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