A Great Christmas to All!

Marcy and I just want to wish everyone a great Christmas. Isn't it a blessing to know Christ personally and to be able to make Him known? That's what Christmas is all about. We are so glad to share the Good News with our Brazilian friends in Recife and in the Outback. Thanks to all who make this possible!

Oh yeah, you want to see the beach too?

Mentoring Pastors

What a joy it has been for me to be able to lead a pastor's mentoring group here in Recife. I decided to post a few pictures of our last little get away at a beach nearby. It was a fun day of rest and relaxation. We try to have one of these each semester, but we meet weekly at Koinonia as an accountability group. I have enjoyed this very much and count it an honor to lead this group.

Fund-raiser

We just had a fund-raiser at Koinonia for the closing in of our auditorium and covering of our sports quad. It was a fun day with many volunteers. Our young people did a car wash and we had a Brazilian bean meal. We also had photo shoots for family portraits. We will be having others in the near future. We have a long ways to go, but our people are excited.

Ingazeira school games held on our property

It's hard to believe that we could serve the local school with our space as we don't have a lot to offer, but it did happen. Our space was better than the shcool's so Carlos let them use it for their soccer and team handball games this month. It was a week of activities and there would be up to 400 people at a time in and out during the day. We are going to move ahead on covering the sports area as a multi-purpose building there as well. With the sale of the farm we should be able to get that project rolling.

Sports Ministry at Koinonia

Tomorrow our sports ministry team is hosting a soccer tournament as an outreach event. I am posting picutres of this group's recent volley-ball tournament. Pray for these young people as they seek to be a blessing to other young people and show the love of Christ through their characters. Also pray for Koinonia as we are starting a fund-raising campaign to cover our sports quad and close in and air-condition the auditorium. Our people are being very creative in their ideas to help raise these funds. The closing in of our auditorium is becoming a need as we have outside noises that bother our services and we are sure our services can be heard by neighbors who are mostly gracious, but may not always want a "free message" or worship music coming in their windows... Thanks for praying!

Model Farm Sold

Recently we had to make a difficult decision. It was to sell the model farm. Unfortunately we did not have funds to develop it as we felt it should and we don't have the human resources to do it justice either. We did have peace about selling it as Carlos is still ministering to the people in the rural communities in that area. Pray we will have wisdom in our next strategic steps for the work in the Ingazeira region.

Strong Families - Strong Churches

Thought I'd post a couple pictures of our couple's small group. This group from Koinonia asked us to help them build better relationships. The group has leaders who organize, set up when and where, so that Marcy and I can mentor them. We do ask you to pray for these dear families - that Christ would be honored more and more in their homes. This meeting happened to be at the Smith home. It does fill up our tiny living room with laughter and fun as well as serious issues.

Family ministering at Event

Here are a few pics of our family ministering at the Children's Day in Ingazeira. We were glad Mike and Anne could go too. They both love children and enjoy helping out in the Children's ministry at Koinonia too. Marcy did a lot of the organizing on site for the event to run smoothly. Carlos insisted on that and Dinalda wanted to care for the kitchen for our whole group.

Another Picture of Children's Day

Ingazeira's Children's Day

We had a great trip with 32 people from Koinonia that went to Ingazeira to do the Children's Day program. Again we had over 300 Children with lots of enthusiam going on. Our team did a very good job and the Gospel presentation was clear. Lots of Moms were there also. Then at night we had a special service for the adults and young people. We were pleased for a very good turn out and a good number that have never been in a Gospel preaching service. Thanks so much for your prayers.

An Idol or the Bible?

This picture is really interesting because it shows a bit about the place where we minister. People in the Outback are religious and consider themselves Christian. Many however, have idols. One of the signs of a true commitment to Christ is when these idols are removed by promptings from God's Word and as a person grows and sees how useless and distracting these images have been. Anyway, the picture was taken in one of the houses that received a copy of the Bible given by one of the visiting groups. Will you pray that this family and others will understand what receiving Christ is all about?

Freddie the Duck

Oh yes, Freddie the Duck will make an appearance this year at the two events. We hope he behaves better this time as he almost always throws a fit looking for his mother...

Children's Day: Recife and Outback

October brings with it Children's Day here in Brazil - October 12th. It's always a big deal here and Koinonia does a special day for our children here and also we take a buss to the Outback to do a special day for the children at Ingazeira. It is quite common to have 300 kids out to the one in Ingazeira. Will you pray for these outreach opportunities? The younger a person comes to Christ the more opportunities these have to spend their lives honoring and serving our great God.

Pastor Airton Previous Trip

Since I mentioned the Bible distribution, thot I'd post a picture of that too. Pastor Airton is pictured here with a few who received Bibles on a previous trip. We appreciate this man's love for Northeast Brazil even though his main ministry has been Stateside for years now. He has a tremendous salvation testimony himself out of Spiritism.

Precious Children in Outback

The team that was here and in the Outback recently had a great time. They were encouraged to find people reading and studying the Bibles they had given out on previous trips. They had some interesting stories of various ones in these rural areas that are professing Salvation by grace after being taught their whole lives that Christianity is a works religion. Pray for these and the next generations - that they may know Christ and His transforming power.

News from Carlos and Dinalda's ministry

Yesterday we had a group get here from North Carolina. Some from the group have been here before and others are first-timers. Carlos has organized the time in the Outback with them again and we would appreciate prayer for their time of evangelism and ministry these days. The group has both Americans and Brazilians who live in the USA so they have their own translators along and all. Pastor Airton Pupo is also with them again and gives the dimension of his knowledge of both cultures since he ministers to Brazilians in the States.

Carlos and Dinalda were recently blessed with a motorcycle to use in the Outback. Fellowship Baptist Church in Lakeland, Florida are buying it from my nephew Andy who has been living in Brazil for a few months but who is returning to the States on Tuesday. We appreciate this gift, as well as a recent financial gift given to help us with our national missionaries' efforts in the region.

Mike and Anne's Wedding

Thot I'd get a picture or two posted of the wedding. We were sure glad that everything went well. Our prayer is that the wedding brought glory to God as many of the guests were not believers in Christ. It was sure a different experience for Marcy and I to be parents of the groom. We have been parents of the bride twice. The wedding was held in a reception hall on our main beach road so that cerimony and reception could all be in one place. It was a beautiful evening and Anne's parents did things up great. Thanks to each of you for your prayer.

Showing Compassion

When the last group came from the USA and went with Carlos to the Outback various new villages were visited. In one of these the group visited this home where an invalid woman lives. Carlos has been able to visit and help out this family in practical and material ways thanks to funds that were left for that purpose. We have another group scheduled for early September that will be doing more evangelism in these and other villages. Many times the needs overwhelm us, but we realize that doing a little is better than doing nothing. And as Christ showed us, these acts are received by the Lord himself when done in his name and for his glory.

Arcoverde

There is an important city called Arcoverde (Green Bow) that is considered the doorway to the Outback. It is a place we almost always stop at on our trips, at a filling station that has a quickshop and restaurant. Recently Carlos was able to lead the manager of the restaurant to the Lord. His name is Adegilson and he is showing a hunger for God's word. We have also seen a waiter there saved recently whose name is Joelson. Joelson was a religious young man, but really confused. We are curious as to what God would have for us and this important city. Please remember them, would you? The picture is of Adegilson.

Sports Ministry

A few months ago we were able to make a rustic sports quad on the Ingazeira property. Carlos, as we have mentioned before has a sports ministry in the region and has a passion for this tool to reach youngpeople and the young at heart. He was able to hire local men to level the property and get it ready for indoor soccer. The problem is that this "indoor soccer" is still outdoors and we would love to cover the quart as a multi-purpose space. If you ever visit the Outback in the summer heat or have been to Arizona, you know how precious shade can be. Pray with us that we will be able to have wisdom doing some fund raising for this project and others to benefit our outback outreach. We will be informing more details soon. Pictured here are the brothers that did the work on the sports quad.

Pastor Bona and wife visit Triunfo

Pastor Bona and Mabel visited the Outback with us the other day. Jorge and Josy are from their church here in Recife. Jorge and Josy also took their boys on this trip to see the city of Triunfo where they are wanting to work with Chico and Dalva. We had a great weekend with this group and things look like they are moving forward for a team to form. The group in Triunfo are now meeting regularly on Sundays at Oto and Rita's house.

Missionary Ana Lucia returns to Africa

We mentioned Ana Lucia to you the other day. She is leaving tomorrow for Africa to continue her ministry in the village she lives and works in. She needs our prayers as she serves our Lord and shows the love of Christ to many there. Please uplift her in prayers for her health and emotional well-being living in a difficult place. Koinonia is pleased to help her in her support and our love for her is great. She is one of our heroes even though we know she would not consider herself as such.

Faith Promise Missions

It was a joy to have our Faith Promise conference at Koinonia recently. We heard Testimonies from our Outback missionaries Chico and Dalva as well as Jorge and Josy who were with us along with their two boys. A special treat was to have our missionary to Africa Ana Lucia. She was here on a short furlough. Her stories of how she and other missionaries had to flee the Ivory Coast a few years back at a very dangerous time kept our people on the edge of their seats. She now serves in a Muslem tribe in Africa. We appreciate her dedication to our Lord and are so proud to have a Brazilian from our State serving over seas. Koinonia also supports a couple in Iran.

Oh yes, our Faith Promise commitments exceeded last year's. Praise our precious Lord for this!

North Carolina Group

Thanks for your prayers for the group from North Carolina. They had an intense few days in the Outback along with Carlos. Many houses were visited and some meetings were held. The number of decisions reported was 170! We will need wisdom in following up in the various communities, but are thankful to the dear brothers and sisters in Christ who passionately shared Christ with so many. Pastor Claudio and I were able to join them for a day of ministry after our missions conference here at Koinonia. The team had the blessing of having Pastor Airton from the Brazilian Church in N.C. along and some of his people who were able to be the translators for the team. We will try to give more details and pictures of the new rural communities that were visited in future posts.

Cooks Free to travel

We are so grateful to God for Dan's improvement so that he can travel as planned tomorrow to the States along with his family for their year long furlough. Please contiune to pray for his improvement and adjustments they will have to make. Sunday was their send-off at Koinonia. It was a moving time of celebration for God's grace for our family in sparing Dan as well as a time of hard good-bye's.

Group in the Outback and Missions Conference

A lot is going on these days. First off - thanks for all the prayers for Dan Cook and family. He is now at home and the doctor has cleared them to travel on schedule to the States on June 11th. Please continue to pray for a full recovery for Dan. Thanks so much for remembering him these days.

Yesterday a group got here from the States to help out in the Outback. Carlos is mostly hosting them himself. The group has various Brazilians who live in the States along, so translating should be well taken care of. This church sent a group less than a year ago and is back with some of the same ones and new ones. Pray for all the efforts and outreach these days. Pray for the group's safety and health. They will do mostly rural evangelism but will also be in Solidão and Ingazeira as well as Afogados. Pastor Claudio and I will join them for their last two days there.

Meanwhile our missions conference at Koinonia starts tomorrow. We will have a two day conference with three missionary families giving their reports along with a special speaker. Pray that Koinonia will continue to grow in our missionary vision.

If you happen to be reading this on the post day pray for me as I interpret tonight for a British evangelist at an outreach we are expecting a few thousand to show up for. I have been in four of our prisons here in Recife with this evangelist to interpret for him these last few days. We have seen some prisoners receive Christ!

A Prayer Request for Triunfo

In our recent survey trip with Jorge and Josy (pictured on the right) we saw the possibility of a team forming. Jorge and Josi came back to Recife to pray more about it, but are seriously considering teaming up with Chico and Dalva. We are going to take a trip there along with their local pastor who is a good friend of ours for the church to be involved in the process. We do need your prayer that God's perfect will will be done. Chico has recently reported with joy that a neighbor lady (Rita) who is studying the Bible with them recently gave her life to Christ. They now have Bible studies with three more neighbors.

Pelo Sinal Township Donations

We had promised to give some more details about our ministry in the township of Pelo Sinal. This is a community that we visited last year with a group from a church in North Carolina that partners with us in our ministry in the Outback. This group lovingly brought clothes and toys to donate to the needy in the Pajeú Outback.  Since that visit where we had a public meeting in the town square to present the Gospel, Carlos and Dinalda have been able to hold one more public event.  Besides that they have been able to distribute some clothes and toys. We have been pleasantly surprised at how loving this community is and receptive to our minitry among them.  Upon receiving the gifts the community showed a caring about each other. One example was a little boy chosing between some shoes and another item, when he said "I think my friend needs the shoes more, so I will go with the shirt." This was not an isolated gesture.

Carlos has great joy visiting this community as one of his places of ministy.  He has had a number of great times with some of the leaders in Pelo Sinal, and is praying for these key leaders and their spiritual need of Christ as Savior and Lord.  Will you pray for Pelo Sinal?

A Close Neighbor To The Model Farm

Meet Francisco.  He is a neighbor of our Model Farm.  Francisco is pictured here before the strong rains harvesting some of our farm's grass for his animals. Carlos has visited him in his home and met his wife and kids.  Mr. Francisco is an example of a hard working man, who despite his only having one leg has an upbeat attitude. Pray for this man and his spiritual needs.

Needed Rains bring big problems to Outback

What a land of contrasts!  A land that has suffered from terrible droughts is now having heavy and record breaking rainfall. This is great for all the lakes and water reservoirs that are full and even running over.  The problem is that there have been crop loss and even houses overtaken with water.  Last count in three or four Northeast states was of 400,000 people affected. Our Outback was among the area hit.  We can usually get to the model farm driving over a near empty river bed.  It measured 5o meters across the other day. 

The Model Farm's Neighborhood

One of our objectives with the Model farm is to share the Gospel with our neighbors.  A lot of folks live in the rural communities and have been open to meetings in their houses. Our experience has been that they will round up other neighbors for these meetings.  One of the first converts in Ingazeira is Cicero.  Carlos now has weekly meetings in Cicero's house. Cicero has had ups and downs in his walk with Christ (as all of us) but not having many others around him who shares his faith has made it harder. Pray for his wife and children, that they would understand their need of Christ, as well as his neighbors.  

Pictures of the work being done

Ingazeira: Level The Playing Field

Carlos has begun to level an area for the children at Ingazeira to play soccer on the church property.  They have been playing a form of basketball in the auditorium for some time with Missionary Chico.  There has been this dream to have a covered court for the kids to play, so it all starts with a level piece of ground! Carlos said he teared up when a few local young people showed up equiped with tools to help clean the property. He later heard that they had commented at school to a teacher that they wanted to hang around that man, because they had a lot to learn from him. 

Missionary Carlos uses sports to reach out in Ingazeira

Carlos has played soccer all his life and still is pretty fit, despite his head of white hair.  He is pictured here playing with a team in Ingazeira. Along with the group that came here last year from North Carolina Carlos was able to "kick off" a soccer ministry in the community of Solidão. A young man from the local church there is leading that and has been pleasantly surprised at how God is using this to draw young people to other church activities. Carlos encourages him and mentors him in this outreach.

Model Farm Moves Forward

Yes, we are moving ahead with the model farm project. It is in the category of compassion work. Please check out our website to see our whole approach in the Outback:

www.missionoutback.com

Our missionary Carlos has been spending days in the Ingazeira work taking over where Chico and Dalva left off. And now he is starting up some needed improvements on the small farm in the Tabira area to get ready to bring in some goats, plant some passion fruit, and begin a bee farm. These are three areas that will need prayers and funds. We sure want to find the local people that God wants to lead us to for the help and care for each project. These projects have the people we network with as the prime targets for us to share the Gospel with each step of the way.

A new gate has been added and the fence is being fixed with new posts and barb wire. Next we will be looking at a new well to be able to irrigate. Pray about all the details and again, that we will be led to the right people to help us out - and ones we can bless with God's love.