Febuary Newsletter

Hi friends and family,

I like to sit on the front porch in the mornings and drink my coffee, read my Bible, pray and anticipate the activities of the day. As I am looking at the road in front of the house this morning I see two branches (creeks), one on each side of the road. Instead of the river (the road being completely covered with water), yes it is raining again. Whatever the plans for the day are it is a must that you include rain as a possibility for the day. Enough about the weather, this is the day that the Lord has made! Let us be glad in it.

We were in the States for a few weeks with a seriously ill brother. He had had a stroke and was undergoing surgery and the family was called in because of the seriousness of the situation. Well we arrived as soon as we could but we were late and we found my brother dismissed from the hospital and at home. When we as a family (4 brothers and families) arrived at his home his countenance completely changed. When we entered he was down in the dumps but upon seeing us he became chipper and sat up immediately. Insisted that we sit down around him with gestures because he could not speak. How AWESOME is our God. So instead of a final farewell we had a wonderful family reunion. And on top of being able to minister and pray for him we just had and awesome time together. And that is how it is with problems sometimes He takes the bad and turns it into blessings.

Sorry that we were unable to visit with you all this time but this was such a quick trip and was dedicated to family. We are looking forward to coming home and spending time with all of you soon.

Thanks to all of you for your prayer support for the new work. It is growing and lives are being changed. On our return we had a baptism and 16 new converts were baptised on Saturday night and were added to the Church role on Sunday.Since we started last year that makes 23 new brothers and sisters added to God's Kingdom. We still have several more for baptism and are planning another baptism this month. Awesome is it not?! We are now above 60 members and are averaging in the 80's for our principal service. We feel the Lord's presence with this new Church start.We are planning to organise this mission work into a Church in April. Keep on praying for this work and for the organization meeting in April. Don't forget to pray for the Vocational School, we are working on the dormitory for the boys and the work is going slow. But we are not discouraged, because we know that God is with this work too. Also continue to pray for the orphanage, the couple that was interviewed before we left has accepted the invite to come and be the parents at the orphanage. They will be coming as soon as they can finish some things that they had committed to do. And the Judge has said that as soon as there are parents there he has children to put in the orphanage.

As we work here we have a few basic needs. With all the expenses for our van and truck, it is becoming a real challenge to keep up financially. These vehicles are being used daily in our ministry and the roads are becoming a true challenge for the vehicles. Some of our roads are asphalt, some dirt, and the rest are holes with a little road around them. So you can see as the rain continues the roads become worse. The repair bills keep mounting ---however the ministry goes on. Pray with us for our vehicles and transportation needs. One of the greatest is a bus. Please pray that we would receive offerings sufficient to buy one. As you can imagine with the increase in members we need a bus to bring all of them to Church and have run out of room for Sunday School classes. We are in dire need of building more rooms in which to have Sunday school.. So pray for this need also.

Another AWESOME blessing I've been having is on Friday nights a "Servants Class" for 5 men. I have used all the qualifications and references for deacons as a basis for this class. They as well as I are receiving a great blessing from this class. I hoe to complete this class this week or next. This will possibly open the door for some of these men to serve as deacons in the future.

Well it seems all I have been doing in this letter is telling of our needs and prayer requests, permit me to put one more in front of you all, our son-in-law and daughter are looking at another place to serve the Lord and Savior. Pray for Walmir and Mary as they are considering where the Lord wants them to serve. Also pray for Mary as her dew date for our third granddaughter Ashley is at the end of March. I am going to be a grand pa again for the 3rd time. What an AWESOME blessing.

As I close this letter I ask that you keep praying as that is what keeps us going spiritually and keep giving as that is what keeps us going financially. Also think of coming down as that is what keeps us going emotionally.

Just remember that we can add some water to the beans and throw a few more grains of rice in the pot so a few more people at the table is not a problem. Hope to see you here in Brasil soon.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara