July – August – 2016 Prayer Letter
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.
During the month of July we had meetings and conference in Northern Virginia and New York City. The conference took place at Crossroads Baptist Church on July 2nd through the 6th, Pastor Kenny Baldwin and the meetings in New York City in Brooklyn at Grace Baptist Church, Pastor Rob Sundholm in the morning and at Family Baptist Church, Pastor Rick Georges in the afternoon of July the 10th. On July 15th, we were at Primera Iglesia Bautista del Hablar Hispana in Brooklyn, Pastor David Acevedo in the evening. On Sunday the 17th of July, we were at Heritage Baptist Church, Pastor Matthew Recker in Manhattan. While in New York City, we made contact with a pastor in Long Island, Pastor Sergio Ali, he is from Costa Rica with a possible meeting later during year, perhaps in December. After the 17th of July, we went back to Virginia at our home church, Tabernacle Baptist Church since we had no other meetings. In August, we had a meeting in Newport News, Virginia at New Covenant Baptist on the 14th, Pastor Steve Mayo. Pastor Mayo was a student and graduated from Tabernacle Baptist College and theological Seminary in the late Eighties. It was truly a blessing to see other colleagues still serving the Lord. Amen, Glory to God! When we had no meetings, we went back to the churches that are supporting us to give them an update of where we are and what we are doing. We were very much blessed by all of them. Praise the Lord for God’s people!
In May, we had a mission conference in Salisbury, North Carolina that was cancelled at the last minute and rescheduled for September. This conference has been cancelled again until further notice. We have been invited to participate in another Mission Conference at Sweethaven Baptist Church, Pastor Cory Korbert, in October. The Lord is in control and His Holy Spirit is guiding us.
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. Two other churches took us on for support since then. As of now, we are about 26%, an 8% increase since we left Virginia in May. Praise the Lord! We are praying for those churches that we presented in New York City to partner with us, if they do we could be about 30%.We are still waiting on many churches with their decisions as we pray for God’s will. 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.
- 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 NYC. Our schedule is not full, but praise the Lord for what He is doing, He is a sovereign God!
- 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 so very much 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