ortiz
Bishop Hector Ortiz and Pastor Sammy Arroyo

In this video by Robin Birkel, we hear from a Puerto Rican native, Pastor Sammy Aroyo of Hightstown United Methodist Church. “Puerto Rico needs your help.”

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Renew, Rebuild, Reconstruct – in Puerto Rico

 In the year since Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, The United Methodist Church has been sending prayers and support. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has contributed more than $20 million, allowing the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico to establish the Renew, Rebuild and Reconstruct (Rehace) program.

From October 6 to October 13 a small band of enthusiastic Christians from Princeton UMC, and some from other United Methodist churches in New Jersey, will travel to Puerto Rico. “The reason we are going is to help people feel a little more love and more restored in terms of their homes and their lives, through the various kinds of work we will do,” says Rev. Ginny Cetuk. She and her husband, Norman, and Rev. Skitch Matson, are leading the team.

Princeton UMC’s Outreach committee is partnering with the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, which is connected to the United Methodist Church of Puerto Rico and Bishop Ortiz. “He will essentially be our leader and director – to tell us where the need is, and that’s where will go,” says Pastor Ginny. “We will do everything we can from helping build a roof to having conversations with people to let them know we love them.”

Princeton UMC people making the trip along with the Cetuks and Skitch Matson are Susan Davelman, Lori Pantaleo, Timothy Ewer, Jennifer Hartigan, and TJ Lee. From other churches: Jesse Bickford, Jennifer O’Donnell, Paul Elyseev, and Eunice Vega-Perez.

Says Pastor Ginny:  “We are eager to do this work and ask everyone’s prayers that we will be maximally helpful and return home safe and sound.”

In this video we learn how United Methodists (UMCOR) provide both physical and emotional support

In this video we learn how one Puerto Rican woman was grateful for UMCOR help. 

Editor’s note: if you missed this trip but want to help plan or go on the next one, contact the Outreach Committee!