May - July 2008 Kotvas Family Letter
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Nathan RamírezThese last three months have been very busy and exciting. As always there is much to share... Click here to read the rest.
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Nathan RamírezThese last three months have been very busy and exciting. As always there is much to share... Click here to read the rest.
Meet Rebecca Houghton
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We are excited to announce that our longtime friend and former missionary, Rebecca Houghton, has surrendered to come and help us minister in Efata! Here is the letter I wrote recommending her to pastors.Dear Pastor:
I am writing you today to recommend to you missionary Rebecca Houghton. Rebecca is a servant whom I have known for almost 20 years. She worked for many years in Mexico and the United States. Rebecca came down to visit us during the month of May, 2008 and the Lord laid it on her heart to come and be a part of Efata Ministries to serve – reaching, discipling, and teaching hearing women and children for Christ.
Rebecca will be involved in many aspects of our ministry working with our ladies and children in soul-winning, discipleship and Christian womanhood. She is a talented pianist and music teacher with old-fashioned conservative music values and will minister in this vital area of music - playing the piano, singing and teaching music.
Being fluent in Spanish and with a basic knowledge of American Sign Language, she is a “puzzle piece” ready to be put in place! She will be able to learn more of the Peruvian signs and help out in other ways in our children’s home and school for the Deaf. God is so good, and we thank Him for this blessing.
I pray you will consider helping Rebecca in her move to Peru, and with monthly support. We know that God will use her in a great way.
If you have any questions, Please feel free to contact me at any time. For more information about Efata Ministries, please visit our web site at the address listed below. God bless you as you consider this choice servant of God.
Respectfully In Christ,
Joe Kotvas D.D.
Pastor/Missionary - Efata Ministries
Meet Pastor Victor Ocampo
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Pastor Victor Ocampo and his family have been with us at Efata since May of last year. We finally got around to making his web page, and I know you will enjoy reading his testimony and seeing the pictures of his beautiful family. Pastor Ocampo and his wife are an incredible blessing at Efata. He put some great pictures of the school's anniversary cookout on his site as well, so be sure to scroll down once you get there!His website is http://ocampo.efata.org/.
In the States
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Dear Friends and Family,
Most of you know that we have been in the United States now for three weeks. There has been a lot going on since then, and I want to share some of that with you now.
First of all, let me say that in the past two months, we have received four new children at Efata. We now have 73 students in the school and 42 in the children’s home, about half of whom live at Efata all year round. In the past three weeks, six people have received Christ as their Savior.
On May 6, Dad (Pastor Kotvas) and James went to Oklahoma Baptist College to attend Kelly Valles’ graduation ceremony. Kelly is a young lady from Efata Baptist Church who has been studying at OBC. The college honored my father for his years of faithful ministry and service both in the US and on the mission field with an honorary doctorate.
The rest of my family traveled to Fort Myers, Florida to join them on May 14th. We have been visiting various churches in Florida and reporting what God has been doing with our ministry in Peru. Several individuals have promised to support children, and so far one church has increased our monthly support. Soon we will drive up north through Georgia, the Carolinas, and eventually further west as well.
Pastors, if you have a date when our family might be able to visit your church, please call us! The opportunity to share how God has been working in the hearts and lives of deaf and hearing children and adults will be a great blessing to your church, even and especially if you already support us. My family will be in the States for around a year.
I will be traveling with my family for only two more months. I graduated from high school on May 30, and in August I will start college at Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida. My major will be secondary education with concentrations in special education and music. Please pray for me.
God bless you all!
Joseph Kotvas
Most of you know that we have been in the United States now for three weeks. There has been a lot going on since then, and I want to share some of that with you now.
First of all, let me say that in the past two months, we have received four new children at Efata. We now have 73 students in the school and 42 in the children’s home, about half of whom live at Efata all year round. In the past three weeks, six people have received Christ as their Savior.
On May 6, Dad (Pastor Kotvas) and James went to Oklahoma Baptist College to attend Kelly Valles’ graduation ceremony. Kelly is a young lady from Efata Baptist Church who has been studying at OBC. The college honored my father for his years of faithful ministry and service both in the US and on the mission field with an honorary doctorate.
The rest of my family traveled to Fort Myers, Florida to join them on May 14th. We have been visiting various churches in Florida and reporting what God has been doing with our ministry in Peru. Several individuals have promised to support children, and so far one church has increased our monthly support. Soon we will drive up north through Georgia, the Carolinas, and eventually further west as well.
Pastors, if you have a date when our family might be able to visit your church, please call us! The opportunity to share how God has been working in the hearts and lives of deaf and hearing children and adults will be a great blessing to your church, even and especially if you already support us. My family will be in the States for around a year.
I will be traveling with my family for only two more months. I graduated from high school on May 30, and in August I will start college at Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida. My major will be secondary education with concentrations in special education and music. Please pray for me.
God bless you all!
Joseph Kotvas
Going on Furlough
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Dear Friends and Family,
You should have recently received our most recent prayer letter sharing what the Lord has been doing here in Peru at Efata. We are grateful to the Lord for allowing us the privilege of serving here as missionaries for almost 10 years.
I am writing this letter to inform you that our family will be coming home on furlough on May 13, 2008 to give a personal report to our supporting churches and to present our wonderful ministry to new churches who would consider partnering with us in the Lord’s work here in Peru and beyond.
God has put together a wonderful team of workers and national leaders at Efata who will be continuing all of our current ministries and outreaches as well as implementing new ones that we have been planning for some time. We are seeing wonderful growth in salvations, baptisms, and individual spiritual maturity. We will be in daily contact with our Efata Ministries leadership while in the States.
Our oldest son Joseph will be going to college to study Special Education. His current desire is to return to Peru and work with us here at Efata. God has prepared his heart to work with these special children and we rejoice that he desires to do so; especially on the mission field.
He will begin his studies in August. This means that he will only be with us for the first few months as we visit you. We are going to miss him greatly. He is a very integral part of our ministry. He plays the piano for us, teaches Sunday school and piano, develops and maintains our website and is a great help at home.
Pastors, we have not seen many of you for several years. We desire to visit with you and your churches again and share the eternal blessings that your investment in the Lord’s work has done. We believe it is important that we are accountable to you for your financial and prayer investments to the Lord through us as His instruments.
To schedule us to come and visit to report, please respond to this letter by e-mailing or calling me at the contact information below. Please allow us the privilege of visiting with you again and sharing the great burden and blessings that the Lord has given us.
I am passionate about what I believe the Lord desires for the future of this vital ministry among the Deaf and hearing in Peru and beyond. As the day of the coming of the Lord draws near, there is yet much work to be done. Let’s do it together!
You may contact us via:
Phone: (770)530-9410 (Vonage number that reaches us in Peru or the States)
E-mail: Jkotvas@efata.org
Through our Local church: Emmanuel Baptist Church, Ft. Myers, FL (239)936-4252, Pastor Matt Booher
Through our Mission organization: Macedonia World Baptist Missions (706)654-2818
As always, our latest contact information is on our website at efata.org.
God Bless,
Bro. Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson, Joy, John, Joel, Jessica
You should have recently received our most recent prayer letter sharing what the Lord has been doing here in Peru at Efata. We are grateful to the Lord for allowing us the privilege of serving here as missionaries for almost 10 years.
I am writing this letter to inform you that our family will be coming home on furlough on May 13, 2008 to give a personal report to our supporting churches and to present our wonderful ministry to new churches who would consider partnering with us in the Lord’s work here in Peru and beyond.
God has put together a wonderful team of workers and national leaders at Efata who will be continuing all of our current ministries and outreaches as well as implementing new ones that we have been planning for some time. We are seeing wonderful growth in salvations, baptisms, and individual spiritual maturity. We will be in daily contact with our Efata Ministries leadership while in the States.
Our oldest son Joseph will be going to college to study Special Education. His current desire is to return to Peru and work with us here at Efata. God has prepared his heart to work with these special children and we rejoice that he desires to do so; especially on the mission field.
He will begin his studies in August. This means that he will only be with us for the first few months as we visit you. We are going to miss him greatly. He is a very integral part of our ministry. He plays the piano for us, teaches Sunday school and piano, develops and maintains our website and is a great help at home.
Pastors, we have not seen many of you for several years. We desire to visit with you and your churches again and share the eternal blessings that your investment in the Lord’s work has done. We believe it is important that we are accountable to you for your financial and prayer investments to the Lord through us as His instruments.
To schedule us to come and visit to report, please respond to this letter by e-mailing or calling me at the contact information below. Please allow us the privilege of visiting with you again and sharing the great burden and blessings that the Lord has given us.
I am passionate about what I believe the Lord desires for the future of this vital ministry among the Deaf and hearing in Peru and beyond. As the day of the coming of the Lord draws near, there is yet much work to be done. Let’s do it together!
You may contact us via:
Phone: (770)530-9410 (Vonage number that reaches us in Peru or the States)
E-mail: Jkotvas@efata.org
Through our Local church: Emmanuel Baptist Church, Ft. Myers, FL (239)936-4252, Pastor Matt Booher
Through our Mission organization: Macedonia World Baptist Missions (706)654-2818
As always, our latest contact information is on our website at efata.org.
God Bless,
Bro. Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson, Joy, John, Joel, Jessica
January - March Prayer Letter
Posted under prayer letters on
If I could explain all the wonderful blessings that have taken place over the past couple of months, it would take a prayer letter the length of a football field to explain it all. Since you do not have that kind of time, let me give you some of the highlights so you can “taste and see that the Lord is good”...Read the rest of the letter here!
The McKendree Family
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A young man named Matt Mckendree visited us five years ago, and God touched his heart to reach the Deaf. He completed Bible college last year, and now he and his wife Sarah are on deputation raising support to come and work with us.It's wonderful to have new missionaries coming to the field. There is so much that needs to be done, and as it says in Luke, the laborers are few.
Please read the Mckendree's testimonies and their February prayer letter, and remember to pray for them as they travel around the States. If you can, it would be a blessing if you would give them an opportunity to speak at your church.
Their website is http://mckendree.efata.org/
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