Happy New Year to all!
A freezing cold start to the new year for a family used to the warm equatorial air hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be, but it certainly isn’t easy…lol ! We are still in the U.S. working through Sam’s medical issues and hoping to get his bone graft behind us within a month or two. It has been very difficult working with the medical system this time around. It seems to us that good medical care has greatly decreased over the last few times we have come to the United States and we are at their mercy. Once Sam gets his bone graft we will need to be here for a while longer as they begin to pull his teeth down into the new bone. Please pray for patience and for all this to happen as quickly, safely, and effectively as possible, so that we can get back to the foreign mission field!
Priscilla’s surgery was also postponed due to some miscommunication between doctors. Please pray she can get it done soon so she has plenty of time for recovery before we go home. It seems to me that everyone in the family is now missing Ecuador and can’t wait to get back. For now, please pray that the Lord uses us where we are to accomplish His will and to be conformed to His image as we go through these trials.
It has now been around 3 months that I (Andy) have been back in the U.S. and if everything goes according to plan I will be heading back alone to Ecuador in early February for 3 weeks. There are a LOT of things to do and catch up on, like paying taxes, registering the car, putting out fresh rat poison so they don’t overtake the house, picking weeds, checking on the Church, and preparation for building the new church in San Pedro. As many of you have seen Ecuador has been in crisis over the last several weeks, but the truth is that these things have been brewing for a long time. There have been a lot of assassinations, threats, riots, and terrorist acts by the drug cartels and gangs in Ecuador. These things are only increasing now because the current
president is threatening the cartels and gangs publicly. It is hard to know what will happen, but for now, our part of the country is one of the quietest corners and we are very thankful for that! It just so happens that Loja province does not have very big cities and this is to our great advantage in this case because the gangs thrive in the big cities. Needless to say this does not exempt us from problems and we ask for your prayers for safety and for a successful trip. If everything goes well, we will be ready to build as soon as we get back to Ecuador permanently, hopefully in April or May (that is the rough plan right now).
Update on the kids; They are all doing great. They are loving having friends who speak English and share the majority of their culture. This is very difficult for the majority to understand and maybe impossible if you haven’t spent any real time outside of your own culture, but trust me when I say culture is a very invasive part of everyone’s daily lives. For instance, life is a lot easier when you don’t have to wonder if people are your friends because of what you can do for them or if they actually just like being around you. Anyway, the kids have been participating in an official Bible Quizzing Competition and they have grown and learned so much of the Scriptures as a result! It has been really neat to watch them memorize whole portions of Scripture and compete at a high level. Jude has especially been successful and was first place in the entire competition in the 30 point questions (which are almost always reciting Bible verses word for word)! Pray that the Lord would use this time to draw the children to Himself and that they would understand it is more than just knowing the truth; rather it is about knowing the author of the truth!
Thanks so much for all your prayers, support and care through these times of change! Honestly, we feel more blessed than you can imagine for each of you that have helped us fulfill the calling the Lord has on our lives! Thanks for visiting us, allowing us to visit you, phone calls, texts, and hugs! If you would like us to visit, share about the mission or preach, please just email, text, or call us!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
In Christ, Andy, Priscilla, Jude, Sam, and Elena
p.s. - AmazonSmile has now been discontinued, but for those of you who shop at Kroger, Community Rewards is still in place! Passively supporting the mission every time you shop for groceries is as easy as going into your Kroger app, clicking on "rewards" in the drop down menu, and tapping "Community Rewards." It will allow you to choose an organization and you simply choose Acts 1:8 Mission Society (the only one based in Harrison, Ohio) or use code GJ195
You don't have to do anything else, and Kroger sends a fraction of their profits from your purchases to the mission every quarter!
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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