Greetings from Ecuador,
I pray that everyone is doing well and that this letter finds you in good spirits. As most of you who read our letters on a regular basis know, our last letter was not necessarily written in the best
of times. Things have been really difficult for our family over the last 6 months, but the Lord has been so good to us and extremely merciful to see us through it all. I am so thankful to be able to share with you all that the Lord has provided housing for us right where we needed it to be! We are close to the hospitals and close to our home church!!! I (Andy) will be traveling back to the U.S.A. in a few days and will be back with my family after over 2 months apart! It has been a trying time, but it hasn’t been all bad. Samuel has braces and they are successfully moving his teeth around to prepare for surgery and the kids are growing and learning so much as they advance in their studies. We believe it will take at least 4 more months and possibly 6 to get Samuel where he is ready for surgery, but maybe more. That being said, I will most likely be traveling back to Ecuador at some point to resume the ministry here, but for the mean time we will be together during the holidays and be able to enjoy being with extended family and friends. Thanks so much for your prayers and support; for all the emails, encouragements, and ideas everyone shared as we went through these hard times!
As life goes, it is looking like Priscilla is also going to have a major operation in December having a hysterectomy because of endometriosis. This has been plaguing her with pain and all kinds of other problems for years now, and it seems as if the Lord has given us the perfect opportunity to deal with it. The doctor is saying that recovery time will be around six weeks, but that she should be fine to walk around after a week or two. She will just need to be very careful about lifting weight and picking things up. We ask you all to please pray that the surgery goes well, and that the problems it has caused will all be taken care of! Please pray for a full recovery and that we can actually enjoy time with friends and family over this holiday season!
The church here in San Pedro is plugging along and we are all set to start building as soon as we return to Ecuador as a family. We have the land, all the blueprints, and the builder in mind and we are getting excited about having our own space that is set up with an environment conducive to worship, as well as space for the kids and the youth. I have recently been attending another church in the neighboring city of Catamayo and the worship leader and pastor have become interested in helping us in San Pedro. This could be really big news! The worship leader came to his first service in San Pedro yesterday and did a great job leading worship and has been a great encouragement to me! Please pray that the Lord’s will would be done and that no matter what happens, He will send laborers to the field ripe for harvest!
A great personal story for you before I go. One of the young men who got saved in my office about a year and a half ago has been very faithfully coming to the church and engaging with other believers. He is 34 yrs. old and came to me totally broken, confused, and suicidal. He had never heard the gospel and only came to me because I was his ex-girlfriend’s pastor. She had just broken up with him, and he was desperate. We sat in my office for hours as he shared his heavy heart and as I shared with him the only one that could heal it. At the end of our time, he said he was ready to surrender fully to Jesus and cried out to be saved. After the past year and a half he has grown a lot! He called me yesterday and asked if he could stop by and see me for a short talk; I happened to have the time and told him to come on over. He sat down in my office and started crying and said “Adrian (what people call me here), I know you are leaving again for a while and I wanted to tell you that if you hadn’t received my call that night you led me to Christ, I don’t believe I would be alive today. I don’t believe I would have made it through another day because I was done. Thank you so much for coming here and being willing to sit and talk to a guy like me!” I was blown away! Just at a time when I desperately needed the encouragement and the confirmation that we are here for a very important reason, and that one soul is worth all the heartache and trials! Thank you all for making it possible! Thank you for believing in us and for sacrificing for the people in the Loja province of Ecuador!!!!
With love in Christ, Andy
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 homepage at www.dvargamission.org and click the "Donate" tab.
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