January 2010

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

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

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

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

Some recent piuctures

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

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