October 2018 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

We are now approaching the last of our meetings on furlough. Last month, we had meetings with 5 churches. Unfortunately, there was another meeting that had to be canceled. Though we have only a little time left on furlough, we were able to schedule one more missions conference. One new church began supporting us monthly, which brings us to 95% of our needed support. As for Nicaragua, the situation continues to remain unstable. Recently, the United Nations Human Rights Office conducted an investigation and published a report on the killings, torture, and detentions. After this was published, they were expelled from the country. The Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights now shows 512 killed, over 4000 injured, and over 1300 people that have gone missing. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will be making decisions with our pastor very soon regarding our return.

Last month, we were able to spend a little time at our home church. It was missions month, so we were encouraged to hear other missionaries share how God called them to their respective fields. We celebrated Lila's 7th birthday, and this month we will be celebrating Ellowyn's 5th birthday. The girls also liked being able to attend their kids classes at our home church. Elijah is now walking and climbing up everything that he can find. It turns out that we needed some of the extra time time to take care of some urgently needed car maintenance and repair. It was also a good time for us to take care of some doctor appointments. At the end of the month, we moved into a new house where we will stay the remainder of furlough.

This upcoming month, we will be taking a trip up to TN and KY for a missions conference and another another meeting. Please pray for us as we have some big decisions ahead of us regarding our return. These are decisions that we cannot take lightly. We are surrendered to whatever the Lord's will is for us during this time. This month, please pray:

1. That God will give us wisdom as we make plans regarding our return.

2. That God will bring peace to the people of Nicaragua.

3. That God will use us to to lead souls to Christ and be a blessing to others during the remainder of our time on furlough.

In Christ,

Jeremy, Michelle, Lila, Ellowyn, and Elijah Blanz