NEWS FROM HQ

Update: Rickers in Guatemala

November 2018

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?
Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8

To our Dear Partners and Intercessors In Christ,

Here we are again, trying to bring you up-to-date on the Rickers. Time goes by so quickly, and we see the year almost closing, and Christmas upon us! We trust the Lord has been keeping you busy telling others also. What a good feeling it is when we go out to highways and byways planting the precious seed of Salvation! We have much to tell you, so here we go.

Praise the Lord for a Half-Night Prayer Service

We had a half-night vigil prayer time in our Montserrat Church on September 14 from 7:30 to midnight. September 15 is Independence Day in Guatemala, so we could sleep in and take it easy on the holiday. The vigil was broken up in four one-hour segments, each with a different song leader and preacher. The vigil theme was “Faithful in Prayer.”

CIEF Guatemala Reformation Sunday Program

It was held Sunday afternoon, October 28, and it was a blessing. Like last year, it was held in the historic “Cinco Calles” church. We had two soloists and also the Ricker boys (grandkids) had a piano-violin duo. It was well attended, and we trust that the people learned more of the heritage from the Reformation. Four preachers took part, each with 15-minute messages concerning the heroes of the faith: Zwingli, Luther, Calvin, and Knox.

VBS Theme “Jesus is Coming Soon”

1,000 flyers and some posters were given out in the neighborhood announcing the VBS. Stephen and Juanita both worked hard to complete the theme, lessons, scriptures, and handcrafts. It was all wonderful, and we used the program in both churches. The children learned good Christian choruses, had biblical lessons, catechism questions and answers, interesting handwork, and refreshments each day. All children (9-15 years) were interviewed by Hal. He noted that some of them were born again, but most of them lacked faith and the new birth. One of the highlights was a lighthouse made by the older boys in Stephen’s class. It was made from two- and three-liter soda bottles with a real
light on top — just beautiful! For the closing exercises the boys learned to sing “Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy” (Let the Lower Lights Be Burning). Please pray that our Lord will work in the hearts of these children, where the good seed was planted. Saved by grace!

Doctrinal and Theology Classes

The last doctrinal class was held October 29, and we studied “Divine Calling and Regeneration.” We had a special fellowship November 5 and everyone brought refreshments. Diplomas were given out to those who finished the class.

Bible Society and Bookstore Has Moved

We give thanks to the Lord for helping Stephen and the laborers construct a second-floor addition to our new location next door, thus giving us a larger store and office. We thought it would be easy since it was only next door, but moving Bibles, books, and all the equipment was harder than we first thought. It will be the Guatemalan headquarters for CIEF, ALADIC, and ICCC. We are still setting up!

Information About CIEF’S 15th Bulletin

With the Lord’s help, our regular bulletin “In Defense of the Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ” went out to various people via email, and hard copies went to many others in various churches — including our two churches. We are preparing the 16th bulletin with good articles that we trust will be used of the Lord to edify and protect the Churches from apostasy and ecumenism, and some articles are devotional as well.

Gospel Tracts

We told you in our last letter how we were helped of the Lord by having a church in the U.S. support us in publishing 50,000 Passport tracts and supplying many other tracts like “The Gift” and “The Plan of Salvation.” That church no longer has a tract society, so we trust that the Lord will raise up others churches and individuals that are interested in supporting a gospel tract ministry. We are completely out of the “Gift” tract (we had 50,000) and are almost out of the “Plan of Salvation” tract of which we originally had 50,000. We now have only part of the 50,000 “Passport” tracts left. If churches and individuals can´t give money for 50,000 tracts, maybe they could give to supply 10, 20, or 30,000 tracts. If so, simply send your gifts to the IBPFM and mark them “Tracts for Guatemala.”

Sowing the Word in Accord with the Great Commission

Small-print Bibles (for young eyes) plus one with normal-sized print were once again given out freely to most of the people in our two churches. The brethren gave testimonies of the blessings they received and are still praying for some who will come to attend the church services. One pastor, who received Bibles for a new church that he and his son started, related to us how some were saved through these Bibles. The pastor’s son asked for some small Bibles for children and three of the normal-print Bibles for adults for a project of alphabetization in a mountain area where the Chorti indigenous people live near Esquipulas Chiquimula. National missionary Pastor David Ochoa sent us pictures of the people in the new church receiving Bibles and the alphabetization class of boys where he is teaching them to read Spanish.

Old Paths Historic Faith Bible Institute

We praise the Lord that the Bible Institute will start classes on January 28, 2019, at the Montserrat Church. Please pray for this first year, as there will be obstacles to overcome.