February 2026 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

This last month we began our main furlough trip. We began our first meetings in Jacksonville, FL. We then gave ministry reports or presentations in a total of 11 scheduled meetings in the states of FL, SC, NC, TN, and VA. Unfortunately, the service for one other church was canceled due to Winter Storm Fern. We hope to visit them on our next furlough. At the end of the month, we had another cancellation in SC due to Winter Storm Gianna. We then made a plan B to visit a church in TN. That meeting was also canceled due to much heavier snow than expected. We then had a plan C, which didn’t work out. As we traveled up toward Chattanooga, the snow began falling much heavier than expected so we came off the road and sought temporary refuge at a McDonald’s and mall. Thankfully, there was a church in the area that allowed us to stay at their missions house. They received us very kindly with a nice warm place to stay. They also allowed us to present our ministry on Sunday. We are thankful for the kindness and hospitality of God’s people! We were also able to book one more meeting in SC and reschedule the canceled one.

Our church in Costa Rica has remained faithful and is continuing to see new people come to the church. I am impressed by the example of those in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s who are modeling faithfulness for the next generation. There are also some newer young people who are attending faithfully and beginning to serve. A couple of weeks ago, there were 14 who went out sharing the Gospel.

We enjoyed spending some time with our family. It was good to visit some friends from our days in Bible college. We are thankful for the families that have hosted us and been kind to our family. We have made many memories of fun with family and friends. We had hoped to see snow at least once, but for the last few weeks we have seen it nearly every day! We have appreciated the beauty of snow, glistening ice-covered trees, and even had fun making snow angels and snowballs. We had one scary experience with some black ice. By the grace of God, we flagged down a man who was able to help us. He was able to guide Jeremy and help keep the vehicle from sliding down the hill into the ditch. He may not have known it, but we believe he was the answer to the prayers of those who have prayed for us over this last month.

Thank you to all who have prayed for us. There are 2 new churches that will support our ministry and 1 more that will increase our support. This month, please pray…

1 – That God will continue to keep us safe and healthy as we continue to travel in the U.S.

2 – That God will provide the means for the Costa Rican church to have its own building

3 – That God will provide additional support so that we may return to Costa Rica fully funded.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

January 2026 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that you had a great start to the new year. Last month was a time of transition. We began the month by doing all of our normal evangelism and ministry. In addition, our main task was to prepare the church for our furlough. We have faithful members who will lead the ministries in our absence. After our last service, we had our church family Christmas celebration. We had our highest attendance yet with nearly 60 people present. We are now near capacity at our current meeting space. Earlier in the month, we took some time to look for available lots in San Pablo. There are a few available and we are praying that the Lord would guide us and provide so that the church might have its own building. On the 16^th, we flew into Florida and hit the ground running. In the second half of December, we gave a ministry report in 4 supporting churches in the Jacksonville area. We were also able to spend some time at our sending church. Jeremy was able to teach the Sunday School and it was great to see everybody again.

As for our family, it was nice for the kids to have some time off of school. Although the kids had no classes, we stayed very busy preparing for furlough. During our time in the Jacksonville area, we stayed at Michelle’s parents’ house. It’s always good to spend some time together and catch up after being gone for so long. We spent Christmas with them and a few days later we met with Jeremy’s family in Georgia. Unfortunately, many were not able to come because of sickness, but it was good to see everyone that we could. We are now preparing to begin traveling to many other supporting churches, so we are taking advantage of the time we have to spend time with our family.

As we prepare to ramp up our furlough travels, we are so thankful for those who have prayed for us and supported us over the years. Our desire is to be a blessing and to encourage each one. We also understand that as we travel further north, we may see snow and icy roads. This month, please pray for the following:

1. That God will protect us as we travel and keep us healthy.

2. That God will help the church in Costa Rica to remain faithful and continue growing.

3. That God will provide the means for the church to build or purchase its own building.

4. That God will help us to raise some additional support so that we may return to Costa Rica fully funded.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

December 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your prayers and support in 2025! As we prepare this letter, we can see how God has blessed and answered so many prayers. Last month, we mentioned how God blessed the faith promise commitment of our church in San Pablo. Near the end of the month, the church voted to increase the support of the two missionaries whom we support by over 50%. The missionaries were encouraged to see a missionary church supporting missionaries! Last month, we emphasized serving together in the local church. God has blessed and we have several more who are now serving in different ministries. We continue to prioritize evangelism and every week we have about 6-8 people sharing the Gospel in the San Pablo area. We have seen several new visitors and some are now attending faithfully. Near the end of the month, we had a special Thanksgiving service and were near capacity in our meeting space. On Tuesdays, Jeremy is teaching a series of lessons called “True and False,” in which we examine the truths of God’s Word in response to the counterfeits and lies of the world. We are now making the final preparations in the church before our furlough. Two faithful men will take greater responsibility in preaching and teaching. Jeremy has also arranged external support from other churches. There are a few other preachers who will help with the preaching and teaching. Michelle is preparing the children and women’s ministries.

We are now at the end of the school year. Elijah has now completed 2^nd grade. Ellowyn is graduating from 6^th grade and completing her time in elementary school. Lila is moving on to 8^th grade. This break between grades allows us the perfect opportunity to come back for a brief furlough. We are all very excited to see our family and friends, to celebrate Christmas, and to visit our sending and supporting churches. We are getting ready for cold weather and lots of traveling. We are now doing what we can to prepare our house and vehicles for our trip. We know that we will be in the USA before we know it! In early December, the ladies at the church planned a special birthday party for Michelle and two other ladies. It started out as a small thing, but quickly grew into something like a church activity. It was a blessing and it was good to see the love of Christ on display.

As we return for our first furlough since beginning the church in San Pablo, we know that it will be a trial of sorts. But thankfully, Christ has promised that He will build His church “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). This month, please pray…

That God will continue to strengthen and guide the church in San Pablo.

That God will open doors and provide so that the church may get its own building.

That God will bless us and protect us as we travel back to the US and to our supporting churches.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

November 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that you are all doing very well. We are staying very busy and did not realize that we had not yet sent out our November prayer letter! Last month, we had our second missions emphasis month. For the first three Sundays we heard missionaries give reports, present their ministries, and preach. On the last Sunday, Jeremy concluded the month on the grace of giving by faith. Faith Promise missions giving has been a great success and our 2025 church commitment represents a 35% increase from last year. Lord willing, the church will likely increase the missionary support and/or support a new missionary in our next business meeting. Throughout the month, we received 4 new members. Generally speaking, we have had better attendance, repeat visitors, and are nearly full for most services. Our teen activity was missions themed, so that was a fun way to celebrate missions month.On the first day of November we had a church-wide evangelism day. Unfortunately, a cold front arrived and brought a constant rain. However, we still had about 28 people participate. Some prepared Gospel tracts in the church building, but the rest shared the Gospel and gave out tracts at the central park, at a nearby traffic light, and in front of the church building. I believe we gave out around 800 tracts and we are well stocked for the future. In November, we are now shifting emphasis to “Serving Together In the Local Church.” We trust that the Lord will work in hearts to raise up laborers.

As a family, we are staying very busy. On the 13^th of October we celebrated Ellowyn’s 12^th birthday. We are so thankful for all that God has done in her life. Probably the biggest thing is that we are doing all that we can to prepare for our furlough in December. We now have our flight tickets purchased and we know that the date of our trip will come very quickly. We were excited to hear the good news that the kids’ school year will begin about 2 weeks later than usual. This means that Michelle and the kids will have more time to visit churches on furlough before returning to Costa Rica. At this point, the kids are mostly done with school and there are a few more activities before the school year concludes in December.

Last month, we requested prayer for Jeremy’s sister who was in a serious car accident. We give thanks to God as she has come a long way in her recovery. This month, please pray:

1. That God will continue to heal Jeremy’s sister Mary and help her in her recovery.

2. That God will lead more of the church people to serve in the ministries of the church.

3. That God will help us to prepare our family and the church for our upcoming furlough.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

October 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

September was another busy month. We continue to teach and preach the Gospel throughout San Pablo. Every Saturday we preach the Gospel in parks and neighborhoods. We see new visitors on a regular basis. On September 7^th, we had an activity after the service to celebrate Children’s Day. We are also working on plans for our second missions emphasis month in October. Last year, our church embraced faith promise missions giving and took on two missionaries for support. The church has not only kept its commitment, but exceeded it! We have also had the opportunity to send a group of about 18 people or so to help one of the missionaries with an evangelistic children’s day activity in the town where he is planting a church. It was great to encourage him and help the church to see how we are sowing the Gospel in other communities. In preparation for missions month, I have contacted several Costa Rican pastors and missionaries to inquire about others who are being sent out to start new churches. If the Lord allows, we hope to do even more this year – not only financially, but also through prayer and sending groups to help with evangelism training and support. Near the end of the month, we also had a teen activity and ladies ministry activity.

At the beginning of the month, Jeremy received news that his sister, Mary, was in a head-on collision. She had severe injuries and her life was at great risk. He then took a short trip to support her and the family. By God’s grace and many surgeries, she has stabilized and has improved in many ways. Her recovery has been nothing short of miraculous, but she still has a long way to go. She lost much of her small intestine, and we are praying that her body will be able to receive nutrition. Please pray for her and her family.

Near the end of August, we celebrated Elijah’s birthday. In September, we celebrated Jeremy and Lila’s birthday. We also had several activities for Costa Rican independence day. Besides that, we have continued to prepare for our next furlough. Jeremy has attempted to contact with all of our supporting churches and has tried to schedule as many visits as possible. We now have 32 out of 39 possible services scheduled. We have a few available services that we hope to schedule soon. It has been good to speak with many pastors and we look forward to seeing our family, friends, and supporting churches again.

As we prepare for October, please pray:

1. For my sister Mary and that the Lord will heal her in a miraculous way.

2. That the Lord will bless our missions month and allow our church to do more this year.

3. That the Lord will provide land and a building for our church in His timing.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

September 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Costa Rica! August was another busy month. We continue preaching the Gospel throughout the city of San Pablo. One man named Cesar and a woman named Solaira professed faith in Christ as their Savior. In our regular services, we have continued to see good attendance. We have seen several visitors and, at times, are nearly full in the building where we meet. In the middle of the month, we had a special mother’s day service with a breakfast before the service. We also had a teen meeting in our home.

Despite all of the normal evangelism and activity, we have been shifting gears and preparing for our next furlough. As we prepare the church for our absence, we have two faithful men who will help with the preaching and teaching. Michelle is preparing the Sunday school teachers as well. Jeremy has also been working hard to plan our US travel itinerary. Unfortunately, our furlough will be too short to visit all of the churches that support us. Not only that, but our supporting churches are spread out across 15 different states! Jeremy has already reached out to our supporting churches where we could not visit on our last furlough. He is now contacting the rest to see if they would like for us to come and give a ministry report. As our calendar fills up, it becomes increasingly difficult to find available dates that work for each church. We are thankful for the flexibility of those who allow us to give ministry reports when we are in the area.

As for our family, we are doing well. We all have our new residency ID cards. The kids have been inviting their school friends to church. It is good to see how they are making a difference even in their schools. Michelle and I have also been preparing the kids for our next furlough. By the time we arrive in the US, it will have been nearly seven years since our last furlough! We are looking forward to seeing family, friends, and many dear brethren from the churches. We are also preparing ourselves for some cold weather! In a very short amount of time we will go from Costa Rica to Florida and then toward the Northern states at the coldest time of the year!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Lastly, here are a few prayer requests. Please pray:

1. That God will open doors and provide the means for us to construct a church building.

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

3. That God will help us and the church to make plans for our upcoming furlough.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

August 2025 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that you are doing well. We are doing well and staying busy in the ministry. Jeremy stays busy preaching, teaching, and visiting people from the church. This last Tuesday he finished up the “Practical Discipleship” series. We spent a quite a bit of extra time working on plans for the evangelistic activity we told you about. We recorded an evangelistic video to use with our tracts. We also designed a new tract with a QR code that goes directly to the Gospel presentation. It took some extra time to print, cut, and fold the tracts. The new design does not require us to use stickers with the church information, so that will be helpful going forward. On the day of the activity we had about 26-27 people from the church come out to give out water bottles and Gospel tracts to those who were taking the “Romeria” pilgrimage. We gave out over 1,000 bottles of water and around 1,200-1,300 Gospel tracts. It was a good opportunity for many to get experience in giving out tracts. We are now preparing for a special Costa Rican Mother’s Day service. We usually serve them a nice breakfast and have a time to honor mothers. We are also preparing for our trip planned for the end of the year and early 2026. A young man preparing for ministry will be preaching once per month until then and another faithful brother will teach on Tuesday nights. We are also looking at training one or more people to work the sound system.

Last month, the kids had a short 2 week summer vacation. We spent more time together and also took an overnight trip to visit some friends. Jeremy has stayed busy working on repairs and adjustments around the house in between the work of the ministry. The kids also received their grades. They are all doing very well and we are proud of them. Ellie and a classmate participated in their school’s science fair. They won 1^st place in their grade and went on to participate on the school level. They came in second and will now represent their school in a competition against other schools. This is all good news because we need to submit her grades to the local high school to secure her spot in the bilingual program.

Lastly, we are working on our plans for our next furlough. We can only take a short furlough, so we will not be able to visit every supporting church. We will need to prioritize our supporting churches that we did not or could not visit on our last furlough. Though it will be difficult to do all that we have to do, we hope to take another furlough before too long. This month, please pray:

1. That God will guide us and help us to get everything done with regard to furlough planning.

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

3. That God will strengthen the church and prepare it to press onward even in our absence.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz