Greeting from Texas. Our furlough has started well. We left Belize on January 11 to begin traveling to churches. Our travels started in Indiana. We were blessed to be part of the Missions Conference at First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana. From there, we visited several churches in Illinois and Indiana. Praise God, we were able to purchase a minivan to use while traveling. The change in weather was a bit of a shock. We came from 90 degrees in Belize to 20 degrees in the States. Needless to say, each family member took their turn being sick. I think we have all adjusted finally and are feeling much better.
As we enter March, we have counted 10 states that we have traveled through and 19 churches we have visited. Three of those churches have added us as one of their supported missionaries. What an incredible blessing this is! The Lord has shown His mercy, and we are thankful for the love and generosity shown to us by each church. Nothing encourages a missionary more than when people love on your family and make you feel welcomed. Our children have enjoyed going to different places and visiting different Sunday school classes. Our little Timothy gets so excited when we tell him he gets to meet a new teacher. Thankfully, our children like traveling.
We have been able to go soul winning with a few different churches. Our family has seen 12 people saved. I met a young man who had never heard the Gospel story. Yes, still today, there are people waiting for someone to show them the truth. May we never get weary of spreading the Gospel. Tonya has been able to teach a few ladies’ classes and encourage the women a bit during our travels as well.
We will be in the States for another two months. One main reason for our travels is to raise a bit of financial support for several upcoming projects:
1. We would like to teach music classes to our youth. It is hard to find teachers or instruments in Belize. For that reason, we are trying to find new or used instruments, such as flutes, violins, guitars, etc. If you have new or used instruments or music books that you can donate, please let us know. We can give you details as to where to send them to us here in the States before we return.
2. We are starting a library for the community. We need good, clean children’s reading books or curriculum books, such as Abeka books. In addition, resource books, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books, etc., would be very helpful. We plan to begin an after-school tutoring program along with the library.
3. We are building a big room for this library/education center. We need funds for the materials and labor costs.
4. Our church could use another 15-passenger van.
If you are able to help with these needs in any way, I can be contacted by phone at (213) 247-2646 or by email at israel.alvarez@fbmi.org. You can also send stuff to our sending church, Faith Baptist Church, 21220 Walnut Street, Wildomar, CA 92595.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
In Christ,
The Alvarez Family