Visiting, Visiting, Visiting...

We have been here for three weeks now and have visited many supporters and scheduled many visits for the next two months.
It is always a shock to come to the USA and see the abundance God has provided for this nation. It is unfortunately though that so many Americans do not realize the blessings God has shed on this country. Our prayer is that God through His Holy Spirit will bring Americans back to a relationship with Him through His mercy!
Anyways, we hope to see you soon!

In the USA!

We made it up to Seattle after 24hrs traveling! It was a great trip and only missed one connection. This week we are resting from the trip, getting our time adjusted (Brazil is 6 hrs ahead) and starting to schedule visits. We will be here till the beginning of March and have the goal of raising prayer supporters, financial supporters and even workers interested in serving alongside us in Brazil! Please pray for us and we look forward to seeing you!!!

Out on furlough, will be back in three months!

We thought about putting this sign up at our house so that folks would not be concerned over us returning to Virgem da Lapa. This month was full of activity as we got ready to be three months out, had many evangelistic events and took care of planning for next year. We leave for the USA next Friday and till then will be on a miniature furlough visiting supporters from Brazil! Thanks for all your prayers and we hope to be with you soon!

Women´s rural labor union!

Ok, so the title does seem some bit socialist. But we have had the opportunity to do a 1 hour Bible study in all the events this union has in our area! It has been a huge set of open doors and many women who life far away have been impacted! Praise God!
Countdown to furlough at 25 days!

The rain finally got here!

 Without rain...

With rain!

For the last 2 weeks it has rained on and off! Big blessing after 6 months without it!

Past 10 days a rush!

The past 10 days flew by! We received a YWAM team and were able to impact 10 different locations and over 800 people in 6 days! We traveled over 250 miles on dirt roads to reach these communities and were amazed at the thirst children and adults showed towards the evangelism. Our team consisted on a clown, a ywam missionary a pastor and me. We were able to use the fact that last Wednesday was children's day here in Brazil, to get into many schools and present tye Gospel to the students. In other places we did evangelism on the street and reached entire families. All this is thanks to your prayers and support! Our prayer is that the seed of the gospel will produce it´s fruit!

RAIN!

After 5 months with no rain we got some yesterday! It will help parch the thirst of the dry ground and turn things green. It won´t last though and serious rain is only expected in December. But it sure does make things nice and settles down the dust. Had a slippery muddy ride yesterday as we slipped and slid our way to a widows house to pay her a visit. She lost her husband two weeks ago and we went there to comfort her with the word of God and fellowship. Was great. The car arrived covered with mud in the outside and inside! Thank God for 4X4 with a differential lock!

Turbo end of September!

A men´s Bible Study at a remote village of run away slave descendants, a Bible study at a Union of Women rural workers and a Bible Study for kids in a small village right on main street! These events marked the last several days of this month! Very intense and rewarding!!! Thanks for your prayers that made this all possible!!!

September gone by!

Standard small family home in rural area.

Irrigation Kit

Wow! Time just flies when you are having fun! We had an awesome month of September! God opened many doors making it possible for us to continue reaching many with the Word of God. In one meeting alone, at a distant rural community, twenty adults accepted the Lord as the Savior! The most challenging part will definitly be the discipleship. We are already working on  it as the Lord Jesus begins to work in the hearts of these new believers through the Holy Spirit.

Our prayer is that the seed of the Gospel will NOT be "trampled under foot and the birds of the air" consume it, fall on "rocky soil,"  withering "away, because it had no moisture" or fall "among the thorns; and the thorns" grow "up with it and choke it out." May it find "the good soil," and grow up, "and produced a crop a hundred times as great"!!! (Luke 8:5-8 NASB)

For august there are many events planned, the irrigation project to finish and a YWAM team to work with for a week in the rural area with evangelistic events! Don´t forget to pray for us!

You ARE special!!!

This month we have been working with the theme, "You are Special", with the children's groups we have been giving Bible studies to. We are using animal puppets for this and we talk about how each animal is different and special at the same time. The Biblical text we have been using is Psalm 139. Anyways be sure to keep us in your prayers! It has been hot and dry and rain is only expected in November!

One drop at a time.

The drip irrigation project is well underway. After months working on figuring out which families would benefit the most from these kits we have begun installing them. These are received with great joy as this "technology" is very new here! We see this as a chance of showing Jesus love for these folks. thanks for your prayers and financial participation!

Faith on the wrong thing is no good.

This past week was marked by a big holiday in which the patron saint of the town we live in is worshiped. 20000 people gather along side many people of our town to worship an idol. Her name is Virgin of the Stone and the town gets its name from her. It is a statue of "Mary" that was found according to the legend in a small cave by dimond prospectors back in 1780. People come to seek her help in interceeding for them before God. Of course this takes Jesus out of the scene and is nothing more than pure idolitry. It makes us sad to see many we have shared the Gospel with loosing themselves in the adoration of this lifeless statue who can neither see, hear or speak. As the Bible says in Jerimiah 50:38,

"A drought ond her waters!

They will dry up.

For it is a land of idols,

idols that will go mad with terror."

Perhaps here the drought in this region is finally explained! For us the next months will be ones of lovingly confronting these evil that tradition has brought upon these dear people. After all Jesus loves them and wants to set them free from this slavery.

What went on in the past 6 months...

And here comes July!

The past days flew by as we had a series of Bible teaching events at elementary schools and with families in the rural area. The Lord of the harvest blessed these Bible teaching events and we were able to once more explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly and have the joy of seeing many understand it for the first time.

As the seeds of the Gospel are sown we pray that the Holy Spirit will do the work only He can in transforming these dear children and adults from the inside out.

This past Sunday we were preparing to give a Bible study at a home of a family 15 miles out of town when all of a sudden we found out Mark was on the roof of their house! It was quite a surprise and almost caused a heart attack on most of those present. There he was just walking around the clay tile roof enjoying the countryside view! Telma and I are used to such situations ( raising 4 boys seems like prep school for fire and rescue workers) and were able o convince the Santa Claus apprentice to climb back down from where he got up. Anyways we praise God for protecting Mark and are sure his guardian angels will have a bonus at the end of the day! The Bible study went well and marked the beginning of the Bible studies we plan to give in that community, making Church planting possible.

Anyways keep those prayers coming!

God bless you!

At Max´s School!

This last week we got to present the Wordless Book to over 300 elementary students at Max`s School! It was a great  opportunity and we were invited to come other times and bring a Bible Study to the students. Max was really happy we were there. Be sure that your prayers are the key that opens up  opportunities such as this one! Keep praying

Wordless Book a hit!

These past weeks we have been visiting elementary country schools giving Bible classes. We have focused our lessons on the Wordless book, a all time favorite of kids around the world. Kids here have never heard of  it before so it has become a very popular class. The message of salvation is clearly presented in this lesson and it has been very fulfilling to be able to give these classes! After the photos you can check out the messsage of the wordless book. Here are some photos... 

 Wordless Book Children receive.

 Me giving a class explaining the colors with play doh. We use the play doh to enhance the children´s understanding of the colors in the wordless book.

 Telma teaches a group outdoors.

 Telma with School kids.

Kids with Wordless Books.

The Wordless Book

Have you ever seen a book without words or pictures?   Even without words, this book tells us a story about God and the best gift of all.      

    The Black Page (Romans 3:23)  

This black color reminds me of sin.  See how dark it is.  Sin is all of the bad stuff that you and I do that makes God really sad.  What are some of the things that you do wrong?  All of those things we just talked about are sin.  We all make bad choices.  Even Mommy’s and Daddy’s sin.The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”This means that there is nothing that we can do to ever make us good enough to reach God.  The sin in our heart makes our hearts black.   But there is good news!  God had a plan.     

     The Red Page (John 3:16) 

God’s plan was to send His perfect son, Jesus.  At Christmas, we celebrated that Jesus was born on earth and lived to be a young man.  Jesus never sinned.  Because of this, He was able to take our place and die for our sins.  The red reminds us of the blood that Jesus shed for our sins.  Jesus died on the cross so that you and I can be forgiven for the bad things we do.  But guess what?  He didn't stay dead.  Three days later, Jesus arose from the grave.  Later, Jesus went to heaven.  Now He is preparing a place for all those who believe in Him.   Because of what Jesus did for you, you can have your sins forgiven!

John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that He gave Him only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”    

    The White Page Psalms 51:7 

Do you see how clean this page is?  Do you remember how black your heart is from sin?  You don’t have to have a black heart.  You can have a clean heart.  Psalm 51:7 says: ..."wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."  Jesus wants to forgive you of all your sins and take them away.  His blood will wash away all of that yuckiness and darkness.  The Bible says that when Jesus forgives our sins He totally forgets about them.     

     The Gold Page Rev. 21:18, 21 

What color is this page?  Gold reminds me of things that are very special.  It reminds me of God.  God is perfect and He does nothing wrong.  God created you and me.  Gold also reminds me of Heaven.  Heaven is where God lives.  The Bible even says that the streets of Heaven are paved with gold!   Heaven sounds like a great place doesn’t it?  But there is one thing that can not ever be in Heaven.  That is sin.  We learned that the only way to get rid of our sin is to ask Jesus to wipe it away.   

• Do you believe that you have sinned and made wrong choices?
• Do you believe that Jesus came to forgive you of your sins?
• Would you like to ask Jesus to come into your heart and make it white as snow?  

(If the answer is “yes” have the person repeat after you or say their own prayer.) 
Here is a sample prayer:  Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and make bad choices. Please forgive me! Thank you Jesus for dying for me, forgiving me of my sins, and then rising again!  I ask You, Jesus to come into my life and make it clean.  Please help me make good choices and live for You! Thank You for loving me! In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

    The Green Page (II Peter 3:18) 

Once we ask Jesus into our heart, we should not be the same.  We now have Jesus to help us make good choices.  The green page stands for the things that a Christian’s need to grow!  The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:18 that we are to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Plants need three things to grow: sunshine, rain and good soil. Christians need to pray, read the Bible, and spend time with other Christians at church.  All three of these will help you grow.   

If you have just prayed to God and meant it from your heart then you will go to Heaven when you die! You only have to receive the Lord once.  Please go and tell your parents, brothers, and sisters that you received the Lord as your Savior and that you will be going to Heaven and tell them what they can do to go to Heaven.   

PicNics

A compliment not given is like a present put away. This saying is very true and we must be sure to tell folks around us how important they are to us before it is to late. People need to be encouraged even if what they are doing is their responsibility to be doing. Telma has been visiting women in the rural areas and giving Bibles studies along with a PicNic event for these women who suffer such hardships in the isolation of the wilderness. The results have been awesome and many lives are being impacted. These women leave the events renewed and with a sense that they are special. I have helped with transportation in these events and also with the Bible studies for the children that accompany their mothers so that the moms can have a break. Please pray that the word of the Gospel will grow in the hearts of these women who need God so much in their tough lives.

We are waiting for the irrigation equipment to arrive to start that project and are also working on a dry toilet bathroom desing for the areas where folks do not have any bathrooms other than the great outdoors.