“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) This is my dad’s favorite passage in the Bible. Not only have I been reminded of it by my parents many times, but I have also seen it played out time and time again in my life. Many recent events would not have occurred if I would have been allowed to lean unto mine own understanding. For example, I would have stopped a thief from breaking into our church one evening and from stealing, among other things, $400.00 of our Faith Promise missions giving. But then I would not have seen how much our people really love missions when, in spite of the fact that many of them have very little or no work, they unanimously decided to give an extra $400.00 so that our missionaries would not go without their regular support.
Another example is that I would not have let the COVID-19 virus wreak such havoc as it has to our regular way of living. Some of the restricted ways of living that our government has forced upon us are that we (1) have a 4:00 p.m. curfew, (2) are not allowed to leave our department of Chimaltenango, which is 33 square miles, (3) must wear a face mask when we leave our house and even when we are driving our car, (4) are not allowed to congregate for church or school, even though I have been holding six different services in the houses of our people each week, and (5) many people are not allowed to work. However, because of the COVID-19 virus, many people are thinking about death in a way that they never had before the virus. Because of this, we have been able to lead more people to Christ than we normally do.
Some of the ones I have personally had the opportunity of leading to the Lord are Ruth and her son Erwin. Ruth’s children used to go to our church on one of our bus routes, but they stopped coming because Ruth and her husband decided to attend a church close by their house. I decided that it would be a good opportunity to visit all the people I have known through the years who have not gotten saved and try to take advantage of the fear that everyone has of getting the virus and dying. After not seeing Ruth and her family for more than five years, she immediately received me into her home. After hearing the Gospel message, she and her son Erwin received Christ as their Saviour.
If all goes well, we will be in the States from July 2 through August 20 of this year. The one minor detail that I have not been able to work out yet is ground transportation. Please pray for wisdom to make the right decision about securing a van for the month of July while we are in the States. Once we get to Washington in August, we will be with family, and I will be able to use my brother’s van.
Thank you for your faithfulness in the midst of these trying and difficult times.
His for souls,
Daniel and Misty Wilder, Lydia, Charity, Emily, Hannah, Serenity, and Benjamin