October 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.

REGARDING THE PROPERTY, WE MET WITH THE CITY AND THE ZONING DEPARTMENT, THEY HAVE APPROVED THE PROPERTY FOR THE CHURCH UNDER MIXED USE.  

PLEASE, CONTINUE PRAYING ABOUT THE PROPERTY AND WHAT THE LORD WOULD HAVE YOU DO AND PUT IN YOUR HEARTS. WE ARE READY FOR THE NEXT STEP BUT WE CANNOT DO IT ALONE. PLEASE, ALL FUNDS TO BE REMITTED TO MWBM UNDER SUB-ACCOUNT 05. SEE OUR PREVIOUS LETTER FOR MORE INFORMATION.

WE NEED $40,000.00 DOLLARS TO SECURE THE PROPERTY AT THAT PRICE OF WHICH WE HAVE SHARED WITH YOU PREVIOUSLY WHICH WAS $764,000.00 DOLLARS. ACCORDING TO THE REAL ESTATE AGENT, THE PROPERTY IS GOING TO GO UP IF WE DON’T SECURE IT. IT COULD BE OVER A MILLION DOLLARS AND THE REASON IS: BECAUSE IT IS AGRICULTURAL AT THE MOMENT, ONCE IT CHANGES ZONING, WHICH WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED FOR UNDER MIXED USE, IT WILL GO UP. THAT WILL BE A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT.

I AM IN THE PROCESS TO DRAW THE MASTER PLAN OF THE PROJECT BECAUSE IT IS A DIFFEENT PROPERTY FROM THE PREVIOUS ONE.

PRAYERS

• Continue praying for the growth of the church.
• Continue praying in regards to the Corporation of the church, we need 10 members to form it, so far we have 5. We cannot do anything without it being incorporated.
• Pray about our permanent residency, we have apply for it, now we are waiting for the resolution.
• Thank you for your prayers regarding my driver’s license, I have it now.
• Pray about the followers on Face Book regarding the stream line of the services, we need to have 100 followers, as of now we have 91. To all our churches, help us reach that goal so we can continue stream lining. The name of the church on Face Book is Iglesia Bautista Alcanzando Para Jesucristo.
• Pray about the Lord to send us a missionary family (Spanish and English speaking) from the states with singing capabilities to direct the music/ assistant pastor.
• Please pray for Brother Andres and his wife Helga, we have not seen them lately.

Support Level

We are sustaining an 89% support, by the grace of God; thanks also to some churches that have increased our support. 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. 

Schedule of Meetings

We have no schedules meetings. We do not know when we will get back to the states, only the Lord knows. We need to focus on the church here in Costa Rica. We have a lot to do. 

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. We press toward the mark, the vision that God put in our hearts according to His perfect will.

PRAISES

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him
2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.
3. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of Brother Oscar, he has been coming faithfully each Wednesdays and Sundays. He is helping me passing tracts in the neighborhood each Saturday morning.

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! 

In Christ. 

Brother Jean-Claude & Sister Matilde Guilbaud

Reach the World, Reach for Christ; Under His Wings Reaching the World for His Glory!

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September 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.

To begin, we have some bad news and better news in regards to the properties for the church. The bad news is, the previous property in Piedades has been sold and not only that the zoning was not approved for a church and school.  The good news is that the Lord opened the doors for a property in Santa Ana closer to the center of town ( 4 minutes driving time)  and closer to our home ( 3 minutes driving time). We have seen that property before but we never pursued it, but thanks to Mr. Leiton with his experience with Real Estate, he has been helping us. Apparently it has not been sold yet; it is even bigger square meters wise (6,400 m2/ 68,889 SF) comparing to the one in Piedades (4,456 m2/ 47,964 SF). Not only that, it is also more economical at ($768,000.00 dollars which is about $120.00 per m2/ $11.15 per SF) compared to the one in Piedades ($874,000.00 dollars which was about $175.00 per m2/ $ 18.22 per SF).  We are going to try to negotiate to see if we can bring it down to $700,000.00.

Apparently the Lord is sending us back to that property. The property is zoned at the moment for Agricultural but it will be changed to mix use in the near future.

Now, comparing the price of this property with others around it, the prices are much higher (e.g. there is one about 150m north, same street, not a corner lot, about 4000m2 and it cost $1,175,000.00 dollars). That being said, the property in mind, which is also a corner lot, is a much more affordable price ($768,000.00 dollars).  Another important thing to consider is, the property in mind looking south is open land and looking west is the Franzt Liszt Schule of Musik, a very prestigious school.

PLEASE, CONTINUE PRAYING ABOUT THIS PROPERTY AND WHAT THE LORD WOULD HAVE YOU DO AND PUT IN YOUR HEARTS. WE ARE READY FOR THE NEXT STEP BUT WE CANNOT DO IT ALONE. PLEASE, ALL FUNDS TO BE REMITTED TO MWBM UNDER SUB-ACCOUNT 05. ENCLOSED, BELOW, YOU WILL FIND TWO VIDEOS OF THE PROPERTY AND AN AERIAL SATELITE VIEW OF THE SURROUNDINGS AND ALSO AN ENLARGED SATTELITE VIEW OF THE PROPERTY.

PRAYERS

• Continue praying in regards to the English service. A couple with their daughter and granddaughter are interested in learning English.
• Continue praying for the growth of the church.
• Continue praying in regards to the Corporation of the church, we need 10 members to form it, so far we have 5. We cannot do anything without it being incorporated.
• Pray about our permanent residency, we have to apply for it three months before January 10 of 2025.
• Pray about my driver’s license renewal, it is due by December 21, 2024.
• Pray about the followers on Face Book regarding the stream line of the services, we need to have 100 followers, as of now we have 88. Thanks to all at Tabernacle Baptist Church who are helping us to reach that goal during our trip. To all our churches, help us reach that goal so we can continue stream lining. The name of the church on Face Book is Iglesia Bautista Alcanzando Para Jesucristo.
• Pray about the Lord to send us a missionary family (Spanish and English speaking) from the states with singing capabilities to direct the music/ assistant pastor.

• Pray about our financial situation, such as: my wife and I reading glasses ($ 818.00 dollars for exams and glasses) which we have been postponing for about two years now because we have no vision insurance and some unforeseen expenses and repairs to our car due to an accident ($1,000.00 dollars). Sincerely and honestly, our monthly income does not allow us to do anything after we pay our personal bills and all the bills for church, especially the rent.

Support Level

We are sustaining an 89% support, by the grace of God; thanks also to some churches that have increased our support. 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. 

Schedule of Meetings

We have no schedules meetings. We do not know when we will get back to the states, only the Lord knows. We need to focus on the church here in Costa Rica. We have a lot to do. 

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. We press toward the mark, the vision that God put in our hearts according to His perfect will.

PRAISES

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him
2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.
3. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of a new visitor, Oscar, he also wants to be a member of the church. 

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! 

In Christ. 

Brother Jean-Claude & Sister Matilde Guilbaud

Reach the World, Reach for Christ; Under His Wings Reaching the World for His Glory!

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August 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.

This prayer letter will be a short one due to the fact that we were in the states from July 22^nd through August 27, 2024. This trip was a time to spend time with the families in Virginia and Georgia whom we have not seen for a while now.  At the same time, I had a chance to speak to our church, Tabernacle Baptist Church giving them an update of where we are and our plans according to God’s will.

We had left Brother Andrés and his wife Sister Helga in charge of the church in the presence of the other members. They were a blessing. Now that we are back on the mission field, we have some exciting new news, seeing the church growing and with God’s will we are going to start and English service because there are many English speaking people in the area and some of the national want to learn English as well.

PRAYERS

• Pray in regards to the English service.
• Continue praying for the growth of the church.
• Pray in regards to the Corporation of the church, we need 10 members to form it, so far we have 5. We cannot do anything without it.
• Pray about our permanent residency, we have to apply for it three months before January 10 of 2025.
• Pray about my driver’s license renewal, it is due by December 21, 2024.
• Pray about the followers on Face Book regarding the stream line of the services, we need to have 100 followers, as of now we have 87. Thanks to all at Tabernacle Baptist Church who are helping us to reach that goal during our trip. To all our churches, help us reach that goal so we can continue stream lining. The name of the church on Face Book is Iglesia Bautista Alcanzando Para Jesucristo.
• Pray about the Lord to send us a missionary family (Spanish speaking) from the states with singing capabilities to direct the music/ assistant pastor.

Support Level

We are at 89% support, by the grace of God; thanks also to some churches that have increased our support. 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.  

Schedule of Meetings

We have no schedules meetings. We do not know when we will get back to the states, only the Lord knows. We need to focus on the church here in Costa Rica. We have a lot to do.  

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

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him
2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.
3. Praise the Lord for the exciting time we had with the family.
4. Praise the Lord for the good service we had at our home church (Tabernacle Baptist Church). It was a blessing to see new faces and catch up with old brethren.

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! 

In Christ. 

Brother Jean-Claude & Sister Matilde Guilbaud

Reach the World, Reach for Christ; Under His Wings Reaching the World for His Glory!

Below is a presentation shared with our home church Tabernacle Baptist Church on August 25, 2024 in regards to the church, project and protocol of a park for the academy in Costa Rica.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?mibextid=KsPBc6&ref=watch_permalink&v=478124261853202&rdid=aFA4klyWxmHVqMux

July 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.

This prayer letter will be a short one due to the fact that we will be in the states from July 22^nd through August 27, 2024. This trip will be to visit families and spend time with them in Virginia and Georgia. This trip is a result from the doctor’s order that I am overstressed and I need to take some time off. We have left in good hands our brother Andrés and his wife sister Helga in charge of the church. They are a blessing to the church and also the faithfulness of some other members.

Continue praying for the prayer request per our last prayer letter in June and as well for our trip.

We will be at our home church on August 25^th, 2024 for the whole day where I will be speaking to the adults in Sunday school and give an update of the ministry in the evening.

PRAYERS

Continue praying for the prayer request per our last prayer letter in June.

Support Level

We are at 89% support, thanks to some churches that have increased our support. 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 Virginia and Georgia.  

Schedule of Meetings

We have not scheduled meetings this time but we will be visiting some churches while we are in Virginia and Georgia.

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

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him.
2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.

3. Praise the Lord that we can depend upon a family while we are gone.

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! 

With all our sincere love through Christ.  

Brother Jean-Claude & Sister Matilde Guilbaud

Reach the World, Reach for Christ; Under His Wings Reaching the World for His Glory!

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

1. 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 3^rd 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

1. 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)!

May 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

1.Continue praying for our health in order to continue to work in His vineyard, especially for my wife; for the past couple of months, she has been feeling very tired and weak, not being able to do anything physically, difficulty sleeping, a lot of anxiety, losing weight, very irritable at times and bone density loss.  I have taken her to the City Clinic but there is a long period of waiting to see a doctor. So I decided to take her to private doctor, an endocrinologist; according to the doctor, her thyroids’ are totally destroyed and her antibodies are extremely high. She has been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and a disease call “Hashimoto”.  The doctor put her on a strict treatment for the next six month; the doctor has given her a lot of medicine to take and as well a lot of protein. From what I have gathered regarding the financial aspect, it is going to cost us at least $75.00 per week for the next six months until we see the doctor again. Unfortunately, the insurance that we have with the government will not cover these costs respectively and that has put a big burden financially on us. We know that God is in control!

2. Continue praying for the Church, Reaching for Jesus Christ Baptist Church in Santa Ana, Rio Oro for spiritual direction, protection and growth.  

3. Continue praying for wisdom as my wife works with the ladies.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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, Baptist Christian Academy and Seminary close by to where we are meeting at the moment, about a five minute drive. We have submitted the new sketches to the City and Zoning department for their approval and we are still on a waiting mode.  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 and Giovanni, Anibal, Danilo the architect and Jan.

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 report or 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

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him.

2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.

3. 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.

4. Praise the Lord that one of the members of the church, already, wants to enroll in the Seminary.

5. Praise the Lord that we have someone who teaches primary school that would want to teach at the Academy.

Notes: For your information, in the town of Santa Ana, here are the following schools and pay attention there are no Baptist academy, nor Baptist seminary. We already know that there no independent, fundamental Baptist churches, we are the only one. 

FOUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS/ (1) Saint Jude Escuela católica, Pozos, SA; (2) Isabel Escuela católica, SA; (3) Santa María Escuela católica, Rio Oro, SA; (4) San Bosco Escuela católica, Ciudad Colon.

TWENTY – SIX PRIVATE SCHOOLS/  (1) María Montserrat – CEMM, Preescolar, Primaria y Secundaria, SA; (2) Berkeley Academia, Primaria y Secundaria, SA; (3) New Way, Primaria y Secundaria SA; (4) Escuela de Lomas del Rio, Primaria y Secundaria SA; (5) Ezequiel Morales Escuela, Primaria y Secundaria SA, Piedades; (6) Escuela criança de Brasil, Primaria, SA; (7) Republica de Francia, Primaria, SA, Pozos; (8) Escuela Honduras, SA, Pozos; (9) Complejo Educativo Cedic – Primaria y Secundaria, SA. (10) Jorge Volio Jimenez Escuela, Primaria y Secundaria SA; (11) Escuela La Mina, Rio Oro; (12) Rogelio Fernández Escuela, Primaria y Secundaria, Ciudad Colon; (13) Connell Academia, Primaria y Secundaria SA, Piedades; (14) Centro Internacional de Estudios de Costa Rica, Primaria y Secundaria SA; (15) Manitas Kreativas – Pre Kínder y Kínder,  SA,  (16) Municipal School of Integrated Arts, Primaria y Secundaria, SA; (17)  Franz Liszt Schule – Primaria y Secundaria, SA; (18) Kinder Wonderland’s, SA. (19) Oak Tree School, Primaria, Pozos, SA; (20) Colegió Multicultural Do Brasil, Primaria y Secundaria, SA. (21) Filii Montessori Santa Ana – Preschool. (22) Centro Jardín de Niños Anitas 2 – Kindergarten, SA. (23) Kids U – Preschool, SA; (24) Escuela Juan Álvarez Azofeifa – Primaria, SA; (25) Kinder Bambini: Preschool and Day Care, SA; (26) My Little Farm, Kindergarten and Day Care, SA.

FOUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS/ (1) Colegio de Santa Ana, Secundaria; (2) ILPPAL Primaria – Secundaria, SA, Piedades;  (3) ILPPAL – Primaria, SA, Rio Oro; (4) Ciudad Colon Colegio Primaria – Secundaria; (5)  IEGB Andrés Bello López, Primaria y Secundaria, SA.

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.  

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

1. Continue praying for our health in order to continue to work in His vineyard.
2. Continue praying for the Church, Reaching for Jesus Christ Baptist Church in Santa Ana, Rio Oro for spiritual direction, protection and growth.  
3. Continue praying for wisdom as my wife works with the ladies.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him.
2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.
3. 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.
4. 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.  
5. 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.   
6. 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.
7. 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.  

March 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

1. Continue praying for our health in order to continue to work in His vineyard.

2. Continue praying for the Church, Reaching for Jesus Christ Baptist Church in Santa Ana, Rio Oro for spiritual direction, protection and growth. We will be celebrating our first anniversary on April 7, 2024. We have invited a lot of people. Pastor Rodolfo Walter from the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem in Limon will be our speaker. We have known Pastor Walter since 2014, the first time when we came to Costa Rica for our survey trip. During the service, we will be recognizing two new members, the Montoya’s, Brother Andres and his wife Sister Helga,; also we will be presenting a certificate of appreciation to Sister Marta Alicia for her faithfulness to the Lord and to the church, for her support without missing a single Wednesday and Sunday.   

3. Continue praying that the LORD will send another national pastor to work with us,

4. Continue praying for wisdom as my wife works with the ladies.

5. 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.

6. 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 including my wife and I before we do. The Lord sent a couple from Honduras and we will present them as members on April 7, 2024.

7. Continue praying for the church’s faithfulness as we are supporting our first missionary (The Soto’s) from Costa Rica whom at the moment are in India. They will be with us on April 14 to share with us their work in India.

8. Continue praying for the following people so they can be faithful in congregating: Mrs.  Amalia, Reina, Lidia, Sandra, Carlos and his family (Carlos came this past Sunday for  the Resurrection service with his family).  

9.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.

10. Continue praying for that young man named Gilbert, he has been coming to the services, not faithfully. Unfortunately he does not have the means to get there.   

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

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him.
2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.
3. Praise the Lord, He has sent a couple from Honduras, they want to become members of the church and also a young man from Costa of whom the couple knows.

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.  

February 2024 Prayer Letter

Dear Beloved Brethren and Co-Laborers,

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

1. Continue praying for our health in order to continue to work in His vineyard.
2. Continue praying for the Church, Reaching for Jesus Christ Baptist Church in Santa Ana, Rio Oro for spiritual direction, protection and growth.
3. Continue praying that the LORD will send another national pastor to work with us,
4. Continue praying for wisdom as my wife works with the ladies.
5. 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.
6. 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 including my wife and I before we do. The Lord sent a couple from Honduras and they want to become members of the church.
7. Continue praying for the church’s faithfulness as we are supporting our first missionary (The Soto’s) from Costa Rica whom at the moment are in India.
8. Continue praying for the following people so they can be faithful in congregating: Mrs.  Amalia, Reina, Lidia, Sandra, Carlos and his family.   
9. 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; we are still waiting.
10. Pray for a young man named Gilbert, he visited us last Sunday that he will get himself together with the Lord.

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

1. Praise the Lord for His continued protection and provision as we serve Him.
2. Praise the Lord for the faithfulness of some members.
3. Praise the Lord, He has sent a couple from Honduras, they want to become members of the church and also a young man from Costa Rica that the couple knows.  

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.  

Mid – February 2024 Prayer Letter

Dear Beloved Brethren and Co-Laborers,

A cordial greeting from your laborers in Costa Rica.

We pray that you will take time to read this letter in its entirety and pray that you will be sensible to the Holy Spirit as He speak to your hearts. At first I was intimidated writing this letter, to be franc afraid. But the Lord rebuked me with a quick reminder that He is the Owner of everything, to trust Him (Matthew 7: 8; Luke 11: 10) and that I must be humble not proud (1 Peter 5: 5)

Our vision ever since we answered and surrendered ourselves to the call as Missionaries to Costa Rica was to establish Independent, Fundamental Baptist Churches as well as a Baptist Seminary and a Christian school.  After an in depth research of the area of Santa Ana, I have come to a conclusion that we are the only Independent, Fundamental Baptist Church; also, there are no Baptist Christian School either. Above that, we will be the first Baptist Christian School in the whole country that I am aware of, now granted there are a lot private (including Catholics) and public schools but they are very liberal.  

The Missionary era that we are living nowadays is not the same as 40 to 50 years ago. During those earlier time, land were giving free to missionaries to spread the gospel in Costa Rica, but now it is totally different. Be it as it may, Costa Rica is still in need of the True Gospel of Christ and we have to make a difference because we are supposed to be different as God’s children.

After much prayer, supplications and wisdom to our Almighty Eternal God, Savior Jesus Christ and the guidance of His Holy Spirit, we come before all of you, Pastors, Churches and Personal Friends to express and elaborate on a prayer request which was mentioned to you in our last prayer letter in January regarding properties for the Church, Christian school and Seminary. 

As you continue reading this letter, you probably will think that I am crazy, perhaps I am, crazy for God as I continue spreading His word, making a difference, without compromise.

For four plus years, now, we have been praying and asking God to guide us to a property, in our area Santa Ana, which will served as the main headquarters for the complex. After seeing and checking many properties, we believe the property that God has put in our way in Santa Ana, Piedades, this time, is where He wants us to be, but again it is according to His will.

I want to mention again what was written in our last prayer letter and it is the following:

Pray about a possible property for the church, school and seminary close by to where we are meeting at the moment, about a five minute drive. The property is an excellent location, on a main road in the city with surroundings houses all around. The property is about 4,471 m2/ 44,556 SF and the cost is about $17.80 per square foot; that is an excellent price being in the city. I will give more information in our next prayer letter or before. I am meeting with the real estate agent Friday February 1^st at 2:00PM to discuss more regarding the zoning and other things. This is a property that I believe God put in our way, after much prayers, which cannot be ignored. Pray as the Lord guides me to make decisions for His glory.

 To elaborate further, I did meet with the Real Estate Agent and the local architect, but I have to do some preliminary work on my part such as preparing Architectural sketches so we can present them to the City and Zoning Department in order to see if the property is suitable for the complex as stated above. As I am writing this letter, I am preparing the sketches so I can submit them to the Officials for their approval this week sometime.  We are praying for two things to God. First is the zoning approval from the city of Santa Ana, if is approved then we are on the right track; the second thing is the financial aspect. Now there are three parts to the financial aspect, first is the land, second the preparation of the documents (Civil, Architectural, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) and the third is the construction.

 The FIRST and foremost important is the purchase of the land; it may sounds like a lot of money but in fact it is not after my research in the area comparing with other properties, especially the location as I mentioned in the previous paragraph written in red. The same property in the center of town will cost you doubled if not tripled.

The owner is asking $864, 545.00 Dollars which is about $17.80/m2 (per square meter); but I believe we can get it down to $773,300.00 dollars which is about $16.26 dollars/m2 (per square meter). It will be a very favorable deal.

 We are praying for the Lord to use God’s people in a great way, 100 churches including private and business entities. The amount for each of the 100 people will be about $7, 733.00 Dollars if we pay cash for it, if not the bank will have to get involve and it will cost much, much more due to the interest; here in Costa Rica the interest rate to buy properties including land is extremely high. You may ask this question: Why 100? First and foremost, praying then searching the scriptures and the Lord reminded me of His parable regarding the 100 sheep’s (Luke 15: 4).

 The SECOND aspect is the preparation of the construction documents, fees for the City, insurance fees and the appraisal fee. Below is an itemize cost of each discipline:

1. Civil, Architectural, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing __$ 55,000.00 Dollars
2.  City fees _____________________________________________________ $   6,000.00 Dollars
3. Insurance _____________________________________________________ $   7,800.00 Dollars
4. Appraisal fee __________________________________________________ $   1,200.00 Dollars

TOTAL ______________________________________________________ $ 70,000.00 Dollars

**These fees above do not have to be paid right away, it could be during the course of the project (pre – construction and construction).  

The THIRD aspect is the construction part. This will be done in Phases. Phase I will be the church building and the Seminary. Phase II will be the school from Kindergarten to 12^th grade. We do not know the final cost until all the construction documents are complete and get an estimate. If we do get to that point, I will be involve with the local architect to get that done and also during the construction process.

**Regarding the construction cost, pray for the growth of the church and perhaps by that time, we will have enough members to pay for it.

  Beloved Brethren, ¡WITH THE LORD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IF THAT IS HIS WILL! This is God’s work and my vision to enlarge God’s kingdom and leave a legacy behind for His glory.

  Enclosed you will find a Pdf copy of the aerial view, site plan of the property and its location of where we live and meeting at the moment. Also all the design sketches which I have prepared in order to submit to the Zoning Department for their approval (that in itself would have had a cost of about $5,000.00 if another architect had done them). I will be helping and get involve in the project with a local architect (in order to save money) of whom I am dealing with, he will be doing all the construction documents as mentioned in the previous paragraph and as well sealed them.

PRAISES

1. Praise the Lord in advance for whatever He will put in your heart to give toward this project. You will all leave a legacy behind and it will be to God’s glory.  

My Beloved Brethren, we are truly and extremely excited to see what God is going to do; 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!