Dear friends and family in Christ,
I (Priscilla) always thought that the lack of true seasons here in Ecuador is what made time seem to go by so fast, but I guess it’s just the way life is these days. Time seems to be flying by, and I can hardly keep up! They say that happens as you age… but I’m pretending it’s just because the world is so busy and that it’s happening to everyone… haha! It’s now been nearly 10 months that we’ve been home, and nearly as long since we started having regular church services here in San Pedro. Honestly, it’s been a wild ride so far, and overall we’ve seen a better reception than we could ever have imagined in our little home town.
Pepe and Mercedes are two new members that have been faithfully coming to church since they heard what we’ve been doing. While not originally from San Pedro, they’re landowners that have been living here since the start of the pandemic, and they’re eager to get involved. It’s so refreshing to see people who want to serve! They also own a piece of property about a block away from the property we’ve been renting in the center of town, and they are willing to sell it for a decent price in order to start building a church. Please be in prayer with us that if this is the Lord’s will, He will make it clear!
Church/Bible study has been going very well lately. A lot of the attack has died down and more and more individuals have been coming to hear the messages. In the last few services we’ve regularly had 30+ attendees which, to be honest, is shocking for a town our size, and even more surprising due to the devotion most of these individuals have toward the established beliefs here. Andy has decided to teach verse by verse through the book of Galatians, and it’s been super blessed. Everyone seems so eager to really find out what the Bible says, and we feel there’s no better way to show them than by simply reading it and studying it all together. Please pray that everyone coming would gain understanding, and that we would see souls saved and our town transformed by the Gospel!
Our food outreach has been going well, and we’ve consistently had around 100 families every month receiving food rations. Some people say the economy is improving, but from what we see among those receiving food from the ministry, it doesn’t seem that way. Of course anytime you have a food ministry, it’s hard to tell who comes because it’s free and who comes because they need it, but we haven’t had any
fewer recipients lately. One friend who helps out with the food ministry is Saula, please pray for her. She’s been such a help, and has lately had some trouble with the landlord of her rental
home. She has been given 2 months to find a new place without giving her a reason why. We can’t be sure, but given our history with people being threatened with eviction for having us in their homes, it seems reasonable to believe that the motive is her association with us. San Pedro is a notoriously difficult place to find housing, so she is concerned about where she will possibly find a place to live within such a short time frame. Please pray for Saula, and please continue to pray for the ministry she helps us with!
We’ve been very blessed by the presence of my mom, Lúcia, coming to visit! She arrived the last week of September and will stay until a week into December. The kids are over the moon about their grandmother being here, and Andy and I are too! We’ve never had such an extended visit from family, and I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to see the children around one of the people they love most in this world. While she’s here keeping me company, Andy has the opportunity to go to the USA while on his way to a short missions trip to Liberia, in Africa, for ten days. He will only be in the USA for a very short time, so please forgive him for not having the time to visit everyone. A friend felt like Andy was supposed to go on this trip, and offered to cover the cost of his ticket! Andy also feels pretty strongly that God wants him to go, so we’ve planned out his trip for the end of this month, and are praying for big things to happen!
The really exciting thing about this trip is the potential long-term impact this will have on Acts 1:8 Mission Society. As most of you remember, we started this mission society with the dream of seeing it expand to involve missionaries around the world, not just in Ecuador. This trip to Africa is motivated by another worker’s calling to begin work among addicts in Liberia. We are really excited to see how the mission can expand to include other missionaries starting other ministries around the world! Please help us pray and seek God’s will concerning this opportunity. Also, please continue to help us pray for fellow laborers here in Ecuador. We desperately need long-term committed workers here in Ecuador and it seems fewer people are ready to leave all behind for the sake of the gospel and the testimony of Jesus these days.
While Andy’s gone from us, I’ll be in charge of a lot of the ministry that he does here in San Pedro, and several missionary friends of ours are also coming to help do the preaching! We are so so blessed to be part of an extended community of missionaries willing to support each other to keep ministry going when we are in a bind! Praise the Lord for family in Christ!! Please pray for Andy’s trip, my mom’s time here, and for our fellow missionaries who will be taking turns helping out with church while he’s gone!
Thank you all so much for your continued support of the work in Ecuador, and your countless prayers that have kept us going for so many years! I know we say it all the time, but we are only able to be here by the grace of God and the prayers of our family in Christ. We thank God always for you.
With love in Christ,
Priscilla, Andy, and children.
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.
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