Trip to Acre with Troy

Troy with three new friends at the day care playground

Me with some of the Deaf students

At the colony with Eli, Maria and their two daughters

Troy and I standing on a bridge over the Rio Branco

Troy loved his chance in the cock pit with the pilot!

Recently Troy and I went to the northern Brazilian state of Acre. We had a great time together there. Troy said that he liked it becasue he didn’t have to “be quite so that Eli could talk”. Oh, the honesty of children!

The purpose of the trip there was to research some areas for potentional future church plants. Also, to look at opportunities with working with the Deaf of that area. We stayed at a former day care center that was, by God’s divine design, given to the ministry of missionary Stephen Doolittle. The plans for the facility are wonderful, including work with the Deaf and a Bible Institute. Troy loved the space there, and the playground equipment. In one of the pictures you’ll notice he and three of the neighbors playing.

We also visited a colony. In 2004, when Melissa was pregnant with Troy, she and I went to Acre and were a part of an evangelistic outreach at the colony. It was wonderful to see Eli and his family again, after many years. They remembered Melissa, of course, before I even said who I was. There, life is much different from mine. They live on a large farm, accessible by dirt road, without running water in the house and without electricity. Their form of electricity is some wires, light bulbs etc. hooked up to a car battery. When the car battery dies they use solar panels to recharge it. They also have a fantastic water source with some of the best tasting water you could ever drink!

We also went to school one night. The man from the church in Rio Branco (capital city of Acre) showed me around a lot. He is a school teacher. One of his classes is at night, in which he teaches math to Deaf students. I recently finished a Brazilian Sign Language course and loved the contact with the precious Deaf there. There isn’t much to offer for the Deaf there. A local church does have a Deaf ministry but from my understanding the Deaf gather mainly for social interests, which is common to Deaf culture. Deaf need to be evangelized and taught the precious truths of God’s Word, too. They, too, can learn the Bible and how to live in obedience to it.

I would solicite your prayers for me. I have a decision to make. I am searching for God’s perfect will for our family and would ask that you pray for me to have clear direction for God as to where he wants us to minister here in Brazil. I know that I can count on your prayers and for this I thank you sincerely.

Never fear, Grandma is here!

We have enjoyed the past several days. We’ve got a visitor – Melissa’s mom (Ma, as the grandkids call her). It’s been nice to have her here. The boys have absoltely loved it. Troy can’t get enough reading time with her. Eli can’t put together enough puzzles. And Alec can’t stay away from the center of whatever is happening. Melissa and I have ejoyed quite walks in the park across he street from our house and today enjoyed a lunch date. Melissa has enjoyed help with cooking and learning some new recipes and tips in the kitchen. I’m definately benefitting from it, too. I’m packing on the pounds with all of the candy and sweets that she brought down, too. Those walks will have to continue. Ha!

The wall is going up

The wall

Well, several months ago we requested money from many of our supporters to move forward on the land development in Cidade Tiradentes. Gratefully, several churches and individuals gave and we were able to meet our goal. The construction of the wall started a few weeks ago and here are some pictures of the progress. Thanks to all of you who donated and prayed. Please continue to pray for the continuation of this land development and that it can be used to reach many for Christ Jesus our Lord. Unfortunately, we had to put more money into the footer of the wall due to poor soil. So, this will leave us a little short on funds to complete the wall. We’d like to ask you to prayerfully consider giving a little extra so that we can actually complete the wall. You may do so by sending your gift of whatever amount to Global Faith Mission Agency – PO Box 3326 – Chattanooga, TN 37404. Please designate all donations to Josh Daniel – Tiradentes Project. Thanks again. Please remember to pray for God Almighty to supply according to His will.

January full of blessings

The past month (January) was full of things to do and along with that came blessings! We started off the month getting right into some teacher training. Josh led three weekends (on both Saturdays and Sundays) of training for the people involved in the Saturday Kid’s club ministry and the Sunday morning Children’s Sunday School ministry. It was a great three weeks of learning about preparing lessons, classroom control, faithfulness in the Lord’s service, etc. During these training sessions we went out into the streets and did many hours worth of canvassing in the neighborhood. We focussed on three streets directly behind the church. During that time we discovered that practically noone has assurance of salvation and they are very confused. A couple of people professed faith in Christ after being presented with the Gospel. Pray for these decisions to be genuine and that they will seek to be grounded in the local church.

Then, the month ended with a 3-day VBS. Melissa helped out in the craft time. Many of the older teen girls were involved in the planning and executing of the VBS which was a blessing. Melissa was able to present the Gospel to a group of kids one day, of which 6 professed faith in Christ. Praise the Lord!

Included in all of this were many trips to the Cartório (place to get legalized copies of documents, etc) for necessary business for our Permenant VISA paperwork. We also made 3 trips to the Federal Police and were able to turn in our paperwork, applying for Permanent VISAS. Now we wait, and wait, and wait…! Please pray that the process is approved quickly. After approval we will wait again for our actual permanent ID cards to come out. It is a process that really is a case by case basis. Some missionaries get their ID cards within 6 months. Others wait for more than 2 years. So we are praying for the 6 month deal but there is no way to know. Even the governement can’t give you an answer.

Thanks for your prayers! We appreciate you all.

Baptism

Edna being baptized

Lucas being baptized

Troy being baptized

Last night at church I had the privilege of baptizing 3 new believers! It was a special night because one of those was my old son, Troy (4). He professed faith in Christ a few months back and has really surprised us. He always talks about his salvation and he is confident of it. He wanted to be baptized last night along with some others from the church here in São Paulo. It was a joy. After the service, we held the Lord’s Supper as well and it was a sweet time of remembering the Lord’s sacrifice for us, and proclaiming His return. Please pray for these new believers to continue growing in Christ and learning from God’s Word.

Brazilian Sign Language Class

Well, in March I started a Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) class. It’s now over! It flew by seemingly! Today we had a class party and finished up our last test for the course. It was a great class and I definitely learned much. I still have much to learn but now have a good foundation to build upon. I took Melissa and the boys to the party with me today. They liked it. The class liked it, as well. They’ve heard a lot about the boys and Melissa so they got to meet them all today. Plus, they’ve had Melissa’s chocolate chip cookies before and she made some for today, as well as an american style carrott cake – thanks babe!

My LIBRAS class

Teen Choir

Recently Josh started practicing with some of the teens at the church to form a choral group to sing specials in church. Last night the group sang for the first time, “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”. It was great! The teens really enjoyed being used in the service and after the service was over were asking, “When are we singing again?” As you can tell by the picture, it was mostly girls – one boy! He loved it, though, I think – ha! They all sang so well, and with their hearts. One thing that amazes us about these kids is that most of their parents don’t come to church. In fact of all the kids in the picture, only 3 have parents that come to church (2 of which live in single-mom homes). So the kids come on their own – praise the Lord. One of the girls’ mother came last night, which was blessing. It was the first time she had been and the girl was very excited. Prayerfully she’ll be a repeat visitor!

Taco Night!

Not only did Melissa host the ladies tea in our home yesterday but we also had a young engaged couple over for dinner. It was planned for last week but didn’t work out. The guy is on vacation so we wanted to take advantage of him being off from work to have dinner together. We served…TACOS! Most of the time we can get tortilla shells (soft) here, which is a treat for us. Our families send packets of taco seasoning mix and we make homemade sour cream, plus all the other toppings. The refried beans are easy (Ha!). Anyway, the couple loved the tacos. It was a first for them and they were excited to go home and tell their parents about the them. Then we finished off the carrot cake that Melissa had made for the ladies tea and also served Pumpkin spice coffee (thanks to Melissa’s mom!). They loved the coffee as well. Coffee is no stranger in Brazil, but flavored coffee isn’t a normal option. It was fun introducing some of the things that we enjoy to them. We had a great time of fellowship with them, some great conversation about their future as a married couple, and evenutally as parents. It’s encouraging to be around young christian couples who are serious about the Lord and having a godly relationship, family and home. You never know the impact you can make on people just by having dinner with them. Every opportunity can be one to minister in some way.

Wilian loading up his taco

Tea anyone?

Yesterday, Melissa hosted a ladies tea at our home. She prepared some good snacks and a great carrot cake! The ladies loved it. They really love being together with one another and Melissa loves hosting them. Yesterday was a holiday here in Brazil so it was a great time to have the tea. It poured down rain about an hour before it was to start, which resulted in a low attendance. However, it went well and the ladies were encouraged from God’s Word as Melissa gave a devotional.

Melissa with the ladies (and Alec)

Upcoming Trip

We would like for you all to pray for us as we prepare to spend the month of December in Bahia (Northern Brazil). We will be going there and filling in for a Brazilian missionary from the church here in Sao Paulo while he and his wife come back to Sao Paulo to rest and visit with their daughters. We will be driving about 12 hours, spending the night in Brasília and then finising the drive out (8 house) the next day to Barreiras, Bahia. While there, I’ll be preaching several times a week in two different churches and holding Bible studies, prayer meetings, etc. Melissa will also be teaching the children’s classes probably every service as well as doing a Ladies Tea around Christmastime with the ladies of the churches. We also plan to use some children’s bells that our home church purchased for us to put together a Christmas program for the kids. They’ll love it! I’ll bet they’ve never seen anything like it before. Troy is excited about the trip because there is a river there that we’ve been to before that he enjoys. Please pray for us – for safety as we travel the long distance and for the services to go well and that the Lord’s will would be done in each life there during that time. Oh, I almost forgot that our travel dates are: Dec. 3-4 on the way up and Dec. 28-29 on the way back. Thanks!