We are happy to introduce Jonathan and Tereangeli Lugo, from Puerto Rico. Jonathan has just been accepted as a Church Planting Pastoral Apprentice with NEU.
How Jonathan Joined NEU
We met Jonathan through Cru staff friends — Jarrod and Susie Lynn — who were serving for a year in PR. Jonathan was the Lynn’s pastor. Aware that Jonathan was making a ministry change, the Lynns suggested we talk with Jonathan about church planting in a Spanish-speaking community in Rhode Island. After a number of Zoom conversations, and once RI was open to travelers from PR, Jonathan, Tere and their three children (ages 13, 9, and 6) came for a five-day vision trip. We visited neighborhoods, did Summer OFF together, met with pastors, talked, and prayed. By the end of the vision trip, Jonathan and Tere agreed that they would pray for a week back home. After the week, they and we agreed to move forward with their application to NEU. Having received their application and references, and having been interviewed by NEU directors, we gladly accepted them to a one-year apprenticeship.Jonathan has planted and pastored for the past five years — and also has a musical background. Tere is a financial aid director at National University College — the largest for-profit university in PR. Both of them love the church, love people, and are eager to advance the gospel through church planting.We walked around a park in Central Falls, Rhode Island’s only majority-minority city. 60% of its residents identify as Hispanic, with Peurto Ricans, Guatemalans, and Columbians making up the largest share of Spanish-speakers. Jonathan quickly struck up a conversation with teens, asking them about churches in the area. They confirmed what we already knew — that there are no gospel-preaching churches in this small but needy city. God put Central Falls on our heart back in the spring, and now Jonathan likewise would like to pursue a church plant there.So would you please pray and give thanks for the Lugos? We are deeply grateful to God for moving this work forward even in the midst of COVID restrictions. We are, in fact, trying to keep up with God’s pace these days! We would not have expected that back in March or April. Praise God!
What's Next
To inform your praying, here are the next steps:
- The first step is to raise the Lugo’s funds for the year
- Then they will move to Providence, RI
- Jonathan will serve with us as an apprentice. He will be in a Spanish-speaking cohort with Acts 29, work with us at NEU, be mentored in a local church, study and finish his M.Div, and seek a part-time job in Central Falls in order to get to know the community.
- In the process, Jonathan will be assessed as a church planter for the inner city.
We are praying that the first step will be done no later than March 1. We are thankful for Jonathan Lugo and are praying for many more like him. And we are thankful for you, who support this ministry with your prayer and generous giving. We are grateful.
