Dear Friends and Family,
It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of another year. As expected, this year was full of challenges... but in many ways we are now "seeing the light" of the end of the pandemic. We continue to focus on evangelism and bringing the Gospel to the lost. We have met many who have stopped attending church or their churches have closed completely. We know that God has kept us here to keep pushing forward in these difficult times. Jeremy was invited to preach in a missions conference here in Costa Rica, which was a first. It was exciting to encourage the Costa Ricans to carry the Gospel unto the uttermost parts of the earth! We are also doing discipleship with a family from our church plant. We have found a new lawyer to help us navigate the remaining legal hurdles that we are dealing with. We are also working with the owner of a new meeting location to obtain the permits that are needed to hold services. Another big change was that we replaced our online meetings with in-person gatherings in our home. We have seen an increase in attendance as well as much more meaningful time spent together.
As for our family, we have been adjusting to the changes of hosting others in our home every week. We have been super busy between school, ministry, and planning for the holidays. This last month, it seems like Elijah has really begun to speak a lot of Spanish. It's not always correct, but it is encouraging to see how far he has come. For Thanksgiving, we had one dinner at the school on Monday, another one with our church plant family on a Tuesday, and another one with some other friends on Thursday. I think this was the first year in Central America when we have made a Turkey! It was a blessing to share with the church people the story of the origin of Thanksgiving. We all took time to thank God for his numerous blessings in our lives. We are now working on our plans for Christmas.
We are thankful for all who have faithfully prayed for us and supported our ministry. Thank you to those who sent special Christmas offerings. We pray that God will bless you above and beyond. This month, please pray...
1. That God will help us to obtain all of the permits necessary for the new meeting location.
2. That God will open hearts for others to hear the Gospel, believe upon Christ, and be saved!
3. That God will continue to grow His church here in San Pablo, Heredia, Costa Rica!
In Christ,
Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz
