On December 3, the Iglesia Bautista Bíblica Independiente celebrated its 11th anniversary. We were honored to have Pastor Luis Martínez from Puerto Rico preach our services that day. Of the 175 people who joined us for the morning service, 25 of them were first-time visitors. In the evening service, we had a time of testimony, where many people shared about how the Lord was working in their lives.
Flor, a young single mother, was one of the people who shared her testimony with us. Her daughter was reached through one of our bus routes. When her daughter got home from church, she explained to her mother what she had learned and how she loved going to church. Flor didn’t think it was right that her daughter went to church while she stayed home, so she decided to accompany her daughter to set the right example. After hearing the Gospel, Flor did not believe that the Lord could forgive her of her sins because of her wicked past. Then one week before our anniversary, she realized that the Lord could indeed forgive her sins, and she raised her hand for salvation. On our Anniversary Sunday, she also raised her hand during the invitation, but this time to get baptized. It is always refreshing and encouraging to see the Lord work in the lives of the lost.
Bro. Martínez also preached our Teen Camp the same week as our anniversary. The teens were encouraged by his testimony, and many made decisions for the Lord. We had 41 of our young people attend, with 5 of them trusting Christ as Saviour. Many of the teens did not have the $50.00 it took to go to camp, so to help them raise the money, we made and sold cupcakes. We sold 6,000 cupcakes in all. Many of the teenagers sold extra cupcakes to help pay the way for others. Because of the expense of the campground, we are not going to be able to return there next year. Pray for wisdom as I seek out other options for Teen Camp 2018.
My family and I were able to go back to the States for a few weeks in September and October for a time of vacation. It was a trip I had planned for 10 years. We were also able to visit family and report to some of our supporting churches. Thank you so much to everyone who helped to make this trip possible and for taking such good care of us while we were there. We have never been so spoiled.
His for souls,
Daniel and Misty Wilder, Lydia, Charity, Emily, Hannah, and Serenity
