January 2020 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the new year. Although, Jeremy wrote last months prayer letter, wewere so caught up in the work that he forgot to send it!It can be read on our blog at Blanz2nicaragua.blogspot.com. We apologize forthat. Last month, we finished our commitment to helping in the Atenas church plant. We had special Christmas parties for each age group. In January we will have an official "goodbye" service to conclude our service there. In the meantime, we have continued working on the final requirements for legal residency and establishing a new religious organization in Costa Rica. We have purchased some equipment for the upcoming church plant. We have spoken with our home owners and they agree with the need for a Gospel preaching church in the area and are very supportive. We have also spoken to others in the region about our vision and some have offered to help out and shared ideas to better reach the community. Some will be helping us with visiting and evangelism. Until we have an official start to the new church, we will be visiting some other Baptist churches in the area to share our plans and ask for prayer. This month, we will be ramping up the visitation and evangelism. We have also received a good report from the church we started in Nicaragua. Pastor Berner has informed me that they will soon begin a local church Bible instituteto train people for the ministry!

In Costa Rica, December is the end of the school year. Ellowyn graduated from kindergarten with a great report from her teacher. Lila also finished first grade with great grades. They have also done very well adjusting to the language and culture. Elijah has also been growing up quickly and learning new words every day! The kids are now on "summer" break until February. We had a special Christmas and always enjoy celebrating the birth of our Savior. In the home we are making several changes as we will begin hosting weekly Bible studies. We are converting our garage to an area to hold meetings. Our home owners have been a great help and have made us a new storage area. While it is a bit hard for the kids to leave the church where we have served, they are excited that we will soon be starting a new one.

We want to send special thanks to all who gave special Christmas offerings. This month, please pray:

1. That God will open doors and prepare hearts for the Gospel in San Pablo.

2. That God will save souls and draw others to be a part of our home Bible studies.

3. That God will bless our efforts and lay the groundwork for a Gospel preaching Baptist church in San Pablo.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz