View of San Pedro de la Bendita

To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth

Hello from San Pedro! Just let me apologize in advance for the extremely long letter, there’s just SO much I want to say! We have finally unpacked and we are renting a house in a small town 15-20 minutes outside of Catamayo where we had been living. Thanks so much for praying for us to find a place! We honestly were having an extremely hard time seeing how the house we are renting was of God, but we are now starting to understand. We are living in a town where there is not one evangelical church, a population of about 5,000 (just a rough guess), very few non-Roman Catholics (we only know of 2 other families), and a place where Catholicism has gone unchallenged since the Spaniards arrived in this region in 1540-50! They tell us that we are the first missionaries to ever come to live here, which is what our hearts have longed to find for a long time. It feels like the Lord has been preparing us for this moment in history our whole lives and yet there are great difficulties. We were told by some of the people here that the local priest is advising his parishioners to throw boiling water on us and burn our house down. We didn’t hear it directly from the priest himself, but we sense it is true because that is not that uncommon here in South America. We have also been told that the priest frequently threatens the locals with curses if they allow people “like us”; i.e. Christians, to live in their rentals and thus gets them kicked out.

While struggling to find the benefits of living in our little house (let’s just say it has some major downfalls), we found out some very enlighteningnews. We are renting from a lady who just happened to be visiting from Spain and rented us her house. I’m confident this is no accident! Not only is our landlord living in Spain, but 6 days into renting her house, she discovered that her sister and mother (who currently live here) were granted visas to go to Spain with her. They are all leaving within a month, and there will no longer be any of her immediate family here. There will be no one for the priest to pressure for our eviction! We definitely feel this is the reason we are in this house and not somewhere else. Please pray for the Lord’s protection, but more so that souls will be saved and He will be glorified through our lives! We already have a young man, named José, who is showing great interest in us and in the Gospel. He comes by every few days and likes to ask lots of questions, which we are very happy to answer. Please pray for José, that he would continue to show interest, that God would touch his heart, and that he would come to a saving relationship with Jesus! There is also another family that believes in the gospel and seems hungry to learn more. Pray they keep coming, growing, and have the spiritual strength to stand against the persecution here. We are so excited to build relationships with the people here and share the Gospel with them as well as our continued work in Catamayo.

We know we said this in our last letter, but please pray for workers! A small town of 5,000 people may seem like it is not much of a big deal that there are no evangelical churches here, and that more missionaries might be unnecessary. The thing is, San Pedro de la Bendita (our town) is one town of thousands just like it, all around us in the same spiritual state, with the same spiritual needs. Also, San Pedro is a main hub for the most pervasive idol in all of Ecuador: the Virgin of El Cisne (La Virgen del Cisne). This statue of the Virgin Mary draws more than 400,000 people annually on a pilgrimage from the neighboring town of El Cisne (about 30 minutes away), here to San Pedro (where they will bring the statue and worship it for 3 to 4 days), and on to the provincial capital of Loja. It is a huge business and source of income for a large group of people. I was reading in Acts 19 about Paul’s time in Ephesus, and felt like we are living in our own Ephesus right now… “23. About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. 24For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; 25 these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. 26 “You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. 27 “Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.” 28 When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Acts 19:23-28 NASB … Imagine if the people of this town no longer worshipped their patron statue! It could impact this whole area! This statue is the MAIN reason people are reluctant to hear the truth. They are so in bondage to worshipping it that they have great fear of giving it up. When we mention Jesus to people they always respond with “but what about my beautiful Virgin, you cannot ask me to give her up, she is my healer, my savior.” Please, we implore you to pray for the people of San Pedro and the surrounding towns! Pray for workers! Pray the statue would burn down, fall and break, or God would strike it with lightning; better if it happened while carrying it through the streets with a half a million onlookers! We are currently praying something like this happens during the main festival in mid-August. This way all can clearly see what they are worshipping, and how our Lord feels about it; for “gods made with hands are no gods at all.”

Maybe this seems extreme or heavy handed, but allow me to explain. I (Priscilla) have never seen such all-encompassing bondage everywhere I look. Please imagine with me for a moment… Imagine that when you step outside your door every single face you see is the face of someone who is lost, and has no hope in Christ. There is no wondering, because you know that they do not know the truth… no one does. Imagine that every block or two a man is sleeping on the sidewalk, not because he is homeless but because he is literally too drunk to walk back to his home. This is a small piece of the reality we are faced with; this is San Pedro. This is the province of Loja, and nearly every town within its borders. Pray that hearts would be burdened for the lost and dying around us, who are so in bondage that they refuse to open their eyes to see the light. Pray that God would give us discernment over when to speak and when to be silent. Pray for open minds and hearts around us. Pray! Andy, Priscilla, Jude, Samuel, & Elena UPDATED GIVING INFORMATION, PLEASE FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS BELOW: - Please send all monetary contributions to (our address has not changed): Acts 1:8 Mission Society 123 Burk Ln. Harrison, OH 45030. And make all checks payable to: “Acts 1:8 Mission Society” with“DVarga” in the memo section (All funds donated in this way will continue to go entirely to the DVarga family AND our mission work in Ecuador and are tax-deductible). If you need a quarterly tax statement or just want to contact us, please just write to the address above or call.Our phone #: (513) 334-8281