September, 2024
Greetings from Guatemala, to our dear brethren and prayer warriors,
The wonderful atonement of Jesus was foretold in Isaiah 53:5-6 “But he was wounded for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” What a wonderful Savior we have!
MONTSERRAT CHURCH: We celebrated Father’s Day on Sunday, June 16th. The Father’s Day program substituted the Sunday school. We need more godly fathers who teach their children the Word of God and doctrine. The church people gave some interesting testimonies of their fathers and how their fathers trained them. Some fathers were not saved but gave good council to their children. My own father, an unsaved man, gave me some good advice, saying that in all important things you must stop, listen, and think. I passed this down to my sons and grandsons.
Continue to pray for our brother Juan Carin, who is still bed-ridden and is going through some home therapy. He suffers from kidney and prostate problems; however, the hemorrhaging in his stomach has stopped. His health has improved somewhat, but continue to pray for him.
BUS EVANGELISTIC MINISTRY: Praise the Lord the right parts for the front brakes arrived from the States. The bus is almost ready for its mission to go into the mountain villages surrounding the Los Angeles church area. The bus has been painted the five colors of the wordless book, so it is a giant tract, and will be used to help explain the gospel. The back of the bus was extended to make a platform to proclaim the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have bibles, tracts, and Gospels of John and Romans ready to give out. At the same time, we will set up a new weekly bus route to pick up those who want to come to Sunday Bible school in Los Angeles. Pray that God will give us some new boys and girls and that some will be saved. Pray!
TRINITARIAN BIBLE SOCIETY OF GUATEMALA: The new Spanish Bible is now sold in the TBS Bible Society Bookstore. Free Bibles were given out to all persons who attended the inaugural presentation in Guatemala plus 60 additional Christian leaders who were not able to attend came to our offices to receive one. This new version was translated by men who believe in Verbal Plenary Inspiration and used the traditional way of translating using the Textus Receptus and Masoretic text. Since we received the Bibles, they have been selling slowly at the bookstore. We are trying to get a greater discount to be able to sell them using an introductory price. Many new Bibles today are translated by men who don’t believe in the inspiration of scripture and use the critical text, beware of them!
POLITICS IN GUATEMALA: The new president, Bernardo Arevalo, has completed the first six months of his administration. According to the Guatemalan newspaper “Prensa Libre” in August 2024 it stated, during this time the conflict has continued with the Attorney General (a woman named Consuelo Porras)who has been critical of the president. In a video, she said that he wants to take full control of her public office. Also, the members of Congress have voted against the amplification of US$1.9 billion to the regular stated budget. This President has inflated his projects, and they are very costly. Finally, the President received enough support from the Congress, and they voted to receive the amplification of the extra amount. Five red flag warnings were given to the budget expansion. Financial experts see several errors in the decree itself, with a lack of transparency. The Supreme Court weighed in and has put the budget in suspense for further study. Every Sunday, in our churches, we pray for the President, the Congress, and all those in authority as the Bible exhorts us to pray for those in eminence.
GRACE AND FAITH PRESBYTERY OF GUATEMALA: The Presbytery meeting was held August 10th at the Montserrat church. We are now in the rainy season, and sometimes some of the roads are closed due to being washed out, but we said we will stick to the date and see what the Lord does. The brethren from the Mazatenango church first decided to come on Friday, the day before Presbytery, but left Mazatenango on Saturday at 3AM, and arrived in Guatemala City in time for breakfast at 7:30AM. They had clear sailing all the way. Pastor Virgilio Barillas, from Mazatenango, is the president and moderator. The Presbytery minutes for the February session were read and approved. Pastor Stephen noted that the Presbytery is not a member of CIEF or ALADIC but that our churches were members. He also explained the work of CIEF and ALADIC. The Spiritual Committee thought that each member of the Sunday school should be contacted concerning his or her spirituality, with a group of questions. The Evangelism Committee said that little has been done, but it must be emphasized that all must work to proclaim the gospel. The Committee of Revision of the church’s session minutes found most of the minutes were in order, but emphasized that one church was not up to date. Hal explained in the Resolution Committee that it had no resolutions to present but they will be working on one that will explain the taking away of free speech in Guatemala. All Chick Tracts are now forbidden by law to be imported into Guatemala, Brazil, and nine other countries. The Guatemalan name came up in a different list and we are not sure now if this law is being enforced. It probably has some relation to hate crimes under the United Nations guidelines.
CIEF GUATEMALA: The Confederation of Evangelical Fundamental Churches (CIEF) met for its annual conference August 15th, from 10AM to 3PM, with a lunch break in between. The theme was “The Signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ”. The format of the meeting was a round table discussion with four pastors explaining seven signs in the morning session, with a time for questions and answers, and another four pastors in the afternoon with another seven signs. Advertising and flyers were made up to be distributed plus emails sent out inviting churches and people to attend. We had a good group and there was an abundance of written questions, some simple, and others quite complex. The various pastors did a good job in answering the questions in both sessions. The new Spanish Version Bible was given to the visiting pastors and elders who had not received one yet.
AUGUST, MONTH OF THE BIBLE IN GUATEMALA: On Sunday, August 25th, most churches will have their own Bible program. Some don’t think much of this celebration, but it has merit. Some believe that true Christians must focus on the fact that every day is Bible Day! Our TBS of Guatemala is having a 20% discount on practically all Bibles. The law stipulates that we must pay the government 17% of everything that we sell. If we give 20% discount, that means 37% off the price and only 3% for the store.
HAL’S HEALTH: I had a birthday August 4th, which now makes me 101. I thank the Lord for the many years he has given me to serve Him, and for continued health, although with some new aches and pains. I will be traveling to Florida for three Veterans Administration doctors’ appointments in the last two weeks of September, so I will not be able to attend Faith Presbytery in Collingswood this fall. I feel well and still work every day, but my sight and hearing are dimming some. I walk with a walker and use a wheelchair when traveling through airports.
We are grateful to all of you for your continued prayers and financial support. May our Lord richly bless each and every one of you.
Yours missionaries for Christ,
Hal, Stephen, Juanita, Samuel and Joshua