August 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this letter finds each of you doing well. Last month, we have been focusing on strengthening the core of the church to help prepare for future growth. We have seen some make decisions to be more faithful in church. One young man has expressed desire for baptism and discipleship. Another man believes the Lord has been working in his heart to serve the Lord in a greater capacity. Tomorrow, we will spend some time visiting together. It is always time laboring together in the work of the Lord. Last month, we had a special family fun day at the church. It was a great time of fun and fellowship. We have seen some who have attended in the past become more faithful as well as a new family that has now been attending for about a month. Bro. Rick Dove, the missionary who started the church, will be returning from furlough at the end of August. We have agreed to work together with his family for a few more months to strengthen the church. It should be a blessing for both of us as we make preparations for our next church plant.

As for our family, it was a bit of a difficult month. We had a couple rounds of sickness that slowed us down a bit. We are still working on attaining legal residency. All of our documents have been accepted, but we still had to wait for our appointment to do our fingerprints with the government offices. We also had to take an unexpected trip to the Nicaraguan border. Although we are legally in the process of legal residency and are not required to make these trips to abide her legally, there is a different law that requires us to renew our visas at the border to be able to continue driving legally. Thankfully, we were able to accomplish that on one really long day of driving! Otherwise, our family has been doing well. Both Lila and Ellowyn are doing well in school and are both learning to speak Spanish much as children here do. Even Elijah has been making some great strides in both English and Spanish. Sometimes, he surprises us with words we never taught him!

Throughout the month of August, we would greatly appreciate your prayers. Please pray:

1. That God keep us healthy so that we may have little downtime due to sickness.

2. That God will open doors in the community and open hearts to the Gospel of Christ.

3. That God will save souls, edify believers, and strengthen His church in Costa Rica!

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz

July 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that all of you are doing well. This last month has been a busy one for us. We are now leading the church in Atenas full time. Jeremy has been preaching on the Gospel of Christ, the Baptist Distinctives, and the book of James. He has also been visiting each week with a couple of men from the church. We were able to share the Gospel with many, we saw 2 men receive Christ as Savior. It was a blessing to see one with tears in his eyes confess his sin to Christ and call upon Him to be saved. One is Nicaraguan and his brother is Costa Rican. Their mother came from Nicaragua. The whole family has been attending with us for about 1 month now. Also, one mother who received Christ last month has also begun attending with her two sons. For Father's Day, we did a special Father's Day service. We saw several fathers attend who had not come in a long time. A couple have made commitments to continue attending. Last week, we saw our highest attendance yet. Michelle has been working in the nursery and in children's church. At the end of the month, she organized a ladies activity. It was a blessing for all who attended. On the last Sunday of the month, Jeremy began a series on church membership. We hope to see many follow the Lord in believer's baptism and become committed members of the church.

As for our family, we have been doing well. Lila and Ellowyn have been really growing in their ability to speak Spanish. Lila had a science fair at her school and was one of 2 winners from her class to compete on the school level. It was a good experience for her. Elijah has also been making progress in both English and Spanish. Last month, there was a really bad flu virus that passed around with many having to go to the hospital. Elijah came down sick with a really high fever. His fever got so high that it was right at 104 degrees even with medicine. At the hospital, they gave him a shot to lower the fever and even that didn't work. Eventually, they were able to get it back down. Thankfully, he recovered after a few days. Other than that, we have still been working on getting our legal residency taken care of. At this point, our documents have been accepted, but we are waiting for it to be processed before we have legal status.

This month, we will be very busy leading the church in Atenas. Please pray:

1. God will bring for the increase and save souls as we bring the Gospel to the community.

2. That those who receive Christ will follow the Lord in baptism and church membership.

3. That God will bless our ministry and remove any other obstacles

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz

June 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Here in Costa Rica, we are now entering into rainy season. Although the humidity is high, it has been nice to have a little cooler weather. We are still working on the final details of our residency process, but should have all of our documents accepted very soon. We also have had to do a lot of work to get our car insurance company to cover the repairs from the hit and run last month. They have requested to see our passport 3 times now and keep coming up with reasons why they won't simply cover the repairs. Last month, we began to transition into the work of the church plant in Atenas, Costa Rica. The founding missionaries will be taking a brief furlough, and we will lead the church until they return. There have been many adjustments, but it has been good. We recently added a new Sunday School class, which should help to accommodate future growth. The man who received Christ last month has been faithfully attending. We also saw two others receive Christ on visitation. We have also built many good contacts within the community. Through his preaching, Jeremy has laid a strong foundation for the Gospel. Because there are so few Baptist churches, Jeremy has also been teaching a series on the Baptist Distinctives. As the church is strengthened within, we hope to begin greater outreach in the near future.

As for our family, we are adjusting pretty well. Lila and Ellowyn are now attending a nearby school and are quickly learning both the language and the culture. They are very unique in that they not only speak fluent English (which the other children are learning), but Ellowyn is the only blonde student in the entire school! Elijah has really surprised everybody in how quickly he is learning both Spanish and English. At one year and 9 months, he can already speak a little spanish in a variety of contexts. He enjoys greeting everyone with a "Hola!" and saying "Adios!" or "Caio!" (pronounced "chow") to them when we leave. Maybe in a few years, we'll let him teach us some advanced grammar lessons. Thankfully, we have been quite healthy. We had the privilege of attending our first Costa Rican wedding between a Nicaraguan couple who attends our church. We knew that we would be able to minister to Nicaraguans here, but we didn't know it would happen so soon!

Please continue to pray for the people of Nicaragua. Apart from the political situation, they have experienced some major flooding. This month, please pray:

1. That God help those who have had their homes flooded.

2. That God will help us with the residency process and problem with our insurance company.

3. That God will use our ministry to strengthen His church and bring many souls to Christ.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz

May 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this letter finds you doing well! We have been working to get established here in Costa Rica and to begin a new church. As we were praying and developing plans on how to get started, we were contacted by a fellow BIMI missionary here in Costa Rica. He is working in a church plant, but some things have come up and they are in great need for a furlough for many reasons. We have agreed to take over their church plant so that they will be able to take the much needed furlough. This is an excellent and unexpected opportunity to help another missionary, begin serving in Costa Rica, and will help us as we seek to establish future church plants. Since then, we have begun transitioning into the work. Jeremy has begun preaching. Since then, we have seen one man trust in Christ as Savior and 2 others make decisions to rededicate their lives to the Lord. Michelle has been helping in the children's ministry. We will also continue to build relationships and lay the groundwork for our next church plant in San Pablo. It is also a possibility for the current church plant that we are assisting to aid in starting the next one. In the meantime, we have also been working to iron out an issue in the process of obtaining legal residency. We also had to work in a quick trip to the Nicaraguan border in order to renew our visas. There are a few obstacles, but we are trusting the Lord to work it all out.

Thankfully, last month was much smoother than March. Lila's eye is doing much better and Ellowyn's problem with the mosquito bites has been resolved. All of our children are making progress in their Spanish. Here in Costa Rica, the week preceding Christ's resurrection is known as "Holy Week" and most businesses close. We were able to build some relationships with our neighbors and focus on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Unfortunately, as we were returning home on Resurrection Sunday, a motorcycle crashed into our vehicle and immediately drove off before we could get his plate number. He was likely uninsured and this type of "hit and run" is very common. Thankfully, we are all okay, but now we have to work out all of the repairs with our insurance company.

This month, there will be much transition. Please pray:

1. That God help us overcome the obstacles to us obtaining legal residency in Costa Rica.

2. That God will bless our efforts to bring the Gospel to the Costa Rican people.

3. That God will use our ministry to strengthen and build the church plant where we are serving.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz

April 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family, April 2019

We hope that this letter finds you doing well. Last month, Jeremy took several trips to the city of San Pablo looking for a house to rent in the area where we will start our next church. It was very difficult to find a house at a reasonable price. Some houses were taken off of the market the same day that they were listed! Thankfully, by the middle of the month, we found the right house in the right area. Another renter had almost taken the house just before we could pay the deposit, but the Lord worked things out for us to get it. After nearly 3 months of waiting, we finally received Elijah's birth certificate. Michelle's aunt came down to visit us and stay with Michelle and the kids while Jeremy took a brief trip to Nicaragua. Jeremy had to work with customs agents to prepare our things for transportation to Costa Rica. During his time there, Jeremy was able to spend a little time with the church that we started there. It was good to see that the church is still growing and encourage the pastor in the work. Jeremy was able to provide some counsel regarding a church issue that had come up. Thankfully, the issue was resolved in a positive way. He was also able to spend some time sharing the gospel with a Nicaraguan family. As Jeremy was finalizing the details to transport our things, the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border was unexpectedly shut down to Nicaraguan transport trucks. Thankfully, after a few days of closure and delays, it was back to business as normal. Upon returning to Costa Rica, we were able to move into our new house in the city of San Pablo.

Last month, we were able to celebrate our ten year anniversary. As missionaries, it has been a crazy ten years! I (Jeremy) am thankful for a godly wife who loves the Lord and her family. As we moved into the new house, we ran into some new problems. Lila fell off of an exercise machine at the park, hurt her eye, and had to go to the hospital. Thankfully, they were able to use a surgical glue instead of stitches. Ellowyn also woke up to 80+ swollen mosquito bites from her head down to her toes. She is very sensitive to them and it may take a week or two for them to go away. Since then, we have waged war against the mosquitos by installing mosquito nets, screen boxes in the windows, and mosquito repellent products. We have also been very busy getting internet installed, assembling furniture, and unpacking our things from Nicaragua. It was not without problems, but we are thankful that we have successfully transitioned into our new house.

This last month, Jeremy also met with a pastor who planted a church in the neighboring city. We shared ideas and we will be attending his church until we get our next church plant off the ground. This month, please pray:

1. That God lead our family and protect us from sickness and injury.

2. That God open doors and help us to build relationships here in the community.

3. That God use us to share the Gospel with others who need to be saved.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz

March 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family, March 2019

Blessings from Costa Rica! This last month was a bit rocky with some unexpected setbacks. For the last couple of months, we have been waiting for Elijah's birth certificate from the US Department of state. After no progress over the last two months and many phone calls, our case was referred to a "specialist," and then to a supervisor. Nearly 2 months after cashing our check, they are now progressing to print it. We hope to have it soon. In the meantime, we have now found a residency lawyer who will be ready to begin the legal process. We also began the process of purchasing a vehicle. We had several problems with the wire transfer, but at the end of the month, we now have our car! At this point, most of the local taxi drivers now know us and Jeremy has been able to witness to some of them. Once we had our car, we were able to take a trip up to Heredia province where we plan to start our ministry. Not only are houses hard to find, but we have found that the houses tend to cost much more and have less space. We will also need to be creative in our outreach as a large portion are in gated areas with restricted access. We were also blessed that the Lord brought to us a missionary family who wants to help us in the church plant while they are in language school. We have received good news from Nicaragua. Our church plant is continuing to grow. They have several full time Bible Institute students and several more for the Saturday studies. They are also doing evangelistic services throughout the city with the hopes of planting other churches.

Our family is now going through many adjustments being in a new mission field. It has also been a bit of a transition from the grassy fields and horses we frequently saw in Nicaragua to metropolitan area of San Jose/Heredia. Lila is relearning to speak Spanish pretty quickly. It was more difficult for Ellowyn. For a few weeks, she struggled, but she is now much more comfortable with the new culture and language. Elijah surprised us the other day with his first Spanish words like "adios" and "gracias!" For a couple of weeks, our family struggled against some stomach sicknesses, but thankfully, we are all now back in action!

This month, we have some very important decisions to make regarding where we will live, where we will start our next church, and how we will begin. Please pray:

1. That the Lord will lead us to the right house and location to begin our next church plant.

2. That the Lord will open doors and give us opportunities to share the Gospel with others.

3. That the Lord will guide our plans and first steps in our Costa Rican ministry.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz

February 2019 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Costa Rica! The last few weeks have been a blur as we've been working very hard in this transition. Although we are still waiting for one last document from the United States, we have proceeded to make our transition to Costa Rica. Last month, Jeremy and Pastor Kelley took a brief survey trip to Costa Rica. We surveyed 4 cities of significant population that do not have a single Baptist church! We also were able to get a house reserved for our first few months in the country. Upon returning, we then proceeded to get packed up for our move to Costa Rica. Getting through the airport was a challenge with three small children and all of our suitcases, carry-ons, strollers, and car seats, but thankfully, that is not something we have to do frequently. We just arrived in Costa Rica last week and are now starting from square one to get established. We now have the basic necessities for the house, cell phone service, and internet. We are also in the midst of searching for a reliable vehicle to help us be more effective in our ministry.

Moving our family from one country to another is always a bit of a challenge. With every move, there are always many things that we cannot bring, but our children did very well with that. After condensing down our things, we are now doing a short rental agreement until we find a house closer to where we will serve. Although life is more difficult here in some ways, it also has its benefits. Although there are too many things to get done each day, we sometimes have had to slow it down a bit and help our kids to enjoy the special things that Costa Rica offers. Ellowyn was very excited to eat some authentic Gallo Pinto (Costa Rica rice and beans) and we have all enjoyed the fresh fruits from the market. There is also a big adjustment in language and culture... even from Nicaragua! Ellowyn is now relearning Spanish and Lila is now remembering more and more each day!

Just yesterday, we received an unexpected blessing. A church where we had presented our ministry last year has recently voted to take us on for support. Praise the Lord! This month, please pray:

1. That God will bless and provide for the churches in Nicaragua during this time.

2. That God will lead us to the exact city where He would have us plant our next church.

3. That God will protect and help our family as we get established in Costa Rica.

4. That God will use us as a witnesses to lead others to Christ.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and ElijahBlanz