July 2018 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this letter finds each of you doing well. This last month, we stayed very busy on the road. We were in 8 scheduled meetings in the states of PA, VA, NC, and NJ. Jeremy also had the privilege of preaching a series of messages for a Spanish ministry family camp of a church in Maryland. It was a blessing to spend some time with the church and minister to their Spanish congregation. In between meetings, we drove over 3,500 miles and stayed in 17 different places. At this point, we could probably pack and unpack with our eyes closed! While it can be fun to visit so many different places in different states, it can also be very difficult when sicknesses come. Last month, sickness took a toll on our family. Thankfully, the month finished better than it started! We were also glad to receive news that another church had voted to take us on for support.

One highlight from last month was when one of our supporting churches in VA surprised us with a "missionary Christmas." Our girls didn't know what was going on... and they weren't asking any questions! It was a blessing and encouragement to us. We send special thanks to this dear church! As for Elijah, he is now not only crawling, but crawling everywhere very quickly! Our girls really enjoyed the Spanish family camp. We all loved the food and sweet spirit of the people. It really made us miss our church family in Nicaragua.

At present, the Nicaraguan people are going through an extremely difficult time. Since the civil unrest began about 2 1/2 months ago, civil rights groups are reporting that at least 309 people have been killed and over 2,500 who have been injured. There is still much fighting in the streets, even in the city where our church was started. This month, please pray:

1. That God will bring peace to the people of the Nicaragua.

2. That God will bring the gospel to those who are lost.

3. That God will guide us as we evaluate the situation and form plans for our next term.

4. That God will bless our time on furlough and provide the remaining support needed.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz