by Dan & Brenda Clowers
We pray your holiday season was a great one. There is nothing like being with family and friends to share in the celebration of our Lord’s birth. 2017 now awaits us and with the hand of God guiding us we look forward to what is in store for this year. Your partnership in this ministry is so valuable to us because of what it does for the Kingdom of God. 2016 could be called a year of transition on many levels. We made a move back to Costa Rica after working out of Lima, Peru as our South American base for nine years. We also saw the Honduras conference move from being a mission conference to a full fledged conference with elections of a full Honduran board. We are transitioning into new leadership in Nicaragua as a new interim board plans the first national elections for 2017. In Bolivia, we have formed the first National board and are preparing for the first National Convention in January 2017. Great things have happened and greater things are on the horizon.
Every year we are blessed to get to work with Pastor Keith Gilliam’s team; they are a great blessing to the Kingdom of God as seen here in Ometepe, Nicaragua in September 2016.
In October, we had a great time with the Christian Heritage IPHC from Tallahassee, FL. Led by Pastor Steve Dow, they helped clear land and build a security wall for the Word of Life Church in Costa Rica.
We love to work with our home conference: Heartland. Terry Lowder led a great team of workers in October. They came to Nicaragua to build four Sunday School rooms and, as usual, they did an outstanding job.
Cuba was the setting for a marriage retreat in November, which was hosted by Darrel and Bonnie Clowers, who did a fantastic job. We were privileged to be speakers alongside our special guest speakers, Harold and Anna Dalton.
In November and December, we held two very important events. The first was in Bolivia. I traveled to visit the three main cities where we have works. While there, we were able to form a national board that is working great together and planning the first National Convention to be held in January 2017.
In December, I took my last trip of the year to Dirriamba, Nicaragua, where I spoke at the first National Convention of the IPHC. The new interim board was installed and will hold this position until next year’s elections. The crowd was great with some 2,000 in attendance.
Special recognition goes out to Bishop Julio Areas and his wife Estrella as founders of this great work. A special e-newsletter will be coming soon dedicated to this great couple.
