Dear
Friends and Family,
We
hope that each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. God is good and
we are never short of things to be thankful for. Last month, Pastor
Rodney Kelley from our home church came to visit with us on a short
trip. He was a blessing to us in many ways. One of our objectives was
to survey a few nearby cities that have a strong need for a Gospel
preaching church. We will be seeking the Lord’s will regarding
these cities in the future. On our normal visits, we saw two young
people and one lady profess Christ as their Savior. The national
pastor whom we are partnered with was married last month. The Sunday
before the wedding, we planned a special service to welcome his
fiancé into the church. With about 80 in attendance, we presented
them with 2 baskets full of household essentials. It was a great
blessing to them. The following week, we attended his wedding, which
was the first we had attended in Central America. In the middle of
the month, we attended a Bible Institute graduation in Managua.
Jeremy was able to take a young man from our church who has expressed
desire to begin his studies there.
As
always, November was a very special month for our family. Due to some
problems in our current house, we began searching for another one to
rent. We believe the Lord really blessed us with a better house that
would actually be a little more economical. We will be moving next
month. We will have to purchase several appliances and pieces of
furniture. Near the end of the month, we celebrated with Thanksgiving
with a few Nicaraguan friends. They really enjoyed the American
traditions of thanking God for all he has done for us. They also
enjoyed the food. The favorite “foreign” food of our guests was
Michelle’s homemade baked Macaroni and cheese. The “strangest”
foreign food was definitely the gravy, which had no suitable
translation. “Meat flavored sauce” simply doesn’t have the same
ring to it. It was an exciting Thanksgiving because as we were
waiting for Hurricane Otto to pass by very close to us, there was
also a 7.0 earthquake a little ways off the coast. Thankfully, there
was no damage from the earthquake, no tsunami, and very little effect
from the hurricane. On the bright side, Lila completed her first
school year here in Nicaragua. Her teacher had nothing but positive
things to say on her report card. She even won a “caring student”
award. Way to go, Lila!
As
we approach the end of another year, we cannot say “Thank You”
enough to all of our supporting churches and individuals who pray for
us faithfully. This month, please pray:
1.
That God will guide and provide as we seek a new meeting location and
our own land/building.
2.
That God will lead us as we pray about our next step in our ministry.
3.
That God will continue to save souls, edify believers, and grow His
church.
In
Christ,
Jeremy,
Michelle, Lila, and Ellowyn Blanz
