La Esperanza II (Honduras)

Pastor Josh Wyatt of Charles River Church (formerly of Heritage Bible Chapel) sends the following message and photos from a church building project in Honduras:

I'm sending this message out to any of you who have been involved with the ministry to El Salvador/Honduras and people on the HBC missions committee. Alex Lara (Elder at La Esperanza Church in El Sal) just sent me these pictures of La Esperanza II in Hacienda Grande Honduras.

On our second trip down to Honduras, Pastor Antonio and his wife Letty pulled me aside with a hand-written letter requesting funding to help them build a facility for their growing church plant in Honduras. Many of you remember this day as the day we walked to the river for their first Baptism (21 people if my memory serves me well) and a day many tears of joy were cried. I brought this letter back to the elders at Heritage. In the end HBC gave $10,000 which secured the $4k piece of land for this church building and the extra $6k covered a huge piece of the construction. You will also notice in these pictures that men from the church are doing the work. Many of them lost their jobs as a result of turning from Roman Catholicism to faith in Christ alone. They are able to provide for their families because of the work they get in the construction of this building. Be encouraged by these pictures, be reminded to pray, and please share these with Heritage... it is important for HBC to see their support in action.

Blessing, Josh

Brazil - Dear Ministry Friend Passes Away

Heritage Bible Chapel received the following news today from our ministry partner, Pastor Geraldo Oliveira of Belo Horizonte, Brazil:

Good evinig dear friends,
I received a sad news today, sad because of the miss, but happy because he is with God. My dear friend Pastor Leonardo lmeznar, went at the Glory last night at a church in Pennsylvania on a mission event. He suffered a heart attack when he was preaching and went to be with the Lord in glory. Pastor Leonardo lmeznar was a great friend and collaborator for many years. He came on several occasions to Belo Horizonte, to visited Sr. Fernando Claussen who also was his great friend and brother. Together, we visited the synagogue, both the traditional as orthodoxy. He had a vision for missions and for more than four years helped my family financially, now nearly 90 years, and serving the Lord went to glory.

Pastor Geraldo (right) with Pastor Leonardo

At the evangelism on the street earlier this year, he was there with us, with his advanced age, but on the street sharing the gospel. He had a great love for the Jewish people. For many years kept a little farm in Rio de Janeiro where
he used to received the Jews in order to share about their Messiah. He was one of the translators of the Hebrew to Portuguese of the Trinitarian Bible. Actually he was a great friend.
Please pray for his family. The relatives know he is in glory, but feeling the longing ache, pray that God comforts your hearts. He went to glory last night in a church in a missionary event and exactly yesterday I shared about the heavens and the return of Jesus Christ. Sending some pictures of the last time Iwas with him this year and last year.

A bigger hug,

Pastor
Geraldo.

Straight Ahead Ministries - A Heartfelt Plea

From Dan Mesher, our local Straight Ahead missionary...please click on his letter to see at full-size. "Nate" desperately needs our prayers, and the light of the Gospel to pierce through his despair:

Gilbert Family Prayer Letter - Fall 2010

Many of Heritage Bible Chapel's congregation had the pleasure of meeting Pastor Luis Gilbert and his family when they visited us in the Spring of 2010 and performed an evangelistic drama during a Sunday worship service. We received the latest of his ministry updates and prayer requests this month:

Beloved Church:

May the Lord continue blessing you greatly in every area of your lives, in
your families, and may you have success in all that you set out to do in the
name of the Lord.

I give thanks to God that He allowed me to get to know you, and that today
you are part of the vital ministry that God has placed in my hands. My family,
without your help, would not be able to provide training for hundreds of
children's Bible teachers throughout all of Guatemala.

Thank you for your prayers. You are the gears that move the hand of God,
and in having your support, we know that God will bless you richly. Please don't
forget to write to us, as this encourages us to move forward in ministry and
also helps us to know how to pray for you all.

September 4th - We were invited to give theatre training
in the Theological Seminary of Central America. 60 students attended. My wife,
Dora, and our daughter, Abigail, accompanied me. This is the seminary
where completed my theological studies.

September 8th - We traveled to San Lucas Toliman in order
to provide trainings for (ELI) the School for Training Children's Leaders. Jaime
Lopez, the director of Sepal, accompanied me. 35 students attended. This took
place in the Bethel Central American Church.

September 17th, 18th, and 19th - We traveled to the city
of San Marcos where we began ELI, providing training for the Assembly of God
churches from ths region. 108 teachers from various denominations attended.
Katherine de Villalobos accompanied me. She is a missionary from Costa Rica.
Abigail, my daughter, also came along as we traveled 250 km. God has been
opening new doors for us.

In the city, my wife, Dora, and my children, Emmanuel and Joshua, attended
the first Internacional Conference for Clowns, where they taught and learned
various new techniques. God gave me the privilege to help set up this event.
Through this event, Emmanuel was invited to attend a Clown Conference in the
United Staes in February of 2011, Lord willing.

September 24th, 25th, and 26th - I traveled to Peten,
about 600 km. outside of Guatemala City. I went to impart theatre training,
making this the third "festival of talent" that has taken place in this area.
The storm Matthew affected us some, but thankfully having this venue has been a
huge blessing and tool in working with youth as 60 youth attended from various
churches. For this activity, I traveled alone.

During the month we have continued to work with some social help
ministries, collecting offerings and help for those who have been affected by
the rains. Please do not forget to pray for the following petitions:

1 - A Christian Education Conference that we will be providing in
Coatepeque, and that pastors will send their Christian educators.

2 - Please pray for the rain that has been affecting these events, making
it harder for children to attend their churches.

3- Pray for the students that are beginning university studies.

4- Pray for the children's education in those countries that have been
devastated by war and poverty.

Thank you again. May the Lord continue blessing your lives.

With much love in the Lord,

The Gilbert Family, Luis and Dora, and their children, Emmanuel, Abigail
and Joshua

Sword of the Spirit Christian Centre (Kenya)

This Fall, Heritage Bible Chapel has begun partnering in ministry with Sword of the Spirit Christian Centre in Limuru, Kenya. Senior Pastor Rev. Francis Ndunhu Ngugi sends regular, detailed updates about his church's ministry of preaching the Gospel and discipling new believers to the Committee via e-mail, and this month we received a gracious handwritten note of appreciation from him (see below).