Sending love and hugs dear Livingsong family,

If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen the recent post about our furry little angel, Caramelly. In April of 2008 eight-week-old Caramelly became a member of our family. It was definitely “love at first sight” with her nonstop wiggles and licks, incredibly loving with an endless amount of energy, and a running speed that could challenge any greyhound. This photo below speaks for itself of how Caramelly got one of her many nicknames “Super Pup”

It was by no surprise how quickly she stole our hearts, which she definitely used to her advantage, especially during her first two years of disaster phase. Apparently, a 9lb Chihuahua can chew through the carpet, drywall, door seams, and other materials we didn’t think were possible. 😊 We knew Caramelly was extra special after making it through a traumatic episode at eleven months old when her dog sitter lost her for five days in Daytona Beach. During this time, Caramelly was hit by a car breaking her pelvis in three places. Flyers were posted everywhere, including at the Humane Society in Flagler county, thirty minutes away from Daytona and someone brought her there after the accident. After surviving this experience, we called her our “miracle” pup. Since being full-time on the road, Caramelly has explored new smells and enjoyed fun adventures in most of the U.S., making more friends than we can count. She has even been permitted to go inside with us during some of our outreach events, along with dog-friendly churches. For fourteen and a half years, through life’s ups and downs, through our personal transformation walking with the Lord, and everything in between, Caramelly was always by our side content in whatever crazy circumstance we got ourselves into.

Unfortunately, in late June, Caramelly suffered a stroke. Even though she showed signs of recovery, cancer also developed aggressively. After multiple vet visits and medications, sadly our little precious pup had to be put to rest on August 19th. As we kissed her over and over for the last time and kept telling her how much we love her, she peacefully fell asleep in our arms. Interestingly, and as bizarre as it may sound, her precious life taught us an important lesson about balance in our lives and being present in the moment. Without Caramelly, we would have probably been more inclined to become busy-bodies undertaking more work than we can handle. Having to make stops along the way through our travels to take her out for walks and to play always showed us the blessing we can experience in making memories surrounded by God’s creation. To say we’re heartbroken is an understatement because to us, she was so much more than a pet. She was truly the best pup, we miss her terribly, and we will forever treasure the incredible memories we made together. Rest in Peace our sweet little angel 😇🐕 (01/04/08 - 08/19/22)

So what’s next?

We are currently writing to you from a rest stop in Fort Pierce FL parked between two semi trucks for protection from hurricane Ian. We drove around four hours southeast of Flagler County a few days ago after being evacuated due to the approaching weather. The gusts of wind here are scary, but we are thankful we got out of the path of this crazy storm on time. Lord, please send help, and safety to everyone who has been affected by this hurricane and to those still in its path. 🙏

Looking ahead, we hope you’ll join us in fervent prayer that God will use broken vessels like us to pierce through the hardest hearts and break chains of deep-rooted pain and trauma that often leads to addiction and homelessness. We are so encouraged by the new opportunities that are opening up for us to share the good news of Christ. As we make our way back up the east coast to St. Augustine and Jacksonville for the month of October, we don’t want to forget to mention and thank the following leaders for having us in August: John Moses, recovery program leader (CR Fort Lauderdale); Pastor Andrew Delong (TLC Naples); Derek Flowers, recovery program leader (CR Naples), and Pastor Don Hamsher (Living Hope Church Englewood). We are overwhelmed that God always has a way of strengthening and comforting us during hard times by surrounding us with brothers and sisters in the Lord. “Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore” (1 Chronicles 16:11) Moving forward, we’re praying for the Lord’s provision and protection leaving Florida in October to serve in Georgia and South Carolina before the end of the year, Lord willing. To view our mission tour schedule, please see the link in our signature below. No matter the challenges or obstacles, we hold on to this amazing truth - the Lord is our rock and salvation. He is our refuge and strength to keep running the race that is set before us. “Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle”. (Psalm 24:8) Until next time, we love you all dearly and never cease to thank our Heavenly Father for you. Each ministry monthly partnership mobilizes this mission, and we are eternally grateful to these faithful people of God for believing in the mission the Lord has called us to..

Barbara Dubral ▪ Bob Sofronski ▪ David Geyer ▪ Diana Stickland

▪ Doran Edwards ▪ Kanani Kimmanee ▪ Kelly & Kyle Pryce ▪ Michelle Link

▪ Pastor Andrew Delong ▪ Pastor Dennis & Tamara Jones

▪ Pastor Paul Lucas & Tracy Lucas ▪ Patti Gumerson ▪ Pat Smith▪ Roberta Renk

We will leave you with this scripture to meditate on and know we always keep you in our prayers! Blessings and sending much love!!! “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16)

In Christ,

Manny & Erika Lynn Garcia

Livingsong 

• Give Online https://www.livingsongministry.com/donate

• Book Livingsong https://docs.google.com/forms

• Mission Tour Schedule https://www.livingsongministry.com/mission-tour

• 501(c)(3) non profit ministry of A.C.T.Int'l

Prayer Requests 

• Prayers lifted up for all of our friends, family, and everyone else being impacted by Hurricane Ian - stay tuned for next month’s newsletter when we share more about our 1st experience staying in our RV in FL during a Hurricane.

   

• Prayers are greatly needed for our brother in the Lord, Robert “Bob” Heart, who has been faithfully leading an outreach ministry in Orlando for years. He recently shared with us that he has now lost 80% of his eyesight.

   

• Prayers for the men we recently ministered to at the Teen Challenge in Sanford.  Our prayer is that the Lord will continue to minister to the hearts of those who attended and for lives to be transformed by the saving message of the Gospel.  Special thanks to Pastor Jeremy Kupsch for organizing this special evening.

Praise Reports

• A very special congratulations is due for our dear friend/ministry partner, Pastor Andrew Delong, who will be getting married on Oct 1st and also just celebrated his birthday. Much love and blessings to you and your new bride, Kim.

   

• More special birthday wishes go to our family in Christ, Pat Smith, and Brother Paul Lucas - wishing you both many more years of the Lord’s blessings of love, health, and joy in the Lord.

   

• We give God all the glory for our visit to Living Hope Church in Englewood. During our visit to give a mission report, at the end of the service a young man named Andrew came forward to surrender his life to Christ and receive the gift of Salvation. 🙌

   

Testimony 

“Safe Travels dear ones...go with GOD. We miss you already but know the incredible call the LORD has upon your lives! And we are so humbled and honored to have been BLESSED having you at our home and sharing in the AMAZING WORSHIP and well-presented, convicting message of our Savior’s sacrifice and extreme LOVE for us!! We will see you again, we know and pray for JOY, SAFETY, and BLESSINGS GALORE! WE LOVE YOU and Michael too”

- Bea and Gene Miller, Living Hope Church family members