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.

End of May!?!

Wow, I cannot believe my last post was a month ago. Just lost track of time!
This month rushed by, I organized movie presentations of Narnia for kids and teens in the rural areas and Telma did the devotionals in over 10 womens events in the rural area celebrating the month of mothers day. The Boys are fine and were happy to recieve the visit of two of their cousins last week. We are moving the office to one of the rooms in our house since the extra house has proven to be un-necessary to recieve groups of visitors to help in the Ministry (We plan to house them in buildings within the small communitites they come to serve.
Lets see if next month I get a post out sonner! HAHAHAA!

End of April

As we come to a close to April winter approaches here in Brazil and the drought season begins in this area. The weather is dry and hot during the day and cold at night. It has been nice to have cooler nights to sleep in!

This past week we had five different evangelistic events in the rural communitees. All went well and we figure some two hundred adults, teens and children were impacted. God has continued to open some great doors so that we can go in with Bible teaching events. Thanks for your prayers!