We just spent the most wonderful three months with a very special visitor, my mom, Lúcia. She arrived in late September and just left our home on December 9. What an incredible blessing! This is the first time she’s been able to visit our home in San Pedro, and the first time our children have had such uninterrupted time with family. I cannot tell you how amazing it has been for me to see my kids really get to know their grandmother and spend such quality time with her. Because she was here with us so close to Christmas, and because we’ve never had someone here for the holidays, we decided to celebrate a little early. We had Thanksgiving, both Sam and Ellie’s birthdays, and Christmas all within a week and a half! It was quite the way to wrap up her time here! Thank you for such a special visit, mom, we already miss you mucho!
In our last letter we explained that Andy was set to go to Africa on a missions trip. At the last minute, the trip was cancelled due to the leader/organizer contracting Covid, but his trip to the USA (connecting flights, preaching/visiting a few churches while there, etc) was already scheduled so we decided he should go to the states anyway. He was gone for 3 weeks, and was able to have some wonderful visits and get a lot done during his trip. Thank you to everyone who hosted him, and showered him with so much love while he was there! Also, if Andy was unable to see you, please try to understand how short 3 weeks is while making a trip like this. While he was gone we had three local missionaries help with our church services. Thank you to Tom Stiles, Marlon Cordova, and León Orellana for all their help with preaching in Andy’s absence. Please pray for these men and their families as they also minister in difficult areas with very little gospel presence.
The day after Andy arrived home here in San Pedro, he was able to sign papers taking ownership of a new piece of land in the center of town! The mission is now the proud owner of the future site of the Church of San Pedro! As we’ve mentioned previously, Church on Fire, in Harrison, OH, committed to purchasing land and helping us build a church building while we were visiting the states last winter and God finally provided the perfect place! Thank you to everyone at Church on Fire for making this happen!! We are SO excited to see what the Lord has in store for this town and the people in it! Please pray as we begin to draw up plans and get the required permissions to build; this will all be in the works over the next few weeks. There are many people in power here who are opposed to the presence of non-catholics in town, and we need favor when it comes to all the permissions required for getting water, permits, etc.
During Andy’s trip, many people asked about coming down on a trip to help us build the church, etc. We were SO excited about the response, but the federal government here in Ecuador just passed a law last week requiring full vaccination certificates for any and all travelers coming into Ecuador, even citizens. They’ve even made it mandatory for us to show vaccine certificates to enter any government buildings and all private businesses, so we are now not allowed in any grocery store, hardware store, etc. Please pray that this would not be permanent! This could continue to get worse and now has totally prohibited us from leaving the country since we couldn’t come back. Due to many existing health issues, I am unwilling to risk the shot for myself or the children (especially Jude, who has had a stroke), and they do not currently believe in exemptions. For those of you who want to come and are unvaccinated, we are hoping this restriction will be lifted in a few months, but only time will tell. Please help us pray for liberty to reign!
We want to wrap up this update by wishing you all happy holidays! It seems that lately everyone has been saying, “we hope this next year is a lot better than 2020/21,” but it’s true. We really hope and pray that this coming year will be one where we see the breakthroughs we’ve been praying for. That lost family would come to Jesus, that our town would see a revival, that health would improve, and that you, friend, would see that move of the Lord you’ve been praying for as well. Let us yearn for a mighty move of God in our own lives and all over the world this coming year. The things happening all around us can be discouraging, but we must stay focused on the race ahead of us. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12).” “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Heb 12:1-3).”
Blessings in Christ,
Priscilla, Andy, Jude, Sam, and Ellie
PS: We just wanted to let all of you know we are going to do our best to get you a tax receipt for your giving by the end of January, but if you need one before then, please don’t hesitate to email your request and we can quickly email you an electronic copy (just as valid legally). Also, please note that any offerings/donations given personally to the DVarga’s are not tax deductible and thus will not receive a tax receipt. Thank you for your understanding with this and thanks so much to you who gave this way!
Remember that you can "donate" passively simply by adding us as your preferred charity on AmazonSmile, and through Kroger Community Rewards, and both of these are completely free ways to support the mission! Details on how to do this are at the bottom of this webpage
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.
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