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
- 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.