November

November brought us a fantastic chance to go visit the Capitol of Brazil, Brasilia. Alley's brother and sister-in-law are working there with the church, so we took some vacation time to get to know that city. It was truly a wonderful and interesting trip. We both love history, and enjoyed getting to that part of Brazil's past. Brasilia is quite unique, as a city that was planned and entirely built in about five years.


We were also very blessed to receive Paul Hinds and Dan Goodyear, elders from Southwest. They came to see the work firsthand and also spoke to the congregation and guests in a week-long seminar. The themes of the week were Servanthood, the Word, Every Member is a Minister, Not under Law but under Grace, and Eldership. These two humble men made a deep impression on the hearts of the church here. Members to this day still ask about Paul and Dan, and even some of the visitors from the School of the Bible send them a vicarious hug now and then. Not only was it a tremendous boost to the church, but to Alley and the kids and Francisco and Liduina also. We were blessed by the men's study time, visitations, and even mealtime as times to be encouraged by these older brothers in the faith. Thanks to you both, and to Southwest for sending them.

Men's morning devo at the waterfall

Sebastian and Gilda made us a cake.

The kids painted while the adults talked

November 15th was our first congregational meeting. We took the chance to talk about our building contract and finances. This was the first time ever we had a congregational meeting, and thie first time ever that they saw the church finances. There's not much to tell about the numbers, but it was a great opportunity to begin a tradition of transparency and accountability in the congregation.
Ready for the congregational meeting

Many members commented afterward that they liked that leadership style. Brazilian church leaders typically don't let anyone know about that sort of thing. One decision that came out of the meeting was to look at the possibility of renting in another location for security reasons. Our current contract expires in August, and we are looking into the possibility.

November was a great month. Encouragement came in many forms. We just thank you all for your continued prayers for us and the church here.