Efata Ministries Blog

Year-End Prayer Letter - the Kotvas Family

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:51:34 -0600

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.

Schedule Us - Upcoming Furlough! And Other News...

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:58:45 -0500

IMPORTANT News! Lord willing, our family will be coming home for a short furlough from March to July of 2012. We plan to be in the States for just four months and then return to Peru. Our oldest son Joseph graduates from college in May, so we will be with him for this special time. Just as Paul desired to have a prosperous journey to be with the saints at Rome and be comforted in their mutual faith, we too desire to be with you all.

Pastor, if you would like to have our family visit or come to a missions conference, let me know!

Click here to read more...

Kotvas Family April - June Prayer Letter

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:28:46 -0500

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.

Read the rest of our most recent letter online!

Pray for Church Member Angel Lazaro

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 15:25:54 -0500

Please pray for one of our members. His name is Angel Lazaro, and he was injured in a serious accident this morning. It seems that he was riding in a mototaxi to work when it was hit by another vehicle. Angel's head and face seem to be very badly injured, and he has lost consciousness. PLEASE pray for him and his wife Carmen during this difficult time, and also pray that his oldest son, nineteen-year-old Gian Pierre, would come to the Lord. This is a family we mentioned in a past prayer letter.

Thank you.

Lisa

Working His Work

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:05:59 -0500

Dear Friends and Family,

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. - John 9:4

These past three months have flown by. It is hard to keep track of the time. There is much work to do and we can see the night is coming fast upon us!

In January we had another wonderful conference with Fires of Evangelism. Many people were saved during the week, and several made decisions. It was a great blessing. We had more local pastors this year than before, even though the crowd was smaller. Elmer Fernandez, Kevin Wynne and Antonio Gomez were our special speakers this year. We look forward to next year’s conference, where we will be focusing on the family.

Henry Vásquez & Family

Pastor Henry, our assistant pastor for the hearing has resigned to become a missionary in the jungle city of Pucallpa. We had the privilege of commissioning him and his family to go and start a ministry to the hearing as they begin the watch-care of the deaf work that is already there. We are looking forward to what the Lord is going to do through him and his wonderful family. We will miss them greatly here at Efata. The hearing ministry has grown tremendously under his leadership and labors.

January Prayer Letter

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:45:21 -0600

Dear friends and family,

What an incredible year 2010 was. So much happened and we rejoice in the Lord for His manifold blessings. As with all years, 2010 was filled with its share of difficulties and challenges. What thrills me is to see how the Lord used these times to mold and mature us as a family, as a church, and as individuals.

Christmas Greetings

Sat, 25 Dec 2010 09:49:03 -0600

From our family and all of us who serve the Lord here at Efata Ministries in Peru, South Amierca, to all of you our friends and family members, may you have a blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year. God Bless you all!

The Kotvas Family

First Time Visitors Contest

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:01:59 -0600

Congratulations to Carmen who won a new Bible for bringing the most visitors in November. She brought 18 first time visitors to church.

What a blessing!

November Prayer Letter

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:12:42 -0600

Ministry News

Angel, Carmen, & Family

Angel & Carmen and their family are examples of the miracle life- changing power of the Lord in lives. Carmen was saved and began coming to church and God began to work. After some time of resistance, Angel was saved. They had been living together for years and they wanted to be right and were married. They now come faithfully to church and Carmen sings in our choir. I had the privilege of counseling with them for several months and they are being discipled by one of our assistant pastors. God can and does change lives.

Facebook coming for Efata Ministries

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:40:40 -0500

I am in the process of developing a Facebook presence for Efata Ministries. I pray this will be a better way to keep in touch. I will send out a note when it is ready.

Estoy en el proceso de desarrollar una presencia en Facebook para Ministerios Efata. Oro para que esto sea una mejor manera de mantenerse en contacto. Voy a enviar una nota cuando está listo.

bro. Joe