Wednesday, February 10, 2010

WE'VE MOVED!

In order to consolidate our ministry blogs, we've moved this blog over to http://ibamissions.wordpress.com/

You can subscribe to RSS feeds from that site. If you would prefer to receive blog feeds rather than receive our prayer letters by e-mail, please let us know and we will remove you from the e-mail distribution list.

Thank you,
James and Amy

Monday, February 1, 2010

February Prayer Letter

Summer Stats

Statistically, attendance and giving numbers should be down during the summer. However, we finished January with a healthy attendance average of 35 and an all-time high total in giving!

As our attendance grows, so does our need for children’s classes. Amy has been teaching junior church since we began. She is doing teacher training with two ladies who are willing to teach junior church once a month, but we desperately need a teacher for the preschoolers. Please pray for this need!

Praise the Lord for two new families now involved in the church. One of the couples, Adrian and Sara, first visited just before Christmas. After the service, James counseled with them, and Adrian put his trust in Christ. They are now attending faithfully and have expressed their desire to join the church!


Summer Camp

Pictured below are the kids from IBI who attended summer camp the last week of January. They all had a wonderful time and made many new Christian friends. Two received a “camper-of-the-week” award! Four of the nine were able to go only because of your generous giving. Thank you! Pray the decisions made will bring about a lasting change in each of their lives.





Countdown to Launch!

The countdown continues, with 6 weeks left until Charter Sunday, March 21, 2010! We have a different church in the area signed up to help each night of the campaign. This month we are focusing on advertising. We will be handing out church information packets house-to-house during the six weeks prior to “launch,” hanging posters in local businesses and making an announcement on the radio. We have 8,000 flyers to distribute, so please pray for our people to get excited to pass this important landmark in the history of the church and to see new growth.


Furlough 2010/2011

We are planning a furlough late October 2010 through mid-February 2011. Our goal is always to visit about half of our supporters, as well as a few new ones. Praise the Lord that He has already provided a pastor whom we know and respect, Walter and Jackie Schmidt, to take our place while we are away from the ministry here. Please pray for God to provide an interpreter for the Schmidts.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

January Prayer Letter

December Outreach
December 20 was our monthly evangelistic outreach. We try to do something a little different each month. Since it fell close to Christmas, we put together a program of music and Scriptures called "From the Manger to the Cross," telling the story of Jesus' birth, death, burial, and resurrection. Several played instruments, sang, or read Scripture. There was a total of 51 present, including our children's piano teacher, Marina. Please pray for her salvation. Click here to see the video.

We collected the Christmas love offering, which will go toward fixing the floors in the church to make them uniform. Praise the Lord, our little church gave above and beyond our expectations! We look forward to completing this project very soon!

Countdown to Launch
The countdown continues, with 10 weeks left until Charter Sunday! This month we are focusing on the organization and preparation printing flyers and posters as well as scheduling other churches to help with child care, preparing refreshments, and counseling during the campaign. In February, we will begin literature distribution. Our plan is to hand out church information packets house-to-house during the six weeks prior to “launch.” Please pray for our people to get excited to pass this important landmark in the history of the church and to see new growth.


Prayer Requests

· Finish building renovations

· Preparations for Charter Sunday

· Summer camp January 25-30

· Permanent pastor for the Pilar Centro church


Praises

· 51 at our December outreach

· Adrian accepted Christ December 20

· Christmas love offering


Looking Ahead

1/25-1/30 – Summer Camps

February – begin publically promoting Charter Sunday

March 17-21 – Evangelistic Campaign and Charter Sunday