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Financial report

May 2024

From Jader Rivera Martinez in Nicaragua

"Hello and good afternoon, my dear sister. God Almighty take care of you and bless you always. Well, I never thought that you might help me in this way! I don’t know how to thank you for this beautiful generosity which will certainly result in God blessing you greatly. I only thought to repair my little motorbike; I didn’t want to abuse our closeness. I can’t believe it – it’s an absolute dream that I will break in a motorbike. I don’t have the words to thank you all. Know that God is great towards us. I will see if I can go tomorrow with a trusted brother. Thank you. A thousand times, thank you for such great love that you’ve shown for God and for us. We are very happy. Blessed be our God and each of the brethren who support this work. Greetings to all."

July 2023

From Napoleon Hernandez and Evenor Rivera in Nicaragua, expressing their thanks. They add,

"We're going and doing the Lord's work preaching. The roads are super bad in some places!"

December 2022

From Kudakwashe Bangure in Zimbabwe

We thank God for that relief, and we thank Brethren who contribute. My family now has food on the table, and we have a source of income. That's a wonderful work you did for me brother. I will continuing praying for you and all the donors. God be with you and God bless you.

Thank you for your prayers. I will continuing preaching the gospel.

November 2022

From Elder Mendez in Guatemala

A very nice afternoon to you, sister. Thank you for your good wishes. Thank God, I am stable regarding my health, and I can fulfill my responsibilities in the work of the Lord.

Right now we are returning with my wife from meeting with the brothers from La Cuchilla. God willing, on Saturday and Sunday, I will be preaching a brief series with brothers from Pachaj Quetzaltenango about 3 hours from here.
Tomorrow, God willing, I will be preaching with brothers from San Rafael Pie De La Cuesta an hour from here.
Thank God, I am already back to my normal activities (yes, with all the necessary precautions).

I want to thank you for the support, sister. Please express my gratitude to all the brothers.

As you know, our prayers are for you. May our God reciprocate your good deeds of love for the saints.
Happy and blessed afternoon, sister.

Elder Mendez

June 2022

Video from brethren in Zimbabwe (below)

August 2021

From Jorge Carmona in Chiapas, Mexico (Read his letter)

June 2021

Video from brethren in Tarqui, Ecuador

November 2020

From Raquel Dvorak, Gonzalo Huebla's daughter in Chambo, Ecuador

I hope to express all that is in my heart with this letter, however I think it will be difficult and I won’t manage to say it all. Regardless, I’m happy to be able to share my thoughts and emotions with you who are truly family to me.

My father doesn’t have words to thank you for helping him in his need; he has tears of thankfulness and admiration. His heart is filled with love for you and he will always be thankful. He hopes to be well enough soon to be able to write you a letter and perhaps some day meet you personally, if God gives us life and health.

Everything began in this way: on the 27th of October at 7 pm, my papa had a motorcycle accident. Near his house where the road had been in good condition, they dug a hole about eight feet deep in the roadway to take care of one of his neighbor’s needs. There weren’t any signs of danger and the road isn’t lighted there, which made it difficult to see. I was in Bible class with the church in Tarqui, in the city of Puyo, where brother Anthony Genton was visiting. I got a call saying that my father had suffered a motorcycle accident. He was seriously injured and couldn’t feel his legs. He eventually lost consciousness. They took him by ambulance to the hospital. My husband, son, brother, and I left immediately for Chambo where my father was. He spent two days in intensive care, in between life and death, and a total of ten days in the hospital. We were all exhausted, worried, and anxious.

In that very moment, God acted in the life of my father through each one of you. He needed a lot of money in order for the doctors to respond immediately to the emergency. My family didn’t cover any of the hospital expenses. We didn’t have the first dollar of that money. My parents live day to day. If there is anyone to be thanked, it is each one of you. God has shown me what great power He has to move each of your hearts to such matchless generosity. Many people ask for miracles in order to believe in God. But I think that miracles are done in this day and time through the children of God with their love. That is how I see it. I will keep proclaiming with more fervor the wonders of God that He has done, now does and will do for my father through many children of God. Thank you for everything that you’ve done for us through your prayers and your financial help. The generosity of your hearts will always shine in my life. Without a doubt, it is bearing and will bear fruit. I send to each of you hugs, a holy kiss, and many blessings.

If God should give me the opportunity to meet you personally, we will share good times. And I will always be ready to help. These days my father has daily therapy. He has lost weight. Even though the doctors have said that he will never walk again, my father has faith in God that He will help him to walk. Day by day he is overcoming the pain. My family and I know that God will do His will in his life.

Thanks be to God, through you, my beloved family in Christ, my father has a second chance to live. The hardest thing is already past and that was to save my father’s life, and God granted that. Thank you for extending us your helping hand.

11/26/2020: A month has passed. He is now feeling more pain. They’ve reduced his medications and he still has a lot of swelling. He still isn’t able to attend to his own needs. He has a catheter and if things don’t improve he may have to have a colostomy bag. He has few good days, nevertheless he is fighting to manage the pain. He attends Bible studies with Zoom and that helps him spiritually. Yesterday, five brethren died from the church where my father was attending. They had a terrible car accident. It was two couples and a cousin, all related by blood – the Ilbay and Bucay families. The news saddened my parents and all of us. We can hardly believe that five days ago, those brethren visited my father and gave him a lot of encouragement. They supported him and now they’re dead. We are confident that they died in Christ and that is the only thing that gives us peace. We are praying that we will all have courage and lots of strength and will always remember that there is a God and that He does everything well in His time.

If you would remember our difficult situations in your prayers, it would be a great blessing. Once again, my heart is and always will be thankful. I love you all.

12/31/2020, update from his wife, Mariana: Gonzalo has been suffering with a severe urinary tract infection for the past couple of weeks and it has really gotten him down. They put him on an IV antibiotic that they hope will clear it up. Meanwhile, he continues to lose weight and is in constant pain. He has continued to do daily physical therapy except for some recent days, due to his illness. He and Mariana are discouraged and request your prayers, as always.  They both expressed faith in God’s care and His ability to carry out His will in spite of difficult circumstances.

April 1, 2021, Chambo, Ecuador (older notes above)

Dear brothers in Christ in our neighboring country, the United States, receive a cordial and affectionate greeting on the part of your brother in Christ, Gonzalo Huebla, and my wife Mariana Quishpi. We are deeply thankful for the financial help that you have sent with so much love.

I will tell you a little about the catastrophic accident that befell me on October 27, 2020. It was 7:30 PM (he was on his motorcycle, GC) when I suddenly into a hole 6 feet deep that they had dug that day in the middle of the highway. I don’t have much memory of what happened exactly, but I wound up with a fractured spine, brain trauma, and two ribs that punctured my lungs. I stayed for more than 48 hours in ICU. I didn’t know how much longer I would live during those hours. All the medical efforts were focused on saving my life. The surgery was very complicated, and very expensive. We didn’t have the slightest possibility of paying for it, but thank God, He worked out the circumstances for our best and moved the hearts of you and of the churches which I had visited, frequently preaching to them when I had full health. Thanks to all those efforts, we were able to pay the first $20,000 which was for us a miracle. We would never be able to see that amount of money in such a short time; for us it would mean six years of working!

After the surgery, we thought my recovery would be quick. After four months, my health kept getting worse, and we consulted a specialist who suggested a second surgery, but a urinary tract infection interfered with that plan.

Now new consultations and tests have determined that it’s impossible to do any more surgery on my spine and that I simply have to keep going through therapy and ensure good nutrition. To my surprise, all the doctors have told me that I will never walk again. I miss my legs, the preaching, the places where I visited, and my daily work. We were ready for the surgery, but the surgeon told us that too much time has passed and that he can’t do anything.

For now, I am in Puyo (a much warmer climate, GC) receiving a treatment and physical therapy.

Dear brothers, pray without ceasing for my health, as we will for you that you have good health and income.

We thank sister Vicki and brother Gary Copeland who happily make it possible for us to communicate about our spiritual and economic conditions to the brothers in Christ whom they know and among whom they work. May God bless you richly.

Thank you for your help. Currently our needs are met for some months for medicines and therapy.

For now, receive this written letter. I pray to God that someday, if God permits, I will visit you in person.

With much appreciation and respect, your brother in Christ, Gonzalo Huebla

November 2020

From Kimberly Ramos in Barinas, Venezuela

November 2020

From Fabian Paxtor Pojoy in San Marcos, Guatemala:

November 2020

From Rafael Tovar in Barinas, Venezuela

Every day we pray and hope for God's blessings for you. My son, Carlos said to me, "Daddy, pray for brother Gary and for sister Vicki. Thanks to them we are doing okay by the mercy of God." Brother, we love you with all our heart and soul.

God bless you all. Happy Lord's Day!

September 2020

Videos from brethren in Tarqui, Ecuador

August 2020

Note from Dogny Gerson Mejia Aguilar in Suchitepequez, Guatemala

My brethren, I don’t have the words or the means to thank you. I can only with much feeling tell you thank you. Thank you, my brethren, for helping me carry my burden. I’ll never be able to repay you who have today and always opened and extended your hands to me. That fills me with longing for you and I can’t help but have tears in my eyes. I want to thank you profoundly and tell you that, thanks be to God and to you, I was able to receive the money and immediately went to pay the lady that I have owed 700 quetzales for the last two months. I’ve sent you a photo of me paying her. And thanks to you all, I was also able to buy some food for my family. I also paid back what I had borrowed for some tests we had done for my wife on her ovaries. Within the next te days they should give us the results and we hope in God that my wife has nothing serious wrong. I have saved what was left of the money you sent in order to pay what I will owe on Monday the 7th for supplies for the bakery. Thanks be to God and to you, I will be able to pay it. I still don’t know if I will continue with the bakery because I’m afraid of getting in debt again. I will tell you, though, I went yesterday to inquire again concerning the work I applied for and they said they’ll give me an answer next week. That job is sweeping the municipal market and even so, they still haven’t given me any assurance. I applied for another job in Mazatenango as janitor for an institution, but they haven’t given me an answer.

August 2020

Note from Edgar Cifuentes in Guatemala (who received a walker)

Hello! How are you? Good morning, afternoon, or evening . . .

I’m writing from Tecún Úman, Ayutla, San Marcos, Guatemala, in order to thank you for the very useful tool that you so kindly gave me. I can get around much more easily with it and it makes life so much easier to bear. Many thanks to you and to all who work together with you. Hello to everyone!

Sincerely,
Leonel “Edgar” Cifuentes

October 2019

Note from Elder Mendez in Guatemala

Every day I get up and pray to the Lord, and sometimes I wonder what can happen today. I know that God blesses us every day, but I also know that God blesses us more than we think or expect. I can only say, God bless you .. 1,000 times thanks .. I'm surprised, I didn't wake up today thinking that this could happen.

Thank you all sister .. bro. Doug, Linda, Andrew (your brother in the flesh), Gary, and everyone.

January 2015

Note from Thembinkosi Apleni in South Africa

Dear Brethren,

I have been very sick in the past weeks with cold and constant headache but I have since recovered very well. My family is blessed with good health and the brethren are doing very well. It is my prayer that this note finds you all doing well both physically and spiritually. Brethren, I thought it wise to write to you and let you know how grateful I am to have you as my brothers and sisters in the Lord. Your love and commitment to the gospel of our Lord has kept me going this far. I have seen in you how one ought to walk, live and manifest the message of the gospel of our Lord on a daily basis.

Brethren, I wish to express my humble gratitude to you all for standing by me in my attempts to spread the gospel down here. I can’t lie, sometimes it becomes exceedingly hard but your prayers and messages of support afford me strength that keeps me going. I really do not know what to say as far as your financial support is concerned. Just the thought of people sending money to a total stranger with the faith that he is a faithful person who will use it wisely for the purpose that it is intended for, is for me such a great sermon that makes me praise Our Heavenly Father everyday with tears running down my eyes. I thank my God so much for the fellowship we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. May Our Heavenly Father grant you all your godly wishes and give you success in everything you do.

With love in Christ,
Thembinkosi Apleni

November 2009

Note from Thembinkosi Apleni in South Africa

Dear Sister Vicki,

I know we did thank you and the brethren there for offering to support us and also for deciding to raise the support you are sending us when you noted our situation. This morning after we have noted how much you have helped us, it felt like we did not thank you in a proper manner. I know we can never have the proper words to express our gratitude to you and the brethren there but please allow us to say thank you brethren. If it was not for you, we will surely be still not having any hope of ever finding a proper house in which we could raise our son decently.

We have now managed to buy ourselves a site and some of the building materials which I think are mostly the needed ones. This really is a much relief to us. We are now doing our work in a more focused way knowing that at least by next year we will be surely out of here, Lord willing. We are hoping to be able to finish buying the other remaining building material by January next year and if things go according to our plans we will surely be able to hire the builders and be out of here at the following two months thereafter.

My wife was crying after we bought some of the building materials today. She asked me to write you and thank you again for standing up for us. You know, in this place crime is so high. You see people stubbing each other every weekend. The way young and old people are drinking is like it's the only thing they know. Language is completely unacceptable from the people who are passing by, some times from some of our neighbors. Seeing our son growing-up in this place always worries us so much.

Now that you have revived our hopes that soon we will leave this place and be able to raise our son in decent place is really an act that we are so much grateful for. Thank you so much Sister Vicki and the brethren who are working with you at the Foreign Help Fund.

Your Brother and Sister in Christ,
Thembinkosi and Zusakhe Apleni

March 26, 2009

Note from Thembinkosi Apleni in South Africa

Dear Sister Vicki,

We couldn't believe it when we read you E- mail this evening, it has been more than a year since we were begging for extra financial support and there has been no response what so ever but we kept on praying, knowing that our God cares so much for us. Having you as our sister in the Lord is not only encouraging to us, to keep on contending for the faith that was delivered to us, but it also shows us the true colors of Christianity. You will never regret your decision for seeking help for us, and making sure that you personally recommend us to the members of the Foreign Help Fund Board, we will make it a point that we use this money in the work of the Lord but I must be honest with you that we intend to build a secure home for us and our son. Recently a brother who was travelling with brother Less Maydell and others wanted to be with us for a week so that he could worship and attend the bible classes with us, he couldn't do so because we didn't have the place for him to stay with us for that week. Our house is only having one bedroom and a sitting room which is also our kitchen. When we say it's a two room house we mean it only has two rooms which is a bedroom and a lounge only. That is why we are so grateful to you because we have been always wondering how on earth we are ever going to be able to have a decent place with what we have.

Sister Vickie we do not have the words to thank you, we are speechless. May our God abundantly bless you, your family, the members of the board and the contributors at large.

In Christ,
Thembinkosi and Zusakhe Apleni