Big Updates from the Mission in Ecuador!
- Andy DVarga
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Dear Friends,
Although Spring has not “sprung” here in Ecuador, we are seeing new life all around us when it comes to the ministry here. Currently, our church is a one room sanctuary with a bathroom and no room for any other simultaneous activity. There is a house directly across the street from our church that is vacant and for sale. We have been given the opportunity to temporarily rent the bottom half of the duplex for only $100/month! The owner has been unclear if he will continue to rent it to us past this month, but it has been useful for the Sunday school and youth meetings that Veronica (who we’ve mentioned before) has started. We’ve mentioned it in past letters, but we have a small solar system running the church that isn’t really adequate for anything other than short periods of use. Thankfully, this house has electricity from the grid, and it will be a huge help during the construction of the fence/enclosure! Please help us pray that the Lord would provide a way for us to either continue to rent the place, or better yet, purchase it for the use of children’s and youth ministries. If we did get the opportunity to purchase, the electricity situation alone would save us around $10k just in not having to install more solar or buy a transformer for the church! Please help us pray for God’s wisdom and provision!
Our sweet Veronica has taken on quite a lot as the new Children’s and Youth leader of our local church and we are so proud to see her grow in this role. She has such a passion to see the teens, especially, come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and she’s bringing such a lively perspective to the work here. We were given the opportunity to pass out some Samaritan’s purse boxes, and on Easter Sunday we had several new children come to take part in the associated outreach event. Veronica, along with two other young women in our church (Cristina and Erica), ministered to these sweet babies and showed them how much Jesus loves them.
Later the same week, she went to the central park to do an outreach specifically for the youth in our town. Many parents came and forcibly took their teens home during the event when they realized that it was being put on by our Christian church, but she still ended the event with 15 phone numbers of teens who want to be involved in the new “Youth Club.” This past Thursday was the first of their weekly meetings and she had 12 participants (including our 3 kids). This was, honestly, a miraculous turnout for our town. These kids came willingly with no parental coercion, and surprised us all with their joyful participation. We are praying that she can get this youth ministry firmly established in this place that so desperately needs the Lord; please help us pray for this. Please also continue to pray that the Lord would provide a way for Veronica to be full time in ministry. She has a deep conviction that God is calling her to be a missionary to her own people, and we believe that is the case. We are just praying that God would provide a way for all her needs to be met so she can do so! She also continues to help lead the English class outreach along with our new, albeit temporary, helper Charlene.
Charlene teaching the teen and adult English classes
I believe we mentioned in our last letter that Charlene was coming to work with us as a short term missionary, helping us minister through English classes, but she’s doing so much more! She arrived a few weeks ago and has jumped in with both feet! We’ve been astounded at her willingness to put herself in all kinds of uncomfortable situations in order to make friendships with anyone who is open. We’ve been really surprised by how she’s been received by the people all around town. While they are suspicious of us, and immediately think we have ulterior motives, many have welcomed her with joyful curiosity. I suppose it’s an added benefit of her age (she’s 77), her sudden arrival, and her bubbly personality, that people are less guarded with her than they are with us. The children in English class love her, and the adult class is learning quickly! What 77 year old woman do you know, who has all the comforts of a retired life in the USA, who would come and serve sacrificially for three months in southern Ecuador? We cannot tell you what a blessing it has been to us to see that there are still people out there who want to live sacrificially for the Lord with their whole hearts. Please pray that Charlene can continue to build relationships with people who are otherwise closed off to the Gospel, and that she can share our Lord’s love with everyone she encounters in the short time she’s here with us.
We are also happy to report that permission has officially been granted by the municipality to begin work on the church’s fence and playground! Work began on it this Monday, April 20th, and it’s expected to take between 8-10 weeks to finish. We are so excited to see what the Lord will do with this playground and this summer’s VBS. Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 churches that were originally planning on coming this July are unable to come due to a lot of factors (it seems mostly due to the suffering economy; high costs), but we are thanking God that He is in control! We are still going forward with our plans to at least fill most of the month with activities, just maybe a little less than originally planned. We know that rising costs and a floundering economy have most people hard pressed, and we just want to take a moment to genuinely thank all of you for what we know is an increasingly difficult sacrifice to keep the work going here. From the bottom of our hearts, we and the people of our congregation thank you deeply for your sacrificial love for bringing the gospel here. Please continue to help us pray that we can be a light to the most vulnerable group here in San Pedro, the children.
Thank you all for the love you continue to show our family, the ministry, and the people of San Pedro with your prayers and support of the work. May God be glorified!
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 homepage at www.dvargamission.org and click the "Donate" tab.
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