Tom and Linda Gilmer : February 2025 Prayer Letter

Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Linda Gilmer – Church Planter, Bible Translation in São Paulo, Brazil

February 2025
Dear Friends of Zion:
Thank you for making our ministries possible with your prayers and offerings. My plan for this year was to spend my mornings working on projects related to the Bible and education ministries, with the afternoons and evenings dedicated to personal evangelization, discipleship, and mentoring. So far, unplanned, unscheduled ministerial needs and opportunities very often change the order of my day.

A prayer partner wrote asking how to contact missionary to the deaf, Dan Bennett. He will be available as of March in the USA at email pastordaniel.brasil@gmail.com. Please pray for Ailton, a man who is very useful in the deaf ministry at our first church, Templo Batista de Indianópolis (TBI). He has partial hearing and, with the help of a hearing aid, can speak and communicate between deaf and hearing people. He is a Bible Institute student, being developed to help at the Vila Guacuri church and TBI. His wife can neither hear nor speak. Unfortunately, Ailton’s hearing aid is giving problems. Without it, he is totally deaf. Attempts to solve the problem have been unsuccessful to this point. Please pray the Lord will help that the right hearing aid can be found quickly at an accessible price.

Some years ago an atheist, who inherited a Christian bookstore from his aunt, saw our projected 730-page Bible, typeset to motivate a person to read two pages a day in order to read the entire Bible from cover to cover in one year. The atheist ordered 20,000 copies in the first printing and gave our Bible ministry about 1,000 copies (50,000 have been printed so far). To our surprise, Harold Ralph and I met up with this man recently at a special launching of the Portuguese ACF Study Bible, promoted by Thomas Nelson of Brazil for booksellers, store owners and distributors. This is basically the Jerry Falwell Study Bible, which became the King James Study Bible. When he saw us, he exclaimed: “I AM NOW A CHRISTIAN!” and asked Harold Ralph to take a picture of us (see photo).

I am looking forward to showing him another amplified edition of the 730-page Bible that will help the reader to locate inspirational thoughts and guidelines even in long lists of names and technical instructions, such as building the ark and decorating the Tabernacle and Temple. I trust he will print the first copies. Many times, one million or more ACF Bibles have been put out in a year because of publishers who are glad to be able to publish at no, or very low, royalties. Such Bibles are found wherever people in general look for something to read. May the Lord continue to bless.

Yours for the Messiah,
Tom and Linda Gilmer

PRAISE:

1. Professions of faith: 5
2. Atheist bookstore owner saved!
3. Arab ministry (“Luz para o Oriente,” or “Light for the Orient”) with Pr. Ricardo Brito developing well
4. Book table at Templo Batista de Indianópolis also developing well and becoming a dependable, official Christian Book Store

PRAYER:

1. Salvation decisions of Jews and Gentiles
2. Ongoing Bible projects and study helps, digital and printed
3. Church Ministry – (deaf, music, bookstore ministries)
4. Jewish Ministry – tour to Israel in August 2025 led by Pr. Alexandre, plus a time in Israel after the tour
5. Education Ministry –theological and general education
6. Samuel, son of our daughter Ruthie—health issues