A group of volunteers cleaned the building
Francisco and Eduardo, before Francisco left for the US
Francisco gave great adult classes
Adriana invited us over for her birthday. "Parabens!"
I had the privilege to help with the youth event in Sao Vicente. Some of these kids first came to the church when we had an event called Games for Brothers at our house.
For our devotional we watched part of "The Jesus Film" and talked about the way Jesus treated people.
5 from Praia Grande participated along with the kids from Sao Vicente.
Teenagers are camera shy in any culture, it seems.
Lucas
Our kids class is growing, and the Ladies do a great job of teaching them.
The School of the Bible class on Tuesday Nights, studying their way through the New Testament
The cell group in Boquerao, with Eduardo, Chris, Silvio, and Denira.
Maria, who studied with Francisco on Sunday mornings.
Chris leading singing
Our new water tower, provided by a generous donation from Marlene Kelley. Thanks!
Lines are something we have to deal with on a daily basis here in South America. Above you will see the line from the Loterica, a place where people pay a variety of bills and buy lottery tickets. Here the line to pay bills goes around the corner.
This is the line in the Banco do Brasil, where I have to pay one bill every month.
Here you can see on my slip of paper that I am number 116. By the way, the sign in the background says, "Now serving number 79." This was so I could deposit money in the church account. When we work in other countries, our sense of time and accomplishment are tested as we discover that things simply take longer to get done.
Sebastian preaches for the congregation. This brother is a real blessing to the work here. He has a lot of experience and training as an evangelist, and is a great encourager.
This is one of the offering I referred to in a previous newsletter: an offering of wine, rice, beans, and roses to please whatever saint or demon people want to ask for their desires. This was taken on the corner of one of the main roads, right in front of the fruit market, on market day.
This is one of the Ladies' Invasions, when they went to Fannie's house (in the middle). Fannie is studying with Gilda (2nd from right) and Sebastian.
Alessandra and Gilda, in Gilda's home in Mirim.
This is what we call Churrasco (pronounced chew-haas-coe). Meat grilled on a spit. Mighty good.I hope you can see from these pictures that the congregation is growing in maturity; each member is participating more, and appreciating one another to a deeper level. Visitors are greeted warmly. Neighbors are studying with members, not just with us. I can't take credit, really, for all these good things, because they are the work of the Lord. but if He isn't' behind the growth of the church, it does us no good to work here. We're thankful that He is truly providing increase and multiplying our efforts. we pray He will bless you all as well.
