Volume 9, Issue 1, April 2004

Pastor’s Libraries Bring Help and Joy to Many Pastors

475 Pastor’s Libraries Sent Out

To date we have sent out over $71,000.00 worth of pastor’s libraries. The response to this project continues to be a great blessing to us and to those pastors who receive the books. There are more pastors who need libraries. This makes a great project for a Sunday School class or youth group. If you participate in this project be sure to mark your check “Pastor’s library.”

The following are testimonies of two pastors who received libraries.

My name is Mario Aguirre and I was born in the village of San Isidro, Mexico. I accepted the Lord as my Savior as a young man. Soon after my baptism I was approached with an offer to prepare for the ministry at a Bible Institute. I began my studies with great enthusiasm. I met my wife, Irene Lara, at Institute Bautista Manantial. We have two sons, David and Joshua. During my training I also serve as music direcctor and assistant pastor of a local church under missionary, Rick Shields. I am currently serving as pastor of Iglesia Bautista Esperanza Viva (Living Hope Baptist Church) in the village of Tangue Roto. I also teach several classes at the Bible institute. I am very blessed and thankful to receive a pastor’s library.

My name is Ruben Garcia and I grew up in the city of Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. I was saved as a young man and later approached with the opportunity to study for the ministry at a Bible institute. I was excited to go until I learned that the school was 18 hours from I my home! Eventually, I decided to go and studied there for five years. Betty Perez, another student in the Institute became my wife. We have one daughter, Rachel. I am currently pastoring Iglesia Bautista Pan de Vida (Bread of Life Baptist church) in Ciudad Juarez. My desire is to see lost souls saved and to teach sound doctrine to my people. The pastor’s library is a great blessing to me and helps me teach my people.

Board Meeting 2004

Our annual Board meeting was held January 27 and 28. As a staff, we look forward to these meetings as a time of thanksgiving for what the Lord has done in the year passed and planning for the year coming. We have dedicated Board members who come from several different states as well as Puerto Rico. The staff of EBI wishes to thank two Board members who retired this scar and were elected in emeritus status: Douglas Couch and Robert Rodgers. We have deeply appreciated their service on the Board. We welcome two new members: Tim Gelatt, of Baptist Mid-Missions and Gerald VanHooser a pastor in Iowa.

New Staff Member

We are excited to welcome Margaret Tolosa to the staff of EBI. Margaret is a retired BMM missionary who served for one term in Venezuela and 47 years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Margaret was the founder and first principal of Timothy Academy, a Christian day school that has operated in conjunction with Iglesia Evangélica Bautista (Evangelical Baptist Church) begun by Edward Schwartz in 1953. For several years Margaret has come to EBI for the months of February and August, volunteering in our editing department. Margaret and Joan Stephens worked together to prepare the junior Sunday school material for the translators. Margaret was also a member of our EBI Board before joining the staff full-time.

Her duties at EBI will include being the editor of women’s Bible study books and continuing work on the primary Sunday school materials.

A New Tract

We are now stocking a new tract designed especially for evangelism. The name of the tract is “¿Me Permite Hacerle una Pregunta?” (May I Ask You a Question?). We have ordered these from another company and made them available to our customers who are looking for a good evangelistic tract to use in their ministries. They are available from us only in Spanish at 7 for $1.00. They are much more complete than many single fold tracts

Distributors

EBI is currently developing distributors in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, Spain and Venezuela. These distributorships are the responsibility of Gary Hilliker, Director of International Development. Each distributor will help us expand our outreach in these countries.

Junior High Sunday School Material

The final quarter (#12) is at the translators and this project is nearing completion. We are very pleased with the response to these materials for teaching children. We have had to reprint all of the visuals for the first four quarters due to the demand. If your church needs a special DVBS project for this summer, we still have posters and flyers available upon request.