Apr 5, 2012 | Spanish Prayer Letters
Queridos Amigos y Familiares,
Informes del Ministerio
“Me es necesario hacer las obras del que me envió,…” – Juan 9:4
Esto ha sido un tiempo muy ocupado para nosotros, tanto en Efata como ahora mientras estamos en los Estados hasta Julio, reportando en muchas de las iglesias que nos apoyan y presentando la obra en Perú a varias nuevas Iglesias.
En Enero, tuvimos la conferencia de Fuegos de Evangelismo. Este año, el enfoque fue sobre la familia, y fue una gran conferencia! Muchas decisiones fueron hechas y varias personas recibieron a Cristo como Salvador. En Febrero, tuvimos varias reuniones con el Ministerio de Educación para colaborar sobre la educación de los Sordos aquí en el Perú. Estas reuniones fueron positivas, pero aun necesitamos mucha oración para este país en esta área. Tenemos 5 alumnos nuevos en el colegio, el cual comenzó otra vez en Marzo. Ora por ellos y sus familias!
El 18 de Febrero, llegamos otra vez a los Estados, y aterrizamos corriendo. Disfrutamos mucho pasar unos días con nuestro Pastor e iglesia. Amamos a nuestra iglesia, y estamos tan agradecidos por nuestro Pastor y toda su ayuda mientras estuvimos preparando para regresar a los Estados por reportar a nuestras iglesias y levantar más fondos.
En el momento, estamos visitando a muchas iglesias que nos apoyan y disfrutando la bendición de visitar a nuevas iglesias y encontrándonos con unas personas muy especiales los cuales nos han ayudado en el camino. Mientras visitamos a una iglesia, tuve el privilegio de guiar una pareja Hispana a Cristo. Que bendición! La semilla fue sembrada por la gente maravillosa de la iglesia, fui bendecido en poder regarlo un poco, y Dios proveyó el resultado.
Informes Familiares
En Mayo, Joseph se graduará del seminario. Estamos muy orgullosos de él y animado por lo que hará el Señor en su vida. El se graduará con un titulo en Educación de Secundaria, con un enfoque en Música, Lenguaje, y Educación Especial. El esta orando acerca de obtener su maestría, y estamos animados por esa posibilidad. Después de eso, Dios mediante, su plan es regresar a Perú para trabajar con nosotros como misionero.
Este año tuvimos el privilegio de ir a Falls Baptist Church en Menominee Falls, WI, para asistir su conferencia de santidad. Que tremenda bendición! James, nuestro hijo segundo, ha decidido atender su seminario, Baptist College of Ministry, en el Otoño. Estamos tan emocionado por esto. Mientras estuvimos allí, nuestra hija mayor, Julianne, decidió que también quería atender allí. Eso no era una decisión fácil para nosotros, pero creemos que es la voluntad de Dios. ¡Qué emoción! Las cosas van a ser interesante por la casa cuando nuestros tres hijos mayores no están, pero será un desafío y oportunidad por los demás de tomar un paso hacia adelante asumiendo más responsabilidad.
Gracias a todos quienes han estado apoyando sacrificialmente a nosotros y a nuestra obra en el Perú y más allá. Dios nos está bendiciendo y estamos viendo fruto que abunde a SU cuenta.
Peticiones de Oración
- Ora por Perú! Una iglesia Filadelfia con una puerta abierta por Dios!
- Continúa orando por Efata. Estamos planeando una gran campaña al aire libre por Semana Santa. También, viajaré en Mayo para estar por el aniversario de 35 años de la iglesia. Por favor ora por todas las actividades y oportunidades para alcanzar a la gente por Dios.
- Ora por la construcción del nuevo templo en nuestra misión en Pucallpa. Gracias a Dios por un donación de cinco mil dólares por este proyecto!
- Ora por nuestro pastor misionero Henry Vásquez y en especial su esposa Miriam quien está pasando unos problemas de salud muy serios y probablemente necesitará una operación.
- Ora que Dios nos ayudara a levantar el apoyo nuevo que necesitamos mucho por nuestro ministerio y por los niños sordos en nuestro hogar y colegio.
- Ora por James y Julianne mientras comienzan estos nuevos e emocionantes pasos preparativos en sus vidas de servicio para el Señor, y ora por Mamá y Papá mientras nos acostumbramos a no tenerles en casa.
- Ora por protección continuo por la familia en nuestros viajes.
- Ora por misioneros Corey y Melissa Ricker y todo nuestro personal en Efata and por nuevos misioneros Matt y Sarah McKendree quienes llegan en Abril para comenzar a servir con nosotros en el Perú.
Dios los bendiga a todos,
Hno. Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson
Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, & Jennifer
Apr 5, 2012 | Prayer Letters
Ministry News
This has been a very busy time for us, both at Efata and now as we are in the States until July, reporting in many of our supporting churches and presenting the work in Peru to several new churches.
In January we had our Fires of Evangelism conference. This year, the focus was on the family – and what a conference it was! Many good decisions were made and several received Christ as Savior. In February we had several meetings with the Ministry of Education to help collaborate on Deaf education here in Peru. These meetings were positive but we still need much prayer for this country in this area. We have 5 new students in the school which started again in March. Pray for them and their families!
On Feb. 18th, we arrived back in the States and hit the ground running. We truly enjoyed spending a few days with our Pastor and home church. We love our church and are so thankful for our pastor and his tremendous help as we prepared to come to the States for this furlough.
We are currently visiting many of our supporting churches and enjoying the blessing of visiting new churches and meeting some very wonderful people who have helped us along the way. While visiting one new church, I had the privilege to lead a Spanish couple to the Lord. What a blessing. The seed had been sown by the wonderful people of that church and I was blessed to add a little water and God gave the increase.
Family News
In May Joseph will be graduating from Bible College. We are so proud of him and excited about what the Lord is going to do in his life. He will be graduating with a degree in Secondary Ed., with a focus in Music, English, and Special Education. He is praying about getting his Master’s Degree and we are excited for this possibility. After that, Lord willing, he plans to come home to Peru and work with us as a missionary.
This year we had the privilege of going to Falls Baptist Church in Menominee Falls, WI to attend their Holiness Conference. What a tremendous blessing. James, our second son has decided to attend their college, Baptist College of Ministry, in the fall. We are so thrilled about this. While there, our oldest daughter Julianne also decided that she would like to go to college there. That was not an easy decision for us but we believe it is God’s will. What a thrill! It is going to make things interesting around the house with our three oldest gone, but, it will be a challenge and opportunity for the other children to step up and take the lead.
Thank you to those who have been sacrificially supporting us and the work we are doing in Peru and beyond. God is blessing and we are seeing fruit that abounds to your account.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for Peru! A Philadelphia church with a God-opened door!
- Continue to pray for Efata as we are planning a major open-air campaign for Easter. Also, I will be going down in May for the 35th anniversary of our church. Pray for all the activities and opportunities to reach people for the Lord.
- Pray for the construction of the new church building in our mission in Pucallpa. Praise the
Lord for a five thousand dollar donation for this project!
- Pray for our missionary pastor Henry Vasquez and especially his wife Miriam who is going through some very serious health issues and will probably need surgery.
- Pray that God will help us to raise much needed new support for our ministry and for the Deaf children in our home and school.
- Pray for James and Julianne as they both start these new and exciting preparatory steps in their lives of service for the Lord and pray for Mom and Dad as we adjust to not having them around.
- Pray for continued safety on the road for our family.
- Pray for Missionaries Corey and Melissa Ricker and our entire staff at Efata and for new missionaries Matt and Sarah McKendree as they come down in April to begin serving with us in Peru.
God bless you all,
Bro. Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson
Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, & Jennifer
Dec 30, 2011 | Spanish Prayer Letters
Tú guardarás en completa paz a aquel cuyo pensamiento en ti persevera; porque en ti ha confiado. – Isaías 26:3
Saludos desde Perú! Oremos que todos ustedes tengan una maravillosa temporada de Navidad and Año Nuevo con sus familias, amigos, and iglesias.
Noticias del ministerio
Este año ha sido maravilloso. La iglesia ha crecido. Hemos enviado misioneros, experimentado crecimiento y maduración de nuestros miembros, y más personas han sido salvos y bautizados este año que cualquier año anterior. Nuestro instituto Bíblico tuvo su primera promoción con un hombre sordo y un oyente graduando.
Nuestro año de colegio se acabó acá en Perú muchos de nuestro alumnos sordos quienes viven en las provincias están en camino a casa para estar con sus familias por primera vez desde que comenzó el colegio. Es una bendición tener un parte en sus vidas. Muchos de estos niños recibieron a Jesucristo como su Salvador. Gozamos en esto, y pedimos que ores por ellos, pues muchos de ellos están regresando con familias los cuales no conocen al Señor. Somos hogar permanente de 11 niños sordos quienes no tienen otro lugar a donde pueden acudir. Que bendición es poder estar para ellos.
Por favor ora por nuestro colegio. El gobierno ha cambiado muchas de las leyes en cuanto a la educación de los niños sordos. Esto nos afectó bastante y estamos trabajando con diligencia para resolver varias cuestiones que tienen potencial de cerrar al colegio por lo menos por un año. Esto sería desastroso para los niños a los cuales servimos y para sus familias. Si no llegamos a un acuerdo con el Ministerio de la Educación, nos puede quitar años de trabajo. El Colegio Cristiano Efata ha servido a los Sordos en el Perú por más que 40 años. Estuvimos aquí cuando nadie más se preocupaba por los Sordos o su educación, mucho menos su bienestar espiritual. Este año hemos visto a mas padres salvos, atendiendo la iglesia, e involucrados con sus hijos que
La bendición de ser Cristiano es que no peleamos estas batallas solo. Tenemos a un Padre Celestial quien está íntimamente involucrado en nuestras vidas y nos cuida como dice el versículo arriba: Él nos guardara en completa paz. Él está en control. Trabajaremos duramente para obtener una solución mientras nosotros descansamos en el Señor quien nos proveerá sabiduría y trabajara en el “corazón del rey”!
Noticias de la familia
En cuanto a la familia, estaremos viajando a lo Estados Unidos del 18 de Febrero hasta el 11 de Julio. Tenemos un horario muy lleno y quedan pocas aberturas para reuniones. No podremos visitar a todas las maravillosas iglesias que nos apoyan, pero hemos podido programar reuniones con todas las que nos pidieron que les visitamos. Si les gustaría que pasemos por su iglesia y estaremos en su área, haremos todo lo posible para venir. Solo contáctame.
Gracias por su fiel y continuo apoyo para nosotros y este trabajo. Esta situación económica en los E.E.U.U. nos afectó a todos. No solo ha bajado nuestro niel de apoyo, sino en el Perú el tipo de cambio ha bajado también, y con el efecto de la inflación, el dinero ya no compra lo mismo. Lo maravilloso de esta situación es el mirar cuan milagrosamente Dios provee nuestros necesidades. Él nos da sabiduría diariamente para saciar nuestras necesidades diarias y nos da “algo de los manojos” justo cuando más lo necesitamos.
Es nuestro honor ser sus misioneros en el Perú y más allá. Estamos anticipando verlos a muchos de ustedes pronto. Anticipamos al 2012 si por ninguna otra razón, para mirar como Dios, nuestro Padre Celestial nos moldeara y proveerá mientras le servimos.
Que Dios les bendiga,
Hno. Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson, Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer
Dec 30, 2011 | Prayer Letters
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. – Isaiah 26:3
Greetings from Peru! We pray that all of you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year season with your families, friends and churches.
Ministry News
This has been a wonderful year. The church has grown. We have sent out missionaries, we have experienced growth and maturity of our members, and we have had more people saved and baptized than any other year previously. Our Bible institute had our first graduation with one deaf and one hearing man graduating.
Our school year has come to a close here in Peru and many of our deaf students who live in the provinces are on their way home to be with their families for the first time since school began. It is a blessing to have a part in their lives. Many of these children have trusted Christ as Savior. We rejoice in this and ask that you pray for them as many go back to families who do not know the Lord. We are the home for 11 deaf children who have no place to go. What a blessing we can be here for them.
Please pray for our school. The government has changed many laws related to the education of deaf children. This has greatly affected us and we are diligently working to resolve several issues that have the potential of shutting us down for at least a year. This would be devastating to the children that we serve and their families. If we cannot come to an understanding with the Ministry of Education, this will set back years of work. Efata Christian School has been serving the Peruvian Deaf for over 40 years. We were doing it when no one else cared about the Deaf or their education, let alone their spiritual well-being. We have seen more parents saved this year and actively involved with their children and many coming to church.
The blessing about being a Christian is that we do not fight these battles alone. We have a Heavenly Father who is intimately involved in our lives and cares and as the verse above states: He will keep us in perfect peace. He is in control. We will work hard to obtain a solution while we rest in the LORD to provide wisdom to us as He works on the “king’s heart”!
Family News
On the family front; we will be coming to the States on Feb. 18th until July 11th. We have a very full schedule with very limited openings left. We will not be able to visit all of our wonderful supporters. We have been able to schedule with all who asked for us to come by and visit. If you would like for us to visit and we are going to be in your area; we will do all we can to make it happen. Just contact me.
Thank you for your steady and faithful support for us and this work. This economic situation in America has affected all of us. Not only has our support dropped, but In Peru, the exchange rate has dropped as well and with inflation taking its toll, we have a whole lot less “bang for the buck”. What is wonderful about this situation, is watching how God miraculously provides for our needs. He gives us wisdom daily to meet our daily needs and He gives us handfuls of purpose just when we need it most!
We are honored to be your missionaries working in Peru and beyond. We look forward to seeing many of you soon. We look forward to 2012 if for no other reason but to watch how God, our Heavenly father is going to mold and provide for us as we serve Him.
God Bless,
Bro. Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson, Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer
Dec 24, 2011 | Family
Joe is a former Deputy Sheriff, who worked with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office just prior to answering the call to missions. He is also a 6 year veteran of the United States Navy and served with VS-24 aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz.
In 1983 while stationed in Millington, Tennessee, Joe received Christ as his personal Saviour at the First Baptist Church of Millington. From there he was transferred to Jacksonville, Florida where he became a member of Trinity Baptist Church. Joe became involved with the Deaf Ministry at Trinity in 1985. It was there where he met his wife Lisa. They were married on May 20, 1988. In November of 1988 Joe completed his enlistment in the Navy and moved to Belleville, IL and went on staff as Asst. Pastor to the Deaf at Faith Baptist Church under Pastor Scott Baker. After a year of training and experience at Faith, Joe and family moved back to Jacksonville for further training in the Deaf Ministry. While there he attended classes related to the Deaf Ministry at Trinity Baptist College.
In 1991 Joe graduated Valedictorian form the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office/FCCJ Police academy and in February of 1992 he was hired with the Lee County Sheriff’s office in Ft. Myers, FL as a Deputy. In Ft. Myers, Joe & family became active members of Emmanuel Baptist Church. It was there in April of 1994 in a mission’s conference that Joe surrendered to the call to preach. Pastor Richard Riley brought him on as Asst. Pastor where he worked for over two years. From there Joe took a position as assistant pastor at Labelle Baptist Temple in Labelle, Florida. It was there that Joe & Lisa went on a vacation to visit deaf missionaries Vernon and Velma Miller in Lima, Peru. It was during that vacation that God called Joe to become a missionary to the Deaf in Peru, South America. In November of 1998, Joe resigned as assistant Pastor, resigned his position with the Sheriff’s Office, and went on full time deputation.
On December 2, 1999, the Kotvas family moved to Peru, South America where they are serving today.
