October 5, 2007

Dear Friends and Family in Christ,

We are now back in Equatorial Guinea. With deep gratitude in our hearts we give thanks to our Lord for his amazing love upon us and our kids. We came back to Africa feeling the satisfaction and certainty that God is in charge of our personal and family story and therefore the future of our service will always be promising, despite the troubled times. Life and times here in Equatorial Guinea are difficult, but knowing that Christ goes ahead, we are not afraid of crossing the lake, reaching out to the suffering world on the other shore.

We were in the United States for seven months, which we spent visiting churches and people around the country. The legacy of PC(USA) missionaries around the world is truly impressive. There are a great multitude of Presbyterians with open hearts who are eager to know how the PC(USA) is participating in God’s mission abroad. We thank God for the opportunity to be with brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those in small and isolated churches.

We thank God for the love and hospitality they showed to Gloria and me during our journey. To all of the churches in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska that shared with us your love in Christ, we are grateful for this most visible sign that the PC(USA) will always be a mission community of faith.

We returned to Equatorial Guinea regretting that we could not visit some of the churches that have supported us faithfully. Nevertheless, we hope to continue in communication through email and letters to keep you informed of our ministry here.

Besides doing church visitation, those seven months in the United States were very providential for our family. First of all, we are thankful to our Lord for our health and for recovery from the damages to our bodies caused by malaria. During that time, Gloria also had to have a couple of small surgeries to her breast to prevent cancer. She is doing well, and her energy has returned to normal. We are happy also to have had time with friends and family. We want to share with all of you our deepest gratitude to Dr. Tom and Patty Trostle’s family of Roanoke, Virginia, for their warm hospitality toward us.

Now back in Equatorial Guinea, we gaze upon the future with prophetic prayer and apostolic courage. Ministering with Christ in a context like this one requires an unyielding faith that God is at work in the midst of all the obstacles that the church is facing. Prophetic prayers and apostolic courage are necessary even to challenge God to renew our hope every day and stand in awe of his deeds. Unexpected and positive things are happening in the Presbyterian Church of Equatorial Guinea, and we continue praying that God will cast out the deceitful individuals that are dividing and damaging the integrity of the church.

Join us in this prayer, please, and let us be firm in honoring the church’s legacy as missionary people in the name of Christ.

Gratefully,

Andres and Gloria Garcia

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 314