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.orgThrough 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