Dear Friends and Family,
We hope that each of you are doing well! According to the New York Times, Costa Rica has the 9th highest number of new COVID cases in the world per 100,000 residents. Thankfully, there seems to be a slight reduction in new cases over the last few days. Things are gradually opening back up. Unfortunately, until our legal residency process is completed and our religious association is approved, we cannot get permits needed to hold services in a rented building. We have looked for closed church buildings to rent which would already have permits... but to no avail. We have sought after local event halls, but the few that are nearby are all closed. We have even contacted every church that is nearby with the hopes to be able to rent the use of their building on a day when it is not used... all with no success. Instead, we have found that many other established churches are struggling with the same issues. Some have already lost their buildings. Others are unable to meet in the buildings that they have due to lack of permits and increased government enforcement. We then made plans to hold "Bible studies" and "prayer meetings" in our home as we did before the pandemic. We did a trial run service with our family with others attending virtually in Zoom and Facebook live. We did not use a microphone or external speaker beyond the projector. After the service we found out that our neighbor has contacted the neighborhood association and threatened to call the police on us. This was extremely discouraging as it seemed like our last option. Through a highly unusual circumstance, Jeremy was able to speak with the chief of police. After discussing the situation, we learned that it is precisely because we are not yet formally identified as a church that we are able to hold such meetings in our home without the risk of government closure. This last week we held our first "normal" service with Zoom and Facebook integration. Not only did our neighbor NOT call the police as she threatened (to our knowledge), but she has made comments to the neighborhood association that she felt the need to change in some ways. Among other blessings, the work has continued to grow and one man named Alonso prayed to receive Christ as Savior.
Family life has continued to be unusual. School classes has been canceled for the rest of the year. For Lila's 9th birthday we were able to take her to visit a coffee farm. Ellowyn will be turning 7 this month. Where does the time go? Elijah has been making great progress on his Bible verses. He has now memorized Bible verses for the letters A-H. The girls have also been able to receive some tutoring in Spanish which is very helpful during this time when they rarely go out. All in all we are so ready for things to get back to normal.
This month, please pray:
1. That our legal residency and religious association will be approved so that we may get the required permits.
2. That we may keep moving forward and see an even faster expansion of churches being planted.
3. That God will use us to help see more souls saved and disciples made for Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz
