Dear Friends and Family,
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
We are so thankful to the Lord for all he has done on our behalf; His protection, His provision and His providence in our lives. We are also thankful to each and every one of you who stands beside and with us as we serve here in Peru.
Ministry News
School ended with several younger children graduating from kindergarten. The seminary ended well and we look forward to the new year of school which will start in March. Many of our church family and workers, as well as students, are gone on vacation or back home for the summer.
November was a busy month with two tremendous Bible Conferences and several saved and many decisions made.
On Jan. 4th, we commissioned Wilder Rojas, one of our assistant pastors as our newest missionary to the mountain city of Cajamarca, Peru. He and his family have been such a blessing here as they have worked, trained and prepared for ministry.
Christmas was a wonderful time and we thank all of you who gave extra to make it special for the children and staff of Efata and for our family as well. From all of us to all of you, THANK YOU!
This year has been a great year for souls saved and converts baptized. Just before school ended, we has several deaf saved and two were baptized.
One wonderful blessing that we experienced here at Efata this year is that Serafin, the father of Zulema, Joseph’s bride, realized back in February that he was not truly saved. He trusted Christ as Saviour and came to me asking to be baptized. This has been an answer to many prayers and to see the change in his life is wonderful.
Family News
Joseph is finally married! What a time it has been getting everything prepared. There were almost 400 people in attendance here in Peru for the wedding and several others who watched the event online. Thank you to all of our friends and family who were able to come and participate in making this a special time for Joseph and his bride Zulema. They are now off enjoying their honeymoon.
When they get back, they will be working hard with our Deaf ministry, School ministry and every aspect of the work here at Efata.
It was great to have all of our children here for a short time. Both James and Jared, as well as Julianne and her husband Frank were able to come to the wedding.
In November I had the opportunity to fly to the States to accompany my father to my uncle and aunts home in NJ. The purpose of the trip was to have the opportunity to witness to them as my uncle had cancer Both he and my aunt prayed to receive Christ as Savior before he passed away in December. I cannot tell you what that meant to me. My uncle Frankie was a wonderful father and husband and tremendous uncle. My Aunt Charlotte as well is a tremendous mother, grandmother and aunt. We will miss Uncle Frankie. I look forward to seeing him again in Heaven.
Lord willing, I’m going to be a GRANPA!!! I cannot wait. Julianne and Frank are expecting a baby boy! He is set to present himself to the world the first part of June. Lisa, the family and I are so happy for them. Pray for Julianne’s health. This is her second pregnancy so they are being as careful as they can.
Some Special Needs
In November we were given a grant of $10,000 to replace the roof of our Kitchen/Cafeteria/Pregnancy Crisis Center. It is going to cost about $5000 more above the grant that was given. The current roof is over 30 years old and very dangerous. One good earthquake and it can come down. Please pray with us that the Lord will provide the much needed extra funds for this project.
As I mentioned in our previous letters, our “Big Box” project is still in the works. We are now in the final paperwork stages before packing and shipping and it is not an easy process. Please pray for all of our friends and workers that are involved in this project so that it can be completed and shipped within the next few months. It has been a long and blessed process, however with many frustrating turns.
God Bless,
Bro. Joe & Lisa,
James, Jared, Judson, Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer