Dear Friends and Family,

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. – Psalm 127:3-5

I thank God that He has been so merciful and bountiful towards us as a family and in ministry.  He has given us wonderful children and we greatly rejoice in what He is doing in, through and with them!

This prayer letter is the “Family Edition”!  There is no greater joy for a father, pastor, missionary than seeing his children choose life paths and spouses that honor Him and their parents.

Our three adult children, Joseph, Julianne and James are each following Christ-honoring paths.

Joseph has been accepted as a full-time missionary with our mission board, Macedonia World Baptist Missions. (See attached “Special Notice” regarding this.)

Julianne will be getting married on Feb. 7th, 2014.  She is marrying a wonderful man named Frank Miller.  Frank grew up in church as his father was a pastor for many years.  I worked with his father as his assistant pastor for over two years and I watched Frank grow.  He is now a leader in his church, captain of his bus route and church pianist.  He will be providing a solid Christian home that honors God.  I have enjoyed watching their courting process and we recently completed their pre-marital counseling.

James is studying at Baptist College of Ministry at Falls Baptist Church in Menomenee Falls, WI.  He is doing great.  James is very dedicated to the Lord and His calling on his life to be a full-time missionary as well. Please pray for him, as he works on campus maintenance staff as many hours as possible. It is not enough to cover his school bill. It is difficult to work off-campus without transportation. He is also very active in the Spanish ministry.  James loves to work hard with his hands and is very good at it.

Jared has his heart set on being a pilot in the Navy and is working towards that goal.  He wants to serve the Lord but does not sense a specific calling to full-time ministry at this time.  He will be eighteen this month. He works in our sound booth, interprets in the Bible college for our Deaf students, sings in the choir, helps with visitation, and general maintenance.

Judson is 15. He loves to work with his hands in ministry. He is improving his concentration in school. He helps interpreting, visitation, ushering, maintenance, and singing in the choir.

Joy just turned 13 in September.  What a beautiful young lady she has become.  She continues her school and practicing her piano and violin.  She likes to go visiting as well and just began singing in the adult choir.

John loves to sing. He does a great job in the children’s choir.  He will be 10 years old in December.  He likes to go visiting when he has the opportunity.

Joel, Jessica and Jennifer continue to grow and learn and are so much fun. Jessica could take the energizer bunny’s job!  Lisa and I are doing well and rejoicing in what the Lord is doing with our family.

The ministry is going well.  Our new church in Tablada is moving to a more permanent location. That has been a blessing and a bit of an expence to prepare the site for services which will transfer there next month.  It is only two blocks from its original location which is a blessing.  It should have enough space to accommodate over 200 people.  We are averaging 50-60 people every Sunday at the current location.

Family Day 2013We had a tremendous day here at Efata Baptist church the 13th of October; our members were encouraged to invite all of their unsaved family to worship God with them.  We praise the Lord for being able to minister to over 435 people in the morning service!  Please continue to pray for our church as we serve Him here.  Please pray especially for Roxana, a new believer. Deciding to be baptized and follow Christ has already cost her and her two small children a great deal. She is trusting Him to provide them now with housing, protection, and sustenance.

Thank you for allowing God to use you as a channel for His will to be done in missions through our partnership with you.

God Bless,

090113_0328_CartadeOrac4.pngBro. Joe & Lisa,
Joseph, Julianne, James, Jared, Judson,
Joy, John, Joel, Jessica, Jennifer

 

Special Notice

As I indicated in our prayer letter, Joseph is now a full-time independent Baptist Missionary with Macedonia World Baptist Missions.  He was accepted in the month of September and is preparing for Deputation.

For more than 15 years, many of you have faithfully supported our family and Efata Ministries and thus Joseph.  He surrendered many years ago to follow God’s call on his life to be a missionary in Peru.  He has grown up here in Peru in our ministry and his entire life has been devoted to serving the Lord with his family.

For the past year-and-a-half, Joseph has been serving in our ministry as a student missionary through Macedonia.  He has served here on the mission field in an exemplary manner.  Since returning to Peru after graduating college with a Degree in Secondary Education with proficiencies in Special Education, Music and English (his chosen degree field to better minister and serve the Deaf with the goal of reaching the Deaf with the Gospel and discipling and training Deaf leaders to propagate the Gospel throughout the Deaf world in Peru and beyond), he has been involved in ministry here at Efata in the following ways:

  • Master Teacher in our mission school for the Deaf
  • Pianist for our hearing ministry
  • Preaching occasionally in our church services
  • Youth director for our new church plant in Tablada
  • Soul-winning and discipleship
  • Interpreter  (Fluent in four languages, English, Spanish, American & Peruvian Sign Languages)
  • Involved in the development of interpreter training and education for the Deaf.
  • Coordination and implementation of a summer missions trip for our youth department with our youth pastor to the Jungle city of Peru in support of our church plant there.
  • Development and maintenance of minstry and family websites.

Joseph is a dedicated, multi-talented servant and has shown maturity, integrity, sacrifice and service in ministry.  He is a young man of solid conservative Christian values and principles.  He has personally lead many Deaf and hearing people to the Lord and has been involved in personal discipleship and training.

Joseph is being commissioned and sent out of Efata Baptist Church here in Villa El Salvador, Lima, Peru.  As his pastor and father, I would highly recommend him to you for your consideration as an independent addition to your missionary family.

The process of beginning deputation is exciting and challenging.  Joseph will need not only regular monthly support, but also start-up funds for deputation. We would ask that you prayerfully consider helping him with either or both of these needs.  We are doing what we can.  His prayer cards have been paid for by our local church.  His plane ticket to return to the United States for his deputation has be purchased as well.  He will need the following:

  1. Reliable transportation
  2. Technology equipment for deputation (laptop, projector, cell phone, etc.)
  3. Start up funds for gas, meals, lodging etc.
  4. Clothing expenses
  5. Meetings

Pastors & Friends, If you can help him, even in the smallest way, together we can see that Joseph completes his deputation in the shortest time possible so he can return to the mission field.  Most of all, please be in constant prayer for God’s provision, guidance and encouragement.

You can designate support for Joseph through Macedonia World Baptist Missions.  Please call or email me with any questions at 813-675-4879; jkotvas@efata.org.

Thank you once again for the many years of faithful support and encouragement to our entire family.

Bro. Joe

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