July letter

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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