December 2002 – January 2003 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
I would like to thank the Lord for what He is doing here in Peru among the deaf. We rejoice in all of the victories he has given us throughout this year. It has been a year filled with many blessings and its share of trials.
Over this past year we have had many deaf saved and follow the Lord in baptism. Every child that lives here and can understand has received Christ as his or her Saviour. In a few weeks we will have two new deaf children come to live here at Efata. We are excited about this opportunity to reach new children with the Gospel.
Last year we helped to start a deaf ministry in Venezuela and this next year we are planning to begin a new annex ministry of Efata in San Luis, an area north of where we are. We are praying that God will bless this ministry and that it will grow. We will be meeting in a well-established Independent Fundamental Baptist church and are excited about the open cooperation from that ministry. We are praying that God will touch hearts of members of that hearing church to want to get involved and work with the deaf.
In addition, we praying as God is working in the life of my Deaf Asst. Pastor, Jorge Pozo. He is praying for God’s will in a location to start a new work. We are looking forward to helping him in this and are praying for God’s direction. There are so many cities with deaf that have no Gospel witness.
School is out now for our summer and most of the residential school kids have gone home. We have six children that currently are living here.
As for our family, God has been blessing us with good health and growing bones! The kids are growing and learning and it is a joy to watch them. Joseph and Julianne are learning piano and doing well. James and Jared have been learning to play the guitar. Joseph and James have taken a liking to carpentry work. Jared and Judson are our resident cowboys and Joy is everything she can be all wrapped up in one nice package!
The following page lists our current needs here at Efata. As our ministry grows, so do our needs. Please take the time to acquaint yourselves with these needs and make them a matter of prayer. It may be that God would allow YOU to be the instrument or channel of His blessings in meeting one of these needs.
Once again, our thanks to each and everyone of you that prays for us, and gives so that we may be your voice for the Gospel with our hands and our hearts to the deaf. Each of you shares in each and every blessing.
Our e-mail address has changed due to our service. You may go to the "Contact Us" page on this website for the updated information. Please make a note of it for your records. We would love to hear from you! Please keep in touch and thank you to all who do.
The following are our needs and prayer requests that we would like to present to you our supporters and friends. We would ask that each one of you take time as you read these needs to pray and ask God to supply each need and work in each area mentioned.
Facility needs:
- We are still in the process of working on getting the clear title for Efata. We do not know yet what the cost will be. We are praying for God to touch hearts and allow us to obtain it at either minimal or no cost. We are still working out some technical difficulties with our neighbor. We will have a meeting in the first part of January with all parties involved. We are confident that we will have a resolution and be able to advance the process with the government. The Government is just waiting for our agreement to process the paperwork. I will keep you updated on this as it unfolds. Cost: Unknown at this time, maximum is approx. $17,000.00.
- We have a great need to repair and raise our perimeter walls. Villa El Salvador is becoming more and more dangerous as the economy of Peru suffers. There are many robbers and thieves. A month ago, a thief got into our compound using a ladder and was able to scale over the girls’ dorm wall into their patio. From there he was able to get on the roof and steal the clothes that were drying and 12 quail that live in a cage on the roof and lay eggs for us. The dogs could not get to him and though they barked, he was not seen by the staff. Cost: $5000.00
- We would like to put a new roof on the cafeteria and expand its size. The current roof is extremely hot in the summer and makes it very uncomfortable for the children and for the workers who are cooking there. In addition, we need more space and thus we can kill two birds with one stone. This will also give us second story expansion room for the future as well. Cost: $5000.00
- We would like to renovate our playground for the children by constructing some more equipment and beautifying it. Currently it’s nothing but dirty dust and a few swings and monkey bars. Our estimates for this are approx. $1500.00. This would cover the cost of bringing in clean dirt, grass, plants and costs for material to build equipment. We recently received an offering from an organization of approx. $180.00. With this we were able to build a sea-saw and purchase materials to start a playground fort.
- Due to the increase in boys, we will need to add another bedroom to the boy’s dorm. This is halfway completed but will require more walls and putting a roof on. Cost $1200.00
Personnel needs:
- We need a dedicated Christian lady who can come and live with the girls in the girl’s dorm as a house mom. It is so important that we find Godly dedicated people who will love, teach, and discipline our girls and help them become Godly young ladies. This is a special ministry that affects lives directly. There is no value that can be placed on Godly parents or parental figures.
- Dedicated teachers to teach the deaf. We have a great need for more teachers who consider teaching in a solid Christian school a ministry, not just their job. For the Deaf, they are very hard to find in Peru. Teaching the deaf is much more difficult than teaching hearing children and the methods are different. Thus, they must be dedicated to the Lord and to the task of teaching deaf children life’s basics and God’s principles.
Financial needs:
- We greatly need support for the deaf children. We have new ones coming and several others who are here who need support. If you can help with this and support a child, it would be missions money well spent. All the support we receive for the children is used for the children. It costs us approximately $75 a month for each child to feed, educate and provide for their personal needs.
- Several of our deaf pastors are in need of financial support. Please pray for them and this need as well.
- The overall ministry of Efata is in need of greater monthly support. If you or your church is not currently supporting Efata, I would ask that you pray about taking our ministry on as one of your missionaries. If you need further information, please contact me and I will be happy to send it.
Many of you and your churches at times look for special missions projects that you can help with or be a part of. Please prayerfully consider the above as the Lord leads. If you can help us, please contact me right away, as we would like to complete some of the projects before school starts again - especially those that would be difficult to do when the kids are all living here such as the cafeteria roof. Thank you for your consideration.
In Christ’s Service – In Peru
Joe & Lisa
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson, Joy