April Newsletter

First of all, we want to thank all of you who have been praying for our safety over the last month. We appreciate it deeply. Safety continues to be a concern for us as we work on the house and try to establish routines after the attack, both at home and at work. God has been with us and we trust firmly that if He wants us here, and we believe he does, then here we will stay until He decides otherwise, and not anyone else. But we do try to do all in our power not to temp fate.

We began last month with a neighbors meeting to talk about security. We met the neighbors, had barbecued hamburgers, and visited for about two hours. There was a firm commitment

from all that we would watch out for each other, especially while leaving and arriving, and be each other’s security service. Our neighbors are all very nice and we feel grateful for the opportunity to meet them all, build relationships, and share the good news with them.

Our house continues to be under construction. The front wall is almost done now, lacking only the final stonework and the installation of the new doors. Work has begun on the back of the house (breaking the existing wall) in order to upgrade the wall to be able to accept the electric fence. While this is a nuisance in the short term, it will be great to have the added safety once it is done.

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on March 17th. We treated ourselves to an evening in São Paulo and a concert. It was a wonderful moment of peace in a busy section of our lives.

Chris continues to study with Marcos from São Vicente and Pedro, our newest member. Claudio, a regular visitor for the last month, placed membership on Sunday. He is very excited to continue learning and has enrolled in the School of the Bible on Saturdays.

The School of the Bible is finally open! We opened on the 25th of March, a terribly rainy day, but in spite of that have 13 students now enrolled: Neuse, Edmilson, and Nivaldo on Tuesday evenings, Lourdes and her daughter Adraiana on Wednesday afternoon, and Adauto, Jane, Ailton, Claudio, Luis, Elma, Eduardo, and Marly on Saturday mornings. Marly is a visitor in our small group that meets at the Rodriguez home. Please pray for these new students. They are all eager to deepen their understanding of God’s word, and therefore, His will.
The Churches of Christ have an annual men’s retreat called ENOC and a corresponding ladies’ retreat called ENOCA. We were blessed with the chance to participate this year and met many wonderful members of the church from all over Brazil. Jonathan really liked the jungle gym.

We are thankful to those of you who wrote letters of appreciation to our neighbors and the police who helped us the night of the assault. Last week we had the chance to go and present the letters to the sergeant of the police battalion nearest to us. He was very gracious and pleased to receive them. We offered our help to anyone in the department who might need spiritual counseling or study, as people who risk their lives daily for other’s safety. He invited us to return and talk to the Captain when he was there, and we made arrangements to do just that.

Crime still continues to be a problem here. The other day while Chris was at driving school to get his license renewed a man was shot 3 times while trying to foil a robbery attempt down the street from the school. Later during the day, he and his driving teacher witnessed an assault on a motorcyclist in a parking garage downtown. We appreciate your continued prayers for safety.

Some of you may have heard about the Dengue fever outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, just a short plane trip from São Paulo. The military has set up emergency facilities to deal with the growing number of victims. We didn’t pay much attention to it until the first fatality this year in the state of São Paulo occurred—here in Praia Grande. There are now three confirmed deaths from Dengue here in the city. See these sites for more information: http://www.cdc.gov/NCIDOD/DVBID/DENGUE/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23736088/
We appreciate your prayers for us and all of Brazil.

Even though reports of crime and epidemics create a great stir, it is important to note that we are already in action to combat the greatest threat to human life: sin. It destroys families, wrecks marriages, causes addiction, creates ignorance and enslaves all of mankind. Let’s keep in mind that if the problem of sin is treated, the threat of death loses its scariness. Homes are healed. Lives are changed. In other words, good overcomes evil. Thanks be to God that in Jesus Christ, the solution is already here. May this message reach all in Praia Grande, and the world, who need it.

Firmly,

Chris, Alley, and the family