| Dear Friends,
 As always there is much more to write than most of you will ever read, so I will be quite selective. As you have read in the past letters we have been living a time of exciting growth in depth of maturity among (but not limited to) the youth in Bateias. Praise the Lord that this growth has continued so far, and pray that it may continue.
The month of September seems to have just flown by -- what’s new? Due to the fact that several times each week there are meals for groups of people and Bible studies and prayer meetings and sleepovers... the Abel residence has become known, among friends, as the “Party House.” I am excited for the return of my parents even though it will change the routine of the home a bit. My parents have always had an open house where ministry is always welcomed and encouraged, and it will continue to be so. Yet, some things will inevitably have to change, such as the very late nights and the frequency of such opportunities.
The past three weekends I have had 8+ guys sleepover both Fri/Sat and Sat/Sun. These are wonderful opportunities to get to know people more in depth and to get the chance to pull people aside and have those necessary one-on-one conversations about life!
The main themes that I have been teaching about are: Gospel of Grace (aka the good news that Jesus paid it all! Col.2:13-14), New Life (other than old life 2 Cor. 5:17-21), Victory in the love of Jesus(Rom. 8:37), and Freedom (Romans 8:14,15).
With the middleschoolers I have been doing weekly adventures (hiking, biking, camping, woods-ing...). These “adventures” always include lessons and examples of doing all things for the glory of God with thanksgiving.
The “young” men’s group has finished Ephesians and now we are walking through Philippians! I love how loaded Paul’s epistles are. Every verse seems foundational, each chapter better than the last!
The music ministry in our church is going through some struggles. Please pray for the problems to be solved well.
During this past month I have also scheduled times for evangelizing three or four times each week. I have been doing that at the skatepark in Campo Largo, and it has been rewarding. I am always amazed at the opportunities that God fashions for me when I let go of control and allow Him to use me. There is a Tenth Avenue North song that says: “You(God) say, 'Let it go.' You say life is waiting for the ones who lose control.” This is a continual lesson that I am trying to learn and exemplify.
Though I am positively involved here in helping things along by intentionally encouraging, challenging, teaching and discipling and leading, I have been evaluating what the next step for my life is. With the prospect of potentially leaving here I have been strategizing about how to transition out without leaving “sheep without a shepherd,” and how to transition the church into the next step in the fulness of Jesus. One thing that should aid in this process is a weekly Bible reading night that we will be starting within a couple of weeks. “Faith comes by hearing.” We have many in our church who have no habit of reading, are poor readers or even who are illiterate. The idea is that we will read the Bible together. Whoever is faithful to the weekly meetings will be able to soon say that they have read the entire Bible. The meetings will not be Bible studies with a prepared devotional, rather they will just be meetings for the corporate reading of Scripture. We are expecting to start mid-October.
The end of the year is coming soon with all its activities and decisions. So, once again I ask for your prayers as I try to discern God´s will for the next steps.
I would like to thank you all so very much for your support both in prayers and in financial gifts. I would be a fool to think that there could be any spiritual success in my ministry without your prayers. And I have been able to serve unhindered and bless freely because of your giving. When I have people over, I can feed them; when people need rides, I can give them; when people ask for help, I can help because you have given. I have never lacked anything!
Thank you and Praise be to God! God bless you all, Mafú | 
