As many of you already know, our sixth child—and first son—was brought into this world on November 12. His name is Benjamin Edward Lee Wilder; and, needless to say, we are very excited and grateful to the Lord for giving us this opportunity to raise a son. We named him after my dad, George Edward Wilder, who has always been a perfect example to me as a Christian, father, and husband. I love you and want to say, “Thank you for being my Dad!”
December and January are our busiest months here at Iglesia Bautista Bíblica Independiente. December brought us our annual Teen Camp and Vacation Bible School. I would like to thank Bro. Albert López for taking the time to preach our Teen Camp. Of the 42 campers who went, almost everyone made a decision to do more for the Lord this year. Many have already gotten involved in bus routes, soul-winning ministries, Junior Church, and our Bible institute. I have never seen our teens make so many decisions and fulfill them as they have this year. Please pray for Carlos López as he heads up our Teen Ministry. I am very proud of him. He is doing a great job.
In January, our Christian school and Bible institute started up again. This year we have 21 students in our Christian school and 9 students in our Bible institute. Please pray for the Lord to continue calling young men and ladies to the ministry. There is a great need to start biblical churches here in Guatemala. Our goal is to start 16 churches in our department of Chimaltenango alone. We have started 3 so far and are praying for the men and resources to start the rest.
This year we started a very successful 13-week soul-winning program to teach our people how to win souls to Christ. We have 16 people attending the class, which meets once a week. Each person is required to go soul winning 3 hours each week, amidst other requirements. This program has brought a lot of excitement to our church, and many of the new soul winners are adults who have never gone soul winning before. In the month of January, we were able to lead 70 people to the Lord. Please pray with us, as we have a goal this year of leading 2,020 people to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
We are making plans to visit the States during the months of July and August of this year. We will be starting in Indiana and heading west to Washington State. We only have a few openings, but if you are in that general area and you would like for us to visit your church, please let me know, and I will see what I can do. Please pray, as we are looking for a 12-passenger van to possibly buy while we are in the States. We look forward to seeing many of you this year.
His for souls,
Daniel and Misty Wilder, Lydia, Charity, Emily, Hannah, Serenity, and Benjamin