Tom Gilmer: May 2017 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends of Zion:

Linda and I are grateful to you for your faithful support in prayers and offerings during these months of my illness. In spite of the illness, God is blessing our ministries.

On April 11, I arrived home to find our living room transformed into a hospital room similar to where I spent ten and a half weeks straight, complete with a hospital bed and support for intravenous medications. Our insurance company sent Home Care technicians three times a day (7:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 10:00 PM) to administer one to two-hour doses of the strongest antibiotics available for 42 days, beginning in the hospital on March 22, continuing here at home as of April 11 and ending on May 3. God gave great grace and helped us view the inconvenience of a hospital infection as an opportunity to witness. And witness we did! We kept a smart phone tuned in to BBN Radio in Portuguese where the medical workers could hear our son Thomas, Jr. announcing, our son-in-law Rom Ribeiro preaching, and Bible reading from the Almeida Textus Receptus translation provided by the Trinitarian Bible Society of Brazil, of which I am a founder and President and Harold Ralph is Executive Secretary. Praise God, one of the three Home Care technicians called on the Lord for salvation. She has children and grandchildren who are saved and active in Baptist churches.

Much improved and at home after the second spinal surgery, I called Jewish friends wishing them Happy Pesach and inviting them to the Passover Seder (ceremonial dinner) sponsored by our São Paulo Friends of Zion group (Amigos de Sião). With difficulty I located the phone number of Cláudio, the Jewish jeweler who accepted Christ several years ago. He has not been in church for more than a year, but the Lord heard prayer. The day after the dinner he called thanking me for the invitation. He and all his family were greatly moved. He asked me to have Pastor Marcos call him so he could talk about returning to Templo Batista de Indianópolis, our first church. Praise the Lord!!!

The first meeting of the Guacuri congregation on the 29^th of April had to be cancelled until the first Sunday evening in May. Harold Ralph will give more details in his next prayer letter. Be sure to read it. May God bless you all!

Yours for the Messiah,
Tom and Linda Gilmer

PRAISE:

Professions of faith: 1.
Opportunities to witness to Home Care medical technicians.
Better than ever MP3 CD’s of Bible reading in Portuguese now in hard copy for distribution.

PRAYER:

Salvation of Jews and Gentiles.
Ongoing projects (church planting, Bible study helps, media outlets, and warehouse for Bibles).
Tom’s recuperation from 2^nd spinal surgery.
Linda’s knees (treatment for arthritic condition).