May and June – 2016 Prayer Letter – pdf
Dear Brethren,
Greetings and peace in the name of our eternal God, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As always, we thank our Lord Jesus Christ for taking us on this glorious journey, a journey of endless joy, speaking to our hearts, answering the call that he has given us and accepted the mission that is ahead of us to do His work according to His ways and will.
The months of May and June have been very productive. During the month of May we had two meetings, one at Bible Baptist Church in Chesapeake, VA and one at Harbor Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC; at the end of the service Harbor Baptist Church voted and took us on for support. In May, we had a mission conference in Salisbury, North Carolina that was cancelled at the last minute and rescheduled for September. As a result of this cancellation, we had to go to Georgia a week earlier but we had no meetings in view for that week. Upon our arrival in Georgia, we prayed and asked the Lord which church do you want us to go; He led us to Lilburn Oaks Baptist Church that Wednesday but the church was closed, ( we went to another church that evening – Calvary Baptist Church) we didn’t give up, we returned on Sunday and the church received us with open heart; the pastor ask us to share briefly our testimony and as a result the pastor ask us to come back for a formal presentation on June 1st, after the service the church decided to take us on for support; just imagine if we had given up and not gone back, we would have missed an opportunity and a blessing from the Lord by not obeying Him and to let His Spirit guide us. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and goodness towards us when we walk by faith. We visited other churches as well when we were in Georgia until June 5th. As a result of visiting those churches we were blessed with two meetings for later in the year and also for next year. On June 8th we had a meeting at Faith Baptist Church in Shelby, NC giving them an update of where we are as they are already supporting us. On June 12th, we had a meeting at Maranatha Baptist Church in Shelby, NC, the church will pray about supporting us in the near future. The Lord is in control and His Holy Spirit is guiding us.
We also had the privilege to assist the 46th Annual World Wide New Testament Baptist Mission Family Fellowship Week 2016 ( WWNTBM FFW16) at Valley Baptist Church in Edinburg, Virginia, Pastor Chad Estep. It was a time of refreshing, rejoicing in the Word and as well with the brethren. It was our third one, we were greatly blessed.
We praise the Lord, as always, for His protection (physical and spiritual) and provision ( He knows all our needs) as well as the wisdom that He gives us to do His work. We also praise the Lord that He gives us our health so we can serve Him with all our strength, to adore Him in spirit and in truth with all our hearts, and to glorify Him in everything that we do. The Lord is Good!
As we press on, please continue to pray for the following prayer request, my wife’s physical need with her varicose veins and blood circulation as we traveled.
- Support Levels
Continue to pray as we are on this deputation journey that the Lord will guide us to the right church and have favor along the way in order to obtain our support, so we can arrive on the field by December 2017 or sooner according to the Lord’s will. When we were on the road, we received word that two other churches took us on for support in VA. As of now, we are about 24%, a 6% increase. Praise the Lord! We are still waiting on many churches with their decisions as we pray for God’s will. When and if those support comes, we will be about 44%, Lord willing at the end of this year. Our minds, our hearts and our spirits are in Costa Rica but our bodies are still here. Our Lord is a sovereign God.
- Safety with Travels
Pray that our Lord, God would protect us on the road. We will be traveling to Washington, DC on the 2nd of July through the 7th and to New York City from the 8th of July through the 18th for meetings.
- Schedule of Meetings
Pray that our schedule will be fill for the rest of this year. So far the Lord has blessed with other meetings in VA and NC. Our schedule is not full, but praise the Lord for what He is doing, He is in control!
- Softness of Attitudes
Pray that our hearts would stay soft, to have a humble attitude, to stay close to God, and focus on Him. Also for the churches that we have been in contact with.
Praise the Lord for everything! To God be the Glory, great things He has done, that He is doing and what He will do as we focus our eyes and hearts upon Him.
Thank you for your faithful prayers, kindness and love, but most of all for your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit of God whom dwells in you.
Under His Wings Reaching the World for His Glory.
In Christ alone
Brother Jean-Claude and Sister Matilde Guilbaud