It’s hard to believe that a new month has come. We praise the Lord for your continued prayer and financial sacrifice to continue the work here in Pindamonhangaba.
A few weeks ago the distant state of Rio Grande de Sul began to flood. It has turned into one of the worst natural disasters in Brazilian history. While we are quite far from this region we have personal contacts with pastors and churches there. Entire parts of many owns have been completely wiped away. Hundreds have died and thousands more are displaced and facing a long road to recovery. One of the men in our church was to travel with his son to the capital of this state but the trip was cancelled for obvious reasons. I took him to the bus station in another city to get a reimbursement and while we were there we had an opportunity to meet an elderly man who was drinking strong alcohol at 8 in the morning. We witnessed to him and it was a joy to watch Damion talk about how Jesus Christ had changed his life from drugs, women, and alcohol to joy, satisfaction, and salvation. He did not trust Christ and I’m ashamed to say I don’t remember his name. Please continue to pray for this man’s salvation and our church family’s development in soulwinning and being a witness.
It’s been a challenge as I’ve been teaching during our Sunday school on how to witness and go soulwinning. Some of our folks have been saved for a number of years but have never personally shared the Gospel with anyone. This has been my burden in teaching and going. Not only to reach others, but to teach those that the Lord has graciously brought to our church. Patricia told me one Wednesday after the service that she had a chance to witness to their Uber driver while coming for the service. It’s exciting to see this growth and yet so challenging to know how much work still remains both in the reaching and teaching! Please pray for the hearts of the people to continue to grow for souls even while we’re back in the States in a few months.
Our theme this year has been Continue as I’ve mentioned and once again we were tested in this area in May. It seems that the sickness that’s pestered our church just won’t go away. Pastor Jonathan came down with dengue at the end of the month and we finally had a cold snap (Brazilian cold at least) and now many in the church have been out of church due to illness. Please continue to pray for our church’s spirit in the midst of all this and that the Lord will continue to bless in spite of it. It’s not really a severe sickness but I’ve watched many immature believers truly become discouraged over something seemingly small as sickness.
This coldness that we’ve witnessed in many hearts is so common because of spiritual immaturity. We’ve prayed for the Lord to give us clarity and wisdom in working with both husband and wife to strengthen our homes. With this in mind on June 15th we’re going to be hosting a couples banquet with 2 teaching sessions by 50-year veteran missionary Dan Johnson. Please pray for the Lord to strengthen marriages and homes for His honor and glory. Also, please pray for the upcoming youth conference, June 27-29, at New Life Baptist in Taubaté. I will have an opportunity to preach during this time.
It’s hard to believe that we leave for furlough in just 2 short months. Time has flown by and plans are coming together. We are currently scheduled to be in just under 40 churches with still room for more. If you’re interested in having come and report, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Our housing and transportation have all been settled and we’re excited to see our family, our home church, and many ministry partners as well. Please pray for the church while we are absent. We know that it is in the Lord’s fully capable hands and we can rest assured in Him!