Harold and Lílian Gilmer : Annual Report 2020
Harold and Lilian Gilmer – South America Director, Church Planter and Bible Translation in São Paulo, Brazil.
Dear Brethren:
Thank you for your faith full prayers and faithful support. Rejoice with us at what the Lord did in 2020:
Over 1.4 Million Bibles Distributed
We are speechless at what the Lord did at the Trinitarian Bible Society of Brazil in 2020. When the pandemic hit Brazil in March, we were as the disciples crying out to the Lord amidst the storm. What seemed would be a lost year in Bible distribution turned out to be a record year for us. By God´s grace, over 1.4 million complete Portuguese Bibles were distributed in 2020, both through our own premises and through special partnerships. That means that every 22 seconds, one of our Portuguese Bibles was distributed last year. (In 2019, over 1.3 million Bibles were distributed, or, one every 24 seconds.) To God be the glory!
Impact YOUR World for Christ
In December, we created Impact Evangelism—Impact YOUR World for Christ at our new Congregation. We provided gift bags with two beautiful Scripture calendars, a New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs and a Christmas Gospel tract and challenged our people to give these to their families, neighbors, friends and co-workers, making an impact in their own worlds. Our small congregation of 18 families gave out 350 gifts bags to their circle of influence. May God give the increase! We want to say a very special Thank You to the Senior Class from Pensacola Christian College for promoting the Harvest Fest, a fundraiser for our ministry, which enabled us to do this special project.
Big Step of Faith
For the past nine years, the Trinitarian Bible Society of Brazil supplemented our support. However, as of May, due to the economic crisis Brazil has endured and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, they were no longer be able to help us financially (which represented roughly a 40% drop in our support). That brought us us to a big step of faith: To continue on the field, serving our Lord, and trusting in Him for our provision. By God´s amazing grace, our Home Church and some supporters stepped up to bat and gave special offerings, beyond their commitment! Bible Way Baptist Church, in Rossville, Georgia, just took us on for support, even as we are still on the field. Please continue to pray with us for new supporters for our ministry. May the Lord greatly bless you all!
Your fellow servants in Brazil,
Harold, Lílian, Raphael and Danielle