THE MELENDEZ PRAYER LETTER FEBRUARY  2014

Dear

Greetings from the Melendez family! We pray that you are well, and growing every day closer to the Lord. We have been so encouraged during these past few weeks by the messages we have heard, and the Bible passages that we have been studying. God has encouraged our hearts greatly in our walk with Him. Each day we desire to grow a little closer to our Lord.

Daniel is going full speed ahead into his second semester of Bible school. He is doing very well, though it is a bit challenging. This semester he is studying Philippians, New Testament survey, Evangelism, Life of Christ, Spanish Composition, and Chorus. As part of the class, he is required to memorize the entire book of Philippians. His other classes require a great deal of memorization as well. Praise to God, who has been giving him the endurance that he needs for those long nights of studying. Coffee has been helping as well.

We are still serving the Lord in our local church in the children’s Sunday school. It has been such a blessing for us to be able to minister to the children together as a family. Even Sam and Anna tag- a- long as they are not accustomed to staying in the baby nursery yet. This month we are teaching them who Jesus said He is.

Samuel and Anna are doing well and growing fast. They just turn 1 ½ years old in January, and they are 32 inches and 28 lbs. Samuel has gone through 3 shoe sizes in the past 6 months! They are smart and sweet and we are so thankful that they are part of our lives. Sam loves to play the guitar and dance, Anna loves her dolls and food! And they both love books and veggie tales. We spend a lot of time outside when the weather is nice.

We are very thankful for our friends and neighbors here on campus as well. All of us women who have husbands in Bible school get together on Thursdays for our own Bible study. This semester we are studying the book of James. I really enjoy getting together with other ladies to pray and study God’s Word.

We would like to ask you to keep us in prayer. We know that so many of you faithfully pray for us and we are very grateful. We praise God for his faithfulness and goodness to us. Here are some things that we would like to share with you, so that you can be praying for us.

please keep us in your prayers

1. Daniel and I are actively trying to nurture our marriage. With the busyness of life, children, school, work and ministry it can be hard. Pray that we will be faithful to keep our marriage high on our list of priorities, and model God’s desire for marriage to our children.
   

1. Daniel has a bad tooth that probably will need to be pulled. Dental work is cheaper in Mexico, so he is going to try to go down there for his tooth. Pray for safety in travels, wisdom for the doctors, and that the cost will be manageable.
2. Our car is making a lot of un- favorable noises, and even though we just replaced the brakes, they are also making noises. Pray that God gives our car enough life to get us through school.
3. We really feel that visiting Daniel’s family in Peru this summer is of utmost importance. It will probably be our only trip down to Peru before we move back, and we want to be good managers of our money and go before the babies turn 2 years old. ` Babies under 2 don’t have to pay for their ticket. Pray that God will provide for this trip, if it is His will.
   

Thank you all so much for you prayers and encouragement. We think of you all often and pray for you regularly as well. Thank you for your passion for missions!

Love Daniel, Mattie, Samuel, and Anna Melendez

Look for us at:

 www.tentmakersbiblemission.org. 

Our mailing address is 4300 S. US Highway 281 

Edinburg, TX 78539

Our phone number is 1 802 751 5135 and our email is danielandmattie@gmail.com

We would love to hear what God is doing in your lives! Blessings!

THE MELENDEZ PRAYER LETTER JUNE 2013

Our happy family

Daniel and I are amazed that we have already started our fourth year of marriage together. We thank the Lord for bringing us together and for bringing us our beautiful babies Samuel (Sammy) and Anna. The twins will be 1 year old on July 19^th.  It is hard to believe that they are already going to be toddlers. Sammy is walking already and Anna is not far behind. They are very active, mischievous, sweet, happy babies. Please pray for their future salvation. 

We are almost ready to Go!

It seems like yesterday we were in Peru working on Daniel’s visa to come to the USA. We have been here for over a year now and a lot has happened. Now we both have seen each other’s world, home towns, and families. We have each seen how the other grew up, and now we have started a family of our own. We’ve had a very nice time in Vermont, but now it’s time to move on.

Texas is the next step in this great adventure of ministry that God has called us to.

We are so excited about moving to Texas! Daniel will be a full time student at Rio Grande Bible Institute, and we will both be once again in ministry to the Latin American people. McAllen, Texas is very close to the Mexican border, and there are a lot of Latin Americans living around the school. We will be essentially moving into a Hispanic community, where the culture and language will be very similar to that of Peru.  We have a lot ahead of us, and we are so excited to see all that God is going to do during these next few years.  

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7

What the future holds

Daniel has two more years of living in the USA before he can apply for his US citizenship. We are thankful that God has provided a way for him to futher prepare himself for the ministry in Peru; as well as opportunities to minister in his own language here in the US. Our prayer, goal and desire is to return to Tarapoto, Peru as full time missionaries in a few years. Tent Makers Bible Mission is very supportive of this time we are taking to get some good training for the mission field. They have really encouraged us to take this step of faith and follow God’s leading.  

please keep us in your prayers

Our tentative date to leave Vermont is July 30^th. We will be driving (unless we find an easier way). We would really like to see people on the way. We are only taking what we can fit in the car, so we will really be starting over once we get to Texas. We would like to drive at night and rest during the days. That way the babies can keep somewhat of their “normal” schedule. They do really well sleeping in the car, so as long as they can play all day. Hopefully they will sleep all night while we take turns driving. Please pray for our saftey and that everything would go smoothly.

We are so thankful to each one of you for your prayers, encouragement and financial support. Thank you for your heart for the lost and the ministry to them. Your reaching out to us enables us to reach out to others, and we all do it for the Glory of God. We are truly thankful for each of your lives and friendships. May the Lord continue to bless you.

Daniel and Mattie Melendez (Sammy and Anna too)

Contact Us

Daniel and Mattie Melendez

2934 W. Barnet Rd Barnet, VT 05821

802 633 2588

danielandmattie@gmail.com

tentmakersbiblemission.org

(Peruvian jungle project)

March/ April 2012 Prayer letter

Dear friends and family,

Greetings from the Melendez family! We trust and pray that each of you is well, and that God is blessing you richly. We all have so many reasons to praise our good God. We are praising God for all that He is doing in our lives. Mattie and the babies are doing very well thus far. The babies are 5 ½ months along!!!! Though the placenta for Baby A is still very low, it is not AS low as it was a few weeks ago, which is excellent news! However, bending and lifting are still prohibited. Daniel is in charge of the cooking and cleaning for now. We are very thankful that all is going well. During all of the medical scares that we had during the first 4 months, we learned in a new way to depend on God. Now that things have calmed down and all seems to be going well; we are still depending on God. It is so easy sometimes to forget to trust in God all the time (especially when times are good).

What is going on with Daniel’s visa? Well, we had an interview with the consulate on Friday March 9th. The interview went well, however we still needed to present two documents that were not ready for that date. So we were instructed to send them (as soon as possible) to the embassy, which we did on the 14th of March. Once the visa has been issued we should receive notification to go pick it up. We are waiting. It is hard not knowing when or if the visa will be issued, but we are trusting in the One who does know!

Will the twins be born in Peru or in the USA? That seems to be the question of the day. There are pros and cons to both sides of the question. If God allows the visa to come through fast, then we will most likely travel to the USA for the birth of our babies. However, if the visa is issued too far along in the pregnancy to travel, they will be born here in Lima! Either way we won’t be back in Tarapoto very soon. That was a very tough decision to make, but we know that Mattie and the babies will get much better medical care here in Lima than in Tarapoto.

What is going on in the Bible Community in Tarapoto?

Although we are not serving the Lord in Tarapoto right now, we would like to let you all know a little of what is going on. Bible club has begun again! We received great reports from our church family that Bible club has started up again for another season. There are between 20 and 25 children in regular attendance! Yay! Sadly, many people who live close to the church live in rentals. Many of the children that we worked with last year have moved away. We can only pray that they are able to attend a Bible believing church in their new neighborhood. We have the assurance though, that they left having heard the Gospel. Please continue to pray for them as God continues to work in their lives. Both Bible club and Sunday school have new faces. Many new children are coming and hearing God’s Word, and for that we are thankful!

The youth are also continuing to attend their weekly meetings. These past (summer) months have been full of activities for them. In February the majority of the teens attended a Christian camp put on by another church in another town. They had a wonderful time learning more about the Bible and spending time with other Christian teens! The teens also had the opportunity to help out in Vacation Bible School right in our own church!

We are also excited to announce that another member of our church family has decided to dedicate her life to the ministry! Daniel’s youngest sister is now here in Lima studying in BCM’s Bible institute. How encouraging to see young people sacrificing luxury and worldly pleasures to serve God. It’s truly a blessing.

We thank God for our co-workers in Tarapoto, Pastor Delwin, his wife Techy and their niece Raquel as they continue to teach and minister in the jungle area of Peru. We pray that we can soon return and join them in the great work that they are doing!

Please continue to pray for us as we wait on the Lord for the visa and the birth of our twins! Pray that He gives us the wisdom to make the right decisions for our family. We would also like to thank our ministry partners, who have been such an encouragement to us! Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Praises:
Our marriage (we celebrated two years on March 27th).
God’s faithfulness to us EVERY DAY.
Our babies! We can’t wait to meet them!　
Prayer requests
Our spiritual growth as we learn to trust and depend wholly on God.
The health of our family (especially Mama and babies)
Daniel’s visa!

We would like to encourage you with a verse that has touched our hearts this week. I Peter 1:22 since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.
May God bless you
In Him,
Daniel and Mattie Melendez

First of all we would like to thank each and everyone of you that has held our family up in prayer! God hears prayers and God answers prayers. He doesn't always answer in the way we would like, but He does give us always what is best! We are very excited to give you good news this time as we are writing this prayer letter. Mattie is doing much better. We have... had 3 calm weeks with no scares or complications. Praise God! By the looks of the growing belly, the babies seem to be growing very well. We have also found a good doctor and hospital here in Lima. Soon we will have another appointment to check on the babies and the low lying placenta. Our time here in Lima, though not planned, has been an un-expected blessing. We have been growing in our spiritual lives, and learning so much about God during this time. The Lord has just showered us with blessings since we have arrived. We are especially thankful for our Aunt and Uncle Elena and Raul, who have opened their home to us, and done everything possible to make our time here pleasant and comfortable. We would like to ask you all to continue praying for us. Right now we are in the midst of hard decisions. We both desire to be back in Tarapoto, in our home and in our church. Our hearts yearn to be back in the ministry, however, we also feel a very huge responsibility to give our babies the best chance possible to enter as healthy as possible into this world. We realize that our twins have a high possibility of being born early. Some twins are born as early as two months. For this reason we feel that we should be as close to the best medical care as possible. The hospital that we are now looking into has a very good prenatal care unit. It is also possible that the babies will be born via C-Section (though we pray that this is not necessary) Moving back to Tarapoto would be a risk when the time comes for the babies to be born, as the medical care there is much more limited. However, staying here in Lima would mean being absent from the Bible Community Church that we so love serving in. So please join us in prayer that the Lord would give us wisdom to make the right decision. We would also like to ask that you continue to pray for the visa that we are waiting to be processed. Pray that we can continue through that process with little complication. We realize that it probably won't be issued until the babies are born or at least close to that time, but God will be with us. Also, Of course, please keep praying for the babies and the pregnancy. We are 18 weeks this week, so that is for a twin pregnancy half way through! just 18 more weeks to go!A big thanks to those who have been praying for us and those who have continued to financially support us during this difficult time. God promised to supply all the needs of His children, and He really does too! So thank you everyone. During this time that we are here, pray for Daniel, as he will be starting English Classes via Internet! Anyone who has tried to really learn a foreign language can agree that it is a challenge. We encourage you all to remember what God says about hard times...." Cast all your cares upon Him, for HE cares for you". thanks again for your prayers, love and encouragement. Many of you have written us and we are very thankful for each on of you. May God bless you all, In loveDaniel and Mattie Melendez

Please Pray for us

Dear friends and family,

First of all, we would like to thank you all for your prayers during these past few months. God has been so faithful to us, and we greatly value your prayers and support. It as been such a blessing.

These past few months have been such a rollercoaster! We found out in December that we are going to be parents! Shortly after that wonderful and exciting news, we found out that we are going to have twins! What a gift and a blessing from God. We desire to be godly parents and to teach our children about our great God. We are also looking forward to them being part of the ministry that we are involved in.

Though we are very excited, at the same time we are concerned for the health of the small precious lives that are now 14 weeks along. We have rushed to the doctors several times due to complications in the pregnancy. All the doctor told us was to rest and pretty much wait. Two weeks ago, we came to Lima to work on paper work for Daniel's visa to the U.S. which is in the process of being processed. (That is another whole story,please pray that God will do a miracle for His glory and allow the paper work to process very quickly) While we have been here in Lima we once again had to go the the doctor to make sure everything was ok. Thankfullly, here in Lima the quality of medical care is much better than in Tarapoto. A few days ago we found out that baby A's placenta is implanted very low in the uterus. This is a form of placenta previa. Placenta previa that is detected during the second trimester usually will correct itself in time as things beging to grow. But in our case the placenta has already bled 5 times. So right now we are praying and doing all we can to give our babies the best chance for a healthy pregnancy. We will be going to the doctor again on Wednesday to get the final verdict and to find out if we can travel at all.

Though this has been a difficult time for both of us. Our trust is firmly planted in our God. He has never failed us and we know that He never will. What God does is always His will, sometimes we don't agree with what He does, but we have to trust that it's for the best. We would like to ask you all to continue praying for us. Pray that God would give us wisdom to make the right decisions for our family and ministry. Also, please be in prayer for our babies, especially for our littlest one baby A.

Psalm 139:13-14 says You knit me together in my mother's womb, I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Thank you once again for your love and prayers.

May the Lord bless you all

Daniel and Mattie Melendez

Newsletters: The jungle news

Newsletters: The jungle news: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a joy to be able to write to you again and share with you all that God is doing in us and th...

The jungle news

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is a joy to be able to write to you again and share with you all that God is doing in us and through us. We have seen God’s hand at work in so many ways these past few weeks. 

Praises:

As most of you know we had been praying for a means of transportation so that we could get around. After much prayer God blessed us with a used MOTORCYCLE.  Motorcycles are the most used method of transportation here in Tarapoto. The streets are full of motos (as we call them) and motorcars, which are basically motorcycle pulled buggies. We feel so blessed, and having our own

transportation saves us a lot, as we were spending too much monthly on using the public transportation.

Another praise and answer to prayer is the Bible fund! We shared in our last newsletter that we were praying about buying Bibles for each child who goes through the discipleship program. God touched hearts and we received a special offering to buy Bibles for the children.  What a blessing!

God has just all in all blessed us in so many ways. 

Ministry Updates

Bible club

Children’s Bible club is moving forward.  We are trying to create fun dynamic programs each week that serve to teach Bible truths to the children.  Right now we are learning about the “Kings of Israel”.  The lessons lately have emphasized the importance living lives that please God.  We have learned about jealousy, revenge, loving our enemies, and letting God’s love shine through us to others.   Our prayer is that God works in the hearts of each child so that His Word produces fruit. How we long to see these children live for the Lord starting now, and that they remain faithful to Him the rest of their lives.

Discipleship   

We would like to tell you a little bit about the children that we have been working with these past few months. Hilary, 11, and Victor, 8, live next door to the church. They recently moved to this part of Tarapoto and started coming to Bible club right away. They hardly ever miss a Saturday or Sunday in church.  They really enjoyed having us come to their house every Thursday morning. Both Hilary and Victor have decided to trust in Jesus as their personal Savior! On the last day of their classes we gave them both their very own Bible! We encouraged them to have a special time each day with God and read their Bibles. It was a very special gift for them.

Marisol, who is also 11, and Dario, who is 9, live two doors up from the church.  Marisol and Dario are 2 of 6 children in their family. They have been coming to Sunday school and Bible club ever since they were very little. We had a very good time teaching them about God’s love and His salvation. Each child is so distinct and unique. Not only does Marisol trust in Jesus for her salvation, but also she has the desire to share that message with others. She told us that she wants to be a missionary when she is grown up. I told her that she can be a missionary right now in her home. Pray that God will use her to be a light to her parents and other siblings. Marisol’s brother Dario has also gone through the discipleship program. Dario is a very mischievous little boy who is starved for love. He always greets us with the biggest hug and the biggest smile on his face.   His biggest struggle was to understand how God could save and love little boys who didn’t always behave, but he understood and believed.  When we presented him with his Bible at the end of the 8 weeks, he said “Oh wow!” He was so excited that he ran through the house showing his Bible to everyone.  Before the discipleship, Dario wasn’t going to Bible club or Sunday school. That has changed! He even came tonight Bible study this week!

Even though we have finished “discipling” these kids, we are still working with them and praying for them. Please pray for Hilary, Victor, Marisol and Dario. They don’t have parents who encourage them in their relationship with the Lord. Pray that God continues to grow them as they spend time in His Word each day. 

YOUTH GROUP

 This has been a trying month for our youth ministry. Several of the young people have been going through hardships and haven’t been coming very regularly to the youth meetings. Bivian, Cheyen, Antony and Marco live in homes with non-Christian parents who discourage and sometimes even prevent them from coming to church on Saturday evening. We are spending extra time with these four teens.  The past few months we have been going through a study called “My New Life in Christ” which covered the basics of the new life that Christ has given to all those who believe in Him. Now we are starting on some much needed topics like: our spiritual enemies, the armor of God, purity, the tongue and much more. Our heart’s desire is for these young people to grow and mature and become young adults who are deeply rooted in God’s Word and who will live for Him. We know that we will not always see the fruits to our labor right now. But, we are assured that God is doing a great work in the lives of these young people, and that God will produce the fruit in their lives in His time and in His way.

  

SUNDAY SCHOOL

In the past the children’s Sunday school was during the morning worship service. There was just one big class for kids of all ages. Now, the Sunday school classes are before the morning service and are divided into two age groups. Daniel and I are in teaching the 10-12 age group, while Raquel and Paola (Daniel’s sister) are teaching the 5-9 age group. There are 6 children coming to our class right now: Marisol, Hilary, Marcos, Lucas, Josef and Hugo. Right now are studying the importance of obeying God’s rules. Last week we learned about the tongue! All of the children take turns reading from their very own Bibles the passage of Scripture that we are going to study, and we LOVE seeing that.

  

Personal Updates

We are praising God that we were able to celebrate our year and a half wedding anniversary this past September!  We do have a special prayer request though. We are in need of a house. The house we are living in right now was given to us for 1 year. It was a huge blessing from God, but the year is up. So please pray that God will provide us a place to live. God knows exactly what we need, and how much we can spend, so we are leaving it in His hands and trusting in His will.

Well that is all of our news for now! Thank you all so much for being behind us and being such and encouragement and blessing in our lives. Your prayers and financial support mean so much more to us than you could imagine. Thank you for being our partners in the ministry. We just couldn’t do it all without your help and support. We would love to hear from you as well. Let us know how you are doing, and how we can be praying for you. Write to us at danielandmattie@gmail.com or you can write mail and send it to Daniel and Mattie Jiron Oscar R Benavides 181 Morales, SanMartin, Peru.  If you feel God touching your heart to help support our ministry, you can go to www.tentmakersbiblemission.org and click on GET INVOLVED. Thank you all once again for being part of what God is doing in Tarapoto, Peru!

Praises and Prayer Requests

·         For God’s provision in our lives!

·         For the Bibles that were donated for the children!

·         For God’s un-ending faithfulness

·         For our marriage and our spiritual walk with God

·         For the different ministries in the church, that God may be glorified and proclaimed

·         For all of the children who are coming to Bible club and Sunday school

·         For Hilary, Victor, Marisol and Dario that they may continue to grow in the Lord

·         For a house that we can afford