Author Archives: joekotvas

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to every one of you who reads these letters, supports us faithfully, and prays for us regularly. I have some difficult news to share, but first I want to report some of the things we have been involved in over the past few months.

In February we so enjoyed putting together the 2024 Deaf camp. Pastor David Peach did a great job challenging our people to be faithful to the Lord. Just after the conference, Pastor Peach began experiencing acute pain, and we ended up taking him in to the emergency room. He had to have emergency surgery. We are thankful he made a quick and full recovery.

Efata hosted a VBS after the conference, and the Fires of Evangelism Conference toward the end of February.

In March, we celebrated with our church-wide Easter fellowship, and in April we hosted a fellowship with many of our Deaf adults.

In May, Pastor Bruce Berry, our South American Director for Macedonia, came to spend time with our family and discuss some difficult issues. We are so thankful for him and for everyone at Macedonia, who have always been so supportive and encouraging over the past 12 years I have been with the Mission. In May we also celebrated the 47^th anniversary of Efata Baptist Church.

It has been beautiful to see young Deaf students returning to classes at the Efata Christian School for the Deaf after having been forced to close temporarily during the pandemic. Last year the school re-opened with five students in kindergarten and first grade. This year we have almost 20 students in kinder and elementary, as well as an after-school program that helps junior high and high school Deaf students. Next year Efata plans to open a regular high school for the Deaf.

The Deaf school has always been at the core of Efata’s ministry. It’s a joy to see these new children learning and growing.

Zulema has a special place in her heart for these little ones, and every afternoon she has opened up the “Quiosco” snack shop and made the sandwiches and other snacks that their parents ask for. She has done a lot of work this year to make the Quiosco a nice place for the congregation to gather before and after services, as well. The proceeds help pay for our missions trips and conferences.

The students in the Bible Institute have done well, and they will be finishing their program of study this December. I have also been teaching research and writing in the Efata Bible College.

The auditorium construction project for the Efata mission church in Chancay, under the leadership of National Pastor Henry Vasquez, is progressing well. They now have the roof and walls up, and they are working on details such as plumbing, electrical, and furnishings. My Dad, Missionary Joe Kotvas, has been raising funds for this project, and I know many of those of you who read this letter have participated in giving. Thank you so much.

This month we have been helping our church prepare for a missions trip to visit and support our missionary Wilder Rojas in the mountain city of Arequipa the first week of August. Thirty people from our congregation have signed up to participate in this trip. Many of them have been saving and raising money for months in order to go.

We have also been laying the groundwork for a special music camp to be held the second week of August. Our budding musicians are so excited for this, and many talented music teachers have volunteered their time to come and teach how to play, sing, lead and coordinate music in church services.

Finally, dear pastors and church families,

I mentioned at the beginning of this letter that I have some difficult news. For personal reasons, I have found it necessary to resign from my role as a pastor and missionary.

I have been serving now for twelve years; first as a single, volunteer missionary teacher, and then as a missionary planting and leading Deaf ministries and working alongside my father, together with Zulema and our three precious children.

Many of you have supported our family from the very beginning of this journey, and I cannot thank you enough for your faithfulness. Some of you have come and visited us on the field. Many have prayed monthly, weekly, and even daily for us. Thank you.

I want you to know that your investment has not been without results. We have poured our lives into this ministry, and we have been able to encourage, strengthen, and teach many. My wife especially has done so much for both the Deaf and the hearing here. We have done what we could while we could.

Now, however, it’s time for us to step down. Because of my experience observing similar situations, I feel the need to clarify that this decision is not brought on by immorality or other sin. It is also not because of any marital or interpersonal conflicts, nor is it due to any negative action on the part of the Mission or my sending church or pastor.

Rather it is because of philosophical and doctrinal considerations that I am working through. I have spent many hours in prayer and in conversation with my father (who is my pastor) and other Christian leaders, and with Brother Berry from Macedonia, as I mentioned above.

This will be a difficult time of transition for my family. We are still here in Peru right now, living on campus, and we have served here for many years with generous but limited support. We don’t have much set aside to ease our transition.

You have all helped us so much already. If I could impose on you to request once more a helping hand in this time of need, I will be forever grateful.

• First, continued support for the next several months would be invaluable, as would any help designated for the expenses involved in this transition.
• Second, for those of you who love the special ministry of Efata and do not currently support my parents, missionaries Joe and Lisa Kotvas, I invite you to consider sending them your support. They continue to do wonderful work with the Deaf and hearing across Peru and around the world.

Please feel free to write me or call me to talk. My email address is joseph.kotvas@gmail.com, and my phone number is (904) 335-8563.

Sincerely,

The Kotvas Family
Joseph and Zulema Kotvas,
JJ, Esther & Grace

January 2024 Prayer Letter

We just want to thank the Lord for all the opportunities he gave us to serve him in 2023. God has been so good to us and to our people here.

This letter covers the second half of 2023; although we have shared several lengthy updates on Facebook, we never sent out our September 2023 prayer letter; I apologize for that.

In August, we took a group of 30 of our church members on a wonderful missions trip to Ecuador, visiting three ministries and missionaries supported by our Peruvian congregation.

Jonathan Ramirez, Dennis Melgar, Michael Lanchang and their families are doing a great work there. Ecuador is a dangerous place right now, with grotesque political violence and assassinations as well as wanton armed robbery. We are thankful that God protected us while there, and that he continues to watch over our missionaries in this difficult time. They are in our hearts and in our prayers.

While in Ecuador our team had the privilege to lead meetings for children, teens, women and adults, visit and witness in various communities and do project work in several churches. Several people were saved on the trip, and it was wonderful to see the spiritual growth in our own young people who went on this trip with us.

In September we hosted Pastor’s School with the missionaries from Team Peru, and also had several fellowship and outreach activities with our interpreters and Deaf at our church.

October featured a family day outreach for our ministry, and then our first Ladies’ Conference. Zulema worked incredibly hard with my mother Lisa and all the ladies in our church to prepare, host and teach several hundred women from across Peru. Many approached us after the teaching sessions and expressed how much the conference helped them personally.

In November we held our annual Bible Conference. It was separated into two tracks one for the hearing with Pastor Wayne Van Gelderen, and one for the Deaf with Deaf Pastors Bruce Kelly and Todd Reynolds. Each group was able to enjoy great preaching in their own language. It was a wonderful conference.

Throughout the past six months we have had many baptisms for both Deaf and hearing. We also continued teaching our hearing and Deaf students in the Bible College and Bible Institute.

December was very special as we had the graduation ceremony for my brother-in-law, Abraham Ramirez, with three other graduation students of our Bible College. What a blessing to see how God is using Zulema’s brother to reach the Deaf! Please pray for Abraham as he will be doing an internship for several months at our mission church in the jungle city of Pucallpa before returning to Lima to continue working with us here and around Peru.

Also in December, we traveled to another of our mission works, this one in Chancay with Pastor Henry Vasquez. There we were able to lead an outreach activity to over 250 neighbor children, sharing a clear Gospel presentation and presenting each child with a beautiful Christmas present.

We also hosted a Christmas dinner for the mission church family there, and preached the Sunday service. Here again we took almost 30 of our church members with us for this special trip.

For the new year, we hosted a watch night fellowship with our Deaf congregation. As we look forward to what God will do in 2024, we are excited about our upcoming Deaf Camp with Pastor David Peach (February 8-10), Fires of Evangelism Bible Conference, (February 26-29), and School, Bible College and Bible Institute classes (Beginning in March and April).

I returned this weekend from preaching a conference for the Deaf with Pastor Elias and Mrs. Ruth Garcia in Pucallpa a few days. This was a great blessing. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to work to reach the Deaf across Peru.

God bless each of you greatly

The Kotvas Family ☺️
Joseph and Zulema Kotvas,
JJ, Esther & Grace

What wonderful (and busy!) weeks we have had recently. 😮💨 🤗

Our Efata School recently turned 53 and we had a great celebration for it.  🎉

There was a beautiful reunion of students who were here from the very first day until now. 😃

It was so beautiful and nostalgic to see them remember each detail and share beautiful memories, pranks, romances, ear pulls 🤭 and above all their gratitude to God and the Efata ministry, which was for them a home, school, and church where they, though Deaf, heard the voice of God through signs. 🥰

We had the first two little children–now grown–who were students of this great ministry, the Efata School. We are so blessed to know them and be part of their life. 🥲 They are Zulema’s father and uncle. 🤩

There were many special moments. God was good in a great way. Souls were saved and baptized.

Marveling at what God can really do in the lives of these precious deaf souls gives us a glimpse of the beautiful plan God has for our own lives.

The Efata Baptist Church mission with the Deaf in Callao brought a special song in Sign Language.

All of the singers were Deaf, but one of them was Deaf and Blind, and to see him sing with his hands worshiping and thanking God for everything was incredibly moving. It challenges us to recognize that sometimes we do not value or appreciate what God gives us every day.

It was such a beautiful time. It was also good to see the speakers who were special guests since they also have deep connections to this ministry.

We thank God for the Efata school and its 53 years. May it be God’s will to give it 53 more years to come. 🥳

We also had our missions conference. It was a good and pleasant time of great spirits. We had letters and videos from our missionaries. We had great preaching from Pastor Víctor Velasquez.

The international banquet was a wonderful time together as a church, which to me captures the spirit of enjoying missions. ☺️ Seeing each team put effort into decoration, costumes and food was gratifying.

Glory to God!!! We now have a pastor for the Efata Baptist Mission Church in Pucallpa.

Pastor Elías García and his beautiful wife, Sister Ruth, are the newest members of our pastoral team. On Sunday, June 25^th, Joseph and Pastor Alfredo Cruz officially presented Pastor Elias at the church in Pucallpa. It is so wonderful to see their commitment to carry on the Lord’s work there.

We have been praying for months for someone to shepherd the Deaf and hearing congregation there in Pucallpa, and in God’s time He provided a perfect fit for that ministry.

We also want to thank all the young people of our church and the students of the Efata Bible College and Institute.

They gave us their time, effort, ideas and help in all the recent activities that we have had. Without a doubt they are the best, giving us strength and encouragement to keep going. When our strength ran out they came and multiplied it.

We love you all so much 🥲❤️

Other recent projects.

There were several other conferences over the past few months, including the youth conference at the beginning of March and the Fires of Evangelism conference in mid-April.

One other big outreach activity we had the privilege to participate in was a mass evangelism canvassing of the city of Lima. We joined together with a church from Tacoma, Washington, along with dozens of pastors and churches from all over Lima to pass out hundreds of thousands of tracts over five days, as well as thousands of Bibles and New Testaments. It was an amazing opportunity.

Now the biggest event and project that we have been organizing for almost a year is coming.

¡¡¡¡Our mission trip is coming up!!!! 🤩

We will be traveling 🧳 by the will of God to the country of Ecuador, 🇪🇨 where we will visit three of our missionaries. We hope with all our hearts that God may always be glorified in everything and that his glory be manifested to us for his honor.

We are four weeks away from the big adventure!

The cost per traveler for this missions trip comes out to $350. Our people don’t have much, but around thirty of our most faithful members are doing everything they can to go with us and be a blessing to our missionaries in Ecuador.

We have been organizing bake sales, lunches, and other fundraisers all year to help our people raise money, and they have most of what they need saved up. $100 would make up the difference for many of the young adults.

If you are interested in sponsoring a traveler for this two-week missions trip, please let us know! It will mean so much.

Please pray for us and for our church and ministry so that God will continue to fan our fire 🔥 and continue to give us spiritual and physical strength to carry on with His great calling.

Pray for us, and we thank you once again for your continued prayers.

God bless each of you greatly. The Kotvas Family 😃

Joseph and Zulema Kotvas,
JJ, Esther & Grace

God has been so good to us and our ministry over the past few months. We have been able to lead souls to the Lord, encourage the church and minister across Peru.

August 2022

In August, we led a missions trip to the jungle city of Pucallpa, Peru, where we ministered to the Deaf and hearing congregation there.

We also continued visiting and encouraging our church members in Lima. Pictured here is our son JJ with Flor, the Deaf and blind lady who suffered a terrible accident last June. She was still bedridden in August, and we weren’t sure whether she would ever walk again.

September 2022

In September, our daughter Esther was baptized! We also had several activities at Efata recognizing the contributions of our faithful interpreters and thanking the Lord for the Deaf in our ministry.

Efata Baptist Church has been growing here in Villa El Salvador, and the auditorium was no longer large enough to for the congregation to meet together. We’ve gradually been converting our sports area into a “gymnatorium,” and in September the Lord provided the funds to enclose this space with metal siding providing much-needed protection from the elements.

This was just in time for our church to host a pastors’ conference organized by our friends from Team Peru, with lots of great preaching and many young people surrendering to full-time Christian service.

Also, our little Grace turned two in September.

October 2022

October 16^th was Esther’s birthday; she’s already five! Both of our princesses are growing up so quickly. We made a quick trip to the US in October to attend a family wedding and take care of some checkups.

Lord willing, we will have another brief trip at some point over the next few months for follow-up appointments, especially for Grace. Praise the Lord, she is doing well and her throat condition has become less pronounced, but we still want to get the doctors to take another look and let us know if there is anything else we need to do to help her as she develops.

Also In October, I had the opportunity to lead two Deaf young men, Brandon and Aaron, to the Lord. Please pray for Brandon as his family is moving away from Lima this month and he will be without a church or school for the Deaf in his area.

Later that month, we took our Bible institute students and staff on a missions trip to the northern cities of Chiclayo and Ferreñafe to encourage our missionaries Cesar and Leonor Quiroz and their family in the work they are doing for the Lord there. Several of our new institute students taught their first Bible class on this trip.

Efata has been supporting Cesar as he has been reaching the Deaf and hearing in that area for years, and it was a joy for us this month to accept them as missionaries sent out of Efata Baptist Church. Please pray for them and for the Deaf of Chiclayo and the surrounding towns.

November 2022

Our annual Bible Conference was in November. Pastor Wayne Van Gelderen came and spoke for the hearing, and Pastor Bill Schutt Sr. was our guest speaker for the Deaf.

Zulema worked hard to make sure we had great dramas and special music for the Deaf, and Pastor Schutt brought clear, powerful messages in Sign Language.

Several more Deaf and hearing people were saved, including Deaf teens Sebastian and Fernando. Four-year-old Cesia, who can hear, is Deaf Pastor Frank Chavez’s oldest daughter. Cesia paid close attention to the messages and told her father she wanted to be saved.

Pastor Frank witnessed to her in Sign Language, and Zulema was able to help explain the Gospel in Spanish as well to make sure that Cesia understood everything. Little Cesia then asked Jesus to save her!

December 2022

December always brings a whirlwind of activities and celebrations. Esther finished K5, and JJ turned seven.

Our Deaf youth group prepared a special dramatized song for the Christmas service, and I brought a message on living out the Christmas story.

We also hosted a special service and gift exchange for the Deaf, and as you can see in the first photo above, Flor was able to join us for the first time in six months after her accident! She is now walking independently and attending church faithfully! This is a major answer to prayer.

January 2023

The ministry in the jungle city of Pucallpa is currently without a Pastor, and leaders from our church here in Lima have been taking turns traveling to minister to the congregation there. Please pray that God would provide His man for that place.

I was able to return to Pucallpa in January with Zulema, and it was a joy to teach the simple truths of God’s Word there. Rachel, a young teen whose sister was one of our former students at Efata, responded to the message, and Zulema was able to lead her to the Lord. What a blessing it was to baptize her the following week in that ministry.

At the very end of January, we held our first Deaf camp since 2019! As it was only for two nights, we called it a “Deaf retreat,” and to be honest I thought we would only have around 35 or 40 people attend. Praise the Lord we had over ninety in attendance, and two of the campground staff team members, including the ice cream vendor, made professions of faith that week!

We look forward to the year ahead, May the Lord be glorified. Thank you for your prayers and your faithful support. God bless you!

Sincerely,

Joseph and Zulema Kotvas
JJ, Esther & Grace

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s been a little longer than usual since our last letter, and I’d like to apologize for that. I’d also like to thank each of you for your continual prayers and support for our ministry here in Peru. It means so much.

In our last letter I asked for prayer and help with several projects. Since then, we have been able to open the Bible Institute for the Deaf with four students.

A number of other students have expressed interest but are hoping to get started next year.

After about a month of classes, it became clear that two of our current students are not ready for institute level study. Instead, we are helping them with remedial school programs where they can improve their reading and writing so as to go on to resume the institute courses when they are ready.

Please pray for our students – Rosalinda, Yazzeli, Hilda and Richard – as they study the Word of God and seek to do his will.

I also asked for help with the purchase of a van for our family and ministry. Several churches responded generously, and we are so thankful that we were able to purchase a 2011 Honda Odyssey in great shape.

It has already been such a help on visitation and for church activities, as well as just for getting around town with the family.

We have had several outreach activities over the past few months.

We have also ramped up visitation, and many have made professions of faith on Deaf ministry visitation.

In April we traveled to Iquitos to help a church there that is adopting a deaf ministry. We taught Sign Language and preached faithfulness and service.

In May, we visited the mountain city of Arequipa for a family member’s wedding. While there, I visited a national missionary and was encouraged by his vision for a church plant there. I also preached in another local church in the area.

In June, Efata held our international missions conference, and the church family had a wonderful spirit of service and sacrifice. We are hoping to take on two or three new missionaries this year.

The following week, we hosted a ladies’ conference organized by a fellowship of like-minded churches.

Two months ago, a deaf-blind couple who attend our church faithfully were hit by a large truck. Yoni was flung aside and suffered only minor bumps and scrapes, but Flor was pulled under the vehicle and crushed beneath it.

She has gone through much since then, including three intensive surgeries, but we are so thankful that she is stable and recovering.

Many have given to help with her medical expenses. Please pray that Flor will eventually recover the use of her legs.

Up next is another missions trip. Lord willing, on July 31 we are going with around forty members of our church to the jungle city of Pucallpa, where we plan to spread the Gospel message and do some much-needed maintenance on the ministry infrastructure there.

Please pray for our family – for our health, for our stamina and for our growth in the Word. Our children are doing great; Esther made a profession of faith last month the Wednesday before Father’s Day.

Zulema’s health is up and down, and all of us have been dealing with recurring flus and colds. Thank you for your prayers.

Sincerely,

Joseph and Zulema Kotvas
JJ, Esther & Grace

Dear Friends and Family,

As I write this letter, it seems we are on the brink of a new season of fruitfulness here in the Deaf ministry in Peru. The joy of watching the last vestiges of pandemic-era restrictions fall away is hard to describe – a feeling of gratefulness, relief, and freedom to serve as we see fit.

Our Christmas program was very special, with many young people participating for the very first time in a church presentation. We proclaimed the eternal truth that Christ has come to take away the sins of the world.

January was a rough month as the virus made a short but violent resurgence across Peru. Many in our leadership team fell sick, including Zulema and I, and a few of our church members were in intensive care for a while. Praise the Lord all have recovered and are well.

We planned a New Year’s Eve service, banquet, and gift exchange for our Deaf congregation, and had to postpone it because of the contagion among our leaders.

Praise the Lord on January 16th we held the activity, and it was a great encouragement for our people.

Just as quickly as the wave swept across our church, it receded, and with that, we are more determined than ever to reopen completely with no more hesitations or restrictions. Our services have been open in person since the end of 2019, with brief closures since when large numbers of our leaders or congregation were sick. Now it is time to resume our Sunday school classes and Bible training programs in person as before.

In March, we are opening Sunday School classes again; in April, we begin our brand-new intensive Bible institute for the Deaf, and also in April we return to the jungle city of Iquitos for another mission trip to encourage and strengthen a deaf ministry which recently merged with a hearing church in that city.

To those of you who have given toward our vehicle fund, thank you so much. We are halfway to our goal of $22,000 for a van that will meet the needs of our family here on the mission field as well as the need for transportation for the Bible institute and evangelistic mission trips. We continue to save and pray that God will provide for this need.

I have another opportunity that I would also like to present to you this month. The Efata Bible Institute for the Deaf is a new program designed to give young Deaf men and women a strong biblical foundation for the Christian life, the Christian family, and ministry in their local church.

Through this program with the Lord’s help, we will train the next generation of Deaf Gospel preachers, Sunday School teachers and Godly parents and give them the tools they will need to teach others.

The Institute is a three-year program of Bible education, language reinforcement and hands-on work training in carpentry, sewing, and other practical “tent-making” skills. Zulema and I are so excited about this nascent opportunity. Please pray with us for our incoming class.

We will need scholarships for most if not all our students. It is going to cost us $140 a month for each student to feed, house and teach them. I am praying for sixteen sponsors who would be willing to commit to $70 a month for April through December. This will be enough to fully cover the cost of 8 Deaf Bible Institute students for their first year. These sponsors could be churches, individuals, businesses, or Sunday School classes. Would you consider helping with this need?

None of this would be possible without so many of you who are giving every month to support our family and ministry here in Peru. God has been so good to us, as have you all. Thank you for partnering with us in this great work. If you would like to come see the work and participate firsthand in Deaf missions, reach out to me! We would love to have you.

Sincerely,

Joseph and Zulema Kotvas
JJ, Esther & Grace

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support for our family. God has been so good to us over the past few months as we have settled back into life and ministry on the field. He has provided for all our needs, and we want to give him all the glory.

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

Lucas 1:49-50

We returned to Peru in August. Thank you again to all those who gave to help with the moving and setup expenses.

In September we had our first major outreach activity since the pandemic began, and over sixty deaf showed up at the church. Our faithful members have been returning, and we continue to encourage those who are still at home to set their fears aside and come together as a church. Many deaf and hearing have been saved and baptized, with new baptisms every week.

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The deaf youth group has begun meeting again. We kicked off with a special fellowship activity, and this month I am working with the teens to prepare a Christmas presentation of the many prophesies foretelling the birth of the Savior.

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In October, our family visited the jungle city of Iquitos with National Deaf Pastor Frank Chavez and his family. Pastor Frank and I preached a Bible Conference for Missionary Matt McKendree’s deaf ministry there. This was my first visit to the city where my wife was born. It was a rewarding and emotional experience. One deaf lady was saved during the conference. I was honored to speak in two other ministries in Iquitos that week as well.

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We are looking forward to working with several of our deaf young people next year in the Bible institute program, preparing them to be Christian leaders and teachers. We are also excited about our new evangelistic outreach to the deaf in cities around Peru. We should be ready to take our first five-day trip this coming April.

This brings me to a special need. I have been looking for a vehicle for our family that can also be used on visitation and for these special evangelistic trips. We’ve settled an 11-passenger JAC Refine. The van will cost us approximately $21,000.00. Please pray with us about this need. This vehicle will be a core part of our ministry going forward. If you can give toward this need, please let me know.

The family is well. Zulema has fully recovered from her gall bladder surgery. She still deals with chronic health issues, and the trip to her birth city as well as a variety of family issues over the past few months have taken a toll on her. She does such a great job in the ministry here. Please keep her in your prayers.

JJ is almost six! He graduated from kindergarten this month, and we are so proud of him. Esther is working through K4 and doing a great job. Both of them are settling in so well here, catching up on Spanish and Sign Language and enjoying the many adventures the mission field holds for them.

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As to Grace, she just started walking around on her own, and she is so precious. Please do continue to pray for her. She still chokes up every once in a while because of her throat condition.

God bless you all! We love you and are praying for you.

Sincerely,

Joseph & Zulema Kotvas
JJ, Esther & Grace

The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 34:17

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank the Lord for each of you who has faithfully supported us throughout the first half of 2021. It is a great joy to share what God has done with us in ministry and as a family over the past several months.

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Our deputation continues to bear fruit. We have heard back from several more churches that have adopted us for monthly support. We have also received several special love offerings to help us with the tax situation at Efata as well as our move back to Peru and setup costs there. It is so encouraging to know that you are “holding the ropes” for us as we go forward in ministry.

Praise the Lord, through his grace and faithfulness, the back taxes on the church property in Peru have now been paid off in full as of last week! Thank you so much to those who gave through us toward that project. Also, both our travel and setup expenses have now been fully funded.

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In other news, Zulema is now an American Citizen! Now that our entire family are dual citizens, travel will be so much easier. We will not be at the mercy of political whims, and we will be able to go back and forth freely as we do ministry. Thank you all for your prayers throughout this process.

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Zulema had her gall bladder removed in June, which was quite the ordeal. Thankfully she is recovering well from the surgery and is ready for the trip back to Peru. While in the hospital, Zulema had the privilege to meet a nurse from Peru and witness to her.

Grace is growing and developing well. Because of issues she was having, we were afraid she might suffer from more generalized paralysis on her right side, but she is strong and full of energy, scooting around and working on standing up!

We were all packed up to return to Peru last Wednesday, July 28. Zulema’s paperwork was done and her passport had arrived… then JJ and Esther both tested positive for COVID last week! Thank the Lord they are doing well with minimal symptoms.

We rescheduled our flight for the third week of August. We are more than ready to get back into the work God has for us there. Pray for us to be able to get on the plane and back to the field.

Praise the Lord our church in Peru continues to gather in person to learn the Word of God, worship, serve, and fellowship together as the body of Christ. July 28^th was the 200^th anniversary of Peru’s independence as a nation, and it was also inauguration day for a new president. This new president has socialist ties, and he has declared his intention to rewrite the constitution of Peru.

There is a great deal of turmoil and fear in Peru that the country may take a turn toward socialism in the vein of Cuba and Venezuela. Prices are rising across the board, and the national currency shown signs of inflation. Pray for missionaries and believers in Peru. We trust in God, and we know that his plans are always just and right.

We are eager to get back to the field and begin training the next generation of Gospel teachers and preachers for the Deaf.

In March of next year, as the Lord leads, we will begin the new Efata Deaf Bible Institute program, where we will invest in our young Deaf men and women with practical, hands-on training in ministry, doctrine, work, and language. Apart from Bible and language instruction, we will be teaching practical work skills such as carpentry, sewing, and cooking, as well as visitation, teaching and preaching, and counseling.

Through conferences and campaigns across Peru, we will sow the Gospel seed for the Deaf around the country. Pray for wisdom and direction as we pursue the vision God has given us. The time we have spent here in the States has allowed us to reflect and mature as we have learned to rest in Him and thank him for his enduring mercy.

As I close this letter, I would like to recognize the passing of a good friend in ministry. Missionary Ben Millican, who served for 37 years with our mission board, is home with his Savior.

Brother Millican and his church, Iglesia Bautista Nuevo Testamento, have always been a blessing to us. Although Pastor Ben went through so much with his health, he was faithful, continuing to get out and win souls and minister until the end. He is such a great blessing and example for us.

We are so thankful for every pastor, missionary, and faithful Christian we have met along the way. Your testimony as a witness for Jesus gives us strength and encouragement as we press on in the Service of the King.

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Sincerely,

Joseph and Zulema Kotvas
JJ, Esther & Grace

¹⁴ Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
¹⁵ For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

James 4:14-15

Dear friends and family,

As the adage goes, “Plans are useless, but planning is essential.” I am thankful we can rest in God’s will as we continue down life’s path.

As we explained in last month’s letter, our deputation plans for 2020 were interrupted by both the border closings and by our pregnancy. We finally did return to the US on December 16^th. We are still taking things month by month as the Lord opens and closes doors.

Praise the Lord, just before we came back, I was able to lead a young deaf man to the Lord after the Sunday morning service, and another told me that God used our online Deaf Bible Conference in November to call him to preach the Gospel.

Pray for these new Christians, Jair and Richard, as they grow in the Lord at Efata. Deaf pastors Jorge and Frank, as well as my brother-in-law, Abraham, are doing a wonderful job investing in these and others. I can’t wait to get back to the field and continue to train and reach the Deaf for Christ.

Please pray for Dr. Dean Hamby and his wife, Karen as they are battling COVID. Dr. Hamby is the assistant director of Macedonia World Baptist Missions, our wonderful mission board. He and Mrs. Hamby are such a blessing and help to us, and I know they would appreciate your prayers for a complete and speedy recovery.

Also, pray for our people at Efata Baptist Church. Several of our staff and their families who live on campus have been infected with the virus. Because of the recent spike in cases across Lima, the government has again forbidden in-person services for several weeks. Restaurants, malls, festivals, theaters, casinos, etc. have also been shut down. Of course, the Gospel continues to be preached and taught faithfully over live streaming and video calls.

Efata is also facing a serious financial need right now. We have been negotiating with the local government for several years over municipal taxes. The city abruptly raised our rates retroactively, and we were facing a tax bill of over $75,000.00 in back taxes. Praise the Lord we have been able to get them to reduce that amount considerably.

After exhausting appeal options, we were left with a tax bill of around $20,000. Our Peruvian church members and others have given generously, and we now owe around $16,200. If you can help with this need it will be much appreciated. Once this debt is cleared, we will be able to keep things current as we always did before.

Our family’s current roadmap is to continue in Florida throughout February before hitting the deputation trail during March and April and into May. Praise the Lord, I have been able to preach in several of our supporting churches this month as well as pick up a brand-new supporting church in Iglesia Bautista Nuevo Testamento, Labelle, FL. We are currently just under 40% of our support target, and it is our prayer that we can get to 60% before returning to the field.

We have been doing paperwork for Zulema’s citizenship, and because of pandemic office closures, we are hitting some roadblocks and delays in the process. Please pray that the Lord would allow us to get her American citizenship this year. As always, also pray for her continued health.

Pray too for our baby, Grace. Her respiratory issues were aggravated over the past couple of weeks after catching a cold. We are keeping a close eye on her as she is prone to choking up. We had to rush to the emergency room last week to clear her airways. Please pray for God’s hand of protection on her as we travel.

JJ is now five, and Esther is three. All three of our children love to travel. God has taken care of us every step of the way thus far, and his promises have never failed. We are honored to partner with you in his service.

Sincerely,

Joseph and Zulema Kotvas
JJ, Esther, and Grace