Volume 10, Issue 2, 2005
Volunteers Are priceless
We at EBI are blessed to have the help of many volunteers. They come to us in a variety of ways. On occasion we have a church group come to spend a few days helping us with a major project. A group from First Baptist Church of Elyria, Ohio, came and painted the outside of our building, began construction on some new office space, and built a platform for our air conditioners. Another group from Grace Baptist Church, Chillicothe, Ohio, came and painted the floors in our shipping and assembly rooms. The help these Christian friends were to us, when we had a need, was tremendous in time and money saved. The fellowship was sweet too!
But there is another group of volunteers who faithfully serve at EBI on a continuing basis. These are men and women who live here in Sebring and make themselves available whenever they are needed. They work in the print shop and our assembly room collating, assembling, binding, and laminating Sunday school materials and study books. It is hard to imagine how we would operate without them. Their faithfulness on a day to day basis makes it possible to produce many more publications than the eleven of us would be able to do on our own.
One such couple is Emerald and Barbara Maple, who until recently worked at EBI every week. Emerald is in his 90’s and though Barbara is somewhat younger, health needs have made it necessary for them to move back to Indiana to be near their family. We surely miss these two faithful servants of the Lord.
Greg and Pam Kruger came to volunteer at EBI from Minnesota as a direct answer to prayer. We had been praying for a long time for help in the print shop. Greg and Pam felt the Lord leading them to volunteer at EBI for several months this winter. They have been a tremendous help, and Greg has been quick to learn many of the procedures done in the print shop. Greg and Darrel have been able to produce a large volume of work and Darrel has caught up on much of our backlog of printing. The Krugers plan to return next winter. They are a wonderful addition to our staff.
Spotlight on Staff
Margaret Tolosa was accepted by Baptist Mid Missions in 1952, for missionary service in Venezuela. She was there for two years, and while there she established a Christian school. Upon returning to the States she was called to Philadelphia to work with Ed and Mildred Schwartz in a ministry to Spanish-speaking people.
During her time in Philadelphia, she helped establish another Christian school, Timothy Academy, for children K-81 grade. Margaret served in that school and her local church for 47 years. Timothy Academy is still flourishing today. Five years ago Margaret began coming to Sebring each winter to help at EBI. Her major work has been editing Spanish material. In 2004, we were overjoyed to welcome her as a full-time staff member. Margaret’s love for the Lord and servant’s heart is an encouragement to all of us
Pastor’s Libraries — A Continuing Success
Due to the generosity of church groups and individuals, 543 libraries have been sent to pastors in Latin American countries. Over eighty-one thousand dollars have been contributed to this project to date. In March, 20 libraries were sent to Argentina, 8 to Mexico, 4 to Peru, 2 to Chile, 3 to Honduras, and 3 to Cuba. We are amazed and rejoicing at God’s blessing on this project. To think that there are 543 Hispanic pastors who now have reference materials to help them teach their congregations causes our hearts to rejoice. This project will be on-going as long as money continues to come in to support it. We thank all who have contributed and know that you will be blessed of God.
EBI Represented at it Conference in Puerto Rico
EBI was invited to have a book table at the Caribbean Congress for Christian Fundamentalism held April 4-8 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, at the Colegio Unversitario. The conference theme was “Contending for the Faith.” There were pastors there from Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Canada, United States, St Vincent, Colombia, Mexico and St Lucia. Gary and Bernie Hilliker had the opportunity to introduce our Sunday school materials and other literature to many people. They sold nearly all of the nine boxes of books that we had shipped to Puerto Rico.
One Puerto Rican pastor is interested in opening a bookstore to supply Sunday school material to churches in his country. He has a storefront ready and bought a number of books to begin this endeavor. Pray that this store will be a success and a blessing to the churches in Puerto Rico.
Encouragement from Gideon
Our staff meets every Monday morning for prayer and devotions. This is a special time for us to encourage and be encouraged. Last week our director, Marvin Stephens, took us to the book of Judges and the story of Gideon. God sent most of Gideon’s army home and chose to win the battle with just a few. There are times when we can become discouraged with the huge volume of work before us, and we are so few. When we look for others to come along side and help, we are often disappointed. But Marvin reminded us that when we labor faithfully, we can expect to see God do great things, and then He will get all the glory. We often see God work in wonderful ways to sustain this ministry and our hearts are gladdened when we are reminded of all that He has done for EBI. To God alone is the honor and glory!
We thank God for our Volunteers!
Here are a few more pictures of them at work. Left to right: Greg Kruger helping Darrel with the press; Pam Kruger operating the new color printer; Dan Newman stapling Sunday school books; Mary Ann Roshko assembling books; Mary Rodgers trimming covers; Dan and Sue Newman, Margaret Tolosa and Lou Nelson assembling books.
