Dear Friends and Supporting Churches,
Greetings from Guatemala! Much has happened since our last prayer letter. I will try to be as brief as I can. First of all, we thank all of you who pray for us. As you will read below, we always need your prayers, for we are on the front line of this battle for the souls of men; and when we succeed in reaching souls for the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan will try to stop our efforts.
Since our last prayer letter, we as a church have been facing a difficult situation here in Guatemala. On Sunday, January 26, our assistant pastor, Bro. Luis, was arrested and, we believe, falsely accused of moral indiscretion. This involved one of the young people we have been trying to help for the past eight months. As you can imagine, because of the internet, this situation is not only being posted here in Guatemala but across the Central American area. Brethren, please pray for us. My people are exactly like your people. They are stunned, saddened, and left feeling very defenseless. But let me assure you of one thing: In spite of this situation, we continue to go about our Father’s business, and that business is the winning of others to Christ. Let me share with you just a few of the victories we have experienced recently.
We have a soul-winning group that goes out on Sunday afternoons. The Sunday before he was arrested, Bro. Luis led a young man by the name of Emanuel Cruz to Christ. Emanuel was so under conviction by the Holy Spirit that he broke down and wept while receiving Christ as Saviour. Bro. Luis also found himself in tears because of the moving of the Holy Spirit. He later commented that he had never seen such a moving conversion.
During January the Galicia-Cruz family began to attend our church. In spite of all that has happened, they have not wavered but have remained faithful to our services. Three weeks ago 4 members of this family—Mariela, Jovani, Cristian, and Maria—received Christ as their Saviour during the invitation. Praise the Lord!
Celestino Altan is a construction worker who joined our church late last year. Celestino is not whimsical. He is very careful about his decisions. Celestino had received Christ as his Saviour about one year ago. Then during a Bible conference he attended last year, God spoke to his heart about becoming a member of our church. He listened to God, got baptized, and joined our church family. Since then he has expressed an interest in learning how to become a soul winner. We are confident that he will soon be among our best soul winners.
Meanwhile Brother Luis is in the huge state prison in Guatemala City. We were surprised to learn that one of his fellow prisoners used to attend Brother Luis’s home church. While in prison this brother got right with God, started soul winning among his fellow prisoners, and started holding chapel services in the prison. Now there is a Baptist church inside that prison with a regular weekly attendance of 90! Brother Luis is being kept busy working in that ministry while he is in jail. We understand that he has already led some 25 fellow prisoners to Christ. We have brought Bibles and discipleship material to him so that he can help these recent converts. I hereby extend an invitation to any Spanish-speaking Jail Ministry preacher in the United States who would like to come and visit Guatemala and minister at this prison. If you are interested, let me know, and we will work out any details. Please contact me by e-mail at angellopez@www.fbmi.org.
Missionary Angel Lopez
Guatemala