“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
Dear Friends and Family,
We hope that this letter finds you doing well. It is hard to believe we are already approaching Christmas and the end of another year. We have seen both maturity and growth in the church here in San Pablo. Last month, we mentioned having a missions emphasis month. Near the end of the month, we collected the faith promise commitment cards. The church voted to begin supporting two Costa Rican missionaries. The following week, we had a sort of “serving Sunday” in which many from the church signed up to serve in different ministries of the church. Many are getting involved in serving in different ways, and it is exciting to see them use their gifts and talents to serve the Lord. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we held our annual Thanksgiving service. It is always a great time to thank the Lord and share a nice meal together afterward. We are presently working on plans for a Christmas outreach activity in a nearby community. There are already about 70 children signed up to come with a parent or responsible adult. We are planning to present the gospel in a few different ways to each person. Apart from those activities, we are also planning a special Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve service.
As you can imagine, we have stayed very busy. Although we planned to celebrate the day of Thanksgiving at home, we ended up helping to organize the Thanksgiving event for the missionary families at the language school. After a few weeks of attempting to follow up on Elijah’s residency card, the authorities finally corrected the error and sent it out. This completes the process of our permanent residency. Praise the Lord! In late November and early December, we had another round of illness, but we are now back on our feet. Now, we are looking forward to Christmas. Michelle’s parents are coming to visit us around then, so we are looking forward to that.
Thank you to all who pray for us and give sacrificially so that we can share the Gospel with the people of Costa Rica. We pray that you have a wonderful time celebrating our Savior’s birth. This month, please pray:
1. That God will save souls and bring forth much fruit from the Christmas outreach activity.
2. That God will keep us strong and healthy throughout the season.
3. That God will continue to raise up laborers and strengthen His church.
In Christ,
Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz
