Hensleys in Brazil

Busy days in Brazil - July happenings

2011-08-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Hi friends and family,

This month has been very exciting and busy one for us. We have had groups from two Churches and they came two days apart. The group from Warner Robbins Ga. did a vacation Bible School at the home of our member Gloria. The exciting thing about this is that some of these teenagers had helped in the construction of Gloria's house. They also participated in the Tuesday night meeting that is held in Gloria's home. In preparation for the Bible School we canvased the neighborhood , door to door to let the children know when we were going to be there. During this door to door visiting we were able to present the Gospel to various people. We were invited to do some work in one of the public schools and were fed by the kitchen workers and ate with the teachers and the principal. This group scraped the walls, sanded the walls and then painted in two class rooms.From there we went to the Vocational School where tile was laid and other jobs were done.The next group from Gardenside Baptist Church in Lexington Ky. was able to do a Bible School in the same public school where the others had painted. So one opened the doors for the other.Even though the students were on winter break the principal invited them back to participate and also their parents. The Principal is new to this school and she wanted to get the parents involved and get to know them and she used us as a tool. It worked for her and for us too.She also brought her twin boys. A great time was had by all!!! This group also painted in this public school.We went from the public school to the Vocational School where tile was laid and walls painted along with planning for a electrical class in the future. Opportunities are unlimited when you come to do whatever God has for you to do.

We made many new friends at the school and I have been invited to start an English class for the teachers and workers. Among the new friends we have made are the principals twin boys that are teenagers. The family is catholic and we were surprised when the boys began to attend our youth meetings on Saturday night. And then even more excited when they started to come the Church every Sunday. AWESOME what God does and lets you be apart of. This is a small miracle but it is a miracle.

To top off the month we had a baptism last Sunday and two were baptized. There are several attending new converts class and soon we will enter into the waters of baptism again. Praise be to God who gives the harvest. We are still deep in the planning for the Pastors conference here in November. Our Church in conjunction with Second Baptist Church in Warner Robbins Ga. will be sponsoring our first Pastors Conference. We will be inviting pastors from across Brasil to attend so that we can encourage them in their ministry. Pray for this conference with us as we desire to reach Brasil for Christ. And what better way than to encourage Brasilian pastors in the work.

As we are writing this letter our son Bryan called to tell us that our long time friend and brother in Christ, Fred Hearn has gone to be with the Lord. I remembered that when we were just coming to Brasil to help other missionaries Fred and Pat made the trip with us. Pray for this family in their loss.

Our vehicles are giving us good service but at the same time are costing much in the mechanic shop.It is imperative to keep the van running because it is our churches only means of transporting the people that don't have cars nor money to come by public transport. I have begun to have to make two trips on Sunday morning and on Sunday night as we are having many people coming. Praise the Lord for this. That brings me say that we need a bus. Please put this on your prayer list and if you can help with an offering to purchase a bus that would be AWESOME.

We have had many visitors this month but that does not mean that we are not looking for you. The bed is turned down and I can get new mints for the pillow as the other groups have eaten the last ones.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

Febuary Newsletter

2011-03-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

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

January 2011

2011-01-12T04:21:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and family,

Happy New Year to all! Hope this letter finds everyone well and looking forward to an AWESOME new year. From what I hear a lot of you are suffering from freezing weather with snow. This may be a good time to leave your cold place and come on down to the heat of the tropics. A mission trip at this time of the year would get you out of that cold weather and put you into a warm climate where you can suffer for the Lord. Here we are suffering from the heat. But God is giving us some respite as almost every afternoon we get lots of rain. Today we will have to take everything out of the Church because yesterday it came a "chicken drowner" (probably about 5 inches of rain in about 5 hours) and it entered the Church. So we will have to do some extensive cleaning. As we sat on the front porch yesterday our street looked like a river. As we look at the changes in the weather--maybe God is telling us something.

The new work is going very well. We have had several services with over 100 people. The Lord is really blessing. We had a special Christmas program with and for the children and it was a success. Many visitors came and now we have the opportunity to visit them and take the gospel to their homes. Also our New Year service was attended by over 40 families that are members and several visitors. We praised the Lord and sang the new year in and then eat to our hearts content.

We are looking at many projects here on the Church property and also on the Vocational property. We are just waiting for the visitors to come and help us. What are your plans for vacation this upcoming year? Could you come on down and help us?

As usual our vehicles are undergoing weekly trips to the mechanic. Our roads are one big hole after the other and this does bad things to the vesicles. Our bigger expense right now is the insurance for these vehicles. We will have 4 to 6 months of payments to pay for the insurance. It is not like there in the States, you cannot make payments over the year. Here you have to either pay in one payment or they give you 4 or 6 months to pay. We have thought about letting it drop but here because we transport church people we have to have insurance. So between the holes in the roads and the insurance it is almost cost prohibitive to have a vehicle. I now understand why most Brasilians ride a bike or walk.

Barbara and I would like to thank each and every one of you who have brought or sent clothes to us here in Brasil. We do several things with the clothes, here is the process, we call each of the members to the house and open the boxes and say "cloth your family". Then when everyone has been clothed we are having a sale of the clothes for the neighborhood. In November we sold enough clothes to buy a new stove for the kitchen at the church. And this month we had another sale and we have enough money to pay half of the price for a new refrigerator. It is such a blessing to first see the church members leaving the house with sacks of clothes knowing that they would not have been able to have bought these clothes but they are receiving them for free. It is such a joy to see someone else using clothing that did not fit you anymore knowing that they are being put to good use. Come down and see if you can recognize something that you have left here in Brasil or have sent by someone else. Again thanks for your generosity.

I have been preparing for a series of classes with the men at Church. In these classes I am going to be teaching service, getting the men ready to serve. Our men have begun to meet monthly and the group is growing wonderfully. Yesterday's group had 14 men present. In the classes that I will be teaching I am including a wide range of subjects and the men are becoming excited about the class. Included will be evangelism, discipleship and deacon training. Please pray for us as we prepare for and start these classes.

Construction right now is at a standstill because we are out of money to do construction. But we are using the time in another area. We are having more time to make visits and other training of the church members.

The house Church is going very well. We average 20-25 on Tuesday nights. We also have a children's club there on the last Saturday of the month. This is good as you reach the parents through the children. From this neighborhood I have been working with 3 boys At the Vocational School. They are showing much progress. The other young man that is doing his training at the key shop is coming along real well. The owner who is training him says that he is a good student.

It seems like every month we have not accomplished nothing but when we begin to write it down we see that God is accomplishing many things through us. Continue to pray for us here in Brasil as we pray for you there in the States.

And Barbara and I would like to say again how grateful we are that people like you send people like us to tell the world about Jesus. Come down and see what your help is doing here in Brasil. The beans are on the stove and the table is set.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

It's December - Newsletter

2010-12-13T14:18:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Somehow it just does not seem as though it is time for the Christmas season, but it is here and I'm going to just have to go along. At home in the States I hear that it is COLD. Here it is in the 90's and the air is heavy. We have been having rain so with a lot of help --maybe I can see the rain as snow and get into the spirit. Have an AWESOME Christmas season.

This month has just flown by. Barb and I have been taking a "Bible Counseling " course in São Paulo.It has been a year long course and will be well used as the course was totally based on biblical principles for counseling. It was intense but we received our certificate of accomplishment this past Saturday.

Church is going very well with lots of work, both physical and spiritual to be done. We have had several teenagers accept Christ as personal savior---AWESOME. With this we have lots of work to do. That´s what it is all about. Construction is going at a slow pace at Church. Mostly because we have lots of projects that needs to be accomplished but don´t have the financial resources to accomplish them.

Sometimes the needs have to be prioritized ie; we need Sunday School chairs and tables. And these could double in use for breakfast for the children on Sunday morning. We need 12 tables and 50 chairs.We also need 4-6 more Sunday School rooms. We have 3 rooms and the rest of us are sitting outside. This so far has not been a problem even though we have been having lots of rain.

Speaking of rain, tonight during the service it came a "chicken drowner". The noise was so loud we could hardly hear the message. This is because the roof is tin and we need a suspended ceiling which would give some insulation for the sound and also for the heat. This morning service was heal in somewhere around 90 degrees temperature on the outside and on the inside also.(pix included notice everyone fanning). This is just another one of the needs we have for the Church building.

We also need some flannel grafts for the Sunday school teachers. You know what it is like starting from scratch you don´t have anything so you just improvise until you can get the necessary things for you to use. We know that we are on the winning side because with our Lord on our side we cannot fail.

With our Church being in the beginning faze we are being Awesomely blessed. Please pray for us, all the workers and the new members. Your prayers are our key to a successful new Church plant.

If you get tired of the snow and cold, just know that you have an open invitation to come on down and sweat with us. Your bed is turned down and there is a mint on the pillow.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

2010-11-24T05:11:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

And the work goes on.......! What on AWESOME God we have. It is just great how things come together. With our new work it seems there is a never ending list of "things-to-do". But it's a wonderful problem to have. We have just about got the interior of our building inhabitable and having the appearance of a Church. We have completed the pulpit and painted the walls, tiled the floor, arranged a sound-control area, put our name on the front of the building, we are fixing a kitchen,and next week we will install our permanent entrance doors. And along with all this you can imagine the mess that goes with "on-going" construction and renovation. Hey, I'm not complaining, I'm rejoicing! Continue to pray with us as the new work progresses.

We have already had our second baptism and are planning a date for our next one. How blessed we have been with growth. We are averaging in the high 70 and low 80. We are praying about buying more chairs s we only have 100 and have space for over 200.

You know I just love bragging on the Lord and how He works in our lives and the life of our Church. Not only is all this work going on in the Church building but we have started a house Church on Tuesday nights. This work is going AWESOMELY. We have met in this neighborhood for 4 weeks and have had in attendance the first week 20+ second week 20+ third week 44 and fourth week 31. And just this past week we started a children's bible study on Saturday afternoon we had around 25 in attendance. It is just great to see the children's interest in learning more about the Bible and hearing Gods word. During the week we have discipleship two nights in our home. Also other members are doing the same in their homes.

I've been talking a lot about the new work but lets not forget our training school. I have been working with 4 young men (boys) in the school.We are doing some woodworking and working in the key shop.The boys working with wood are anxious to have class every day but I can only have class two days per week. The locksmith training is every day of the week for half the day.Lots of young boys here are interested in learning a trade and we are able to make a difference in a few young lives. One of our four boys just was suspended from our school because of behavioral problems in regular school. Not only are we teaching life skills but they are learning other things such as attitudes, Church attendance, to have good grades at regular school, respect for others and other disciplines. These young men need to be a productive member at Church at home and in the community. I am working with two of the young men and they are really opening up about their lives and family problems.

With all of this going on what are some of our more urgent prayer request? First off we need a bus!!! Here a good used bus runs about $30,000 dollars. Also we are holding Sunday School classes outside and this means that we need more class rooms. We are trying to keep all of this in prospective as this building is rented. We need property for our future so we can build our own Church building. And as we are looking to that end we have been looking for lots. We have had a petroleum company move into our town so that means that prices have gone up on many things but not the salaries of our people. But that means that the price of land has sky rocketed. So you can see that purchasing land is a dream (a great prayer request) but nothing is impossible for our God.

Well I will hush for now but will just say "U-all come"! Come on dawn and see and experience a new work start, see the love and excitement and how the Lord is working in such an AWESOME manner. Continue to pray for us.And THANKS for your financial support and prayers. Without your help this work would not have this success.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

2010-10-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

I no sooner turn around and another month is gone. But that's OK because it gives us a chance to look back to see what has happened and lets us plan for the future.

This has been one of our most active months here in Brasil. Between funerals, ministry, discipleship, and construction it is just AWESOME what is getting done here.

Our new mission Church is going AWESOME.For about 3 weeks straight we were averaging in the 80's; however we have slowed somewhat to the mid 70`s. We are planning a baptism on the 24th of this month. We have between 20 to 30 candidates for baptism. How AWESOME He is!!!!!!The discipleship we are doing is really taking from our schedules however the results are worth it all. When your students come and ask how can they better study the Bible it just makes you want to jump for joy. Don't tell anyone --but I can´t remember when I have had so much fun.

We have a couple that we are discipling and their backgrounds are opposite. He was raised in another denomination and she was raised without any Church background. They are growing with leaps and bounds. He is knowledgeable in the Bible and she is not. To watch them grow in the Lord is amazing. He is wanting to work more in the Church, ie driving the Church van and working at the Church when he is not working his own business(He installs air conditioning and works on appliances). And she is like a sponge, the more she learns the more she wants to know. He is in his late 40's and now he is calling me Dad.

When you are starting a new mission there is always many needs and this time is no different. One of our greatest needs is transportation. Our van is doing more than double time work and still we need help with the transportation. This said maybe this helps you understand that one of our primary needs right now is a bus. A dependable buss will run around $35,000 dollars or more. With the exchange of the dollar falling every day it will probably cost more. Pray with us for this need.

About the building that we are renting for our Church services: it is a warehouse and property which includes 3 rooms and one bath.The main structure(the warehouse) opens into the area that is between it and the 3 rooms and one bathroom. We are remodeling the warehouse to be the meeting area and the 3 rooms are serving as Sunday School rooms. We had to take the small kitchen area and make it into a second bathroom. Now we don't have a line at the door of the one bathroom door. Now like all good Baptist we are in need of a kitchen.We are now using a 2 burner gas camp stove and the refrigerator sits alongside it. And it is always cool in the makeshift kitchen as it all sits outside And with the rate of growth we are having we also need more Sunday School rooms.At this time I am looking at how I can meet these needs but building temporarily because we are renting the area and someday will move to a permanent home. At that time we will want to take as much of the things we are building with us as possible. Building temporary will allow us to dismantle and take them with us. I can not put a cost on this construction until I have done some more research.Another need that we have is a sign on the front of the building so that people will know where we are congregating. These are just some more things for youto pray with us about.

Here in Brasil we have Children's Day and it is a holiday that is celebrated greatly as they love their children, as a matter of fact it is celebrated more than Christmas. So Yesterday our Church had Children's Day at Church. We were blessed with 105 children and 55 parents and workers.In town one of the bus services loaned us a buss to pick up the children. This just showed us how much we need a bus of our own. Imagine bringing all those children to Church each Sunday.

You may be thinking why do they need so much help, do the Church members not help? Yes they are helping but our folks here are just everyday folks and here in Brasil the minimum wage is about $307 dollars a month. So the tithes and offerings is paying the rent and utilities and we need help with the other things. Thanks to you folks we are able to do much more and will continue doing with your help.

Thank you each and every one for reading and listening. What an AWESOME God we serve. And Thanks one more time for your continued financial and prayer support. Also for your support for Baptist Faith Missions because without them we would not be serving here in Brasil

In His service,

Aj and Barbara Hensley

2010-09-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

This month has been really fasting passing. I don’t know if this just happens when you start approaching the senior years…… or what.

The ministry has kept us really busy this month. A little over a month ago I was privileged to lead a man (55yrs) to the Lord. The reason I was in their home for this visit was the wife frequents our church and requested a visit to pray for and with her husband. Half way through my presentation he accepted the Lord and said I want this (LIFE ETERNAL) more than anything else. It was one of those times you really felt the Holy Spirit working. Then this month he enters the hospital and after two (2) days he goes to be with the Lord.

I was able to do the funeral for the family and we spent around two (2) days with the family comforting them in their loss, and exhibiting our love, “Christianity” to the family. During this time the church ladies and Barbara really did an awesome ministry-caring for the widow and immediate family. Also during the funeral (IN SÃO PAULO CITY) I was able to witness to his extended family approximately one hundred plus (100+) people, tell them about where he was now, and present Jesus Christ to them also. How AWESOME is the God we serve.

In our Sunday School two (2) weeks ago we had five (5) children, 12-15 years old, accept Christ. Our Lord is really working in a special way, opening doors and making it possible to reach many others. Pray for these young people.

It seems as though we have made lots of “sick visits” this month, but regardless of the circumstances for many visits, people are accepting Christ. Just in our home visits this month, with the Holy Spirit working we have had nine (9) people accept Christ. How AWESOME He is, whom we serve.

Our youth this past Friday and Saturday went to São Paulo for a youth rally. There were sixteen (16) in all and they really came back “changed-up” to do even more for the Lord.

As I am writing this letter I am doing hospital visits for another man with cancer. Before he went into the hospital I visited with him and his family. He already knew Christ but wanted me to talk with his family to make sure they also had what he had in his heart.

Our vehicles have really given us a challenge this month. I had the “bicos” cleaned in my diesel S-10 and was also informed they needed to be replaced. The van’s side door needs the rollers replaced and our list goes on. Lots of our repairs are from everyday use, and our roads are always a challenge for our vehicles.

Construction work has been slower than slow. It has been raining almost every day and makes outside work very hard to accomplish.

Because of this in climate weather “raining”, I have had to change our roof tiles between the rain drops. Barbara finally got tired of the buckets and I had to get to work.

Well, as always our doors are open. Why not come down for a visit and see what the Lord is doing in Caraguá Brazil.

Pray for us as we minister here in Brazil

IN HIS SERVICE

AJ & BARB

August Newsletter

2010-08-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Friends and Family,

Well, here it is a lot like winter. Our temperatures drop into the low 60s at night and I see people out in the mornings with big overcoats. But I must confess as of late I an feeling the chill more. Usually I´m in a short sleeve shirt and others are in winter clothing. We have had an abundance of rain---more than normal, and this contributes a little to the chill. Oh, by the way the rain is helping our roads, the holes are becoming much bigger. Mostly now we have holes with a little asphalt around them. I'm afraid sometimes to enter a watter puddle because you don't know if it has a bottom in it or not.

After our visit to the States in February I replaced the suspension on the pick-up. Well this past week I had to have it replaced again. Our vehicles really get abused here just from regular use. While on the topic of vehicles, the van is now doing triple duty. Wednesday nights route for the church and Sundays are double. Two trips in the morning and two at night. This is a good problem to have. Looks like we are in need of a bus for the new Church. Pray for this need with
us.

We have been visiting with several families with health problems (cancer patients) all men. Although 2 are terminal we are having wonderful visits. We visited yesterday in a small home and there was 4 generations and several neighbors. It was really wonderful to be able
to share the gospel in so many different areas. It is 2:30 at night and we have just gotten home from the home of the second terminal patient he went home to be with Christ this evening. I had the privilege of leading him to the Lord last month so his home going is not so bad for the family because they have the assurance that he is home with the Lord.Here in Brasil there is no embalming so the funeral will be at 9:00 in the morning and we are making arrangements to make the 3 hour trip to another city for the funeral. Pray for this family as they confront the loss of a husband and father.

One of the students in the Vocational School will begin training in as key shop here in the city this month. He will go to regular school for half of the day then go to the key shop for the other half. After he learns the trade of making keys he will trade places with on of the other students and will enter into another aspect of his training. We are able to continue the construction on the dormitory for the school thanks to the generosity of one of our supporters there in the States. So it looks like we will be able to start housing the students but the first of next year if all goes well. You never make concrete plans here as things change daily. This is one of the aspects of a foreign country that is hard to adapt to but I keep working at it.

With this new Church start there are many prayer request,pray for the construction, the visitation, the meetings, the building needs, the need for a bus, for physical strength and just for the work in general. This past Sunday night we had 83 people in attendance. How Awesome is that!!! This month we are able to lay the tile in the auditorium of the Church. We are going slow on the work as we are paying for the material as the money comes in. I preached on tithing this week and the income has picked up so we will be able to do several more things this month.

As you can see there is lots of ministry to be done and because of this we need lots of prayer. So continue to pray for us and ask God what part He would like for you to play in this ministry.

Start planning your trip down to visit us here in Caraguatatuba because you need to see what God is doing with your donations here and we could use your help in all of the areas mentioned above. Let us know and we will turn the bed down and put out clean towels and a mint on your pillow. Come on down!!!

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

Newsletter - June 2010

2010-07-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Well, the Lords clock just keeps on ticking and as I see the signs of the times I just want to do more in His work.

I told you last month about the new work we are helping start. Well I had forgotten about all the HARD WORK that is involved in new starts. It's just AWESOME how needs can and are being met. In the building that we are renting (a big warehouse) we now have a stage area thanks to the group from 1st Baptist in Centerville Georgia. With the help of this group we built the pulpit area and I must truthfully say this was my hardest week of work this year. We accomplished in one week what everyone thought would take three weeks. Cement, blocks and a lot of back-breaking work ---result--- an AWESOME front area in the Church. It's better than I even envisioned. It just goes to show us/me how AWESOME He is. Oh me of such little faith.

Along with all the construction work this group did a vacation Bible School in a neighborhood and had just an AWESOME time and turn out. There were more than 50 children in attendance.

The Centerville Church also brought sever army duffel bags of clothes new and used. We are using these clothes in supplying the families of the new work with clothing. As I have watched several families leaving our home almost in tears with clothing that was necessary for their families and they did not have money to buy. It's hard to put into words the gratitude these families have shown for these simple gifts of clothing. It humbles me when I think of giving
and how much we have and are so blessed. Every day I thank the Lord for allowing me to be here as a missionary. Yes, He can use anyone----and----He does.

While the group was here the cement mixer bit the dust---died in other words. One of the men in the group gave a special gift to purchase a new mixer and when I discovered how much a new one cost I had just enough to purchase the wheels from the new one. But not all is lost. this is the AWESOME part I have dismantled the old mixer, purchased several new parts, sanded and painted and now am ready to reassemble. I hope I have not lost any parts. And my old mixer has turned into a new bright RED mixer.(just another little miracle)

In the services in the new work we have already had 2 people accept Jesus as savior and several re-dedicating their lives to Gods service. Pray for us as we serve in this new work pray for His leadership and guidance.

For me, all I can say is HOW AWESOME is He who we serve.

Come see your work here in Caraguatatuba Brasil. You will receive a blessing and so will we.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

May in Brasil

2010-05-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

This month has been a real blessing in the respect that we have been able to move two of our widows back into their homes.

Allow me to talk about Granny, She and her grandson returned to their house at the first of the month. It was her house that flooded whenever it rained. We were able to keep her in our house for about 3 months while redoing her home. We raise her floor level 2 feet and after this it was a necessity to do the same to the roof. It all sounds simple but it turned into a very work intense job. She is now back in her home and all we lack is the porch. We will be doing that next month. Thanks to all who worked and prayed with us on this project. If you look up the work happy in the dictionary you will find a picture of Granny. She was so glad to be back in her home that you
could hardly see her face for the smile.

The second lady is the widow with 6 children, she was displaced from her home when her husband died and though she thought they owned the home she did not. She was moved into her new home this week.Thank the Lord for some extra help. We have had my brother's pastor from Texas, Dr. Edge and Bro Ward visiting with us and they have been yoke men this week. Along with moving Ms. Gloria house of furniture we have placed several tons of dirt in front of her house, purchased her electric pole (thanks to the First Baptist Church in Bastrop, Texas). Also completed the ridge row on her roof and finished her plumbing. All this completed she and her family spent their first night in their new home Friday night. And tonight (May 11th) we had the second meeting in her home and we had 27 people in attendance. How AWESOME is the Lord we serve!!!

Lots of financial help from Churches there in the States and individuals helping also and the many prayers have made these 2 miracles! I was just thinking back-- about a year and one half ago we were helping Gloria move out of the house where she and her family had lived for several years. I remember thinking, how are we going to be able to help this lady and her children. The Lord has His time and His people ready to accomplish blessings and miracles for Him.

We have been blessed this month to be able to start discipleship with 5 people. Two different families these too are miracles. Why? Because they have accepted Christ as their personal Savior. We do their training on Monday and Tuesday nights. Isn't it AWESOME when we, along with you all, can be a part of Kingdom building.

We have also been doing work on the vocational school area and buildings. We are planning to start classes with 2 young men in 2 weeks. Their first exposure will be basic construction and introduction to key making. Pray for our school as we need to complete the dorm building. We have been making blocks on the school property for the mission point at Olaria. We are planning to build a fence around the building there.

Continue to pray for us and the work here in Brazil. And come visit your work here. The bed is turned down and the light is on out front.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley

2010-04-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

How wonderful it is to get to see and visit family and friends in the States. Barb and I made a quick trip home in Feb. and got to see a lot of snow. Boy! What a difference in temperature; Brasil 104 degrees and in the States in the low 20"s I was thinking to myself at this time, maybe the trip was to get away from the heat(partially that was right).

We had two ladies visiting us this month. They did back yard Bible schools in two neighborhoods and helped in the two homes that were getting ready for the two widows in our Church. They were a blessing to us and to the areas where they worked. Thanks Rebeca and Cathy!!!

We have been and still are very involved with helping two widows in our Church. One is building a new house and the other is remodeling her existing house. Grannies house is about 2 weeks from completion. This is the house that was below ground level and every time it rained this 82 year old lady had to bail water. She has lost furniture and appliances because of this problem. The other lady, Gloria, will be able to move into her house in approximately 2 weeks. This is the family that has 6 kids and the father died about 1 year and 1/2 ago. The mother provides for the family by selling fish. We are also taking a counseling class in Sao Paulo each month to be able to help the people here through the Bible. Pray for us as the home work and the reading is extensive.

Sometimes we get so involved in the work that we allow "the work" to suffer. So we are trying to balance "needs" and keep the main thing the main thing. But isn't it AWESOME, we are about to move two widows into their new and remodeled homes. We serve and AWESOME God!!!!The
reason that these homes have taken more than the usual time to complete is that we have been battling the elements----RAIN. As I am writing this letter we have been in a rain period (Continual) for 2 days. The streets going into the various neighborhoods are covered with water and are only going to be getting more and more watter. As we were entering into one neighborhood yesterday we passed one woman walking on the street with the water half way between her feet and her knees. But thanks to God there is no water in Grannies home.

I don't know if I can blame the rain or not but we are in an Internet turmoil as of late. We cannot rely on it as it is maybe yes and maybe no when we want to use it. Oh well, in ALL things give
thanks.

This year we are planning to concentrate on the Vocational School and the students that need to have training. We will begin with the dormitory and the finishing of it.It consists of 3 bed rooms and three baths, livingroon and kitchen. We have the walls and the roof and the concrete floors finished. We will need to put in the windows and doors and the electricity and the plumbing and the plaster walls and the bathrooms and the kitchen and the tile on the floors. All this will be ongoing with the classes that we will be starting next month. Our classes will include beginning carpentry, basic electricity fot homes, and introduction to locksmith. Our first students will be from the surrounding area. They will be transported daily to the school. When the dormitory is completed we will then be able to have students living on site.This is an ongoing project and will fill a great need in this area as young boys 14-21 years old need work experience and job training. This training will prepare them for their future.

It goes without saying that Barb and I are blessed beyond measure. We have some of the most AWESOME friends in the world.!! We were going over some of last years accomplishments, construction, the Kingdoms work, and just plain personal growth. All this accomplished through
God who gives us friends, Churches, and concerned Christians. How AWESOME is He whom we serve!!!! "THANKS EVERYONE" without U through Him it would be impossible.

We are planning several work groups for 2010 and a couple of backyard Bible Schools. Pray for us and these helpers as they come to work and minister. And mark your calenders because in Nov 2011 we are planning a Pastors Conference. We are hoping to have Pastors from all over São Paulo State to come to this conference.This will be a great opportunity for outreach. We are asking that you be in constant prayer for this event.

Continue to pray for us in these ministries, for His will and the Kingdoms glory.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

2010-02-16T03:33:00.000-08:00

Friends,

My! How time marches on. It seems as though there is more and more to do and less and less time to get the things done.

We have several widows in our Church with housing needs. The most pressing need at this time is the widow we call "granny". There are structural problems with her house, there are cracks in her walls and they are leaning. Also when it rains her house floods. So it was decided that we would build another wall inside of the house to prevent the walls from falling in on her. This however did not help with the water problem as we had hoped it would. Her house was one of
the first homes that were built in her neighborhood and after the road was built her house was lower than the road and all of the other homes. So naturally when it rains the run off from everyone goes to her house. Can you imagine an 82 year old woman and her grandson bailing out the house every time it rains. Well that is what was happening. So now we are moving Granny to our house with her grandson and we will be raising the floor level above the outside elevation. Simply put we will fill her house with dirt pour a new cement floor raise the doors and windows, remove the roof, raise the walls and replace the roof, tile the floor clean up, put back the furniture that survived the flooding, buy new groceries and move her back in. The work and materials will take about 3,000 dollars and take about 6 weeks to get done Thanks to several Americans we have the money to do the work but is you would like to help replace the furniture that was ruined with all the water you can donate to the granny fund.

The other widow that we are helping has 6 kids and was evicted from a home that she thought was hers but when her husband died she found out that it was not. So she has been working at building her and her children a home ever since. With the help of the Church here and several groups this year she is getting closer to finishing. Last week we put the roof on the house and this week she has an electrician putting in the electricity and a brick layer putting in the doors and windows. So she and the children are getting really excited about the prospect of being in their own home soon.

The work on both these projects are going surprisingly well. Pray for us as we endeavor to lend a helping hand to those in need. The Lord is just so AWESOME in supplying the help for these widows and their children. Pray with us that God will continue to supply these types of needs here in Brasil.

Things are changing here in the home Church, we have decided to change one of the mission points to a full time mission work. It will have a full time pastor full time services and works. We will lose some of the members from the home Church and about 1/2 of our Sunday School program as the children have been being bussed in on Sunday mornings and will now have a Mission point in their neighbor hood where they can have the same teaching and preaching. AWESOME!!!! It's great when you can say loosing is growing.

Pray for this full time work as they are building for the Kingdom. This work will be lead by our son-in-law Walmir and our daughter Mary Katherine and their daughter Chelsea. Pray for them as they take on a new endeavor for the Lord.

So now we will have 3 full time missions with full time pastors. Olaria, Salesopolis and Natividade da Serra along with our central Church and three house Churches.

Pray for these works and us as we minister in these endeavors for the Kingdom.

And as always the invitation to come see what God is doing in Caraguatatuba is open. The dollars you send is helping in the work here and you really need to see how far a dollar can go in Brasil.

The lights are on on the porch and the bed is turned down so come on down.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara
CP 1511
Caraguatatuba, São Paulo
Fone - 011-55-12-3888-4189

January 2010

2010-01-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

It just doesn't seem possible that another year has come and gone. However, we must face these facts--I'm now another year older! It's amazing how we look at New Years, make suggestions on what we would like to change or accomplish in the New Year. The list could go on and on. But what we need to say is this "With His help and leadership, I am going to do --" Maybe with this thinking we would accomplish the things that we are needing to accomplish this year.

How AWESOME is the God we serve, there is always more people to reach with the gospel. And I am thankful to be a part of a wonderful sending institution BFM! Because of them and you the work goes on. Pray for us to be up to the task for this New year. And to all of you-one more time-Thanks for the financial support and prayer support you continually send for us. How AWESOME it is to be a missionary here in Brasil doing His work. It is because of "YOU" that we are able to live and minister here. Again we can only say "Thanks and God bless all of you."

Up until last week we can say that is has been snowing here ---but it melted before it got to the ground.(lol) I think it has rained almost every day for 3 months. The ground has been totally saturated with water. This has been a very hard time on our roads. We used to be able to drive around most of the holes--now we cannot. If you try to miss one hole you hit three more . Or the water is standing in them and you wonder if there is a bottom to the hole and sometimes if you hit it you know that there is not.

The weather brings me to talk about our now project. We are helping a grandmother with her house. She is between 80 an 90 and every time it rains here three rooms fill up with water. Her home is a humble home but it is hers but she does not have the strength to or the stamina to be dipping out the water from it. So we have started working on the house without the funds believing that God will provide, because in the Bible it commands us to help the orphans and the widows. We thought that we could inter and repair the existing walls but after closer inspection we found that the existing walls were so cracked that we were amazed that they were still standing. So what we are doing is this, inside her house we are digging a new foundation and building new walls. And as we are doing this we are water proofing all of the walls. She is having to live in this mess but she is so thankful for our help she is not minding the mess. I am not saying that this is not hurting because it is. I come home at night, take a shower, sit down and when I try to get up it hurts in places I didn't know I had.Even though for us this is a small job I think in the eyes of the Lord it is an AWESOME work. Pray for the grandmother, her home, and if you want to financially help with this project donate to "grannies house".

Well, my vehicle "problems" continue. My6 S-10 is in the garage more than it is at home and just as soon as it is out the van has a problem that has to be fixed. I just can't figure it out--they are respectively 10 years and 11 years old. Now I'm not complaining, I'm bragging on the Lord because I have two trucks and they are still running. AWESOME is the Lord we serve.

We had visitors for the New Years from the States--What a blessing. Pastor Foy and wife and several members of Mount Eden Church in Western Ky. were with us. You just don't realize what visitors mean for Barb and I. It lifts us up and says "Keep on keeping on" I think the word is encouragement.

While it is very cold there in the states, the weather for the past 2 weeks has changed. Here it is in the 90's and if we could carry around an electric fan and a water hose it would be great. What a getaway from the SNOW,WIND,COLD there in the States. Come on down-- and as Barb says "The beds are turned down and we are waiting for your visit".

Have an AWESOME New Year and God bless every one of you.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

November in Brasil

2009-12-23T04:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Barbara and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a blessed Holiday as we look at the reason for the season, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here in Brasil this holiday is not as big as it is there in the States as the people here do not have the resources that we have there in the States. Their celebration is to have a big meal on the passing of the 24th to the 25th. To have their family together is the biggest pleasure. Rarely are there presents exchanged just love and togetherness. We will be having a service in the Church commemoration the birth of our Lord and Savior on the night of the 25th with many activities and much singing and preaching.

I remember telling you about rain last month, and this month we are having a bit more of the same. And because of this rain we are discovering several leaks in the roof of our house. Here it is a little different and possibly a little more difficult as the roofs are made of tile and this makes it more difficult to fix. Due to this rain many areas are flooding and this brings big problems. One of the areas that is having this problem is at the home of a 92 year old widow in our church. Her little house has been built early on in the neighborhood and when the other home were built they built them higher than hers. So now when it rains her house fills with water and there is no drain system because of the depth of the house. So this 92 year old grandmother and the 14 year old young man that she is raising has to bail out all the water and sometimes they cannot keep up with the flow.So we are thinking of raising the floor of her house and then we will have to raise the roof also. This will cost about $2,700.00 dollars. So when we have the money we can begin the work. Pray for the project and if God lays on your heart you can contribute in the name
of the widow.

We continue to remodel and build here in the Church and the different Mission points.In the Church, thanks to several Churches there in the States we have done a major renovation in the Kitchen and the nursery and the stair well. In the Kitchen we opened a wall and made a pantry that was much needed and will be a blessing for the women of the Church when there are things going on in the Church.

The carpentry shop which is part of our vocational school has been a blessing this month as we have been able to help several members of our Church with wood projects needed in their homes.

Our newest Bible School in Morro do Algodao is progressing, one week we will have 7 the next week 15. There is no way to predict how many will show up.This is an area where we need to concentrate more because our bus route passes through this area. We are planning to do
some extensive visiting here after the holidays. This will help our bus ministry in this area.

This has been a bad month for our truck. I have had to replace the whole front-end suspension and on top of that the fuel tank had to be removed and cleaned. This due to unclean fuel and rust problems. As you know our roads are giving us a major challenge. And they are not
the best friends to our vehicles.

Our Church was in a Pastoral search but our Pastor decided to remain. We as a Church were praying for the Lord's will, so we are now praying for the Lord's leadership and direction for His Church and His work.

Again Barbara and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And as we pray for all there remember us here and pray for us.How AWESOME it i8s to serve here in Brasil. Come and see.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

October in Brasil

2009-11-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,

As weather is changing everywhere here is no different. It has been raining on the average 5-6 days then two without. This makes work on construction almost impossible. With this rainy weather the temperature has been comfortable. Well for about a week now there has been no rain and you guessed it---very very HOT weather. Sometimes we just can't be satisfied can we.

Here in Brasil we celebrate Children's Day in October and this year it was AWESOME. We had over 180 children in attendance. We worked for over 3 weeks preparing for this Sunday. We had special programs, activities, Bible studies and food. This special day helped us reach children that we would not have been able to reach otherwise.

When I use the word AWESOME it is just a way to brag on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and how AWESOME He is. When you need something---maybe it is a pickup full of something and He sends you a tractor-trailer full, how AWESOME He is. Well that is just what happened this month to us. In our English Service on Saturdays we have been having in attendance another Pastor who is studying English. For about 3 weeks he has been telling me that he had something to show me in his Church. Finally I had time to go with him to see what he wanted to show me. We went to his Church, and he showed me the 15 beautiful benches covered in blue. We sat down and started talking. He is telling me that this Church has been closed and he is showing me all the instruments, controls, sound equipment, pulpit. So what do I think this Pastor is going to do? You guessed it I think that he wants to sell all this equipment to me. So finally I asked what was the value of all this equipment(knowing that I do not have the funds to purchase). He showed me all the recites for everything and sum quickly mounted up in my mind. Now are you ready for the AWESOME moment? Pastor Carlos wants to give all this to our ministry here in Caraguatatuba. And to think that I had put this meeting off for over 3 weeks. How AWESOME is our Lord. This week we removed everything but when we went to take it down the Pastor had already dismantled everything for us so we did not have to work hard at taking it apart just load it into the truck and move it. We have put the pews in the Church at Olaria and moved their chairs to another mission point. Now we are praying about where the rest of the equipment can be used in God's work here.

The sad part of all this is that a Baptist Church has closed. But I am looking on the positive side of all this. Where He closes a door of opportunity He opens, in another area, other oors.Needless to say this has been an AWESOME help for our ministries and Pastor Carlos was very humble in stating that he did not want to sell the equipment but wanted to bless our ministry here. And in this way he will always receive a blessing from our ministries.

My hearing problems are much improved--the Dr. has put tubes in both ears and my hearing is almost back to normal. I still have some selective hearing disability--but we can't have it all!!Ha Ha.

We have also opened another Saturday Bible School for our children. We had two active and now we have the third in the neighborhood where we are ministering. The first Saturday we were expecting about 4 or 5 and God blessed us with 17. This shows us how we underestimate our
Lord in most things. We need to have more faith.

Continue to pray with us as we are fast approaching the selection of a mew first Pastor.We know that the Lord has the right person ready , we the Church just need to have the same vision. Pray for us by name and our ministries here in Caraguatatuba. And as always THANK YOU for your prayers and your financial help. We are here because of Him and staying because of you.

With this HOT weather here and the COLD weather there I know that some of you will want to come down and see us to get out of the cold. So I will just say that the bed is turned down and I will try to find a mint to put on the pillow. So come on down.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

2009-10-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

Aj and Barb Hensley

Caixa Postal 1511

Caraguatatuba,Sao Paulo Brasil 11672-300

ajcaragua@gmail.com

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

Roof on the School

2009-09-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Some recent piuctures

2009-09-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Group from Heritage Baptist - Lexington, KY

Group from Second Baptist Church - Warner Robbins, GA

Group from Second Baptist Church - Warner Robbins, GA

Pastors Walmir and Epitácio at the Missions Conference

At the Missions Conference - AJ is in the blue shirt

August Letter - in September

2009-09-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

We did not get a letter written last month because we had the month
full of wonderful visitors. As a matter of fact the last three month
have been full of adventure and meeting new friends.Each group was
different and each one was special. We have had Virginia Beach and
they did evangelism in the schools. The Doss family and they were used
in many different areas. Georgia and they did work on the widows home
and evangelism in the neighborhoods where we have an established
mission point. And then Texas where my brother Fred is a member and
they worked in the main Church. And Kentucky who preached and taught
in several mission points.

We are in the process of doing follow-up on all these groups,
especially the school evangelism group. We have enough names and
addresses to keep us busy for the rest of the year. What a great and
AWESOME job left for us to do. I thank the Lord that even though the
people here are of various religious persuasions they are still open
to us presenting the gospel to them. Keep praying for our ministry
with the schools and in the neighborhoods. Your prayers are being
heard and they are very effective.

Construction is going good on the dorm. We now have the cement for
the ceiling pored and this was a great challenge. We had a working and
had 15 men come to help. We started early on Monday morning and worked
til late. Using the 2 concrete mixers for our mixing and they ran non
stop. Construction here is somewhat different to there in the States.
We cannot just call the concrete company and get a 15 yards of cement
delivered. I have to order the sand and the gravel and cement and mix
it on site. But I am not complaining because I have the 2 mixers and
others don't have that they have to mix theirs the old fashion way,
with hoes and shovels only.

The work process; even though a little bit antique, still gets done.
And for this reason it is good to visit a mission work and see that
process in action.All behind your PRAYERS, SUPPORT, and Gods abundant
blessings. Come see and help here in Brasil.Construction,

evangelism,backyard bible schools,and the ladies
ministries, mix it all together and out comes lives changed,people
transformed and people saved.How AWESOME is the Lord we serve!!!!
We will try to include pictures but therein lies another problem.

Our telephones here are so unreliable and thus our computer also. It
impedes us in our communication with you all.Even as we speak(or
write) we are waiting for our phones to be fixed. Just another thorn
in our side, and don't we all have these little problems.
Barb has been in the States for the last 3 weeks visiting her mom.
Mrs. Reba had a birthday and Barbara was able to be with her for this
day. It was a blessing for the both of them.

We are re-establishing the bus ministry and the children are anxious
to get back to Sunday School. We would like to take this time to thank
each one of you who have helped with the purchase of that bus. We will
continue to make payments on the bus monthly and it is being a
blessing. I took the van in for servicing after we got the bus and
after 2 days and $3,000 it was almost back in shape. Yes our roads and
over sized loads that we put in the van caused many things to need
repair.Now the S-10 needs to have the same thing done to it and I am a
little bit scared about the cost. Even with preventative maintenance
things wear out.

While Barbara was in the States myself and the other 2 pastors went
to a Pastors Conference. We had three days of refreshing and
rejuvenating. Pray for the Church here in Caraguatatuba as our
principal Pastor is going to leave on the first day of the year to be
a missionary himself. That means that we will be in search of a pastor
for our Church.We have 2 candidates for the position and all within
our ministry. It is good that we have these available candidates here
in our Church Pray for the Lord's will in this pastoral search.

And as usual, come on down the bed is turned down and the mint is on
the pillow. Come see what God is doing with your mission dollars!!!

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

July letter

2009-09-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,
Well so much has gone on this month, I'm going to have to be careful not to write 3 letters in one.
To begin, we are working on the dorm for the vocational school. We are ready to put on the ceiling and pour the roof. The walls are completed and we are putting everything in place to pour the concrete on the top. This makes the ceiling and with this dorm we are planning for the future to put a second story sometime in the future.
Another awesome blessing, we are about to take possession of the bus. Yes, we are going to purchase a Church buss. With help from some people in the States, the sale of the old buss and projects the Church people are doing to raise money. What we are doing is borrowing half of the purchase price and we have raised the other half. We will be making monthly payments for the next several years to complete the purchase price. The Church has taken this financial responsibility.What a needed tool this is here in our city. It is just AWESOME how our Lord and Savior solves minor problems.
Now to some more AWESOME news, this time about evangelism. As I have mentioned we have had a Church from Virginia Beach coming down to do some presentations in our public schools. This group was 31 strong and they came to evangelise.This was planned and in the making for about a full year. Yes. public schools, the miracles we saw were AWESOME to say the least. Now if you are interested in numbers, after 8 days of ministry in the schools we collected over 1000 commitment cards. Of these cards we had 435 decisions to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Yes, miracles still do happen!! Pray over these people and our next job to do the follow up on these people. We will be putting the cards in the areas with the people that work in each area and they will begin the visitation. But primary interest is the 435 but each person that filled out the cards will get a personal visit from someone at our Church.This will open many doors for us to be able to share the Gospel message with many more people.
Here is one of the miracles that happened while this group was here. When we gave an invitation at one of the schools, one of the adult leaders in the group came to me and said that he had noticed a girl crying away from the crowd. I went to her and asked if I could help her or pray with her. She said she was a believer but had not been glorifying God with her life. I prayed with her and she rededicated her life to Christ. While praying some other girls circled around us. When I finished I asked the others about their spiritual lives, these other three accepted Christ as their Savior with tears in their eyes. And now on top of these blessings two other girls that were with them began to enter the conversation and Patricia said that she would disciple these girls.---how much more AWESOME could a week be?!!!
We are having a glorious time with the visitors that are passing our way and watching what God is doing through each and every one that comes to visit. Would you like to be a part of what God is doing here? Well it is easy, just come on down. The bed is turned there is a mint on the pillow and God is waiting to show you what He is doing here.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

Here in our part of the planet...

2009-06-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Aj and Barbara Hensley

C.P. 1511
Caraguatatuba, São Paulo
Brasil 11672-300

Dear Friends,

Here today the weather is wonderful,awesome. It is about 72 with a slight breeze with sunshine--How AWESOME is the Lord.

We have been visiting Schools for the last 2-3 weeks getting a schedule organized for the group from Virginia Beach. What we will be doing in the schools is evangelism! Yes, that is right, the program this youth group will be doing is singing mimes some tumbling/gymnastic and Preaching the Word. Yes we will be giving an invitation for the people to accept Christ. What and Awesome opportunity the Lord is giving us here--to spread the Word. What a wonderful help these Young people are for our ministry here in Caraguatatuba. Here in Brazil usually you win a family--it starts with the children and then the parents come.

As you know we are still in need of a bus for our ministry here. Well before we came home in February Barbara started a project for the ladies in the Church to help with the purchase of the bus. We were given some scrap material and Barbara purchased some rubber backing and we went into the throw rug business.When we got back from the States the ladies had already made and sold R$700 reais worth of throw rugs. It is catching on and now behind the pastors some men are also helping. My "throw rug" is about 2/3 finished (I'm thinking about auctioning it off)ha!!! Keep praying as having a bus here is a necessity for this ministry with the children.

By the way, when we were visiting the schools the principal in one of the schools offered their school facilities for us (the Church) to have a Bible School there for a whole week. This school is in the neighborhood of one of our mission points and this will be really great for the ministry in that neighborhood.

Our home, needless to say, has lots of projects to complete but all is in His time. The interior is about 90% complete and the outside looks pretty much like all the neighbors, unfinished.

We will be returning to work on the School property probably in the latter part of this month. We got a donation for finishing the dormitory and after the summer ministry projects we will be full force again.

We have been back for over a month now and either my S-10 or the van have been in the garage this whole time. First the steering pump on the van then the muffler and tail pipe. Then the air on the S-10 and now all the tires need rotating and balancing. While there in the States we really enjoyed your good roads.Here it is a necessity to balance and rotate your tires every 5000 miles. So monthly there is a need to go over the vehicles and tighten everything up--or loose it. Just before I came home one of the shocks broke on the van right in the middle of the road and the tire just turned under the van. So just like others here --repair work accomplished in the middle of the road.

We have also been working (repairing) our Church buildings. The humidity here is extremely hard on buildings. The one mission point that has been condemned is waiting for some group to come and tear it down. Do you want to be this group?!!?

Our Pastor at Salesópolis, Luis, and his wife Dani, have two boys, the smallest is in need of surgery because he is drowning during the night when he sleeps. But the socialized medicine cannot get to this little boy until November.

We have had $500 dollars given for this surgery but we need $500 more. If you would like to help with this need mark your donation "boy's surgery". I will keep you updated on this situation.

Well, as always, we would like to invite ALL to come down and see the Lords work here in Caraguatatuba. Call ahead and we will put a mint on your pillow.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

May Newsletter

2009-05-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

Well we have arrived back home here in Caraguatatuba Brasil. Our three months there in the States were full of travel and meeting old and new friends.It was just AWESOME getting to see everyone and in some cases to make new friends. If we did not get to see you or come to your Church this time please forgive us and we will try to see you next time we are in the States. It has been one of our best trips to the States ever. We made new friends in La. Ga. TX.Va. and our home state Ky. From these we expect to have new groups to visit the ministry here in Caraguatatuba. And along those lines, if we did not give you a personal invitation, I want to do so now. Come on down and see what is going on in God's ministry here in Caraguatatuba. Call and we will be waiting for you.

As we are getting ourselves back into the work and getting caught up on everything we see the great need for the bus. We are actively pursuing the funds to purchase the bus for the Sunday school ministry and the Church. In one neighborhood we are taking 3cars and our van to help carry the children on Sunday morning. This is definitely a prayer request for our ministry here. We were able to raise some of the money necessary while we were home and if you want to be a part of this need just mark your donation bus ministry. We have looked at buses and will be able to buy a good used bus for around $27,000.00 . We know we serve an AWESOME God and He will provide (maybe through you).

We are looking forward to several groups visiting us this year. Some will be ministering in our public schools, others will be evangelizing in neighborhoods and still others will be work groups. Notice I did mention PUBLIC SCHOOLS---pray for us as we enter the public schools here in Caraguatatuba. We have a youth group in Virginia Beach planning to visit in the latter part of June,please pray for them and us as this ministry unfolds and for many young people to see their need for Christ.

We are also getting our construction started back up on our vocational school as it has been on hold for 3 months. We are hoping to get the dormitory finished so that we can get it filled with young men to study in the Second Chance Vocational School.

Just a bit on the light side, while home in the States I became a much bigger person!! I'm not telling just exactly how many pounds I gained(but they were several). Now I am on a program to get smaller.---Why?---So I don't have to purchase new clothes.

Pray with us as we get settled back into our work here and looking for new works to start.

As always the bed is turned down and we will leave the light on, so come on down.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

April Letter

2009-04-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

Aj and Barbara Hensley
C.P. 1511
Caraguatatuba, São Paulo
e-mail: ajcaragua@gmail.com
011-55-12-3888-4189

Dear friends,

These past two months have almost been a blurr. We arrived in the States on the 6th of Feb. and started the trek that has taken us to speak in more than 12 Churches. However I'm not complaining at all, we have seen many old friends and made new ones. And for this we thank God. Allowing us to do all this and keeping us safe in the travel.In the various Churches where we have been many are planning a trip down to see us this year and do some work there on the mission field.This does not sound like too much travel but we are getting to the place that we would rather walk than to ride.(ha).

While staying with friends in Jasper Georgia we became acquainted with the man that was doing some yard work at their home. We told him about our work and invited him to come down and visit us in Brazil. This week we received a check from this man as he wants to help with missions. How AWESOME is the one that is in control!!!

In each of the Churches where we have been we have told them about the greatest need that we have there in Caraguatatuba. That is the need for a Church bus. You know that we have had 2 buses in the past but before we came we had to sell both of them for scrap metal as they had almost rusted through in various places. You can imagine how hard it became to push these buses to get them to start. We are trying to raise enough money to buy a new-used bus for our Sunday School ministry. The children have been unable to come to Sunday School because of not having a bus. WE have been using the Vocational School van to bring as many as we can pack in but this week the Federal Police stopped the Van and made an inspection. And they found that the extinguisher was out of date so they confiscated the documents. Now we are without any way to get the kids to Sunday School. We are working on getting the documents back but they tell us that we have to be there to get them. So it will be a while before transportation is available. Our prayer is to be able to purchase a bus when we return to Brasil and with your help this will happen.Make your checks to BFM designated to Aj's bus fund.

We would love to have you come down and see the work. Call us and Barb and I and our daughter Mary and her husband and our granddaughter would love to help you plan your trip.

If we were unable to see you this trip we are sorry. But holler at us and we will make plans the next time that we are in the States.

Thanks for your love and support for us on the field in Brasil.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

December Newsletter

2009-01-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

Aj and Barbara Hensley
C.P. 1511
Caraguatatuba, São Paulo 11672-300
e-mail: ajcaragua@gmail.com
skype:ajcaragua
Phone:011-5512-3888-4189
blog:http://ajandbarbinbrazil.blogspot.com

Dear friends,

As we are writing we are looking forward to the New Year--"It's here" weather we are ready of not. Are we going to be able to meet all the resolutions we have undertaken for the new year? Are we going to do more for the Lord, work more in the Church? All these things we can do if we are doing the will of the Lord. So the question is not will I be able, it is am I seeking the Lord's will for my life and letting Him direct my life.

The last few weeks I have been making notes for a message I would like to preach---"Who He chooses to use", and as I am looking for the references I will use --it struck me--how He had chosen me. It is just totally awesome in that He would allow me to be a part of His ministry here in Brasil. How great and AWESOME is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It just goes to emphasize a point--God's way of thinking is not the worlds way and not ours either.

Well, hopefully the Christmas Season was good to you. I don't know why it can't be Christmas all year round. During this season I have been privileged to preach two times in our home Church and enjoyed the honor. We have had no snow here in Caraguatatuba but we have had an unusual amount of rain and it is not the rainy season. So when it is raining I just sit there thinking "If it were cold this would be snow". Then I think boy how it would be so cold and laugh a little bit because I am hot. But no matter how hard I try I can't get totally into the spirit without snow. But you will have to come visit us to experience this feeling.

We are in a project in the main Church this month. We are remodeling the women and men's bathrooms and making a nursing room for the 4 new babies in our Church. We have 3 girls and 1 boy, isn't this an AWESOME way for a Church to grow!!! We are looking to finish this project this week or the next. Speaking of projects, are you and your Church looking for a project to do, well look no further, we seem to always have projects and no money or help to do them. So maybe you would like to plan a trip down and include one of our projects in your plans. When we get home on furlow maybe we can get together and talk about what skills you have and plan your trip.This season has really taxed our transportation abilities. After the bus broke(died is a better word) we are challenged in our means of transport. Our van(16 passenger) has had as many as 36 people on board. We just prayed that the police would look the other way when we passed and not stop us to count heads.But the other day they took my license plate number(so I'll be getting a little card in the mail). Pray with us to be able to buy a bus. The other day while I was making the route the van was full to bursting and there were several people waiting, when the people saw that I was full several of them just turned and went back home. So you can see the desperate need for a bus. Our Sunday School attendance is down at least 60% since we don't have a bus. We also need prayers for the maintenance of the bus when we get one. The majority of the roads that we travel are not paved roads so the vehicles take a great beating. Anything that vibrate soon becomes a maintenance problem(i.e. shocks, mufflers followed by tires and batteries and electrical problems) but that is just another day. Here it is not uncommon to have to help push a vehicle,yours or someonelses, but through it all God is AWESOME.

The construction on the dormitory has been put on hold this month as we are doing the remodeling at the Church but soon there will be block making and block laying going again. I hope to have the walls done when we leave on the 5th of Feb. And if there are funds left, then the brick layer and the student will continue the work.

We will be in the States and be visiting several Churches, if you would like us to visit your Church let us know and we will do our best to get there.If not start planning now to come visit us when we get back to Brasil.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

Newsletter December

2008-12-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

I don't know about y'all but for me the time is absolutely flying. Now don't say it is only because of age(but in my case it may be). It's totally amazing to me how AWESOME and gracious is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He gives to us these many and abundant blessings, our health, home, happiness. and family. And on top of that He permits us to be a part of His AWESOME work, not needing us at all, but using us just the same. AWESOME!!!! Thanks Father.

Here in our city, Caraguatatuba the weather is constantly changing and in some cases at the same time. As I was driving into town this week at our home it was clear, one click down the road it was raining, the edge of town the sun was shinning and in town it was completely fogged in and I could hardly see. Needless to say our climate is really changing in relationship to past history and it has been doing so for the past 2 months. It rains almost daily and it is not the rainy season. However, life goes on and so does the ministry here.

The school is progressing or should I say the dorm at this time is under construction and progressing well considering the very wet weather. We have been working on the front of the dorm on the porch area. We are almost ready to pour the concrete floor. While we are in this slow mode we are cleaning some of the machines and doing maintenance. Our block making machine is getting a work out and requires a lot of lubrication and rust prevention, so we constantly do this so we can get the best results when making the blocks.

Our Sunday School ministry is really suffering at this time as we are without a bus to transport the children. We are using the van but with the limited space we can only transport a limited number. However the other Wednesday night as we were coming home from pray service I counted 29 adults and children ( this in a van with the capacity of 16) and I am sure that I missed a few small heads. As our ministry here involves several different neighborhoods the bus plays an essential part. As we are saving, shopping and praying for a new bus we ask for your participation in this project, whether you can be a giver or a prayer warrior because both are needed. The search for a good buss is showing us that the project will be an expensive one but our Lord solves small problems like that all the time. As I said the lack of the bus is hurting the Sunday School and I feel that the future of the Church is our children it is critical for us to have a bus. So watch and pray with us and together we will see what a great God we serve.

Our Mission Points are doing well and the Seminary here will complete this semester in two more weeks and will inter into our Summer break. This is the time for the Brasilian people to take vacations as in our summer there in the States. As a result our attendance suffers greatly but as a compensation we have many visitors in attendance.

I have had the privilege to preach in the city of São Paulo this month. One of our sister Churches had it's 42nd anniversary and I was invited to preach. The only down side to this is that driving in the heart of São Paulo is terrible. It is like being in a go-cart race with one wheel missing from your go-cart. Every car wants to be in the same spot at the same time. I took the van and 15 teenagers from our Church and we made the trip just fine.

Sometimes we forget just how effective our prayers really are. This past week Barbara and I finally got our permanent visa cards for here in Brasil. We have been in this process for 11 years and it is supposed to be a 2 year process. Now we can minister here without the cloud over our head that at any minute we could be sent back to the States. Thanks to all for the prayers and support over the years in this matter.

Well as December is beginning and the new year is near we want to wish Gods blessings on all and would like to thank everyone personally for your financial help and assistance this year. It is because of your generosity that we can remain on the field. As the following year promises to be even more challenging financially for you there we want to thank you in advance for continuing to support Baptist Faith Missions as it is through them that we do what we do here.

Again we can only say thanks and God bless you all and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

As we will be coming home in February we can talk face to face about your trip down to Caraguatatuba this year.I am sure that you will love our second home, Brasil and you need to see what God is doing here with your mission dollars.

In His service,
Aj and Barb
C.P.1151
Caraguatatuba, São Paulo
11672-300
e-mail: ajcaragua@gmail.com
phone:011-5512-3888-4189

Newsletter November

2008-12-15T14:56:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and family,

We have finally gotten into our new home but there are lots of boxes and things spread all over the place. The worst thing is that we are without a phone and e-mail, so we at]re a little bit cut off from the outside world. We are having to do this letter at a LAN house.

But in all this we serve an AWESOME Good. Our second grand daughter has arrived even though it was a little early all is well. Mary's blood pressure went up pretty high and the Doctor decided to do a cesarean. So Chelsea Isabell Hensley Quaresma arrived on the 30th of October weighing 9 pounds and 1 ounce. Mother and dad and baby are doing fine and back at home at this writing.She is our second grand daughter as Bryan and Jill gave us Briley Alaine in January and you know what everyone says is true, being a grandpa is wonderful!!!

This month we have continued the work on the dorm at the School property. Progress is a little slow as we are making the block for the building. We had some block that the Heritage Church group made but those are all used so we are making more as we need them. This helps in the out lay for the building and also teaches another profession. The walls are up to shoulder height and now we must take a week off the construction to make the next batch or block.

With the School and the tools and equipment we have on site it has make the construction possible. Without those resources this building would have cost prohibitive.It's AWESOME how the Lord provides and sustains.

The family that is living with us waiting their visa to go to the States are in the second step of the progress. They are waiting for the interview in Rio for them to receive their approval. Pay with us and them that all goes well.

Yes we have moved into the new house but there is still lots to be done. The inside is about 85% done and the outside is about 40% done. But here in Brasil the biggest part or homes are not finished on the outside so we just blend right in. .

The rain has been a factor, but not a stopping factor, we simply work around it. And with a mention of the weather this is not really our rainy season but the the past 6 weeks we have had lots of rain.But in spite of it all we are going forward with the two projects.

We have been having workings on Saturdays for one of the widows of our Church. She was evicted from her home and is now trying to build. The house is about 1/3 complete and the members are helping with labor and some supplies. Here we are completing on of our Biblical duties, helping the widows and orphans. Yes I did not say that she has 6 children from the age of 4 years to 16 years of age.She also has some medical issues so this would be one of our great request for prayer"Gloria and her children and the construction of their home.

We made another our of town evangelical trip this month to the mission point in Natividade da Serra. The van was full of our church members and they had a hot day of door to door evangelism. It is always good to see God working in our members as well as those folks there in another town. The pastor there is George and his wife is Alda. Remember them and their work in your prayers also.

We are planning to come to the States in Feb for a couple of months to do some visiting and see our family there. So if you would like to hear about the work here face to face please contact us and we will try to get to your Church to give you a report about how God is using your faithful giving. We solicite your help and prayers as always and want to thank everyone for their support for B.F.M. and us personally. This work( our ministry) is here because of YOU.

As always our door is open and we would like to show you our beautiful Brasil. So when are you coming?!!?

In His service,

Aj and Barb

2008-10-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and family,

Well another month has passed and we have been busy for the Lord. Our out of town evangelism is going very good and our home church members are getting experience in other territories. We went to Salesópolis, one of our out of town mission points, this month and our door to door visitation yielded results. We got there for Sunday School and participated in the morning service then went out to eat then hit the streets. We visited several hours doing door to door visitation and then went back to Church for the evening service. We were glad to see the couple that came to Church last month after our evangelism with their 3 kids. Also there were three visitors as a result of the afternoon visitation. It is always encouraging to see the results of your labor. It is a little harder here in this town as it is so small and hard core Catholic. So to God be the glory for the harvest.

Last night in our evening service we were celebrating the act of baptism and after 4 young people were baptized Pastor Epitacio brought a salvation message. And again God gave the increase, the parents of one of the candidates for baptism accepted the Lord as their Savior. How AWESOME is the God we serve!!!

The work at the Vocational School is at a temporary standstill as we are putting all our efforts into getting our home finished for us to move into in 2 weeks. We are painting,cleaning,repairing walls and floors. Pray for us as we complete this and move our furniture and belongings to the new home. Sometimes you don't realize how much you have until you move.

Our election for the city officials was this week and it is a little different than back home there. There were 10 positions on the City Council and we had about 200 candidates running for these positions. Our prayer is that those who were elected will govern with knowledge and better the situation of the people.

The weather here is very out of the ordinary in respect to the expected. It is the time for our dry season and we are having rain every day.I think we can all say that things are not a predictable as they used to be.

The young couple and their children that came to stay with us until they can get their visas to come to the States have been a blessing for us. Paul is helping in the reform of the house and Brenda is helping in the preparing of the meals for the workers. Pray with us and them that their paperwork goes smoothly and that they get to go to the States quickly. Paul has been able to preach at the main Church a couple of times and was received well by everyone.Their three children have brought new life to the house and are helping us get ready for the new grand daughter that will be arriving shortly. Mary and Walmir will be welcoming Chelsea into the world at the last of this month or the first of November. That will be our second grand daughter as Bryan and Jill have given us Briley as our first. Oh the blessings of being a grandparent.

Well, our bus took its last trips this week, as last night it broke down for the last time for us. We are going this week to see if we can sell them for scrap metal and perhaps use this as a down payment on a different more dependable bus.Having a bus for us is very important as the people here do not have transportation and this is how we bring the children to Sunday School and the adults to Church. We use the bus as a tool to bring people to Church to teach then about Gods word and to feed their souls. I don't think that there is a price for this because we are training the future workers for the Church. I am saying all this to demonstrate a need----the bus!! Here is an opportunity for you to be a blessing is the ministry here. Your financial help would be greatly appreciated along with your prayers about this purchase. Just to show you a little more the need, last night after the bus broke down we put around 30 people in the van that seats 16 and payed for at least 10 more to catch the city bus. This was just to get those that were on the bus back home after the Church services.

Once again I want to say that without your prayers and financial help our work would not be able to go forward. So THANKS for your love for us and the ministry here in Caraguatuba. We would be honored to have you and some of your friends come down and see just what God is doing with your prayers and money. Just let us know and we will pick you up at the airport and show you all the works here. Your bed is made and ready for your visit, so come on down.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Rua Prudencio Baeta 280
Caraguatatuba São Paulo
11672-300
E-mail: ajcaragua@gmail.com
Phone: 011-5512-3888-4189

house pix

2008-09-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

this is inside the addition that will be a bedroom

this is where we took the roof off and went up with the roof to make the room addition

here is the front of the house

here is the new front door

the dinning room and kitchen

the walls had to be cut because of humidity damage and the darker color is where we treated it and put back new concrete

2008-09-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

This has been another month that come and gone and we are looking around and saying "where did the time go?". This month we have concentrated on the house we have purchased. We got started last month and the work has continued into this month, that is the way with fixer-uppers. We have been blessed with a group from Virginia Beach this month which consisted of two who had been here before and eight that had not. This trip was primarily to see if here is a place that the youth of their Church could minister. And God in His wisdom sent workers so we put them to work on the house. We were able to accomplish various chores while they were here.

We kept them busy during the day with physical work and at night ministering in the various mission points. The ladies were gracious and brought studies for our ladies here for three nights on some of the women of the Bible. The studies were very uplifting and we here appreciated each and every one of them. We were able to travel to Salesopolis for the group to participate in the service there and one of the men was asked to bring the sermon.While they were here they began to plan for their next trip with their young people.

To explain a little about our purchase of a home, we decided that it was time to get out from under the load of rent and to have something of our own. The timing was right because Petro Bras(a Brazilian petroleum company) has purchased some land here in our city and they are establishing a refinery. This will make the cost of property go up and also bring in more work for the people and bring in more people to live here. So we decided to purchase before the prices went up. We are looking forward to this expansion in the city happening so that we will have more people to evangelize and more opportunities for our people to use what they are learning in the Seminary.

Speaking of the Seminary, we started back on the 5th of the month and we have 10 students. Mary's husband Walmir is in charge of this area of ministry here. There are blessings and burdens with this Seminary, the blessings are that more people are learning more of God's word and the burdens are the cost involved. Such as the purchase of class materials, books and reference materials. We are teaching the word to those who want to be pastors and also to those who want to teach in the Sunday School program.

Our evangelism program is going great guns. We are using every other Saturday to evangelise some part of our city or go to one of our mission points outside of the city. Our last trip outside of the city we did not have space sufficient to take everyone that wanted to go.What an AWESOME problem to have!!! So there many people that want to participate and we are trying to use every one of them.

The work at the School has slowed down some this month as the house has taken front seat in the need area. But the foundation is waiting for the blocks to be laid and we will be using the blocks that last months group made in that beginning. The carpentry shop is being used to help in the various things that are needed in the house and will see much more service in the building of the dormitory.The key shop is just waiting a place to set up to begin more training and the block machine is still just for now. This month there has been a young man learning and putting to use the knowledge of painting cars there at the school. So as you can see everything is in working order just needing more workers for the labor. For this reason the month slips by and we wonder where it has gone.

One thing that has happened this month that many of you will be interested and saddened to know. You that have followed our work here are familiar with the lady called Gloria, she lost her husband last year and works supporting her 6 kids selling fish. Her home is where the Texas group added to the porch to make a space for Tuesday night services. Well, this week she was evicted from the house where she lived. It is a long story and in the end she lost the battle and was evicted. We had to go move her to a 2 room house while she tries to build something that will house her family. But in the midst of all this the other converts have offered their kitchens for the Tuesday night services until she can build and have the services once again in her home. Her faith is a testimony to all of us here.

Our daughter Mary and her husband Walmir who live and work here in Caraguatatuba are expecting their first child and needless to say, grandpa is getting anxious. Barbara and I became grandparents for the first time in January when our son Bryan and his wife Jill had their first, Briley.Pray for our family there in the States (this is the one down side to being a missionary but the Lord gives what is needed in the time of need). We are feeling the absence from our grand baby there but God is giving us one here. With this arrival we will have two beautiful baby girls to be showing pictures of everywhere.

Pray with us for our ministry here in Caraguatatuba and the needs that we have. Come down and help us when you can, we will treat you so many different ways that you will have to like one of them.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

Newsletter for July

2008-08-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,
This has been another busy month for our Lord and Savior. This month we were blessed to have a group of 10 from Heritage Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky and a young lady from Gardenside Baptist Church in Lexington. There was not a minute that we were not doing something. We were able to put a coat of rust proof paint on the containers and a sealer on the Directors house on the property of the Vocational School. We also made blocks for the construction of the dormitory there on the property. We had people from the age of 12 to the age of past retirement doing this work.
Also we have been blessed to be able to purchase a home here for us and this group helped with the initial cleanup and the start of the remodeling of this property. We have been here in Caraguatatuba for over 5 years and have been renting. But with the drop of the dollar we found it to be more beneficial to purchase a home and get out of paying rent. We are doing some extensive remodeling as we bought a fixer upper. We hope to be able to move in about 2 months from now.
Another project the visitors helped in was the feed the children on Sunday morning. But when we arrived on Sunday morning to prepare the bread and hot chocolate we were told that our buss would not start and there would be very few children able to get to Church. So the men decided to see if they could help get the bus started with a push. So five Americans and a few Brazilians got behind a big buss and started to push. They got it to start but it was short lived so Aj took the mini bus and brought more than the limit in it. We have two buses that need to be taken to the scrape heap and sold for old metal. Then take what we would get and put it down on another newer bus that is dependable. If the Lord is impressing on your heart to help with this purchase please make your donations to buss for New Life Baptist Church Caraguatatuba.
We were able to take the group up to our farthest mission work in Natividade de Serra where Pastor George and his wife Alda work. We were there for the evening service on a Sunday and were blessed by a presentation of the youth there. God is blessing there in this work. We were sad to see the group go back to the States but all things must come to an end so we took them back to the airport and said our goodbyes and headed back to Caraguatatuba.
The following week we took the mini bus with 16 people from our Church to our second mission point outside of our city in the city of Salesopolis where Pastor Luiz and Dani work. We left at 6:00 on Sunday morning and arrived there in time to help with their Sunday School service and Pastor Walmir got to preach. We then went to lunch then hit the streets evangelizing. We had an AWESOME day. It concluded with me preaching at the night service. We arrived home in Caraguatatuba around 1:00. Tired but full of excitement for having seen Gods work being done and being able to preach His word.
If you would like to come down and see your mission work here in Caraguatatuba I am sure that we could let you too push a buss or make some blocks. Whatever is going on you could fit right in. So come on down the light is on and your bed is turned down.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

Newsletter for June Activities

2008-07-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

It is amazing how time flies when you are having fun. Thank the Lord our Saviour that we can enjoy working for his kingdom here in Brazil. We have had homecomings, workings and lots of visitation going on this month. The blessing have been showering down as God has been keeping us busy.

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, Barb was visiting the States to spend some time with her mother and our ever growing and lovely granddaughter. Barb got back home here on the 20th and I have to say, I missed her and am relieved to have her home back with me. She was thrilled to have spent the time with family and friends back in the States and I am glad God granted her traveling mercies to be back here with me.

We have continued working on the school property this month as well. The foundation and plumbing are in place and we have concreted in the side corridors and area behind where the dormitory will be. As in all things in Brazil, there are unexpected things that com up and you have to step back and punt. What we thought would take 2 trucks loads of dirt to fill in the foundation and level the ground around the foundation turned into 7 loads of dirt. In all things give thanks to God and we give thanks that the foundation got filled so we could pour the sub-floor and the dirt got leveled so we could pour concrete over it as well. We have continued to do some cleaning up and preparing as well as we will be receiving a group from Lexington at the beginning of July and we hope to have them help out with several things at the school property. We have also made some great progress on the office/classroom area on the school property as well. One of the shipping containers we have is being converted into an office/classroom area and we have the drywall walls up and even have the beginning of a ceiling in place. In the states we use drywall for all kinds of construction and it is readily available, here in Brazil it is just now coming into a time of being used so I am glad to see some materials that I am very used to using.

Our big events this month have been the visitation/evangelism that has taken place both outside and inside our town. First, on a Sunday, we traveled to our mission point in Natividade da Serra where Pastor Jorge and Sister Alda are in charge. Our van left Caraguatatuba at about 6 in the morning with the capacity of 16 in it. We left so early so we could spend the entire day in Natividade. We got to the church in time to participate in the morning service where Pastor Walmir preached that service. In the afternoon, we prepared evangelism materials and split the group up with some of the members of the church in order to go around town inviting the townspeople to the evening's service. As we visited, we shared the good news as the Holy Spirit opened the doors. One thing you have to know is that Natividade da Serra is a very, very Catholic town so we were worried about the resistance we may encounter, thanks be to our Lord and Saviour we were well received. We had a full church for the evening service around 53 including our 16 folks. I preached the service that night, some of our young folks played a special on the clarinet, saxophone and recorder, the group also shared special music and we were blessed to see three more souls enter the kingdom of heaven. AWESOME!! Three gentlemen accepted the Lord as their personal Saviour. After the service, one of these gentlemen made a commitment that he was going to purchase a piece of land for the church so that a building of our own could be built and we could stop having to pay rent. The land he is interested in donating to the church is on the same street just closer to town. We went and prayed in front of the property to ask God's blessing over everything. We also started our visitation/evangelism in town as well. We started in the community of Olaria where we have a building for the congregation. This visitation was on a Saturday and went along with the fact that we have service at that church on a Saturday night. We had about 20 church members going around inviting the community to the church service and sharing the gospel where the opportunity arose. That evening we had a special service in Olaria as the youth of our home church decided to come help with the service. It was standing room only that evening and as our Lord was praised in worship and the preaching of His word, we saw another soul come to be saved. AWESOME!!! As these first two visitation/evangelism visits have gone so well, we are in prayer that our visits in July to Salesópolis and the community of Barranco Alto and Morro de Algodão prove to be as fruitful. Please keep these 4 men in your prayers as well as our efforts in reaching those who don't have Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

As you are in prayer over these men and these works, we continue to covet your prayers over the situation of the weak dollar not only here in Brazil, but in the world. As in all things, we know that we serve a living God and He is capable of all things if we just ask. God continues to provide strength and workers for the harvest here in Brazil and we are hoping that you along with us will ask Him to supply our need.

We would love to have you come down and be a part of these works. Just give some notice and we will turn your bed down and put some more water in the pinto beans.

In his service
Aj and Barb

Evangelism Visit

2008-06-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hello all. My dad Aj and my husband Walmir took a group from our church here in Caraguatatuba to the mission point in Natividade da Serra to help with evangelism and visiting in general in that town. So the 16 individuals from our church left here early on Sunday the 15th to spend the day in Natividade.

They got there in time to participate in the morning service where Walmir preached to the adults.

In the afternoon they went around town sharing about the church and the services there and when God opened a door, they shared about the plan of salvation.

After all the visiting, they got cleaned up to run the evening service. Dad preached, a group of 3 youths played instruments as a special and the group sang as well.

They had 54 people attending the service that evening (this included our 16). God was good and the kingdom gained 3 new inhabitants that evening. And to add to that blessing, one of the men that gained eternity has said he is going to donate property for the church to build its own building. As dad would say, "AWESOME!!!!!!"

God is good.

June Newsletter

2008-06-03T10:05:00.001-07:00

Dear friends,

I cannot say it has been an uneventful month. We have seen some sad endings and happy new beginnings. Three of our brothers in Christ have gone to live with the Lord, 2 young Christians united in marriage and work has been going on at the property as well.

Sometimes we wonder if when we are doing evangelism in the communities, "Is it really necessary?" Well the first of the three who passed away was a 37 year old man who had heart surgery 6 to 8 months ago. He accepted Christ before his surgery while sitting on the front steps of his home near one of our preaching points (Barranco Alto). My son-in-law, Walmir and I had the privilege of not only leading him to Christ but being with his family at the hospital when he went to be with the Lord. We were also privileged to participate in his funeral service, or as my late father-in-law would have said, "His promotion."

The second brother who passed away was Walmir's father, Gibson. He was 60 and was cutting down some fruit for his grandchildren in the back yard of his home. He was talking with Walmir and another friend and he fell forward. Mary witnessed most of the event and did CPR until the Fire Department Rescue crew arrived. Gibson was pronounced dead about 45 minutes to an hour later at the hospital. It is totally awesome to preach a funeral when there are no doubts that a person has Jesus Christ in their lives. His testimony and witness demonstrated his commitment to our Lord and Saviour. He was one of the assistants at the preaching point where the first young man died.

The last man who passed away was a father to one of our faithful church members. He was not a member of our church but we were privileged to participate in his funeral. He had been an alcoholic and had accepted Christ late in life. He lived his last 3 years going to church and demonstrating a witness that his life had changed. How awesome is the Lord we serve.

In the midst of this sadness we did have the joy of witnessing 2 young Christians join in marriage. Both of these young people serve faithfully in church and we are looking forward to God using them even more as a married couple.

So even though we has what appears to be a very busy month, we are blessed because these 3 men and this couple ave the testimony they had and have Jesus in their lives. How awesome is the Lord we serve.

This month has also been very busy with the vocational school. We have been installing the foundation and plumbing for a dormitory. It has required a lot more dirt to fill than was anticipated. The work goes on and it is simply awesome how the Lord supplies.

We have planned our evangelism for the rest of the year. Included in this evangelism outreach are our mission points located out of our area, Salesópolis and Natividade da Serra, as well as the communities in town where we currently have preaching points or congregations. In all of this, especially the 2 missions out of town, the van will be serving a vital part! Without the van we would be unble to go and visit in these mission fields. It is awesome when we can take some of our church members and help our missions. Not only is it needed but out church members enjoy participating in this church work. In each of the 2 towns, we are planning to spend a day each month evangelizing and having a church service in the evening before returning home. In the local communities, we are planning on going door to door spreading the good news of the gospel. We will rotate through these areas through out the rest of the year.

Barbara has been in the States visiting with her mother and recuperating from her surgery these last 4 or 5 weeks. She has surely been missed here. Pray for her as she will be returning June 19th.

So as we are ministering here, we request your prayers for the work that is ongoing. It is because of wonderful people like you that this work continues. Pray with us for more souls for the harvest.

Thanks so much for your financial support and prayers. Remember, there is always a bed and extra beans for you here with us. Like Motel 6, we'll keep the light on for you.

In His service,
Aj and Barb Hensley

Check out the pictures

2008-05-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hello all!! This is Mary K. wanting you to check out the pictures we have posted to the Flickr site. You can go there and see the pictures of recent works, Mission groups pictures and family stuff among us Hensleys (and Hensley Quaresmas). The easiest way to check these pictures out is to click on the Flickr badge on the side of this blog. It will take you to the Flickr page where you can see all the pictures without having to strain to see the small pictures passing along in the Flickr badge.

Hope you enjoy seeing the progress in the work here in Caraguatatuba.

In His service,
The Hensleys

May Newsletter

2008-05-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and Family,

Things happen here just as they do in the States, Barbara has had hemorrhoid surgery and is recuperating here at home for the past 3 weeks. All is going well. She was in the hospital for one day and a half. And just to show you how God works, her surgeon was an acquaintance we made while studying Portuguese two years ago in San José dos Campos. Our teacher was a great Christian lady and her son-in-law, also a Christian, is Barb's surgeon. What a wonderful and AWESOME God we serve. Continue to pray for her recovery which at times has been painful but thanks to the Lord is now going wonderful.

Pastor Walmir, our son-in-law, and I have visited one of our out of town mission points this week. The distance is about 1 1/2 hours from our town. The town in named Salesopolis. We took several bags of clothes for the cold weather as it is beginning to be cold here and in this town even more so as it is in the mountains. The Church people have moved into a new building for the Church and are getting settled in. They will need to build some walls to divide for Sunday School classes. They also will need some appliances for their kitchen and paint for the walls and various other projects that will need to be done. They are very excited about their new building and the prospect of reaching more for Jesus Christ. There is still opposition to the Church there in the town, this week Pastor Luis was stopped on the street and told that their church was not the true Church. Pray for this pastor and Church.

This past week Walmir, Edson and I were helping a member of our Church close his business that was going under and while helping him I was able to purchase 3 computers for the Vocational School. We helped him remove his illuminated signs and made the comment that these would be good for the two mission points out of town and he offered them to us at a very low price. But we did not have the money to purchase them but before we had completed the three day moving job this man came to us and said that God had touched his heart to give the signs to the Church. Can you see the heart of a brother who is closing his business and needing every cent that he could raise but listening to the voice of God to give away the product that he needed to sell.God is always speaking, but are we always listening? In addition this man has volunteered to teach his computer classes to our Vocational school and at Church. How AWESOME is the God we serve.

Our pastor has been away this month to Manaus and I am having a wonderful time preaching Gods word every Saturday in the English Church and on Sunday in our regular services.This has been a double blessing in that we have gotten several of the people that attend the English services to come to our regular Church services also.

This month our plans were to begin the foundation for the dormitory but rain has delayed us. Sand, gravel, and cement is on the job site but we are stuck inside because of the rain.We are thinking of changing the name of our city from Caraguatatuba to Caraguata"chuva". Chuva means rain in Portuguese. Tomorrow we are planning to start digging if the Lord is willing. The "backhoe" is ready to dig,that is the Brasilian "backhoe" hoes, shovels picks and post hole diggers. Construction here is a challenge but when God is in charge all things are possible. We have been accumulating resources ($) for almost a year to get this project underway. We now feel that we can pour the footer--level the lot(perhaps 10 truckloads of dirt) and pour the floor and start the walls. This is one more item to put on your prayer list for our ministry.

Continuing with news of the Vocational School, we finally purchased the key making machine needed for this part of the School. The price wound up being R$ 1,530.00 Reais (almost $1000.00) The machine is paid for thanks to all who helped in this purchase. Isn't the Lord truly AWESOME?

We got our taxes finished there in the States and now we are working on the necessary paperwork for the same thing here in Brasil. We need proof that we have paid in the States so they wont charge us again here. Paper work is 10 times more here than there. But it looks like all is done to every body's satisfaction until another year. As I said at first, things happen here just like there.

We are looking forward to the groups that the Lord is sending this year. Are you part of any of them? If not you will be missing a blessing of seeing what God is doing with your mission dollars. Why don't you get a group together and COME ON DOWN. We will treat you so many ways that you will have to like one of them. Time is wasting, get your ticket and come see us.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara

April Newsletter

2008-05-27T09:41:00.002-07:00

Again, sorry for not posting in the proper time frame. mkhq

Dear Friends,

Well we have had a very busy month. We began last year a campaign to help the widows of our Church in their homes. We are remodeling doing necessary repairs to their homes and painting and helping with necessities--food clothing and etc. The latest project was for a widow with 4 children. Thanks to Mt. Eden Baptist Church in Western Ky. we were able to lay tile in her 300 square foot home and painted inside and out.Then the ladies decided that a new house deserved new furniture. So they went shopping and returned with new beds and mattresses and chest of drawers and closet. This has been nothing short of a miracle for us, the Church and for the mother and family. How awesome it is to be able to serve our Lord and Savior and at the same time get to see His handy work. How AWESOME is the Lord we serve. (Check out the pictures at our Flickr site)

The ladies helped the first day in the morning and then in the afternoon we held a Bible School in the mission point near where we were working on the house. We had on the average 45 to 50 for three days. It was a blessing to see these children listen to the Bible stories and do the crafts.

Our new mission endeavor, the English Church, is going well and growing. We have had from 1 to 5 visitors every Saturday and the news is getting out about the service. The other new mission endeavor in Massaguaçu, is still giving us a lot of challenges. In physical labor we are repairing the outside walking area, painting and some general repair. There is also the problem of getting the electricity hooked up, I really don't know what the problem is there but we are working hard to get the work up and running. We have painted our Church name on the building and the service hours and the neighborhood is starting to pay attention. We will start visiting in the area this week to let the people know that we are in the area. We have already gotten some comments and not all of them are good.The other day a car drove by and stopped and asked if this is another place of hades and then drove off. This is just a sign that we are needed in this area.

This month we are planning to start the foundation for the dormitory for the Vocational School. We have gotten 2 donations for this project so we have enough to get started. This will enable us to have a few more young men in training. We are praying about two young men in São Paulo. It would be great to have them here helping in the construction phase. This will be a part of their training, learning a work ethic. This project will go slow as our Pastor is traveling for a month to Manaus and I and my son-in-law will be in charge of our Church here. Preaching, teaching and taking care if the needs of the people. Pray for us as the work, physical and spiritual is going forward.Also Barbara will probably have surgery this month so I will be occupied in all areas of life.

There is lots of work to be done, many friends to make, and beans and rice to eat so come on down your bed is turned down.

In his Service,

Aj and Barbara

2008-03-05T03:26:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

This month we have been busy on two of our mission buildings. In Morro do Algodão, where we almost lost the building because of the rainy season and being flooded two times, we are painting, have installed a fan for the services, and are building a wall in front of the Church building. There is still much to do. Services are now going on in this building and we are beginning to see a renewed interest in the neighborhood. While the building was being repaired we were having services in homes in the neighborhood and our attendance fell. But with God's help we will see this Mission growing again. We have services here on Thursday nights.

In the Olaria Mission we have put concrete in the front of the Church building, poured a sidewalk beside the building, and this week the water was finally connected. Attendance is growing in this Mission point. We have services here on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Our two Mission points that are out of the city are doing good. In Natividade do Serra where Pastor Jorge is working has 8 people awaiting baptism. We are seeing continued growth there. In Salesópolis where Pastor Luis is working we are in a bit of turmoil: we find that the people that come to visit this church have some reserve about going through the pastors home to get to the meeting place. If you remember, the meeting place in inside the home of the pastor. We have found a building in the center of town (on the main street) that is for rent and has 5 smaller rooms off a big room. It looks like it is tailor made for Church and Sunday School. As usual the only problem is the rent, Pastor Luis and Dani have found a smaller house to rent and this will help with the cost of the new Church building. However we serve an AWESOME God and He is in control. Pray with us for these works and the other locations we have within the city limits. Our desire is to start another work down the coast line, this is in the future so put this on your prayer list.

We are also doing some much needed repairs on the main Church building. We are repairing the roof where we have some leek problems and are doing some much needed painting. It seems that there is never any end to the amount of work that there is to be done.

This week-end we are planning a working on the newest place where we will be beginning another Mission work, Massaguaçu. When this building is ready we will begin services there also.

As you can see there is no lack for places to preach the gospel here in Caraguatatuba. I have told you about the works and have not even touched on the Seminary that is about to start again after the summer break nor the plans for the construction of the dormitory for the Vocational School. But I'll save that for the next letter.

We have one more prayer request for you this month. The value of the dollar is declining here in Brazil and as you can see our work is increasing so it makes it difficult to do all that we need to do here. But the one thing that we know it that we serve a living God and He is capable of all things if we just ask. So we are hoping that you along with us will ask Him to supply our need.

We would love to have you come down and be a part of these works. Just give some notice and we will turn your bed down and put some more water in the pinto beans.

In his service
Aj and Barb

February Newsletter

2008-02-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

Friends,

We are back in Brasil after a quick trip to the States for the holidays. We took the opportunity to be together in the States with our entire family for the first time in years. Mary and her husband were able to go with us so that completed the family unit. We were not on furlow just on a family holiday. Our time there was wonderful.

Barb's mom had had a fall and we came to encourage her, but to be honest the main reason was that God had blessed our son and daughter-in-law with expecting our first grand daughter. We came to be present for the birth and God was good as he let us have two days with the most beautiful grand daughter we have ever seen. Her name is Briley Alaine Hensley and she and her parents are doing well. (photo included) What an awesome experience to get to hold your first grand child---just call me Grand Pa.

There was a 3rd reason for coming back to the States this time and that was Barbara's health. There were several tests that she needed to have done and past problems that needed to be re- checked. So she spent a bit of time in Dr's offices. Her previous problem had resolved itself but the Dr's discovered another small problem. We covet your prayers as we come back to Brazil to hunt a Dr for her so that the problem can be treated here.

Coming back to Brazil was quite a shock temperature wise. Here it is in the high 80s and the day we left the States it was 10. We are getting adjusted to the change and trying to get back into the routine. The ministries are going well considering the time of year, here it is holiday and everyone is either working as much as they can or is off somewhere on vacation. Here in Caraguatatuba we always have a decrease in attendance because of people working.

Our newest endeavor, the English speaking Church, is scheduled to start on the 16th of Feb. We are targeting the people that speak English and those that are studying in the schools that teach English as a second language. We covet your prayers as some of these people would never enter a Church if it weren't for something like this. When you remember this ministry we will be having the services on Saturday nights at 6:00 o'clock.

While we were home we were given a donation to help get the dormitory going. We have been saving another donation for some time now that was designated for the footer, so now we can get to work on this project. We will be making the blocks and letting them season while we are pouring the footer. Then we will start the walls. We will keep you up on the progress of this project.

While we are doing this we will need to attend to some construction problems that happened while we were in the States. Some of the roof on the mission point is Olaria blew off and needs to be repaired. Morro do Algodão still needs to be painted, tile on the floor and some concrete walks poured around the building.

We got back just in time to get the bills for the tax and insurance on the new van and our truck, believe me when I say, in the States we have it good in these areas. Also the repairs on these vehicles sometimes gets ahead of you because of the situation of the roads. Every 5000 miles or so I need to line and balance the tires. It is getting harder to keep up with these repairs as the dollar keeps dropping in value here. I know that we are not the only missionary that is having to look around to see where we can let somethings go for a while so I am asking on behalf of all of us for your prayers concerning our finances.

Pray with us as we minister here in Brazil and pray for our families there in the States and here in Brazil.

Speaking of family did I say that Grandpa is sending a picture of the gift that He sent to us on the 19th of January 2008? Well here it is, isn't she beautiful?!!?

I wish for God to richly bless you and yours this coming year.

Also don't forget--the light is on and your bed is turned down, so come on down.

In His Service,
Aj and Barb

Here is our first video

2007-12-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

Check out this short video about us in Brazil .

Bible School Saturdays in Perequê

2007-11-14T09:32:00.001-08:00

In the house of Sister Jandira

The days lesson was on Jesus and His Disciples

Bible Drills

Coloring page

Van Pics

2007-11-14T06:38:00.001-08:00

Loading the folks from Morro de Algodão to return home after Sunday Morning Sunday School.

November Letter

2007-11-03T05:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

This month has been a little slow due to the fact that I have been down with various illnesses. For more than two weeks I have been without energy and having difficulty breathing. But you know what God does not need us to fulfill His work He just keeps on going even when we can't.

Let me tell you about the miracles and blessings that He has worked as I watched His handy work. Last month I wrote about the house we helped to remodel for the family that had lost the father and for the extra space for the services we were having there. This family was struggling financially because of the loss of the father and the 16 year old daughter was having health issues that was costing more than they could afford.This girl, Audriele, was diagnosed with cancer and the mother was distraught trying to get the medical help that was needed.The mother, by selling fish, was able to get the basic test done but the Doctors were undecided about the diagnosis and asked for a more extensive test. Here we have socialized medicine and the daughter was put on the list for this much needed test for the Doctors to be able to agree on her diagnosis. But the waiting list was one year and her problem was not going to wait for one year. Well the First Baptist Church in Bastrop Texas was here and the Pastor took this problem back to his Church and they sent money for us to pay for the test. This week at our prayer meeting Gloria, the mother, told us THE REST OF THE STORY. The Doctors read the results of the test and were shocked that there was nothing present that was on the preliminary testing, so they ordered another test to prove whether they were reading the test right or not. When the test results came back the Doctors could only shake their heads in disbelief. There no longer was any cancer and they were shocked, But we here in Caraguatatuba were not because we know the DOCTOR who is still in the MIRACLE business. Thanks to all who prayed for this girl and this family, continue to pray for the family because the mother has been diagnosed with heart problems and we need another miracle.

The blessing of the month is that the van/bus was purchased has been put it to use. This past week our bus broke down and we were able to fill the gap with the new purchase. Also we are able to do many more ministries because of this purchase. Thanks again to those of you that helped us with this purchase.

Good news about our Church building in Morro do Algodão (the one that has tilted over 12inches out of level). This building has been out of use for about one year and we have been holding services in homes. We now have returned to the Church building this is the second week. Oh yes there is still work to be done but this is not stopping our services. The things that are still needed is tile on the floor, sidewalks and paint.Thanks to our AWESOME God for each success.

Barbara and Edson have started another Saturday bible school in Pereque. On the first Saturday they had 10 children and on Sunday one of the children accepted Christ as Savior. We are excited to start again a work in this area as we don't have an ongoing work there at the present time. As is always the needed supplies are costly so we would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support to us here in Brazil.

The latest work has not begun as of yet because of the lack of materials for the preparation of the building. God was good to us in that He is providing the building for the first year without rent but we need to make some needed repairs. Therein lies the delay. The name of the neighborhood is Massaguaçu, remember this new work in your prayers.

We need two things(maybe three) from you there in the States, your prayers your financial support and your visits. If I were you I would be curious to see how your donations were being spent, so please come down and experience the work of God here in Caraguatatuba.

In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley

Hello to you all

2007-10-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hello to those of you who have come across this page by accident or on purpose. We hope you take some time to read what we have posted.

My parents, Aj and Barbara Hensley surrendered to the mission field in 1996 and followed God's calling to Brazil where they are currently situated in the town of Caraguatatuba. I found my way to be here too since I met my husband while visiting my parents.

In an effort to remain connected as much as possible, we have created this blog. The monthly updates will be posted as well as random information and prayer requests. You will notice on the sidebar are some links and other information. This will be updated on a semi-regular basis. We are also posting pictures on another webpage. There is a link in the sidebar to those pictures. If you have a blog and would like to be part of our links, let us know.

We hope you enjoy the blog and we look forward to hearing how you like it (or not). hehe

Love and hugs,
mkhq

October Newsletter

2007-10-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Thank the Lord we have had a very busy month. We have been able to work on one of our house-churches and now in this location we have the capacity for about 50 plus people.

Let me back up a bit and explain, we have had a group of 10 from The First Baptist Church in Bastrop Texas. I have a brother that is a member and deacon in this Church and he brought this group to visit the work. They furnished the finances for us to refurbish a veranda (porch) area to accommodate more people. Two weeks ago when I preached there we had 24 people and we were in the living room and down the hall.I could not see everyone that was there so a couple of times during the sermon I tried to move around but could not because of the children that were sitting on the floor. So what an awesome blessing, This area now has more space to accommodate more people. For us here this is nothing short of a miracle. Not only did we make new friends from Texas but we gained a larger area for meetings and that equals more people hearing the gospel. How Awesome is the God we serve. In addition to the larger area there were two ladies in this group that decided that the bathroom needed some rrenovation, so they (these ladies) layed tile and redid the bathroom for her. This spurred the men on to replace the tile above the sink area in the kitchen. For Gloria, the home owner, this was a dream come true. She told the group that she had dreamed about doing these things to her home but never could have done this on her own. Gloria was widowed last year and is the sole support of a family of 6 children, she does this by selling fish. Some may ask "Why start a house Church here"? The answer is this, for people like Gloria and her neighbors who do not have the financial means to come to the main church in town. It cost 2.20 per person for one way bus ticket. So you can do the math and see the need to bring the Gospel to the people.

The other 4 ladies and Barb did a week of bible study and craft classes with the ladies in another mission point. These ladies are new Christians and are hungry for the Word. In these craft classes these ladies learned a craft that they potentially can make and sell to help with their finances in the home. In this particular area our members are 2/3 below the poverty level. The ladies also made banners to help beautify the mission point and to help with the echo problem in the concrete building. All in all the time spent with these ladies was a very good time for all.

Here is another blessing we had while the group was here, their pastor came with them and he taught in our seminary.Dr. Edge lived and studied in Israel so one of the sessions was on ancient languages. Our seminary students and our Church members received an AWESOME blessing.Dr Edge was able to not only teach in two sessions of our seminary but he was able to preach in our other locations the other nights. So we pushed him to the limit but the people were the winners in being able to hear Gods word preached and to fellowship with other believers.

We have two pressing prayer request for you to add to your daily prayer list.(1) Our Seminary, this is a training tool for those interested in Church leadership. We have 3 men expressing a desire to be pastors, so we need your prayers for them as they study and for Gods protection.We need more helpers as we try to cover the needs in 7 locations,4 permanent locations and 3 house-churches outside of the Main Church. In each of these locations we try to have 2 services per week and usually bible school on Saturdays for the children. Our need for more workers is great- pray for the Lords guidance and direction. (2) Buses, we have two ancient buses that we run on Sunday morning and night. If one is broken down(this is a regular occurrence) the other has to do double duty. The greatest need right now is tires,we have just had two blow outs from dry rot and the others don´t look much better than those that blew out. The cost is $800 per tire and we are asking that you pray about this need and if God lays on your heart to help we will thank you in advance.Thank you for your constant prayers on our behalf and for your interest in missions.

Now for a blessing that we have realized this month: We received the funds to be able to purchase the van for the use in the School and in the ministries of the Church. "THANK YOU" to all who contributed to this blessing. We have already been able to use this van in so many ways for the Lord. Again "Thanks"!!!!!!!

We are planning to come home for the Christmas holidays to spend some time with family. But there is still 2 months before this time that you could come down and see what God is doing with your mission dollars. The bed is turned down and the light is on on the front porch. So Call and come on down.

In His service,

Aj and Barbara