Baptisms, English Classes, and Future Plans

To all our loved ones, 

It’s been a difficult year for us over here.  In many ways, no harder than usual and in other ways, the waiting on the Lord to send help has been a long trying season.  We see so much potential for the ministry here. We are making headway and the church has grown exponentially since we finished the building, but without backup for when we are sick or gone and without Sunday School rooms and teachers it is discouraging.  Please don’t overreact at these words, because if you have been following us for long you know it is nothing new.  I know God is up to something and we will wait for His perfect timing to do what He has purposed to do.  I just ask for prayer once again in these areas.  

Sunday Sept. 28, we had a very exciting day!  We were able to baptize four members of our church, including a husband and wife!  It was such a blessing to be able to see how the Lord has been moving in all their lives, and now the commitment that they’ve made to follow Jesus no matter what happens.  Please be praying for Maria, Teresa, Fanny, and Jose Luis as they take on a deeper walk with the Lord!     

We’ve been feeling the Lord shifting our focus a little since the church was built. As many of you know, in July we were able to host our first vacation bible school (VBS), and it went really well.  We had around 20 children participate and it was a blessed time.  What made it so significant for us, though, is that we really felt the Lord showing us that without a focus on children and young people, our town is never going to experience a breakthrough.  So, on September 9th, Priscilla started teaching English to children aged 5-17 in the church sanctuary.  She currently has four classes a week, and around 30 students between all the classes.  We really want to show the children and families here that we’re here to love them, and that love comes from our Savior.  Along those lines, we really feel led to focus on building children’s ministries and outreaches as our next big steps.  Obviously Andy is still geared toward ministry to adults, and we are still primarily focused on discipling the believers that we work with in our church. That being said, long-term we have a goal of starting a school, which has been on Priscilla’s heart for several years now, and of creating a safe space for children to come and play.  A lot of the kids in our community come from very hard places, with difficult family situations.  Our goal is to show them that God loves them, and has a purpose for them to fulfill.  Please pray that the Lord would make a way for that to happen.  We would need other English speaking missionaries to join the mission to be teachers and directors of these big projects.   

Ellie helping to teach the 1st grade English class

Along those lines, if you or someone you know has a heart to serve, but can’t commit to more than short time service, we would love to have you here for short-term missions.  We need help with English teachers, Sunday school teachers, people to do outreach with us, etc.  This would be perfect for a young person on summer break from university, on a gap year, or anyone interested in a future in missions.  

Two really big things have come out of this newly added focus in the ministry.  Our goal for the next year is to make July our “team” month.  What that means is that if you (or your church) are interested in bringing a short-term team, we would be happy to have you come.  We want to turn July into the biggest, most fun month of the year for these children.  Month-long VBS, activities, English camp, etc.  Instead of these children turning to bad and destructive things to fill their time with school being out of session, and to escape from dysfunctional homes, we want to give them a place where they can come and be filled with God’s Word, His presence, and thus, His love.  If you’d like to bring a short term team any other time of year, we are also more than happy to receive you, just with a different focus than VBS/kids ministry.  If any of this is something that interests you, just let us know! 

Also, if you are in the greater Cincinnati area, Praise Chapel Church of God (on Colerain Ave.) has decided to do a massive fundraiser for the ministry here.  They are doing a giant yard sale on Oct. 4, to raise funds for us to build a playground on the church’s land here in San Pedro!  If you have something you’d like to donate to be sold for the mission or just want to give towards the cause, please contact them through their Facebook page at:  Praise Chapel Church of God or contact us at 513-334-8281.  

With love in Christ, 

The DVarga Family

---

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.