Today is Giving Tuesday and you may have seen or received any number of opportunities to contribute year-end funds to a variety of worthwhile ministries and causes. So many of these ministries and missionaries depend upon the generous year-end giving of their supporters and we are no different. However, on this Giving Tuesday we would also like to say "thank you" to all of you! If you have been following our journey this past year, you know that we came back to the US with a considerable amount of money to raise. The Lord has provided generously for our need and continues to provide. In fact, shortly after our email went out last month, we received additional monthly support that puts our current need under $400/month!
We are so grateful to the Lord for each of you! Your faithful prayers, giving and interest in the Lord's work in Costa Rica are tangible evidence of God's provision each month. We look forward to seeing God's hand of provision over the remaining weeks of this year and all of 2019!
The apostle Paul said the following to the Corinthian church about their giving: He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Corinthians 9:10-15)
God has a wonderful way of using your giving to spread the gospel across the globe. He regularly blesses that giving, making it more fruitful than we could ever have hoped or imagined! In our case, the gospel has been taken to places we have never even visited because the missionaries God called to those places were able to study at ESEPA and be prepared for the gospel ministry.
So today, as you give to whatever missionary or ministry that you plan on giving to, stop and thank God with us. Thank Him for the way that He will use your gift to the eternal benefit of His kingdom and people.
Love,
Andrew, Julie, Ann Renée and Bryan
Return to Costa Rica
We have even more to be thankful for - the other day we received approval to return to Costa Rica! As you all know, we have been waiting a LONG time for this and we are excited to finally be able to return! While all of our funding is not yet in, we trust that the Lord will bring in our remaining need over the course of the coming weeks. Our return date is the 30th of December and while this is still later than we had hoped, it seemed like the best date due to a number of factors.
In the coming weeks we will return to Virginia for a final visit before coming back to Knoxville for Christmas and packing. The coming days are naturally busy with the holidays and especially busy as we try to fit in visits, packing and homeschooling. We covet your prayers as we try to get everything in order and taken care of before the end of the year!
How you can pray this month...
Pray for God's grace as we try to balance travel, packing and school.
Please continue to pray for the kids & their school work.
Pray for the remainder of our support to come in - we are excited to return to Costa Rica on Dec. 30!
Praise and Thanksgiving this month...
We are grateful for the Lord's continued provision and excited about returning to the field.We praise God for each of you and your partnership in God's work around the world.
For more on our ministry, click the photo below!
