We are now back in Guatemala after a three-month furlough. We had the privilege of visiting 20 churches, and each one was such a blessing and encouragement to us. Our children also had the opportunity to spend time with family, getting to know many of their cousins, aunts, and uncles for the first time. In II Timothy 1:16, Paul said, “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me . . . .” I, like Paul, would like to say that we have been refreshed. We have been refreshed by all the unique and special ways you showed us that you love and care about us and our ministry. So many people sacrificed and gave to help meet our needs, and we will be forever indebted to you. Our prayer, like Paul’s, is that the Lord would give mercy unto your house because of your immense kindness demonstrated to the Wilder family.
This is the first time I have left our church here in Chimaltenango for more than two weeks, and to be honest, I was worried about what was going to be left when I returned. However, when I got back, there were more preachers, more soul winners, more people saved, more discipleship sessions, and more unity in the church. Not only that, but our people also painted my office, painted and fixed up our house, and had our house filled with food for us when we got back. To top it all off, they received us with firecrackers and a dinner. I thank God for a faithful church and one that loves serving the Lord. I truly am blessed to be their pastor!
Back here in Guatemala, things are opening up little by little after the COVID-19 shutdown. During this time, we have been holding services in the houses of our members in six different towns; however, this Sunday we will be opening our church building to hold services for the first time in over six months. Please pray for us to have wisdom to know how to go about our regular church activities as we try to get back to normal.
Many of you have given to buy bags of food to help the needy during this time of financial crisis. I would like to close by sharing one of the stories of the many lives that have been touched because of your generosity. Salomé was one of the first people to receive a bag of food. She sold fruit in the market and house to house, but because of the shutdown, she barely made enough to put food on her table. When we met her and heard about her need, we gave her a bag of food and shared the Gospel with her. She got saved, along with her children, and they have been faithfully attending one of our in-house services. This past Sunday, Salomé also brought her mother-in-law to church. After she got saved, she went to ask her pastor of many years why he had never told her how she could be saved. He told her that there were a lot of people in the church to attend to and he was too busy to tell her. There are still a lot of people out there who need to be saved. Let’s not get too busy with the cares of this world that we don’t have time to tell people about how they can know for sure they will go to Heaven when they die.
His for souls,
Daniel and Misty Wilder, Lydia, Charity, Emily, Hannah, Serenity, and Benjamin