July 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this letter finds each of you doing well. Thankfully, we are now fully recovered from an illness we had last month. We continue to work hard to strengthen the church in San Pablo. Jeremy is preaching a series through the book of 1^st Corinthians. On Tuesdays, he is teaching a series on Practical Discipleship. In the future, we hope to teach others who can disciple others. Michelle stays busy working on the lessons for our children’s classes and planning ladies activities. She also helps out at a local Christian school. Our evangelism ministry meets every week and we have a faithful brother who leads that ministry. We are now planning an outreach during a Catholic holiday in August in which many take a pilgrimage to the Basilica in the city of Cartago. We hope to share the Gospel with those who make the pilgrimage. We also have our visitation ministry led by another faithful brother. We meet twice a month to visit the sick and others who might need encouragement. This last Saturday, we had a nice teen activity up in the mountains. That same afternoon I was struck by all God has done since we’ve been here. When we moved to San Pablo, we didn’t know anyone. But Jesus has built His church, just as He said.

Since moving into our new house, we have had our hands full as we make repairs and settle in. The kids are now on a 2 week vacation, so we've been enjoying slower mornings and more time together as a family. We are now trying to squeeze in a short trip before the end of their vacation. In the past months, we have mentioned how our residency ID renewal process was quite behind schedule for seemingly no reason. Thankfully, we finally received a response and things are moving in the right direction. So far, we have now received 2 of the 4 cards and the third one is on its way. We are also making plans for a very short furlough in early 2026. This will be our first furlough since 2019. We will not only have to prepare our family for all that we hope to accomplish in the US, but also prepare the church to continue in our absence.

It will be a challenge for us to get everything done between now and our next trip, but we know that the Lord is faithful and will help us to do all that is needed. Thank you for your prayers. God is good! This month, please pray…

1. That God will help us to get everything done with regards to our furlough planning.

2. That God will continue to saving souls and adding them unto the church.

3. That God will strengthen the church and its ministries to do even greater things.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

June 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Costa Rica! We hope that all of you are doing well. We have been staying very busy here in Costa Rica. We are continuing to establish the church in San Pablo. Every week we have a small team that goes out preaching the Gospel in door-to-door evangelism and in public parks. We are continuing to develop our visitation ministry in which we visit church members, visitors, and those who are sick or need encouragement. Jeremy has continued to preach through 1 Corinthians on Sundays and is also teaching a series on practical discipleship on Tuesday evenings. Michelle coordinates the children’s ministries and helps out at a Christian school. All in all, we stay very busy.

We are behind schedule on sending out this newsletter. Since last month, we have moved to another house and have had to do quite a bit of fixing things up. Thankfully, Jeremy has some experience with different types of construction and repairs. Unfortunately, we were hit by a severe cold or flu of some kind. We are still recovering at the time of writing this. Thankfully, we are now doing a little bit better. Although we now have permanent residency, we still have to renew our ID cards every now and then to stay in good standing. Unfortunately, there seems to be some strange delay with the renewal which makes things difficult for us to do some relatively basic things. Hopefully everything will get resolved soon enough. As for our kids, they are doing well. They are studying hard and we are now working to get Ellie into the bilingual school where Lila attends. She will need to take some entry exams in the coming months. Please pray for that!

Before closing out with a few prayer requests, we would like to thank all who pray for us and give to support the work here in Costa Rica. We know that God blesses and honors your prayers and support. Honestly, we are a bit overwhelmed at the moment with so much to do, but we know that is a part of the ebb and flow of the ministry. This month, please pray:

1 – For our health. That we will fully recover and get caught up on everything.

2 – That the Lord will bless the ministry and that more souls saved and added to the church.

3 – That God will resolve any issues that are causing the delay of our residency ID cards.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

May 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope this letter finds you well. Here in Costa Rica, we are transitioning into the rainy season. Despite the changing weather, we are continuing to make progress in establishing the church. Each week, we remain committed to our evangelistic efforts, sharing the Gospel in parks, streets, and homes. Recently, we launched a visitation ministry to organize in-home visits for the sick, visitors, and others in the church. Michelle continues to oversee the various children’s classes, ensuring a solid foundation for the younger generation. Jeremy has recently started a new "Practical Discipleship" series on Tuesday nights, which has been well-received.

As a legally established church, we are required by the government to submit two special declarations. Due to our unique situation, this has involved legal assistance, making it a learning process. However, we believe this will lay the groundwork for greater ministry opportunities in Costa Rica.

Last month was a busy time for our family. Lila transitioned to a new school much closer to our home, which has been a big change. Ellowyn and Elijah have been on special school schedules to complete their standardized tests. This week, Ellowyn is attending a special retreat called "convivencia," as she completes her final year of elementary school before transitioning to high school. Jeremy is nearing the end of his recovery and expects to resume regular exercises and lifting in about a month. We are also in the process of renewing our residency IDs. Thankfully, the process has become much simpler now that we are permanent residents.

As we look forward to May, we know the year will pass quickly. We are already preparing and making plans for the ministry. Please join us in prayer for the following:

1. That God will continue to build and strengthen His church here in Costa Rica.

2. That God will raise up laborers within the church to expand the ministry.

3. That god will continue to guide us as we make plans for late 2025 and 2026.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

April 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We are now near the peak of dry season here in Costa Rica. While we don’t prefer the heat, at least we don’t have the heavy rains! Last month should have been a “slow” month… but in reality, things never slow down! Jeremy has been preaching through Genesis, and Michelle continues to direct the children’s and ladies’ ministry. We continue our evangelism efforts in both neighborhoods and public spaces and are seeing new visitors regularly. There is no bad place to preach the Gospel! We have also been working on our sound system—updating equipment and fine-tuning adjustments. We have also made a lot of progress in recording the sermons and sharing them online. It has definitely been a learning experience and has helped me have even greater appreciation for those who work in sound booths and media ministry. Near the end of the month we had both a ladies meeting and a teen meeting.

Perhaps the biggest event last month was Jeremy’s bilateral hernia surgery. The first few days afterward he was not able to do very much, but he has been gradually getting back into the normal routine. The doctor said that everything looks good and that he should be able to do pretty much anything after 3 months. Life doesn’t slow down, and Jeremy has been working to get caught back on everything. As for our family, we are doing well. Michelle stays busy helping at the Christian school and also doing some additional homeschooling for our children to make sure that their English is what it needs to be. We have recently taken some time to enjoy a new children’s park area that the local government installed near our house.

Thank you to all who continually pray for us and support our ministry. This month, please pray for the following:

1 – For Jeremy’s continued recovery in the coming months.

2 – That God will continue to bless, guide, and strengthen the church in San Pablo.

3 – That God will guide us as we plan for late 2025 and 2026.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

March 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that all of you are doing well. We are staying busy here in Costa Rica. Jeremy has been preaching on the book of Genesis. On Tuesday nights, he recently finished teaching through the book of Acts, and we are now focusing more on Bible Doctrines. We have continued in our regular evangelism efforts. In February, we saw one teenager and one young man profess faith in Christ as Savior. We also have been reworking our sound and computer system. We have set up a side table where we now have a person running the sound and slides. We have installed a new camera that will allow us to record our services and share them online. We have also purchased a sound board to allow us to improve the sound quality in both our services and recorded sermons. We are hoping to record evangelistic videos which we can share through the gospel tracts that we give out weekly. Please pray that God will allow us to reach even more people for Christ.

Over the last several months, we have requested prayer for Jeremy’s health as he was diagnosed with inguinal hernias on both the left and right side. Although they began as mostly asymptomatic, over the last few months, he has experienced more pain. In February, the doctor recommended surgery. Last Sunday, Jeremy had both hernias repaired. After one night in the hospital, he is now at home recovering. Michelle has taken on extra responsibilities to keep everything running smoothly.. Several people at church have also stepped up to help out in various ways. In the first week of March, we had a visit from our field director, Bro Terry Jones, and his wife Kaye. Unfortunately, Jeremy was not able to be there, but it was nice that he shared a message for our Tuesday night service. As for our kids, Ellowyn and Elijah are now back in school and are staying very busy. They also help out with evangelism and children’s classes at church.

We are working on our plans for the rest of the year and early 2026. We are presently working on plans for a brief furlough early next year. We will let you know as the plans progress. This month, please pray for the following:

1. For the Lord to continue to grow and strengthen the church in San Pablo.

2. For the Lord to help Jeremy as he expects to have a full recovery over the next several months.

3. For the Lord to guide us as we make plans for late 2025 and early 2026.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

February 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We pray that this letter finds you doing well. We are thankful for your prayers and support. We are staying busy and are off to a great start to the new year. We have continued our normal ministries in the church. Jeremy is preaching through Genesis and has nearly finished teaching through Acts. Michelle coordinates our children’s ministries. We have some faithful members who are coordinating other ministries. We are planning to start a visitation ministry to better coordinate home visits. Last month, we had a youth activity with a great turnout. We are glad to see how the Lord is working in the hearts of the young people. Lord willing, we will receive some new members into the church in the next week or two. We are also planning to baptize two who have attended for over a year and have trusted Christ as their Savior. This past Sunday, we launched our third children’s class and this will allow us to minister more effectively to children of different ages. We are also working on our religious association to take care of some more legal stuff and get everything on track. We are thankful for a Christian woman who is also a lawyer who has been helping us with that.

For the last couple of months, we have spent more time with the kids as two of the three have been on their extended vacation before starting the next school year. They are now getting back to school, and we are changing gears just a little bit. Lila started school in January as her school follows the US academic calendar. She studied for her spelling bee very diligently. She won first place in her class and second place in her school. In the youth group, she shares devotionals with each day this month. Later in the month, we had a visit from a pastor friend from Nicaragua and his wife. It was good to see them and hear how the Lord is blessing their church. We are now working on our plans for the rest of the year and early next year.

As we move forward into another busy year, we ask you to join us in prayer for the following:

1 - For God's guidance as we make decisions for our family and ministry, especially with the new initiatives we are working on.
2 - For continued health and strength, as we take on many responsibilities.
3 - For the souls we are reaching, that the Holy Spirit would open hearts to the Gospel and bring lasting change.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

January 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that you had a nice Christmas and a great start to the new year! December was a busy but blessed month for our family and ministry. Earlier in the month, we had our church family Christmas celebration. After that, we had a Christmas outreach event in a local community. We had a great turnout from the church and from the community. We shared the Gospel clearly with approximately 140 people. We hope that the Lord uses those relationships for further ministry in that area. Because we have our mid-week service on Tuesday nights, we had special services for both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Our desire is that the Lord be glorified in all that we do. It was a blessing to see several people who have not attended in a while to return to attend faithfully once again. We continue to bring the Gospel to the people of San Pablo and the Heredia area. Last week, two men professed faith in Christ as they called upon Him for salvation. We are glad to report that we are seeing more people involved in the children’s classes. We will hold a youth activity in our home. We have been preparing to make a series of Gospel-centered videos to share through a QR code on our tract. We have purchased some new equipment and are looking forward to putting it to use in the near future.

Although December was a month full of activity in our church, it was good to have the kids home on a brief vacation from school. We have been able to spend more time together each day and we sometimes take walks or go to the park together. We also had a special day to spend with Lila’s friend and her family who are missionaries in the language school. Michelle’s parents came to visit us for the week of Christmas. It was good to see them and spend some time together. We are now preparing to host our next youth event in our home before the kids get back to school. Lila will return to school on Monday. Ellowyn and Elijah have another month or so of vacation before beginning the next school year in February.

Thank you to all who sent special Christmas offerings in November and December. That really is a blessing and helps us in many ways. We expect 2025 to be a great year with much development in the church and ministry. This month, please pray…

1. That God will give us wisdom as we take the next steps with our church and its organization.

2. That God will continue to save souls and add them unto the church.

3. That we and our church will grow in faith and personal knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz