Greetings and Happy New Year! We trust that you all had a wonderful Christmas. The Lord really blessed our first Christmas on the field. It was definitely different from the cold and snow that we’ve come to know growing up.
To kick everything off, the Sunday before Christmas we had our Christmas cantata. We sang several numbers from Ron Hamilton’s “Born to Die upon Calvary”. The choir worked very hard for several months and praise the Lord it was a truly blessed time. In addition to the adult choir, we had a children’s choir. We worked with them for several weeks preparing them as well. During the cantata Bro. Dan Johnson read several Christmas passages and the kids dressed up as Mary and Joseph, shepherds, angels, and even wisemen came and took their place. We even had sheep show up – those were the nursery aged kids! After Bro. Johnson read the Scripture they sang two songs. It was a blessing and the people really enjoyed it. Perhaps the best part of having that many kids in such a small space was the fact that many parents came to see their kids sing. For many of them it was the first time that they had visited the church. While they came to see their kids sing, they heard the Gospel presented in both song and word. At the end of the cantata Bro. Ed Johnson gave an invitation and several people were dealt with for salvation. Praise the Lord for the fact that the cantata was more than just a musical production, but an opportunity to once more preach the Gospel.
Another very exciting event from December was our monthly baptismal service. While almost every final Sunday of the month we have people baptized, it was especially exciting to see Alexandra be baptized. Jamie and I had visited her in her home several months back. At the time, I had witnessed to Valdecir. He was not saved and her teenaged son Kleiverton also was not saved. We were able to see Valdecir make a decision for Christ. He came once to church several weeks ago, but has not been back. However, both he and Kleiverton came for Baptism Sunday. It’s been a joy to see them in church each week since then. Pray for this dear family. God is certainly working on their hearts and in their lives. Kleiverton was saved a few weeks ago. Pray for both he and Valdecir to be baptized and to continue to grow in the Lord.
Another highlight came New Year’s weekend. I had the opportunity to go soulwinning with Henrique and Leo. We visited Isaque who has come a few times to the church. When we got to his house, he had 4 other friends and neighbors there. Each had very different views and questions about the Bible, and it was difficult to try and talk with everyone. After a few minutes I began to focus on Mateus, a 22 year old Catholic. He had asked some very good questions and it was evident that he was listening. I focused on him and after a lengthy conversation and many Bible passages, he trusted Christ as his Savior. Please pray for him and his new life in Christ!
Another wonderful piece of news is that we have finished language school. Praise the Lord for the past 9 months in school, but I can’t say I’ll miss it. Now the real work begins!
It certainly has been busy around here and the past few weeks once again reminded us just how vital your prayers are, both ministerially and personally. We learned in October that we were expecting another baby. While we were thrilled about this, the Lord saw fit to take our precious baby home to heaven. We ended up in the hospital with a procedure for Jamie. Praise the Lord everything went well physically. Thank you for your constant prayer. We are doing very well. God’s grace has been very real to us the past few weeks.
2021 no doubt will have its challenges. Thank God we have a never-failing Father and ever-present Comforter! May the Lord continue to bless you all mightily in 2021 as you press on and serve our Great Master!
Keith, Jamie, Lainey, and Clayton Putnam
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