April 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family, April 2019

We hope that this letter finds you doing well. Last month, Jeremy took several trips to the city of San Pablo looking for a house to rent in the area where we will start our next church. It was very difficult to find a house at a reasonable price. Some houses were taken off of the market the same day that they were listed! Thankfully, by the middle of the month, we found the right house in the right area. Another renter had almost taken the house just before we could pay the deposit, but the Lord worked things out for us to get it. After nearly 3 months of waiting, we finally received Elijah's birth certificate. Michelle's aunt came down to visit us and stay with Michelle and the kids while Jeremy took a brief trip to Nicaragua. Jeremy had to work with customs agents to prepare our things for transportation to Costa Rica. During his time there, Jeremy was able to spend a little time with the church that we started there. It was good to see that the church is still growing and encourage the pastor in the work. Jeremy was able to provide some counsel regarding a church issue that had come up. Thankfully, the issue was resolved in a positive way. He was also able to spend some time sharing the gospel with a Nicaraguan family. As Jeremy was finalizing the details to transport our things, the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border was unexpectedly shut down to Nicaraguan transport trucks. Thankfully, after a few days of closure and delays, it was back to business as normal. Upon returning to Costa Rica, we were able to move into our new house in the city of San Pablo.

Last month, we were able to celebrate our ten year anniversary. As missionaries, it has been a crazy ten years! I (Jeremy) am thankful for a godly wife who loves the Lord and her family. As we moved into the new house, we ran into some new problems. Lila fell off of an exercise machine at the park, hurt her eye, and had to go to the hospital. Thankfully, they were able to use a surgical glue instead of stitches. Ellowyn also woke up to 80+ swollen mosquito bites from her head down to her toes. She is very sensitive to them and it may take a week or two for them to go away. Since then, we have waged war against the mosquitos by installing mosquito nets, screen boxes in the windows, and mosquito repellent products. We have also been very busy getting internet installed, assembling furniture, and unpacking our things from Nicaragua. It was not without problems, but we are thankful that we have successfully transitioned into our new house.

This last month, Jeremy also met with a pastor who planted a church in the neighboring city. We shared ideas and we will be attending his church until we get our next church plant off the ground. This month, please pray:

1. That God lead our family and protect us from sickness and injury.

2. That God open doors and help us to build relationships here in the community.

3. That God use us to share the Gospel with others who need to be saved.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz