September, 2022
Dear Brethren in Christ,
The Holy Scriptures reminds us that our God does not change. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” Psalm 119:160. We are grateful to our God for allowing us to serve Him as we receive His new mercies every day, and with your help we are able to fulfill the Great Commission in Guatemala.
OLD PATHS HISTORIC FAITH BIBLE INSTITUTE
We praise the Lord that we were able to complete the 2022 school year with six students. The final exams were given the last week in August and we praise the Lord for what the students were able to learn. Lord willing, the school year 2023 will start up in January and we expect to offer more courses and have some additional new professors. We are praying that all five boarding student slots will be used by foreign and Guatemalan students who live outside of Guatemala City.
GRACE AND FAITH PRESBYTERY OF GUATEMALA
Lord willing, the Presbytery will meet together on Saturday November 26th at the Monte Carmelo Bible Presbyterian Church in Mazatenango, where we will be examining two candidates for ordination. We are still in need of funds to help Pastor Vigilio Barillas of the Mazatenango church purchase a pickup truck that will be used to aid him financially, as he does not receive sufficient salary from the church to support him and his wife. We would like to thank those who have given so far for this need. We purchased a lightly damaged pickup, which is in Florida awaiting shipment to Guatemala. As the shipping cost and import duty remain to be paid, if you can help, please mark your gift “GUATEMALA PASTORS PICKUP” and send it in to the IBPFM office.
CIEF GUATEMALA
We praise the Lord that we were able to have our Bible conference on August 15th (a Guatemala City Holiday). The theme was “SACRED MUSIC IN THE FAITHFUL CHURCH”. We had meetings with preaching in the morning and afternoon, with a delicious lunch served at noon. To start the conference, the adopted CIEF music resolution was read which included an introduction on sacred music. After the preaching there was time for questions and answers about this complex matter, which led to other related subjects and problems such as, “Can women lead the music in the worship service?”
CIEF CHURCH IN CHIMALTENANGO
This former Pentecostal church, through the Word of God, is growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but not without some growing pains and trials. The CIEF men from Guatemala City take turns preaching. Stephen and I also visit about once a month each to teach and preach. Deacon Hector is doing well. His bullet hole wound is almost healed by antibiotics and apparently will not require a fourth operation. He still requires some financial help until he can obtain a full-time job. This church is comprised of very poor families and is in need of our prayerful assistance. We would like to assist them to build two Sunday school rooms, two bathrooms with running water and a shower in the back of the sanctuary, one bedroom and one storage room atop the Sunday school rooms, and a small attached kitchen. The cost for this project is $16,800 (not including a refrigerator, stove and room furniture). If you can help us, please mark your gift “CONSTRUCTION PROJECT CHIMALTENANGO GUATEMALA” and send it in to the IBPFM.
TRINITARIAN BIBLE SOCIETY OF GUATEMALA
In Guatemala, August is “Month of the Bible” and the last Sunday of August is “Sunday of the Bible”. Also, in August, the Bible Book Store gave special discounts on Bibles and New Testaments. The Trinitarian Bible Society of London England and Grand Rapids Michigan has finished the Spanish revision of the Old Testament, and together with the New Testament revision (finished in 2015) it will be published and ready for delivery starting in January of 2023. We pray that this new version will be well received as it did not use the false “critical text” created by men, but used real Bible text, the “Received Text”. Mr. Kurt Aland, who does not believe in the inspiration of scripture together with other men, made up what they thought to be the best text which came to produce a “Critical Text”. This is man-made and is similar to Westcott and Hort’s summarized and man-made text.
Finally, we arrived in the US on August 29th for my medical appointment at the Veterans Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. Lord willing, we will see some of you personally as we finish up the third and final stage of our mini-deputation visiting various churches in September and the first Sunday in October. We thank you all for your continual prayer and financial support! May our Lord continue to richly bless each and every one of you.
Yours missionaries for Christ,
Hal, Stephen, Juanita, Samuel and Joshua