January Prayer Letter from the Kokubuns

Our First Day in the New Building

Anticipation was in the air. Everyone rushed about hurriedly to be sure everything was just perfect for our first service at the new property. The PA system needed to be set up, hymnals placed in each seat, the baptistery waters checked, changing rooms prepared, and ushers trained. Today was the day! After having several weeks and months of overflowing our old property, it was exciting to have a new building to fill. But would we fill it? Would it seem huge and the people few in number?

Our hearts were not disappointed that day, as 138 people filled our new church building. Many of our faithful church members brought a visitor or friend. It didn't seem too big at all. Actually, in my mind I wondered how long we would be able to fit in this new property before we would have to move again! (Don't worry; I think it will be quite some time before that happens.) On that day alone, we had 24 visitors, 13 saved, and 5 baptized. With our new building having so much space, the Adult Sunday School Class moved there, and we were able to have our Teen Sunday School Class in the old church building. We still love our old building. There's just a special sweetness there that fills the air, and there’s the constant memory of the great things God has done so far.

At the beginning of this month, God sent our team two Peruvian college men who are in seminary. They wanted to come and learn from the team. One of my newest responsibilities has been working with them—“Training the Next Generation 101.”

We just finished Week 8 with our second Bible study. The father and both sons of the family that hosts our study were all baptized just recently. It's so neat to see young Christians growing in the faith.

Thanks for your prayers for Iglesia Bautista Internacional! We're thrilled with what God is doing here in this place. We know none of it would be possible without the faithful prayers of God's people! We can't wait to see what God will do in the future!

Enjoying the journey,

Daniel and Heather Kokubun