February 2023 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

February is here already and things aren’t slowing down a bit! Last month, our ministry got back into more of a normal rhythm. Jeremy finished preaching through the epistle of James and he is now preaching a little bit more through Proverbs. He is also teaching through the attributes of God on Tuesday nights. Michelle is laying a good foundation in the Children’s ministry with the book of Genesis. We had a special planning meeting on a Tuesday night to talk about the past, present, and future of the church plant. Thankfully, several people have expressed the desire to get involved in serving in different ways. Lord willing, this should help us to make more progress and develop the ministries of the church. We continue to see new people come to the church and we pray that the Lord will lead them to commit to be faithful members. Last month, we took the church van for the yearly inspection. Unfortunately, it failed the emissions test. Hopefully, it won’t be too expensive to get fixed. We are praying about the possibility of holding an English or bilingual service once per month. Many have expressed interest in this and it may be a good way to both minister to English speakers and also reach out to the high number of University students in the area who are eager to learn and practice English.

January was also a month for our family to get back into a more normal routine. Our kids are now back in school. Jeremy is back to a normal weekly routine and is just trying to get caught up on everything that the new year brings. We are also approaching the end of our 2 year legal residency and are working to get it renewed. Thankfully, we are told that this is a much simpler process than it was the first time. Not only this, but we also need to get some passports renewed! There is always so much to be done!

Last month, we shared with you a prayer request for a lady named Liliam. Unfortunately, she is still in the hospital. The doctors have done many tests, but have yet to be able to cure her from whatever type of infection that she is fighting. This month, please pray:

1. That the Lord will heal Liliam or provide a cure in whatever way He sees fit.

2. That the Lord will continue to save souls, add them to the church, and bring them to spiritual maturity.

3. That the Lord will continue to build His church in San Pablo.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

January 2023 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the new year. Last month was a busy month for ministry. Throughout the month we sang many Christmas hymns and Jeremy preached a series of messages on “The Mystery of Godliness” from 1 Timothy 3:16. It was a great opportunity to focus on the incarnation of Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Michelle worked with the kids to prepare them for our first ever Nativity play. We had a special Christmas services and had nearly 40 people. We enjoyed being able to teach them Spanish versions of many of the Christmas hymns that we know and love. We have also continued to proclaim the Gospel throughout San Pablo. One woman named Daisy called upon Christ for salvation. We have also had some new visitors as well as others who have returned. One lady said that she had spent years in church and had never heard such doctrinal and biblical teaching. She encouraged others to not only receive it but also to share it with others. We are now making plans for the new year. We are praying for the Lord’s direction on how we can further expand the ministry this year.

As for our family, we did not do any traveling for Christmas this year. We simply celebrated Christmas with our children and with our church family. Thankfully, the kids were able to get a nice break from school and we were able to enjoy a little bit more sleep each day. It was a good time to spend extra time with Michelle and the kids. We listened to lots of Christmas hymns and were able to both make and eat some nice Christmas treats! We were also able to spend some extra time with friends. God has been good to us in 2022. We now look forward to what God will do in 2023!

Before sharing some prayer requests, I would like to send a special “thank you” to those who have sent us special Christmas offerings. What a blessing! This month please pray:

1. That God will guide us as we seek to renew our legal residency this year.

2. That God will help a lady who attends our church (Liliam) with her eye infection and upcoming surgery.

3. That God will use us to bring the Gospel to more people this year.

4. That more people will receive Christ, follow the Lord in baptism, and join the church this year.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

December 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you will have a merry Christmas! It is hard to believe that we are at the end of another year. On the one hand, it seems like the ministry doesn’t develop fast enough… on the other hand it is hard to believe all that God has done over the last year. Just since January, we have found a church building and obtained all necessary permits. We have moved in, purchased everything needed to set up and hold church services. We have purchased a church van and developed a van route. We held our first VBS and rented additional space to expand the children’s ministry. We have continued in evangelism and all basic church ministries. God has grown and expanded the ministry. God is so good!

Last month, we held a special Thanksgiving service with the church of another BIMI missionary. Jeremy was able to baptize 3 believers from our church. We had a special time of fellowship. Since then we have also had 1 baby dedication and a church fellowship meal. We’ve had visitors nearly every week and generally had an increase in attendance. Michelle has been working with the kids to develop a kids choir and she is now preparing the kids for a special Christmas drama.

As for our family, we have stayed busy. Not only did we have a special Thanksgiving church service, but we also helped with a Thanksgiving event at the school where our kids attend. After all of that, we spent the day of Thanksgiving with our family and tried to get a little rest. We are thankful for God’s goodness and his continual provision. There are times when we don’t know the way forward, but God always makes a way! I am thankful for Michelle and all that she does for our family and ministry. We are also thankful for all who sacrifice to make it possible for us to serve here. We really are blessed. The kids are doing well in school. Elijah has grown very confident in his Spanish… almost too confident. He invents new words from time to time and always gives us a good laugh.

Before closing with a few prayer requests, I would like to thank all who have sent special offerings last month. This month, please pray:

1. That God will continue to bless the ministry here and help us to see more souls saved!

2. That God will give us the strength, endurance, and wisdom needed to do His work.

3. That God will strengthen His people here in Costa Rica and continue to build His church.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

November 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this letter finds each of you doing well. Last month went by very quickly. We have continued our work in evangelism. We’ve had a little extra help from two other men. One elderly man named Wilbur heard the Gospel and called upon Christ for salvation. We are continuing to visit him and encourage him to take the next steps. We have also visited the sick. There is a woman in the church named Liliam who had a tumor in her eye. After a surgery to get it removed, she has had infections, inflammation, and lots of pain. She has been to the hospital many times, but they have not been much help. We had a family movie night activity and watched a Christian movie. There was a pretty good turnout. We have also had many new visitors this last month with several returning. Unfortunately, our regular attendees have not been as regular as normal. Several have faced sickness and other problems, but we hope to see them back soon. This next month, we are planning a special Thanksgiving service with another church pastored by a fellow BIMI missionary. We will also hold a special baptism service that day as well. We presently have 2 confirmed for baptism and hope for a few more to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism. The following week, we will have a baby dedication. It will be a busy month!

As for our family, we stay very busy. Earlier in the month, we celebrated Ellowyn’s 9^th birthday! She has grown so tall that it is sometimes hard to believe that she is only turning 9. The kids are doing well in school and Elijah is speaking more Spanish than ever! Unfortunately, near the end of the month, Michelle’s grandfather passed away. While it has been sad for everybody, there is great comfort in knowing that he not only believed in Jesus as Savior, but lived his life for the Lord. He has served the Lord in many ways such as constructing buildings, helping out with disaster relief efforts, as well as guiding his family to walk with the Lord. His love for the Lord and love for his family have made a strong impact on many people. This is the type of testimony that we would all love to have. Michelle took a brief trip to be with her family during this time and we are glad that she was able to be with them for this time.

Last month, one church sent extra funds for our additional space we are renting for the children’s ministry. Thank you! This month, please pray:

1. That God will help Ms. Liliam with her recovery after the eye surgery which left her with great pain.

2. That God will help us to balance the demands of ministry and keep pressing forward.

3. That God will help us to see more souls saved and added unto the church.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

October 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this letter finds you doing well and encouraged in the Lord. It seems that each month has its share both of blessings and difficulties. We began training some volunteers to serve in the children’s ministry. Unfortunately, it seems that one of the two may not be able to help us to do a work conflict. This means that we have a delay in beginning our second kids class. These things can be disappointing, but we continue to press forward and we are thankful for what the Lord is doing. Just yesterday, we began work to remove a small wall and expand the children’s class area. We will soon work on another part of the building to install a small kitchen. We have continued preaching and teaching the Gospel and we know that it shall not return void. We continue in the work of evangelism and inviting people to church. We meet many who no longer attend church. If they have a testimony of salvation, we invite them and encourage them to return to faithfulness. One lady who visited us last week said that she enjoyed the preaching and the service and will likely return for the midweek service. We have also recently been given the contact information for the director of the public school of San Pablo. It sounds like we will have an opportunity to speak to many parents and will have liberty to share the Gospel. Please pray for this opportunity!

September and October are busy months for birthdays! In September, Lila turned 11 and Jeremy turned “one year older” (38). In October, we will celebrate Ellowyn’s 9^th birthday. Both Lila and Ellowyn were born when we were on deputation. We are thankful to be able to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. They are both a big help when we set everything up for church services. It is a blessing to see how they can serve the Lord in different ways. The kids are all doing well in school and making progress in their Spanish. In some ways, they probably speak better than we do!

This month, we would like to send special thanks to Southwood Baptist church for a special offering for vehicle repair expenses and also to Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church for the special offering to help cover our increased rent at the church building. God has also blessed us with one new supporting church. Praise God! This month, please pray:

1. That the Lord guide us as we seek a new treasurer for the church religious association.

2. That God guide us as we plan to renew our legal residency next year under the religious association.

3. That the Lord continue to raise up laborers for the ministry.

4. That the Lord help us to reach more souls for Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz 

September 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that each of you are doing well. Last month was another busy month! We continue in all of our normal church and outreach activities. Michelle teaches the children’s class and supports the ministry in many ways. Jeremy is teaching a mid-week series on “The Christian Home” and preaching a Sunday series on “Before and After” about the moments which changed the lives of the biblical heroes of the faith. We held a special service for Costa Rican mother’s day and had about 35 people. Our small church space was maxed out! Afterwards, we prayed about what to do on space. The building owner contacted us about an adjacent unit and offered us a reduced price. After praying about it, we decided to step out on faith and begin renting the additional space to use for our growing children’s ministry. We hope to be able to raise a little extra work fund to help cover that cost. We are now using that extra space and are working on plans to begin a second children’s class. Unfortunately, there are some sicknesses going around that has affected our attendance near the end of the month. We have also had some problems with the church van and it’s spent a few days in the shop for repairs.

Last month, Michelle’s parents came down to visit us. It was good to see them again and spend some time with them. It was a short trip, but it was good. The kids enjoyed the last bit of their summer break and have now returned to school. There is a new missionary family attending and Lila has helped their daughter to settle in and make friends. For Elijah’s 5^th birthday, we celebrated his birthday at the school with some of his friends. We hadn’t been able to do anything like that for such a long time due to the pandemic. Near the end of the month, Jeremy received some news from his family about some health difficulties that came up. It is hard to not be able to be there and help, but we are trusting the Lord to help them through it.

As we begin September, we know that we’ve got a lot on our hands. We are still working on some vehicle issues, making adjustments to the children’s ministry, and many other things. This month, please pray:

1. That the Lord will send forth laborers to serve in a new childrens class.

2. That the Lord will provide some extra funds to help cover the additional space that we are renting.

3. That the Lord will lead new believers to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism and be added unto the church.

4. That God will continue to guide us as we take the next few steps in establishing the church in San Pablo.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

August 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family

We hope that this letter finds you doing well. Last month was an encouraging month. We continued our normal evangelism efforts and church services. Jeremy and one man from the church were able to fix up one bathroom and convert another unused bathroom to a small office. After that, we held our first church VBS. We were encouraged that nearly everybody from the church stepped up to help in some way. We averaged about 30-35 people per day. We saw one mother receive Christ as Savior. Since then, we have seen higher than normal attendance. Our children’s class is now at max capacity and we are praying about starting a second children’s class. However, in order to do that, we will need some people to step up and commit to serve in that area. Near the end of the month, we had some water issues at the church building. Hopefully, they should be resolved this week.

As for our family, the kids are now on summer break. They all did very well at school and had very good grades. Even Elijah has made a lot of progress this last year socially as he is now speaking more and more Spanish. Lila will soon be entering 5^th grade, Ellowyn will be entering 4^th grade, and Elijah will begin kindergarten. We have tried to enjoy the slightly slower pace of “summer break” with a little more family time. We are finally able to focus on settling in to the house a bit more. We have set up some new shelves and organized a lot of things room by room. We were also able to go visit another missionary family that lives not too far from here. It was nice to talk about the progress of missions here in Costa Rica as well as some of the things that need to be done in the future.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our VBS last month. I believe the Lord really blessed! This month, please pray for the following:

1. That the Lord will send forth laborers to serve in a new childrens class.

2. That the Lord will lead new believers to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism and be added unto the church.

3. That God will continue to guide us as we take the next few steps in establishing the church in San Pablo.

Thank you!

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz