Iglesia Bautista Bíblica Independiente will be celebrating its 17th anniversary on December 3. We are honored that our pastor, John Wilkerson, will be preaching for us on this special day. Although it has been a long time in preparation, it’s hard to believe that it will be here in just two short weeks. Not only will we be celebrating another year together as a church, but we also will be inaugurating our new 300-seat auditorium. After 17 years of meeting in a house, hallway, and outside under a tarp, we are very excited to finally have our first real auditorium. Although we still have more work to do to finish the educational building, which will house dorms for our Bible institute students, a missionary apartment, and more Sunday school space, we are very thankful to celebrate this new milestone in our church’s history. Please pray that many visitors will come and that souls will be saved and baptized.
December 4-6 is our annual Youth Conference. Pastor John Wilkerson, Bro. Eddie Lapina, and Bro. Ricky Torres will be our special speakers this year, along with their wives. Not only will they be speaking to our teens, but they will also be speaking to our married couples in separate sessions. Please join in prayer with us, as we are asking the Lord to call our young people into full-time Christian service and to use the teaching and preaching to strengthen the marriages in our church.
Our school year here in Guatemala runs from January to September. Because of some issues we had with the textbooks we used last year, we made the decision to switch to the A.C.E. curriculum in English. I was able to get in touch with an A.C.E. representative in Honduras, and he is helping us get everything set up. This transition will give our students a Christian-based education in English, which will provide them with greater opportunities in the future. This also provides you with a couple of opportunities to get involved. You can help by donating a month or two of your time by coming to Guatemala to be a supervisor in our Christian school. I greatly encourage everyone to take a missions trip at least one time in their life, and if you are studying an education major or are a teacher, this would be a great opportunity to see and experience the mission field, while at the same time being a blessing to us and our ministry. Another way you can get involved is by purchasing a set of PACES for our students. Each set of PACES, with shipping, costs $250.00 for the entire year. This sponsorship helps offset the cost for some of our students who are not able to pay the full tuition.
As I close, I want to mention that our ministry is in need of more labourers. If we had a couple to work with us full-time in the ministry, our attendance would double next year. Could you imagine what could be done with two couples? I believe the Lord knows our need and is preparing that couple right now. I don’t know who they are, but please pray that the Lord would prepare them and bring them here as soon as possible. “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
His for souls,
Daniel and Misty Wilder, Lydia, Charity, Emily, Hannah, Serenity, and Benjamin