April 2024 Prayer Letter
Dear Beloved Brethren and Co-Laborers,
Have a cordial greetings from your labors 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.
- 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 have started the third chapter 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 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: Mrs. Amalia, Piedad and Walter, Carlos and his family.
8. Continue praying about the possible property for the Church, Christian School and Seminary close by to where we are meeting at the moment, about a five minute drive. Per our Mid – February prayer letter, we have submitted the sketches to the City and Zoning department for their approval. According to the local architect that I am working with, he advised us to resubmit the sketches because Santa Ana will have a new Mayor in May of whom he knows, he is also a believer, that being said he could have a lot influences. The architect also advised me to sketch out the elevations of the buildings (which I have done) because that will help the mayor understand and see a visual of the project. If the City and Zoning Department approves the sketches, then we are going to need a miracle from God so we can purchase the land.
9. 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 y Giovanni, Anibal, Danilo the architect, Jan, Mauricio the mechanic. ,
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, we celebrated our first anniversary on April 7, 2024. It was a blessing having Pastor Rodolfo Walter from the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem in Limon.
- Praise the Lord, we presented two new members, the Montoya’s, Brother Andres and his wife Sister Helga. They are very eager to work in the church.
- Praise the Lord, we also presented a certificate of appreciation to Sister Marta Alicia for her faithfulness to the Lord and to the church ever since we started.
- 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, already, wants to enroll in the Seminary.
Note: With the last two praises above, we feel in our spirit that the Lord wants us to build on that property. We need your prayers and support. I will be enclosing a 360 degree video of the property for your information.
My Beloved Brethren, we are truly and extremely excited to see what God is going to do with us during this New Year 2024; 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 have been posting on Facebook Live videos of the services, it is under Iglesia Bautista Alcanzando Para Jesucristo at 10:00AM every Sunday.