Last month our pledged monthly financial support remained at 55.8% of our budget; after adding one-time donations the Lord provided 100% of our budget—our Lord IS faithful..!
All throughout our stay in Florida during the month of August we had many get togethers with friends and supporters. The Lord managed to refresh our souls and reconnect us with friends and supporters even in the midst of intense health and medical trials.
* On September 5th I had a key meeting with our sending church's liaison, Jorge Bustamante. I had an opportunity to give a report of our ministry and laid out some plans for our furlough time in the States, as well as our next chapter of ministry in Peru…
* On September 8th Rodolfo Monzon, a man that I had the pleasure to baptize a couple years ago and have been discipling since then, taught from the pulpit of our church his first Sunday message. It was truly a pleasure to witness the fruit of our labor as we saw Rodolfo sharing life with others--he taught out of the abundance of the Word of God in his heart.
* On September 9th I flew to Las Vegas with my family for a short season of "tent making…" The Lord provided a temporary contracting job with which we can afford our furlough time in the States.
From all places Las Vegas is the last one we would have expected God to direct us during this furlough, but as we know, the Lord works in mysterious ways… Father, for Your glory, unfold Your perfect plan before our eyes as we obey You one step at a time and thank You, Lord, for your provision..!
* On September 13th we put our house in Miramar, FL in the market for sale. That same day we had an offer slightly higher than the sale price!
* September 15th I had my first message via Skype with our church back in Miraflores, Peru. I gave an exhortation after they watched my previously recorded message on Romans 4. I also had an opportunity to connect and minister at the end of the service.
We will be overseeing and ministering to the church remotely via high speed internet for the remaining of our time in Las Vegas--October and November. Thank You, Lord, for the technology that allows us to stay connected with the congregation during our extended furlough..!
Later that day we attended our first Sunday service at Calvary Chapel Spring Valley. Their welcoming love was very appreciated.
* On September 19th our house went under contract.
Report on CC Miraflores:
We are please to report that the Lord is using our time away to provoke the people of CC Miraflores to love and good works. People that have been attending our church for a number of years are finally stepping up to serve and sustain their church as a gateway of work for the kingdom of God.
Since our physical absence:
- Arturo Calmet is gearing up to serve in the children's ministry.
- Maria Monica Calmet organized a book sale as a fundraiser to provide for the church expenses.
- Peggy Carrion has taken the initiative to watch my teaching videos in advance to write the verses and my sermon notes for the Sunday service and for the Thursday women's Bible study.
- Carlos Mendoza directed communion a couple of Sundays ago. Alejandro Castro and Arturo Calmet will be directing communion the next two times.
- Rodolfo Monzon taught from the pulpit two Sundays ago. Antonio Farfan and Pedro Quijaite are set to teach from the pulpit in the coming weeks as we are scheduled to have live teaching once a month.
All these are people that call CC Miraflores their home church and are bearing fruit to the glory of God.
Online Outreach Stats (August, 2013):
* Video Ministry: 3240 "Loads" and 243 "Plays" in 8 different countries (Peru, United States, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala and Hungary--in order of most "Plays").
* Church Facebook: 186 People-Talking-About-This and 3819 of Total-Reach. We closed the month with 150 Likes.
* Church Web Page: 146 Visits with 71 Unique Visitors from 10 different countries (Peru, United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama--in order of most Visits).
Charts of all these metrics are available here.
Furlough 2013 Needs:
* Housing: The Lord has provided a corporate apartment through my newly found temporary job in Las Vegas. This is a spacious two-bedroom apartment where Karla and the kids can comfortably do homeschooling..!
* Transportation: The Lord has provided, also through my temporary job, a rental vehicle for me to work. The downside is that this vehicle, due to company policies, cannot be driven by Karla… Please pray that someone in the local churches would lend us another vehicle--our family is much more efficient having two vehicles.
* Work: The Lord provided a temporary contracting job with Cricket Communications in Las Vegas. Cricket is a mirror company of Metro PCS, the last place I worked as an RF Engineer for more than eight years before going into the mission field. Cricket is getting bought out by AT&T next year, so they are getting their network up to specs in preparation for the buy out; hence their need for contractors and the source of my temporary job.
These provisions are a testament to your work of intercession on our behalf and the reality that our God answers prayers… Thank you and please keep praying..!
Prayer Needs:
* For a fresh and empowering view of God, that we may learn to see His goodness in all places and in all things, and that His will be done in our lives.
* For our marriage, our devotional lives, and for our kids to continue to grow in their desire to know the Lord.
* For good health to all in our family.
* For the sale of our house in Miramar, FL to close without hiccups before the end October or earlier.
* For God's provision to cover extraordinary expenses incurred on passport renewals, homeschool materials and on plane tickets for our current furlough. Also, for the medical expenses due to Samuelito's broken elbow.
* For God's wisdom in remotely attending the needs of the church from the US during our furlough.
* For God's leading and provision on expanding the church.
* For a downpour of spiritual realities and an intense hunger for God in the hearts of everyone in the church, including our children and our youth.
* For the healing hand of God on the marriages of our church.
* For the development of male leadership in our church.
* For the development of healthy relational discipleship groups where our congregation truly comes to know and grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
* For the Lord to strengthen and develop godly homeschooling here in Peru.
* For the salvation of the people of the Club Terrazas Swimming Team and beyond.
* For Divine guidance and blessing as we seek to make disciples in the peruvian cities of Huamachuco and Pachacutec, as well as in Caracas, Venezuela. Also for God to raise up local pastors for these locations that are of one mind with the vision of Calvary Chapel Miraflores.
* For our monthly financial support to remain at 100% of our budget.
Thank you for holding us up through your love and faithful work of intercession..!
In His love,
Andres, Karla, Sebastian, Daniel, and Samuel—the Garcia’s.
PS: Make sure to check out the new pictures of our recent activities to your left...
