February 2021 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

It's hard to believe that it is already February! In January, we hit the ground running and haven't stopped yet! We have begun holding services in our new location and have seen an increased attendance. I believe that it was the right step at the right time. Our in person children's Sunday School has also been a success. By the 3rd or 4th week, we were already at maximum capacity in our home. Last week, we made the transition to holding Sunday School in our new location where we will have more space. It has been a blessing for the kids to learn together and play together. The parents have also enjoyed being able to fellowship during this time. In the coming weeks, we will begin an adult Sunday school class as well. We are also excited to see a small group going out for visitation evangelism every week. Unfortunately, we ran into a few more obstacles in our legal residency process. Thankfully, as of yesterday, we have one more step completed and should be receiving our IDs very soon. We are in a race against the clock to obtain our IDs and obtain Costa Rican driver's licenses before we lose the ability to drive again. We have also seen some more positive developments in the religious association which we are establishing. It is some extra work, but this should provide an open door for future missionaries to serve in Costa Rica as well as legal protection for our future ministries.

As we begin February, we will be seeing a lot of new changes. Next week, our girls will be beginning classes at a small Christian school. In order to serve here as missionaries, Costa Rica requires that we come in through the invitation of another legally established ministry. We are thankful for a Christian School that has extended this invitation. Michelle will be helping to teach English for a few hours per week. During this time, Elijah will be attending a preschool where he will make huge strides in learning Spanish. On top of everything else last month, we had about a week or so when we had we had to practice quarantine due to exposure to the COVID virus. Shortly after exposure to a family that was later confirmed positive for COVID, Michelle came down sick. Not only did we have to move some church activities to digital, but we also had to make several changes around the house. After a few days, Michelle was able to get a test. Thankfully, she did not have COVID. We were relieved to return to normal.

For the month of February, could you please pray for the following:

1. That God enable us to finish our residency and get our licenses before losing ability to drive.

2. That God will continue to work in the hearts of those who have heard the Gospel.

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

4. That God will provide the funds needed for the church here to have their own building.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

January 2021 Prayer Letter

 Dear Friends and Family,

Happy new year! We hope that each of you get a good start to the new year. As difficult as it was this last year, we are thankful for God's faithfulness through it all. This year, we hope to take some big steps forward! We held a small Christmas party for the children's ministry which was a big step in the right direction. Michelle organized a Christmas event for the ladies ministry which also saw positive movement towards in-person services. For our regular services, most still connect online but we are seeing a gradual return to in-person services. Last month we saw several answered prayer requests. First, right before Christmas we finally received the last approval letter from the government for our residency. This means we can now finish the process and resolve many of the legal hurdles we have faced in the ministry. As far as evangelism is concerned, we are seeing others get involved in visitation. We also gained access to visit one more gated neighborhood, which is a blessing. Due to the legal hurdles and COVID regulations, it has been near impossible to find a suitable location to hold services. Ever since the complete ban on church services was lifted in September, Jeremy has been working hard to find a place to hold services. We exhausted nearly every possible option. However, last month Jeremy was able to speak with some local business owners about an idea which could be a blessing for the both of us. it turns out that they are Christians and have great respect for the work of church planting. Not only that, but this plan would end up being highly beneficial for both of us! After a couple weeks of praying and working out the details, we made an arrangement to rent the use of their business location on Sundays to hold services. Beginning in January, we are starting a weekly in-person children's Sunday School class. We are also holding a special service to give thanks to God for his faithfulness this last year and for providing us a suitable place to meet. We also have plans to do a Vacation Bible School near the end of the month.

Last month Elijah was able to get his stitches removed. Unfortunately, they could not remove all of them. We ended up having to schedule another appointment to remove more of the stitches which were quite deep. Thankfully, he is healing up fairly well. During Christmas it was a difficult to be away from our family. Michelle's parents were able to come visit at the end of the month. That was a big blessing.

As we begin the near year, it appears that 2021 will be a year of both great challenges and great opportunities. There is now a second wave of COVID hitting Costa Rica and the government has already announced stricter regulations beginning in January. This month, please pray:

1. That God blesses the in-person children's Sunday School class and the Vacation Bible School.

2. That God will give us a great start at the new meeting location.

3. That God will continue to establish His church and use us to reach even more souls for Christ in 2021.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

December 2020 Prayer Letter

 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

November 2020 Prayer Letter

 Dear Friends and Family, November 2020

Greetings from Costa Rica! We are still pushing forward in the pandemic. Last month, we took a few steps in the right direction. We have begun holding our services both in person and online. We have seen a few people come to the in person services, but not as many as we would like. We are also facing some opposition here, but we must keep moving on. But as a whole, we are still seeing some slow growth and a gradual return to pre-COVID normal. Last month, Jeremy held our first meeting for our men's ministry. There were about 10 men who attended. Michelle has continued to do ladies meetings and children's classes. Jeremy is also trying to work our visitation and evangelism ministry back to what it was. We will be looking to find a new location in the future.

As for our family, we have been doing pretty well. It is sometimes hard to keep pushing against all things things working against us, but God has been good to keep us going strong. We have been pretty healthy. Our support has held up fairly well. We are very thankful for all who pray for us and sacrifice for us to continue serving here in Costa Rica. We are now approaching the end of the school year here in Costa Rica. We are praying and seeking the Lord for what the Lord would have us to do this next school year. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving this year and we will be celebrating with some missionary friends of ours. As we are writing this, we just received emails from the government which appear to say that both Elijah and Ellowyn are approved for 2 years of legal residency. The strange thing is that we have not yet received letters for the rest of the family. Hopefully, the other letters will arrive soon and we can finish up the final stretch of this very long process (nearly 2 years of waiting!).

This month, we are looking forward to making some more progress in the right direction. Please pray for the following requests:

1. That our residency and religious association processes will soon be approved by the government.

2. That we can help our church plant to take several more steps towards becoming an established church.

2. That God will bless our evangelism efforts, save souls, and add to His church.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

October 2020 Prayer Letter

 

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that each of you are doing well! According to the New York Times, Costa Rica has the 9th highest number of new COVID cases in the world per 100,000 residents. Thankfully, there seems to be a slight reduction in new cases over the last few days. Things are gradually opening back up. Unfortunately, until our legal residency process is completed and our religious association is approved, we cannot get permits needed to hold services in a rented building. We have looked for closed church buildings to rent which would already have permits... but to no avail. We have sought after local event halls, but the few that are nearby are all closed. We have even contacted every church that is nearby with the hopes to be able to rent the use of their building on a day when it is not used... all with no success. Instead, we have found that many other established churches are struggling with the same issues. Some have already lost their buildings. Others are unable to meet in the buildings that they have due to lack of permits and increased government enforcement. We then made plans to hold "Bible studies" and "prayer meetings" in our home as we did before the pandemic. We did a trial run service with our family with others attending virtually in Zoom and Facebook live. We did not use a microphone or external speaker beyond the projector. After the service we found out that our neighbor has contacted the neighborhood association and threatened to call the police on us. This was extremely discouraging as it seemed like our last option. Through a highly unusual circumstance, Jeremy was able to speak with the chief of police. After discussing the situation, we learned that it is precisely because we are not yet formally identified as a church that we are able to hold such meetings in our home without the risk of government closure. This last week we held our first "normal" service with Zoom and Facebook integration. Not only did our neighbor NOT call the police as she threatened (to our knowledge), but she has made comments to the neighborhood association that she felt the need to change in some ways. Among other blessings, the work has continued to grow and one man named Alonso prayed to receive Christ as Savior.

Family life has continued to be unusual. School classes has been canceled for the rest of the year. For Lila's 9th birthday we were able to take her to visit a coffee farm. Ellowyn will be turning 7 this month. Where does the time go? Elijah has been making great progress on his Bible verses. He has now memorized Bible verses for the letters A-H. The girls have also been able to receive some tutoring in Spanish which is very helpful during this time when they rarely go out. All in all we are so ready for things to get back to normal.

This month, please pray:

1. That our legal residency and religious association will be approved so that we may get the required permits.

2. That we may keep moving forward and see an even faster expansion of churches being planted.

3. That God will use us to help see more souls saved and disciples made for Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

September 2020 Prayer Letter

 Dear Friends and Family,

We are now in full blown rainy season here in Costa Rica. As for the pandemic, new cases are still increasing faster than ever. We are presently in what is called a transition phase, but churches should be able to begin holding in-person services soon. We have a few obstacles that we are trying to work around. We are still awaiting the approval of our legal residency as well as the religious association which is necessary to exist as a church and not face government closure. Because of this, we are having to be both wise and creative in finding ways to move forward. Who ever said that planting a church during a pandemic would be easy? We have continued developing our online services and outreach. Jeremy has been preaching a series on "Jesus, The Savior" as well as teaching through the doctrines of the Holy Spirit. We have continued to see slow and steady growth. Michelle has kept busy in developing the ladies ministry. We have seen continual growth in the ladies ministry and have heard great feedback from some who have been attending. She has also been holding virtual children's classes which have also seen growth. We were also very excited that one of the first members of our first church in Nicaragua will be sent out in January with her husband to plant a new church in Northern Nicaragua. What a blessing! They have not only received the Gospel but are now multiplying the Gospel ministry through national church planting. Please pray for them.

As expected, the COVID pandemic has been challenging for our family and other families around us. Jeremy has been able to help some other needy families with food during this time. Michelle stays very busy with all of the homeschooling she does for our girls. She is actually doing both the local schooling in Spanish as well as a homeschool program in English. Between caring for the kids, schooling the kids, and doing lots of the ministry, it seems like the days just don't have enough hours to get it all done! But we are glad to see that they are both doing very well, despite the difficulties. Near the end of last month, we celebrated Elijah's 3rd birthday. It was a bit unusual to celebrate with only our immediate family, but that's just part of how life is at this time. During our nightly devotionals, Jeremy is now teaching him Bible verses for children from A to Z. This was a blessing for our girls and he has been enjoying learning these Bible verses as well.

As a result of the pandemic, we have seen a decrease in our support level. We are extremely grateful for all who have supported our ministry and for those who sacrifice in order to keep doing so. Please know that we are praying for you during this time as well. This month, please pray:

1. That God will help us to reach more souls for the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. That God will continue to build and establish His church here in San Pablo, Costa Rica.

3. That God will strengthen and provide the needs of churches in the USA and continue sending forth laborers into His harvest!

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz

August 2020 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family, 

Greetings from Costa Rica! We hope that you are doing well. Here, in Costa Rica, we are in the midst of the second wave of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the lockdown rules are stricter than they ever were before, but we are doing our best to keep pushing forward. Nearly all businesses and commerce has been closed apart from essentials like food and medicine. We presently have 1 week of opening phase before 2 more weeks of closure phase. Jeremy has continue to teach and preach 2-3 times per week. He has also been increasing our online outreach. Michelle has been organizing ladies meetings which have increased in attendance. She has also been holding online kids classes which are also growing. Jeremy has begun to get the men involved in planning for creative and innovative forms of outreach during this time. He has also been able to help others with food during this time.

As for our family life, COVID-19 has changed many things. For one, it has been about 5 months since we have been able to leave the house regularly. Our kids have continued to do their schooling online. Elijah has recently started his most basic level homeschool. We have really had to be creative to find opportunities to get the kids out of the house to get a little sun and exercise. Jeremy and Elijah were able to get much needed haircuts during the one week open phase. We are really looking forward to when things are able to open up again. We are very thankful that we were able to have the opportunity to begin the ministry here in San Pablo for a little over a month before the pandemic hit Costa Rica. Thankfully, all of that hard work and momentum gave us just enough of a start to form a core group for the church plant that has stuck with us during this time.

Although the situation has been tough, we are thankful that God has been good to us. We are still on the mission field and we are still able to do the work. This month, please pray:

1. That God will help us to be innovative in reaching people with the Gospel, despite the obstacles to ministry.

2. That God will help us to reach more souls for Christ.

3. That God will continue to establish the new church plant here in San Pablo, Costa Rica.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz