Dear Friends and Family,
We hope that each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. God is good and we are never short of things to be thankful for. Last month, Pastor Rodney Kelley from our home church came to visit with us on a short trip. He was a blessing to us in many ways. One of our objectives was to survey a few nearby cities that have a strong need for a Gospel preaching church. We will be seeking the Lord’s will regarding these cities in the future. On our normal visits, we saw two young people and one lady profess Christ as their Savior. The national pastor whom we are partnered with was married last month. The Sunday before the wedding, we planned a special service to welcome his fiancé into the church. With about 80 in attendance, we presented them with 2 baskets full of household essentials. It was a great blessing to them. The following week, we attended his wedding, which was the first we had attended in Central America. In the middle of the month, we attended a Bible Institute graduation in Managua. Jeremy was able to take a young man from our church who has expressed desire to begin his studies there.
As always, November was a very special month for our family. Due to some problems in our current house, we began searching for another one to rent. We believe the Lord really blessed us with a better house that would actually be a little more economical. We will be moving next month. We will have to purchase several appliances and pieces of furniture. Near the end of the month, we celebrated with Thanksgiving with a few Nicaraguan friends. They really enjoyed the American traditions of thanking God for all he has done for us. They also enjoyed the food. The favorite “foreign” food of our guests was Michelle’s homemade baked Macaroni and cheese. The “strangest” foreign food was definitely the gravy, which had no suitable translation. “Meat flavored sauce” simply doesn’t have the same ring to it. It was an exciting Thanksgiving because as we were waiting for Hurricane Otto to pass by very close to us, there was also a 7.0 earthquake a little ways off the coast. Thankfully, there was no damage from the earthquake, no tsunami, and very little effect from the hurricane. On the bright side, Lila completed her first school year here in Nicaragua. Her teacher had nothing but positive things to say on her report card. She even won a “caring student” award. Way to go, Lila!
As we approach the end of another year, we cannot say “Thank You” enough to all of our supporting churches and individuals who pray for us faithfully. This month, please pray:
1. That God will guide and provide as we seek a new meeting location and our own land/building.
2. That God will lead us as we pray about our next step in our ministry.
3. That God will continue to save souls, edify believers, and grow His church.
In Christ,
Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, and Ellowyn Blanz
