July – September 2012

Oct 12, 2012 | Prayer Letters

Dear Friends and Family,

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. – 2Cor 4:3-4

Over the past few weeks I have been encouraged in the work of the Lord to know that the “Light of the glorious gospel of Christ” is definitely no going out. Amidst all of the trouble and economic struggles our country is facing, God is still moving and working in and through his people. Though our support continues to decline and the exchange rate continues to drop out of our favor, I am reminded that God is in control and provides for His work.

Ministry News

I had the tremendous privilege to be a part of a wonderful international mission conference in San Luis Potosí, Mexico at the Bible Baptist Church of San Luis Potosi. This church is pastored by one of the most humble servants of God that I know – Pastor Luis Ramos. He is a pastor with a vision and a heart for people all over the world and has a stunning ministry. It was a distinct honor to share the pulpit with many outstanding Spanish national and American pastors and missionaries working all around the world. Presenting their fields of service where Mexican missionaries that represented 21 foreign mission fields such as Israel, Turkey, Equatorial Guinea, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, Columbia as well as others.

I was able to see how God is moving amongst Spanish speaking nationals to shine the Light of the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world. I have been in many missions conferences in the United States and other countries, but never have I seen the burden, passion and commitment that I experienced in this conference. I thank God that I was privileged to participate. 115 young people were called to missions and 105 pastors and missionaries from all over the world pledged together to pray and do all we can for world missions.

My desire here in Peru is to continue to preach and encourage our Peruvian national preachers and missionaries to have the same passion and drive to reach this world. As God wakes up the Spanish world to become a leader in world missions, we have a great responsibility to continue to train and work side by side with our Spanish brethren as EQUALS to reach this world for Christ. American missionaries are becoming more and more marginalized in the world and we do not have the access and influence in many countries that we once had. We all know the reasons for this and I am not here to focus on that. My point is, we need to do more to invest in our very capable and spirit filled Spanish brethren while we still have the economic ability to do so, that they may develop the infrastructures necessary to train and equip their national missionaries to go to the world; especially countries that we as Americans are hindered from going.

My dear brethren, sadly many of our American pastor brethren do no look upon Spanish pastors and missionaries with the same respect and quality that they look upon our own. Our Spanish brethren have the same God, the same Savior and the same Holy Spirit. Many are doing incredible works in very difficult spiritual and economic circumstances that rival our American churches. It is time they were looked upon them as spiritual and ministerial equals in the work of the Lord. It is my personal opinion that the torch of the Gospel is passing from America to Spanish speaking America and God is blessing with a great spiritual moving in the Spanish speaking world.

Here in Peru, we continue to see people saved and baptized and the church is steadily moving forward. Pray as we are moving in the next few months to start a new mission church from Efata in an area of Lima called Tablada de Lurin. We have a bus route there are currently hosting cell groups for adults and young people in that area.

The Lord has privileged me to preach in several conferences and anniversaries here in Peru. I am doing all I can to encourage pastors, missionaries and church families to be active participants in God’s ministry of reconciliation and to have an intense passion for souls, missions and solid Christian families.

Family News

The family is doing well. James is greatly enjoying his studies at Baptist College of Ministry in WI, and Joseph is working hard in our ministry on many fronts, in the school, with music and training and with interpreting.

Thank you so very much for your continued support and prayers for the work we are doing amongst the Deaf and hearing of Peru and beyond.

Please feel free to follow me on Twitter at @JoeFKotvas, the only social media I like – Short & to the point!

God Bless,

Bro. Joe & Lisa,
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson,
Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer

April-June 2012

Jul 2, 2012 | Prayer Letters

Dear Friends and Family,

Mark 7:37 states “he hath done all things well…” God does all things well! We are so thankful that He has saved us, and chosen to use us in His ministry.

Efata Baptist Church in Peru was blessed to celebrate its 35th anniversary on the 20th of May. Though we are in the states on Furlough these five months, I was able to fly back and share in this special time. We saw about 5 saved. Praise the Lord for fruit. We really enjoyed Pastor Joel Marsh – Spanish Pastor of Westgate Baptist Church, Tampa, FL and Dr. Bill Schutt – Former Deaf Pastor of First Baptist Church, Hammond, IN, coming down as our special speakers. When we think about the growth that God has given, it reminds us that He is Lord of the harvest and we thank Him for the laborers that He has sent.

Through the vision of a deaf man many years ago, God has worked and continued to bless and has allowed us to build upon this foundation and many deaf and hearing Peruvians have been gloriously saved. We thank God for the faithful Peruvian and American Staff we have laboring with us. Our labor is not in vain because it is in Him.

We ask your prayer for a Peruvian couple, Pastor Henry Vasquez and his wife Mirian. He took a work last January in the jungle of Pucallpa, and did a tremendous job working with the Deaf and hearing. His wife is suffering some very serious health issues, and her doctor said that she should not even be alive, her heart is very weak. We ask that you intercede with us in prayer, that she might be able to get strong enough to have several tumors removed that have caused her much pain. Please pray that God will give her a full recovery, and that they might continue to serve God together if it is His will. They have two teenage children.

The Christian school has had many adjustments to make, yet we have seen more fruit this year alone in families through the labor in this ministry. Over 30 parents have come to know Christ.

We thank God also for the fruit that we see in the children’s home, residential school ministry as well. Over the past four years, we have seen five children adopted into Christian families, and they have experienced a marvelous picture of what God does in our lives when we come to know Christ. We were reminded of this recently when a little girl received a birth certificate, a brand new name, a new life, hope, and joy. The other children are doing well, and we love being able to care for them as God would have us to do, sharing His agape love with them. Laboring, but, NOT in vain.

We thank God for the Pregnancy Crisis Center. We have a couple with their beautiful baby daughter who now are saved, baptized, and worship God with us in Efata Baptist Church, whose newly formed family is a God-given picture of the mystery that is Christ and his church. Praise God for the influence that our Pro Life Center has had, and please pray that God will extend this influence.

Our family is very excited to get back to Peru the 11th of July. These five months have been a great blessing, to be able to visit some of our supporting churches, and present our ministry in some new churches as well. It will be hard to go back without our daughter Julianne, 20, and James, 18 who are staying up in Mukwonago, WI, preparing to go to Baptist College of Ministry this fall. We love them greatly and are glad that they are preparing to serve the Lord.

Joseph, our oldest has decided to come down with us to Peru to work a 2 year internship in Efata. He graduated with honors in May from College and is excited about coming down and doing hands on in our Christian Deaf School, and with the young people in the church. Our other children have enjoyed their travels in the USA but are all looking forward to getting back.

I have taken the plunge into this new modern social networking world. I now have a twitter account and you can follow me at @JoeFKotvas. Efata Ministries has a Facebook page at Efata Ministries. It is updated fairly regularly but mostly in Spanish. However, there are always pictures being posted so you can see what’s going on.

Thank you all once again for your care for us and the ministry of God in which we are privileged to serve.

Blessings to all,

Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson,
Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer

January – March 2012

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. 18^th, 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 35^th 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

October – December 2011

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. 18^th until July 11^th.  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

April – June 2011

Jun 30, 2011 | Prayer Letters

Dear Friends and Family,

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
– Nehemiah 8:10

Truly the Joy of the Lord is the strength of God’s people.  When the Word of God is proclaimed as it was in the day of Nehemiah; the same joy can be experienced as we bring the Word of God to a lost and dying world.  The ministry with all of its difficulties brings incredible joy as we see God work in and through us!

Ministry News

What a busy few months it has been.  We have had some very wonderful days here at Efata.  On May 22^nd we had our church’s 34^th anniversary.  My pastor, Matt Booher of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Fort Myers, Florida, was our special speaker.  What a joy it was to finally have him come and be a part of our ministry.  It was a wonderful day with several saved.

Last week we had our annual Mission Conference.  Missionary to the Deaf, Jim Sloan came in and was our special speaker.  Jim has been a friend of this ministry and of mine personally for many years.  He was very influential in my confirmation to the call to missions here in Peru.  We had three people saved during the conference, and on Monday, a hearing son of one of our deaf leaders was saved after hearing a very clear presentation of the Gospel on Sunday.

Our church met our faith promise goal for last year and so far the commitments for this coming mission year exceeded last year by 20%.  We as a church are thrilled at what the Lord is doing here at Efata.  The church also pledged over $3300.00 for the continued work on the construction of the new church in the jungle town of Pucallpa of which over half has already come in.  What a blessing to see our national people sacrificially giving to the Lord’s work.  This month the school also celebrated its 41^st year here in Peru.

Last week I had the opportunity to preach a Mission Conference for Missionary Markos Lindsey in Huancayo.  That was a tremendous blessing.  During that time I was able to visit the deaf work that we started two years ago and preach for them.  It was a blessing to see Pastor Jorge, a Deaf missionary sent out of our church doing a wonderful work in that mountain city.

Next week I will be going to Mexico to participate in a Mission Conference with Pastor Luis Ramos in San Luis Potosi.  While there I will have the privilege of visiting another dear pastor friend, Antonio Gomez in Torreon, Mexico.   Both men are part of the preaching team of Fires of Evangelism which is based out of Northwest Bible Baptist Church in Elgin, IL. Fires of Evangelism has conferences all over Latin America to encourage preachers and laymen regarding soul winning, leadership training and family issues.  Pastor Elmer Fernandez heads up this very vital ministry which is a tremendous blessing to us every year when we host the Fires Conference here in Lima.

When I return from Mexico, I will be going to the coastal town of Chiclayo to preach in a conference with Gil Torres, Spanish Pastor from Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, CA.  I am thrilled for these opportunities to preach and encourage people about missions and ministry (especially with the Deaf).  Please pray for God’s provision and safety as I travel and preach His Word.

Family News

It is so exciting having our oldest son Joseph home for the summer from college.  It is always a thrill to have the whole family home.  I know as the kids get older and God leads them in their future lives, these times will become fewer and farther between.  Lisa and I are grateful to God for the family He has given us and what a thrill it is to see our children serving the Lord.

During the Mission Conference I was blessed to have all of my older children helping and serving, James led the choir and helped with the interpreting, Julianne played the violin and interpreted, Joseph helped with interpreting and special music, Jared and Judson sang in the choir, Joy and John sang a special in their Patch group and quoted scripture.  What a joy!

What a privilege to serve the Lord together as a family and to be your partners in Peru and beyond.

Thank you for your continued prayers and commitments to us.  We, like many missionaries have lost a great deal of support during these difficult times.  However, we marvel at how God continually provides for our needs in miraculous ways.  He continues to do so by using you, our supporters as channels of blessing through your prayers and sacrificial giving.  Thank you for being an instrument in God’s hand on our behalf.

Joe & Lisa,
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson, Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer