Updates from Ecuador, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to the holiday season! 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! This year has flown by, and it’s hard to believe the holiday is already upon us. Our little Elena was born here in Ecuador eleven years ago on Thanksgiving Day, and we’re excited to celebrate her birthday in a big way with our friends and church family. She is quickly growing into a young lady, and she will always be one of our favorite Thanksgiving memories.  We love sharing the idea of setting aside an entire day to thank God for the many blessings He has poured out over our lives over the last year. Enjoying good food, fellowship, and a focus on gratitude has become one of the few traditions we’ve gladly “imported” from the United States to our small congregation here in Ecuador.  We pray that you are able to spend time with friends and family this season and truly enjoy the blessings the Lord has given you throughout the year.

The kids getting a taste of America on a recent trip to Quito to renew their US passports.

We mentioned briefly in our last letter that the congregation at Praise Chapel in Colerain, OH were having a church sale to raise money for a playground here at our new church building.  Well, we want to let you all know that they raised the FULL amount to purchase it, and we couldn’t be more excited about the potential we see through this great act of love! There’s still quite a bit of groundwork to be done on the church property—a fence to get permits for, and install, and some essential preparations around the lot—before we can move forward with the playground itself. But Lord willing, we should have a playground before too long!  Please continue to help us pray for a way to have Sunday School rooms and for laborers!  May the Lord send laborers into the harvest fields that are RIPE! 

Andy and a couple young Christian men went on a little adventure into a town that is off the beaten path, but is only about 40 minutes from our house.  I have never had a reason to pass through this area before, but the Lord seemed to be putting the place on my heart over the last few months.  I mentioned it as a place that desperately needs the gospel and my friends Franco and Kevin said they would love to go with me to share the gospel there.  We planned a Saturday to go and went.  It was a very interesting place.  The town is called Zambi and it felt like I was stepping back in time 70 years when we arrived.  The people were very shy (as is typical when we visit small towns), but they seemed very receptive.  I plan on visiting again when we can and hope to do some kind of outreach geared towards children/youth the next chance we get.  Please pray for this small town and the people of Zambi.

Andy sharing with a young man in the small town of Zambi

I know we have said it before, but having the church building has been a real game changer.  Being able to have a central location to have events has made it so much easier to do outreach and have a place that people feel comfortable coming to.  The English classes for local kids has been great for building trust with the community, and some of the ladies of the church have started up a crafting class on Saturdays, which we hope will be fruitful.  We will be hosting our very first Christmas event on December 13th, where we are inviting the community to come watch a Christmas movie, drink hot chocolate, and play games.  We are hoping to be able to give out little gifts to the children who come, and bless some little ones who would otherwise not have anything for Christmas.  Please pray that hearts will be open and people will feel loved!

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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.