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.