Greetings from the USA!!

This month we have some not so great news to share before we get to ministry updates. As many of you know, I (Priscilla) came with the kids to the states before Andy because we had to do medical stuff for the kids. Jude, our oldest, had been seizure free for two years and we weaned him off of his anti-epilepsy drugs for the first time since he was two years old. In the epilepsy world, two years without seizures is kind of the major milestone that most neurologists look for when weaning medications, and we were so happy to have reached it!! For those who don’t know, Jude had a stroke in the womb and was left with Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy as a result of that traumatic brain injury. Our trip from Ecuador was very taxing. Jude was only able to sleep about 3 hours while we were in a hotel in Quito, and then the next day we took an overnight flight to Atlanta that left him with only another 2 hours of very disturbed sleep. Running on 5 hours of sleep in two days, I had him take a nap when we made it to Cincinnati and he seemed refreshed and happy. Sleeplessness is one of the main triggers for seizures. When bedtime rolled around…things took a turn for the worse. He became very disoriented and incoherent. I took him to bed and laid with him, and he started seizing. Unfortunately I had to give him two strong doses of his rescue medication to get the seizure to stop (which is probably the equivalent of Valium for those familiar with medicines), and called the life squad to check his breathing and oxygen levels. So… he still has epilepsy and hasn’t outgrown it as we thought he had. His neurology team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has been amazing, and they feel like he can stay off his medication for now to let his body heal, but honestly I am a bit crushed.

We knew this was a possibility but had always hoped and prayed that he had outgrown the Epilepsy. Knowing that that hasn’t already happened is truly discouraging. That being said, Jude is a happy, relatively healthy child, and we are so grateful that he is having this time to be a medicine-free kid. While nothing has really changed in our day to day lives, the future looks a little bit dimmer/more stressful, and we really need God’s peace in this area. Please pray for our boy, and that the Holy Spirit would comfort us as we figure out what He has for Jude and for us as his parents. I’m going to let Andy take over from here for the rest of the letter!

Onto brighter topics, we have felt really loved and appreciated here in the southern province of Loja. Sometimes you don’t really know how much people appreciate you until you prepare to leave them. One close friend that I (Andy) have been discipling and that comes to the weekly Bible study in our home (along with his wife and kids) turned to me the other day with tears in his eyes and said “brother you don’t know how much you have helped me and how much we are going to miss you.” I could hardly believe it and I knew without a doubt in that moment that God was working through me, because I can do nothing to help or change a man! All that said, it is a beautiful thing and very encouraging when you recognize God using you! Our pastor here also has been telling me a lot lately how much he is going to miss us and how much help we have been to him. But on the other side it is really hard to leave knowing that all the work I am and have been doing has to cease for 3 months. That is why so many missions have multiple families working side by side and why we desperately need partners to work beside us! Please continue to pray for God’s will to be done and for Him to send laborers into the harvest field!

The kids trying to catch their first snowflakes. Light flurries are exciting for kids who've never seen snow!

This week was a huge blessing. We (My pastor (Fausto) here in Catamayo and I) went to meet a guy that his ex-wife sent us to saying he really needed help. Fausto said he was told the man was hard-hearted and an atheist and was a bit nervous. We showed up and he was waiting on us and seemed a bit apprehensive at first. He quickly warmed up to us and I saw a man ripe for the harvest! His name is Brauno and he is in his mid 30’s. He “fell in love” and four months after he got married his wife left him (we don’t know the details yet) but he was/is crushed! He grew up Catholic like most here, but sees/feels the emptiness and lack of power to change in his life. So, he has stared seriously reading the Bible! He had TONS of questions about what he had been reading and we talked for 2 hours straight! He is still working through what he believes, but is anxious to have us back every Wednesday to study the Bible. Please pray for him and that he would accept the gospel and Jesus as Lord in his life! It seems God is preparing him and giving him a hunger to know the Word of God and that is a VERY precious thing indeed!

Sharing the Gospel on a home visit

Quickly I want to let everyone know that I (Andy) got permission to re-enter the prison in Loja two weeks ago. I was able to keep going in most of the time I didn’t technically have a valid pass to go in, but I did miss about 2 weeks. By God’s grace and your prayers, I was able to get my pass renewed under the new director’s authority for another year! Thanks for your prayers in this area and please continue to pray for the believers and the lost in the Loja prison and that God would continue to use me to preach Jesus’ power to free the bound up sinner!

Lastly I want to let you all know again that I will be in the U.S. in two weeks and my family is already there. If you would like me to visit/speak at your church, small group, Sunday School group, etc. please just contact me through any of the means below. PLEASE just make sure you ALREADY have your pastors permission (or the leader of the group). Also, if you would like the times and dates of places we are already scheduled to preach/share about our mission work, just contact me through any of the means below. May God bless and THANKS SO MUCH for your love and support! Greatly looking forward to seeing all of you!

With love from us all,

Andy, Priscilla, Jude, Sam, Elena

- Please send all monetary contributions to: 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

To donate through PayPal electronically please scroll to the top of the page and click the "Donate" tab.

Phone: Magicjack#: 513-334-8281 Our local Cincinnati phone number that we are able to receive in Ecuador. It works through the Internet and is just like calling any Cincinnati phone number.