July activities

The move from our old building to our new location. We really really like the new one better.
Francisco helping load the moving van... er, the moving VW van flatbed...
Jonas, one of my students from the School of the Bible, helped out all day.
Not much left now
The former kids classroom
The former kitchen/fellowship area

Our new place needed some renovation as well. Luckily, the bar came right out and all we had to do was paint the wall.
The cleaning crew was rewarded with a nice lunch made right in our new kitchen.

The other side of the classroom is our kitchen/staircase. It is cozy, but has worked wonders and is even a major evangelistic tool.
The new kids' classroom is cuter, better-organized, and yes, a little smaller.
The new kitchen is a real step up from the old one, which was outside and leaky. It is a little tight, but it is clean and has no leaks.
The first worship service in our new place was full of energy. We can sense that God is going to grow us and bless us as a church in this place, even though our hopes are that in a few years we can move again into a permanent facility. Keep that in your prayers!


The old financial officer (Chris) breaking in the new treasurer (Liduina). Working with numbers is a great gift when used in service to the kingdom. Accounting can be daunting to some, but is an absolute necessity to good stewardship. Liduina will serve as the treasurer after our return to the US, together with others in the congregation like Jorge, who already signs off with her after counting the offering. These details may seem insignificant, but they are milestones in planting a mature congregation, especially when starting from zero.
Our move has brought us 10 new kids every Sunday. Pray for them. They are high-energy, love Bible class, and are a fantastic opportunity for evangelism as well.
The Kids celebrated their birthdays in the church building this year (Jonathan turned 5, Stephanie 4). The event had over 50 people, including many new members from the neighborhood who helped in many ways. Showing the Church as a family is one of our biggest assets when we seek the lost in Praia Grande.










The above video is the baptism of one of the twins from Sao Vicente. They were both baptized on the same day, witnessed by the Praia Grande and Sao Vicente congregations, after many years of patience on the part of the Sao Vicente congregation. Praise God for this encouraging victory!

February

Hello everyone! This last month has been very rewarding for us. We hope that you all have been blessed and grown spiritually as well.
We averaged 24 adults and 7 kids for worship in January. January is summer here, so we always have the blessing of a few visiting families.

Liduina and the kids' class

In January we had the pleasure of hearing Carlos Guerrero preach again. Carlos is a very encouraging brother who always greets us with a smile. He is a dedicated brother who will be a blessing to the congregation as we work him into the worship schedule.

Carlos preaching in Praia Grande

Continent of Great Cities hosted a missionary conference in Itu the first week in January. Itu is just two hours from us, so we had the pleasure of five days of great teaching by Don McLaughlin from Hebrews, as well as treats from the US. The best part was meeting many other missionary families on the field, some whom we had not seen since our training in Abilene.

Don McLaughlin concludes our study of Hebrews

Missionary Conference participants in Itu

When we returned form the conference, it was time to run some tests on Jonathan. He has an undescended testicle, and will have to have surgery to correct it soon. He was born that way, but in Argentina we were told by his doctor to not worry about it. Here they said that it would have been corrected in the first year. We were a little shocked to discover that what we thought had been good care had in fact been lazy and primitive. So we set about getting the pre-surgery tests taken care of, which included a round of hormone shots that could have resolved the problem without surgery. They were six shots, one per day, in the bottom. Jonathan did a great job handling that, but by the end he was wary of even driving by the clinic. The last test was a blood test, and, well, it is hard for kids to have blood taken, especially when they are already very wary of needles. We were thankful for that to be over. So please keep Jonathan in your prayers as we schedule his surgery. We will try to let you know as things progress.

I continue to preach and teach classes in Praia Grande, and preach occasionally in São Vicente. While the School of the Bible has been out for the summer, I have been preparing the last part of our three-part course, which will begin in two weeks.
Aside from those normal activities, we organized a youth event in Praia Grande at the end of January. The theme was Summer! So we decorated with surfboards and beach umbrellas, made punch, and had a great time. When the kids arrived, we greeted them with some popular Hawaiian phrases. The game-show style activity and devotional were all aimed at teaching the kids to evaluate the message of the world, and decide who they should trust-God, or TV, the Internet, and friends. We hope this will be the first of many activities for the youth here in Praia Grande. There were 11 kids, and 8 adults helping with the event. Alley's sister and brother-in-law came down and helped us with the activities, adding the wonderful energy that only two thespians can. Thanks, Jefferson and Priscila!

Priscila, Chris, and Jefferson personify the messages of the world

Thanks to our lunch helpers, Ofenisia, Francisco, Marcia, and Silvana

"Mahalo na'a loi" or "Thanks for coming!"

The year is looking like it will be a busy and full one, and we hope and pray that that means growth in the church here through the School of the Bible, personal studies, visitors, youth activities, and everything we do. Please join with us in praying for four full classes, lots of open hearts, and the wisdom to do all that we can to preach the Gospel!