Dear Friends and Family,
Merry early Christmas! We hope that each of you have a wonderful Christmastime celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Although 2020 has been an incredibly difficult year as far as ministry is concerned, we have much to be thankful for. We are still here pushing forward. Despite all of the difficulties, Jesus continues to build His church. At the beginning of last month, after nearly 2 years of waiting, we received notification from the government that they have approved our legal residency. They sent us 4 out of 5 of the approval letters. Something has fallen between the cracks and we have spent the last month trying to get the final letter so that we may go get our legal IDs. Due to COVID, the government offices are closed except for those who have an appointment. The only means of getting an appointment is through email. We have sent several and have yet to receive a response. As you can imagine, it is beyond frustrating. Without our legal IDs, we are still very limited in what we can do. We can rent a building... but we cannot get the legal permits needed to hold church services. We have made our home available for in person services, but have had difficulty in bringing people back to in person services since the pandemic began. We understand that this will be a process. We are planning some Christmas events in December and we believe that will help us to get things moving in the right direction. On the bright side, during our visitation and evangelism, we saw one man profess faith in Christ and call upon His name for salvation.
Last month was a bit more difficult for our family. Due to a government restriction, we were going to lose our ability to drive. This would have been a huge setback for our ministry and ability to care for our family. Jeremy considered flying out and returning the next day to extend the use of his foreign license, but we prayerfully decided to wait and see if the government would make an extension. On the day that we would have lost our ability to drive, the government announced the extension until March. Due to a different restriction, we were not able to drive on Thanksgiving day and had to change plans. Thankfully, we were able to spend Thanksgiving with some neighbors. Near the end of the month, Elijah fell from his bed and cut his head very badly. At the emergency room, he got several stitches. A few days afterwards, we came down sick. We have not yet been tested for COVID. But we must be careful around others so that we don't pass it to others.
We are thankful for all who pray for us. We are praying for you as well. This month, please pray:
1. That we will receive this last letter from the government and be able to finish our legal residency process.
2. That God will help our church plant to take several steps forward towards becoming an established church.
3. That God will bless our evangelism efforts, save souls, and add to His church!
In Christ,
Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz
