Hello! Our furlough has been going well. I have turned in all the necessary paperwork to begin the process of becoming a citizen. We were told the process will take several months to complete. Once this process is finished, we will return to Belize and continue working in our ministry there. Our plan is to return to the field in October.
As we stated in our last letter, we want to use this waiting period as an opportunity to visit all of our supporting churches here in the States. We have already put many miles on our car, visiting 16 churches in California, Oregon, and Nevada. Throughout this month of June, we will continue our travels here in our home state. On the first of July, we will head out to Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and then on to New York. We often have more than four meetings scheduled each week. Throughout our travels thus far, we have been able to go out soul winning with many different churches. Together as a family, we have won 30 souls to Christ. We also try to be a blessing at each church we visit. I get to present our ministry and hopefully encourage the people, and Tonya volunteers to help in Sunday school classes or in the nursery. We truly enjoy this chance to share our heart and give insight to life on the mission field.
One of the greatest things about furlough for us is the opportunity to see face to face the people who pray for us and encourage us while we are on the field. Our hearts have been deeply encouraged by the generosity and love shown to our family. Many pastors and individuals have treated us to a nice meal, given us a place to stay, and offered many words of encouragement. Those little things mean so much to our family.
We are finding out that traveling with three little girls can be . . . well . . . interesting. There is a tremendous amount of packing and unpacking, lost toys and hair bows, and a lot of general craziness! Our girls have begun to miss their home in Belize and are anxious to get back. They miss their friends, church family, and, of course, sleeping in their own beds at night. Please pray for our family to be safe as we make our way out to the East Coast. Pray that God would lead us and that we would be a blessing to those we visit.
One last note of praise is that we have had three new churches take us on for support. What a blessing! Thank you for your prayers and support. God bless you.
Israel and Tonya Alvarez and Family