Dear friends,
The way the Lord works is funny sometimes. He tends to surprise us in ways we never could have imagined by calling us to do things that were never really on our radar. As believers, we’ve always thought that feeding the hungry comes with the territory - if you have a relationship with Jesus, you’ll want to care for the orphans and widows, and the poor. When we worked in the Oriente (the jungle region of Ecuador), we always kept an active food pantry for the needy, but it was never really any kind of big ministry for us, just more of a compliment to an already active outreach program. When we moved to this region 5 years ago, we had a similar take on things… build relationships, do evangelism, and if there’s a physical need you meet it anyway you can. After COVID hit, though, we felt like God was telling us it was time to change it up a bit, and start having a dedicated food ministry. We’ve noticed that it has opened up a lot of doors that would still be shut if the Lord hadn’t put this work into motion.
At the last food distribution, after the message was given and everyone had started leaving, one older woman came up to Andy with what felt like a surprising request… “Pastor,” she said, “can you teach us to pray? We’ve never heard anyone pray like you do… can you teach us?” I instantly recalled Luke 11:1-13 where Jesus is asked the exact same question, “teach us to pray,” and I wondered how is it that two thousand years after he was asked that, we are being asked the same thing? I think it’s because this area has lived in a religious vacuum, where reading the word of God for yourself has been strongly discouraged for so long, that no one feels motivated to try. It’s like the reformation never existed here, and we are starting from ground zero.
Before our trip to the USA in the fall, we had been feeding 20 families, max, every two weeks when Andy would go do visits. Yesterday, May 5th, we were met in the street with a line of over 100 individuals, representing their respective families, waiting to receive an $8 bag of food. This isn’t a bag of fancy stuff, it’s just a few pounds of rice, some lentils, a bottle of vegetable oil, powered milk, and a few cans of tuna. 100 families in a town no bigger than 1 square kilometer, some of whom started lining up an hour or two before we even arrived. 100 families who sat and listened eagerly to a gospel message. Those same 100 families were the people that covered their faces to protect themselves from looking at us as we walked down the sidewalks 4 years ago. They would shutter their windows or close their curtains as we passed their homes. Some of them would see us walking and simply do a 180 and change course to avoid us. Now? They’re hugging us in the streets, thanking us, and listening to the Bible being taught. If you had asked me a year ago if I thought a food program could open this town’s arms to us and to the Gospel, I would probably have said no….and I wouldn’t see how COVID could be any kind of blessing. Funny how a year changes things. Funny how God changes things.
We are currently in talks with the owner of our old home in town, where we rented for 3 years, about the possibility of purchasing the house for a church building. Please pray that if this is the door God wants us to walk through, that he will make it clear to all of us, and that we can settle on a price that is fair for both parties! Please continue to pray for the people of San Pedro de la Bendita, and all of Ecuador. We are currently still in lockdown after a new variant of the COVID virus has basically overrun the healthcare system, and we cannot leave our properties from Friday evenings until Monday mornings, as well as after 8pm on weekdays. This makes the economic situation of a HUGE majority of day laborers increasingly difficult since they can no longer work on weekends. Our new president takes office on May 24, only 4 days after the state of emergency is supposed to be lifted. We are hopeful for changes that will help the increasing poverty in the country, and allow us to have in-person church services again.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Priscilla, Andy, and children
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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