Newsletter for July

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

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

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

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

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

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

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