June 2024 Prayer Letter
Dear Beloved Brethren and Co-Laborers,
Have a cordial greetings from your laborers in Costa Rica.
As always, we cannot over state this, we thank and we will keep on thanking our Eternal God, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for sending us on this glorious mission. It is truly a joy as we do His will even in difficult times.We pray that His Holy Spirit will keep on guiding us in the right path of righteousness, to be obedient and faithful until the end, no matter what. We understand that we are living in difficult times and we do immensely thank you for your support, prayers and we praise the Lord for your faithfulness.
PRAYERS
- Continue praying for our health in order to continue to work in His vineyard,especially for my wife; see our last prayer letter. Also for me, my blood pressure has been pretty high lately; I went to the doctor and he made a complete checkup, did not find anything abnormal, but he told me that I am overstressed and I need to slow down which obviously means a rest. That being said, we are planning to go to the States in August of this year to spend some quality time with the family, in Virginia and Georgia, whom we have not seen for three years. Thank God that we have hermano Andres and his wife whom will cover up for us while we are gone. We know that God is in control!
- Continue praying for the Church, Reaching for Jesus Christ Baptist Church in Santa Ana, Rio Oro for spiritual direction, protection and growth.
- Continue praying for wisdom as my wife works with the ladies.
- Continue praying for our outreach in the neighborhood, evangelization each Saturday in the morning and visitations on Thursday evening; also for our Bible Studies as we study the Epistle of James and time of prayer on Wednesday evening. We are still in chapter three of James.
- Continue praying for available and dedicated laborers to come and be part of the church so we can form an association; we need ten members, at the moment we have five official members including my wife and I before we do.
- Continue praying for the church’s faithfulness as we are supporting our first missionary (The Soto’s) from Costa Rica to India and for them as well.
- Continue praying for the following people so they can be faithful in congregating: Piedad and Walter, Carlos and his family.
- Continue praying about the possible property for the Church, Baptist Christian Academy and Seminary close by to where we are meeting at the moment, about a five minute drive. We have to resubmit the latest sketches to the City and Zoning department for their approval and we will do that in our meeting with the mayor on the 3rd of July. The architect and I we met with a lawyer that he knows so we can prepare for our meeting with the mayor of Santa Ana as I mentioned above. If the City and Zoning Department approves the project/sketches, then we are going to need a miracle from God so we can purchase the land. Even the lawyer said that this kind of project does not exist in Costa Rica. I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do!
- Pray for our financial situation, the dollar has taken a big drop and it’s not helping us. Everything has gone up, from food, gas, insurance for the car, electricity and internet services.
10. Pray for the salvation of the following people, Milagro, Gustavo, Franklin, Javier, Bismark, Guido, Mabelle and Giovanni, Anibal, Danilo the architect and Jan.
11. Pray for Brother Andres, he and his wife are official members of the church, and he feels that his calling is to preach and teach the Word. Pray that God will use him in the church.
Support Level
We are sustaining an 87% support by the grace of God with much sacrifice. By faith we have started this journey, by faith we are trusting in Him for His provision and by faith we will keep on serving Him as we do His work, according to His will.
Safety with Travels
Safety as we traveled in Costa Rica. Protection on the road as we traveled, especially in the mountains.
Schedule of Meetings
Now that we have started the church, it is not easy to leave for six months or more to get support, we have a big responsibility here and we want to be faithful to it; but with God nothing is impossible. He knows the churches that will support us so we can reach the goal even though we are not in the States.
Softness of Attitude
To stay close to God and focus on Him and the mission that is set before us, not on our circumstances because it very easy to get discourage at times and Satan, as always, wants to put his nose in God’s business.
PRAISES
- Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him.
- Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.
- Praise the Lord that we have families, already, that want to enroll their kids in the Kindergarten and also the first grade in the Christian school that we would like to establish; as I mentioned before, that will be the first Baptist Christian School in the Country of Costa Rica that I am aware of.
- Praise the Lord that one of the members of the church wants to enroll in the Seminary and that is brother Andres.
- Praise the Lord that we have someone who teaches primary school whom would want to teach at the Academy but she is not a member of the church yet.
My Beloved Brethren, we are truly and extremely excited to see what God is going to do with us, we are under His wings and His will.
Beloved Brethren, may the Love of the Almighty God, the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you All. Amen!
Brother Jean-Claude & Sister Matilde Guilbaud
Reach the World, Reach for Christ; Under His Wings Reaching the World for His Glory!
P.S. We were posting on Facebook Live videos of the services, it was under “Iglesia Bautista Alcanzando Para Jesucristo” at 10:00AM every Sunday, but unfortunately FB with their new policy we cannot continue because we do not have 100 followers and likes. I have sent invitation to everyone who are following us on our FB page “Jean-Claude & Matilde Guilbaud”, but very few have responded. Please make an effort so we can continue recording on the Church page (IBAPJ)!