August 2020 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family, 

Greetings from Costa Rica! We hope that you are doing well. Here, in Costa Rica, we are in the midst of the second wave of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the lockdown rules are stricter than they ever were before, but we are doing our best to keep pushing forward. Nearly all businesses and commerce has been closed apart from essentials like food and medicine. We presently have 1 week of opening phase before 2 more weeks of closure phase. Jeremy has continue to teach and preach 2-3 times per week. He has also been increasing our online outreach. Michelle has been organizing ladies meetings which have increased in attendance. She has also been holding online kids classes which are also growing. Jeremy has begun to get the men involved in planning for creative and innovative forms of outreach during this time. He has also been able to help others with food during this time.

As for our family life, COVID-19 has changed many things. For one, it has been about 5 months since we have been able to leave the house regularly. Our kids have continued to do their schooling online. Elijah has recently started his most basic level homeschool. We have really had to be creative to find opportunities to get the kids out of the house to get a little sun and exercise. Jeremy and Elijah were able to get much needed haircuts during the one week open phase. We are really looking forward to when things are able to open up again. We are very thankful that we were able to have the opportunity to begin the ministry here in San Pablo for a little over a month before the pandemic hit Costa Rica. Thankfully, all of that hard work and momentum gave us just enough of a start to form a core group for the church plant that has stuck with us during this time.

Although the situation has been tough, we are thankful that God has been good to us. We are still on the mission field and we are still able to do the work. This month, please pray:

1. That God will help us to be innovative in reaching people with the Gospel, despite the obstacles to ministry.

2. That God will help us to reach more souls for Christ.

3. That God will continue to establish the new church plant here in San Pablo, Costa Rica.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz