Upon hearing of IBL’s need for space, Rev. Russell Harless and the session of Sher-


wood Forest ARP Church in Columbia generously gave permission for IBL to use its fel- lowship hall and classrooms on Sunday evenings. Now, in addition to morning worship at their building on Gregg Street, IBL enjoys a fellowship meal with a time of prayer and Bible study at Sherwood Forest ARP Church on Sunday evenings. The added space at Sherwood Forest ARP has also enabled IBL to host community


outreach events. On October 31, IBL hosted a Trunk or Treat event open to the com- munity. “Thank you for giving our area such a special event for our kids,” one attendee commented. IBL also hosts annual Thanksgiving and Christmas worship services fol- lowed by a fellowship meal. IBL has a youth group! This fall our youth group attended the Middle School Retreat at Bonclarken for First, Second, and Catawba Presbyteries. A family new to the US from Guatemala recently began worshiping with us, and their daughter, 15, just beginning to learn English, courageously attended the retreat. She had only been attending public school in Columbia, SC for a few weeks, and she was the only native Spanish speaker in our youth group, as the other youth have been raised in South Carolina, but she jumped right into the fun. Her face lit up playing gaga ball and dodge ball. IBL keeps a transmitter set with earpieces available for translation situations, so we


brought it with us to the retreat, and Justin translated the sessions and the worship songs for her. She said she really enjoyed the retreat. She told us they don’t have retreats like this one where she came from in Guatemala. The fact that we could translate the ses-  told her that people from other churches had asked him how she liked the event, and she said, “The whole of it was really good, everything from the teaching sessions to the activities and games.” The women of IBL are also active in ministry, hosting a monthly Women’s Ministry meeting at members’ homes or at the church. In 2022, the ladies of IBL attended the Catawba Women’s Ministries spring and fall events. Over the summer, a large group of women made an overnight retreat to attend ARP Women’s Ministry’s Annual Meeting at Bonclarken. The women of IBL are often the largest church group represented at these events. While most members speak English, a few need translation for big meetings, so a member usually translates. The congregation’s 30+ year history means many of the members’ children have been born and raised to adulthood here in the US. So, one challenge we face is how to meet the needs of adult children of the congregation who want to continue to worship with their  This is a bridge the church prayerfully hopes to build for future generations. While this resilient congregation has been without a full-time minister since Pastor JJ left pulpit ministry in 2011, they keep showing up, serving one another, and reaching out  character, and his care for the congregation, and she said, “He was a wonderful pastor. I love my church.”


Gillian Brickey is the wife of Rev. Justin Brickey, pastor of Iglesia Biblica Latinoamericana.


January/February 2023


27


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32