Hello from the other side of the equator!!!
I can't tell you how good it feels to be home! We arrived safely in Ecuador after having one of the best travel experiences since we first set foot here. Thanks so much to each of you who prayed for our safe travels! I'm not sure who's more excited - Priscilla, me, or the kids. The kids are super excited to have their own bedrooms and to be able to play outside without freezing to death! It sounds like we got out of Cincinnati just in time before all the snow. We're excited to tell you that before we even hit the ground a lot of cool stuff started happening. We almost don't know where to start because there's so much and we can't put it all in one letter, so we will stick with the big things! :)
Back in Harrison, Ohio, where we reside when on deputation in the U.S., we attend Church on Fire Ministries (CFM) when not on the road. A week or so before we left the United States we were at CFM and at the end of the service pastor Doug called Priscilla and me up to the pulpit. He explained that he felt that God was leading the church there to help us build a church in San Pedro where we live! This was a total surprise to us and we wept in astonishment at the goodness of the church and of the Lord! So, we need a lot of prayer, discernment, and guidance as we move forward looking at properties, consider building designs, etc. This is going to be a long process and we ask each of you to please remember us in your prayers; that as complicated as building the physical structure is going to be, it is much more intricate building the church of Christ! “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder (Apostle Paul Speaking) I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire (I Corinthians 3:7-15, ESV).” Please pray because we certainly are not master builders yet, and we long to be all God wants us to be!
On top of that, our first week back we went to the big city and I went into the prison. I was pleasantly surprised and thankful to find that the director of the prison (who is a Christian) was still working there and in charge! That is a really big deal based on the fact that in my five years working there, there has never been another Director work there longer than around eight months (he has been there for a year and a half or two years now). This is in part because the drug cartels do not like people in this position stopping them from bringing drugs into the prisons. Please pray for him as he is under a lot of attack because he is trying to clean the prison up (His name is Santiago).
When I first arrived inside the prison he called me into his office and began to tell me that they had been planning a big Christian outreach event and it was scheduled to take place the next week (which was 02/05/21). He asked me if I would preach and of course I said I would. They had excellent Christian musicians come in, special sound equipment brought in, and even had the incarcerated women from the segregated women's side brought over to be part of it all! Several different evangelical denominations were represented at the event. It was very well planned and put together, and was held in a sector of the prison so that only those who wanted to voluntarily come could arrive and hear and experience what was going on. I would say about half of the men and women chose to take part and come to the outreach. I guess this to be around 500 people! I even heard testimonies of the incarcerated Christians fasting and praying for months before the event took place; that God would move and save many souls and deliver those in bondage. I believe that is exactly what happened! When the altar call was given dozens and dozens of people responded. Please pray for those who gave their hearts to the Lord! Pray for all me and the others in leadership; that we would disciple these new believers and be light and salt in a dark and foul environment!
As far as the local mission work, big things are happening! We have resumed our food distribution upon returning and it seems the people in our town are more in need than ever before. It also appears that we are more welcome and appreciated than ever before. A lot more people are showing up and show every sign of being happy to see us; we were honestly surprised by how well received we have been! So the first time we gave food out since being back one of the ladies asked me to preach a little before distributing the food, so that is what I did. We had no less than 30 families show up the second time out and the response to the preaching shocked both Priscilla and I. We had many of them come up and comment how much they appreciated hearing the Word preached and encouraged us to keep sharing a message from the Bible during our outreaches! We had several stick around afterward asking questions about what they heard and displayed interest in learning/hearing more. The third time we had even more people show up and many pray to accept Christ after the message. We really need discernment as to how to best disciple the people, what to preach on, how get the food to those most in need, etc. Please pray for each of these needs as we seek to show them the love only God can give!
We want to close by telling each of you who provided housing and car, prayed, visited with us, made a meal for us, took us out to a meal, gave, and loved on us while in the States this past trip, that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Thanks so much for being part of I Corinthians 3:8-9! I can say before God that we have the best supporters in the world behind us and we can’t thank you enough!
May grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!
Andy, Priscilla, Jude, Sam, and Elena
Please send all monetary contributions to:
Acts 1:8 Mission Society
PO Box 212
Harrison, OH 45030.
You can continue to 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).
You can also write checks to Priscilla or Andy DVarga with "gift" in the memo section, but you will NOT receive a tax-deductible receipt at the end of the year for funds given this way. 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.
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