May is underway and God is so good! I wanted to start the letter by just expressing my gratitude for every supporting church and prayer partner. Over the last 4 years here in Brazil it has been an amazing time to see God move. I am so excited for what God has in store! No doubt it’s exceeding abundantly above ALL that we could ask or think!
What a blessing our missions conference was! Pr. Josiel and his young family drove over 1,200 miles in a car with no A/C for 3 days to be with us. God truly used their time with us to stir our hearts for the great need in the state of Piauí and around the world. Our faith promise commitment is almost completely in and is just a few dollars less than last year. Please pray for the people to catch the vision and fulfill their promise of continuing the Great Commission through Victory Baptist Church both in giving and going!
I had the opportunity to preach at the Bible school in Taubaté. A crucial need in any field is laborers and certainly here in the Valley of the Paraíba River is no exception. They have a good number of students who are preparing for the ministry and many of these students are married men who are working full-time. I praise the Lord for Bro. Ed Johnson’s vision in starting the school and it’s wonderful to see the Lord already preparing men for the work of the ministry. Bro. Diego is planting a new church in the neighboring city of Caçapava in August of 2025. We are prayerfully going to be involved in the effort in a city of nearly 120,000. He will finish school this June and then move with his family to Caçapava in February 2025. Please keep this young family in your prayers as well as the essential need of laborers here in Brazil.
Recently Jamie and I had an opportunity to witness to Joyce and Leandro. They are from northern Brazil and have lived here in Pinda for some time. Her sister and brother-in-law, Érika and Damion, have been coming to our church for a little over a year. Further, Joyce’s brother Joelington recently arrived from their city as well to live and work. He’s 19 years old and he too is not saved. While Joyce has allowed her 3 kids to come to church on and off, she has never been open to the Gospel. It was such a privilege to be able to witness to both her, her husband, and Joelington as well. Joelington was in church with us that evening and once again heard the Gospel. While they did not make a decision they listened to the clear-cut truth of the Gospel. Please pray for this family to be saved!
We thought that perhaps dengue was done for the year as we are fast approaching winter–but not so. As our last Wednesday service of April began, we had 7 people in our church who had confirmed cases. Thankfully all are getting better but honestly, this year has been rough for our city and region when it comes to cases of dengue. I can’t think of any one family in our church that has not had at least one case in the home. Please continue to pray for the health of our people and for the Lord to send us cooler (cold-ish) weather soon!
Our time of furlough is fast approaching. In just 3 short months we’ll be headed back to the States. Bro. Jonathan and Mrs. Karlene will do a wonderful job taking care of the church in our absence and we know that this is His work and God will continue to build it! Pray for every aspect of this furlough–there are SO many! God is good and has already filled our calendar up for the year, provided us with housing and transportation appears to be getting taken care of as well. Pray for the kids especially as they enroll in school (first time in a true classroom setting) and get (re)acclimated to American culture. Us too.. I suppose it has been a while. We love you all! Thank you for your incessant prayer on our behalf!