Aj and Barb Hensley
Caixa Postal 1511
Caraguatatuba,Sao Paulo Brasil 11672-300
phone:0115512-3888-4189
Dear friends,
How is the weather where you are? Well, here it has been raining for the past 2 months plus(one week rain and one day dry). Well let's not complain too much although that is our nature. Let's move that complaint time to prayer time. We will accomplish more that way.
Sometimes it seems like all we talk about is construction and we are doing a lot of that (construction that is). However this month we also did some demolition. The Church building in Morro do Algodao has become unsafe due to all the wet weather which makes constant flooding in that particular area. We had tried to save this building but sometimes things don't go the way we have planned. So the building comes down and the for sale sign goes up. We will be looking for another area to build. Pray for the work in this area as we are now holding our meetings in a members home. Not only have we lost the Church building but the ministry leader in this area has gotten a new job and is now unable to lead this mission. So back to the drawingboard. I am preaching there until God sends another man to assume this mission point. We will be training some men in the Seminary and looking at each of them for this work. Pray for these future pastors.
We had a group from Centerville, Ga this month and due to the rain we changed from construction outside to a much needed project inside the main Church building. We (they) installed tile over 130 square meters of the walls in the entrance and the stairwell and the nursery of the Church.The nursery was of special interest because of the tendency for mold here in this area. We treated the walls and installed tile half-way up these walls. What and AWESOME blessing. The stairway was the challenge as it spanned two floors that are each 10 feet tall. Can you imagine the problems with scaffolding? This work has made a wonderful improvement before we could paint and in just one or two weeks with the children going up and down rubbing their hands on thewall it looked like we had never painted. We have been truly blessed by this project. The group of last month had installed tile in theupstairs room and this group painted the ceilings and what was needing it also. Thanks David and 1st Baptist Church of Centerville!!
Well one blessing after another. Last week we spent Saturday at our Mission point in Natividade do Serra with our mission Pastor Jorge and his wife Alda. We spent the whole day there. We rented a farm, had a wonderful meal, and the most important part, had a baptism. We baptized 6 young people. We filled the bus and the van with members from our church here in Caraguatatuba and spent the day there praising the Lord and enjoying his beautiful creation. It was AWESOME!!!!!
We are planning a work trip to Salesopolis to build Sunday Schoolrooms in the mission there. These trips to the mission points are helping our members see the work first hand and gives them a bigger heart for missions. We are praying for another point in a city about 1 1/2 hours away from our city. Pray with us about this that God would raise up workers for the labor.
Maybe our communications will be better now. Our computer, or should I say, our provider, is back on line. This has caused us considerable problems with communications. Hopefully we are ready to go now and will not have more of the same problems.
Here in Brasil we have a day of celebration in Oct. that is called Children's Day. The people of Brasil celebrate this day more than Christmas. It is a day that children get presents and are treated to whatever the parents can afford. So we at Church are planning a day ofcelebration on this day also. The children will also be treated to many things, sweets, a meal, presents (McDonald toys etc.) but with a twist, everything will be based on God's word. All the things they win will be accompanied by a Bible verse and all will have a Bible theme. We are looking for 100 to 150 children and praying to plant many seeds that continue to grow for many years to come. Having these children come to Church opens the doors to their homes for us to evangelize their parents. Pray for this work and pray for us as we continue to work here in Caraguatatuba.
Look at your calender and find the right date for you and your family or Church family to come down and see God at work here in Brasil. We will have your bed turned down and the light on on the porch.
In His service,
Aj and Barb
