Greetings From the Beautiful State of New York!
Yes, our travels have taken us across the entire United States. I count it a joy that God has allowed my family to see the beauty in many different states during our furlough. Our travels will soon be over, as our plan is still to return to Belize in October.
In July, we went to Michigan for a conference. The second day of the conference, I was talking to a brother who told me I witnessed to him nine years ago when I was at the church on deputation. He went on to say that he stayed in church and has been faithful ever since. My heart was encouraged, and I was reminded that we never know just how the Lord will work in the lives of those we witness to along our way.
We were very blessed to attend FBMI Candidate School at First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. The Candidate School is a weeklong event of training for missionaries. Many classes were taught by veteran missionaries. The whole week was inspiring, and we were challenged to do more for the Lord wherever He has placed us. We had several meetings in the surrounding cities as well.
August brought us to New York. Our first night we stayed in Bay Shore and attended an all-night prayer meeting. At 11:00 p.m., a group of men decided to go soul winning at the nearby Laundromats. What a great experience that was for me. I witnessed to several people, and one young man trusted Christ.
During our meetings our girls love to help set up our table and pass out the prayer cards. Isabella is especially entertaining to watch as she shakes hands and smiles at everyone. Tonya continues to help in many churches as a nursery helper and a Sunday school teacher. Serving the Lord as a family is such a blessing. We desire that our children would grow up loving Christ and the ministry.
Our church in Belize is doing wonderful. I regularly talk to the evangelist in charge of the work. The church seems to be moving forward. They are seeing many people saved and new visitors in church. At the end of August, they will be holding our annual Vacation Bible School. Pray for God to do something great there.
We have gone to many new churches since our last prayer letter. Two of them have taken us on for support. Obviously, this is a tremendous blessing to us. Although our furlough is nearing the end, we still have quite a few meetings to get to. God has graciously taken care of our family every step of the way. We ask that you continue to pray for our safety. We also ask that you would pray that our family and ministry would be a blessing to those we meet along our travels. Thank you for your support.
In Christ,
The Alvarez Family