Maria Devastated Puerto Rico. It Didn’t Destroy the Church.

Quick to Listen

Christianity Today

Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Christianity

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2018

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Earlier this month, you couldn’t turn a television on without seeing footage of Hurricane Florence. As of recording, the storm has been blamed for the deaths of 42 people in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and costing billions of dollars of damage. Yet, in many ways, national attention has already moved on. That’s something that Puerto Rico knows too well. It’s been a year since the storm claimed 64 immediate deaths and catalyzed the exodus of thousands of Puerto Ricans from the island and a sense of hopelessness in the territory at large. The loss of community was especially hard for Puerto Ricans like Gadiel Ríos, a pastor in Arecibo, who stayed on the island. “Everyone lost their friends, everyone lost family,” said Ríos, who is also the founder of the ministry ReformaDos. “The main problem we are facing now is despair and then because of their despair people tend to [fall] into depression...People feel lonely and frustrated.” Ríos joined associate digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss how the church is ministering to the overwhelmed, how Mainlanders encouraged those on the island, and the state of Puerto Rico’s evangelical community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.0	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion. Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.
0:22.9	Today's episode of Quick to Listen is sponsored by the Alliance defending freedom
0:26.9	church alliance. The ADF Church Alliance provides more than 3,200 member churches with legal
0:33.3	support for religious freedom issues. For more information, go to adfchurchalliance.org.
0:40.5	It's Wednesday, September 26th, and this is quick to listen, where we set aside
0:45.3	hashtags and hot takes discuss a major cultural event.
0:48.8	On today's show, Gadiel Rios joins us to discuss how the church has responded in the year
0:53.7	since Hurricane Maria struck
0:55.4	Puerto Rico.
1:04.7	I'm Morgan Lee, Associate Digital Media producer here at Christianity today, and I'm joined,
1:10.6	as always, almost always, sometimes.
1:14.1	Not as much as you'd like. By Mark Alley. Here I am again. Trying to read my mind. Not as much as I'd like.
1:20.8	Exactly. Yes. Well, you don't listen to the episodes when you're not here. I don't listen to what I do here.
1:30.0	All right, Mark. So why don't you tell us a little bit more about today's guest? Today's guest is Gadiel Rios. He is pastor of La
1:35.7	Iglesia del Centro and Arcebo, Puerto Rico, and founder of the Ministry Reformados, and author of the
1:41.4	CT article, The State of the Puerto Rican Church one year after Maria.
1:46.5	Hey, Gadiya, how are you?
1:48.0	Hi to everyone, and God bless.
1:50.1	Great to have you here. I just was kind of curious. Maybe you could tell us how you got
1:55.3	connected with Christianity today in the first place.
1:57.8	I think someone from the editorial staff contacted me through email
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Christianity Today, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Christianity Today and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.