November Update from Paul and Becky Abel

Thanksgiving! Lots of reasons for being grateful! The top of the list must be the grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father. “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” James 1:17 How thankful we are to know the Father through His Son Jesus, the Light of the world! The other blessings we receive are merely reflections of His goodness.

We participated in a very nice Thanksgiving celebration with other Americans at the Baptist church in Curitiba on Thursday night. It was great to have the traditional meal without any work (this year I didn’t have to lift a finger to enjoy Thanksgiving!) However, we are missing family and friends with whom we have shared Thanksgiving for many years.

Since I wrote last month our life has been filled with interesting moments. Perhaps the most newsworthy has been the arrival of Clovis to live with us. Neighbors of our church in Campo Largo informed us of a street man who was sleeping in the entryway of our church for several nights. One day Paul arrived early enough to visit with this man who has lived on the streets for over five years. Paul discovered that he had taken a vow of poverty in hopes of somehow helping his family. The following Sunday morning (Oct. 29) Clovis woke up late and was still at church when we arrived for Sunday School. Paul invited him to participate. When he showed interest in joining us for the evening Reformation service in Curitiba that night, Paul thought we had better take him home and get him cleaned up first. He has been living with us every since. Clovis has an interesting story and we believe the Lord put him in our way for an eternal purpose. As a part of his vow he refuses to wear shoes or to sleep on a bed. He also does a partial fast every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, eating only bread and fruit. He is a kind person (over 30 years old) who never learned to read or write and has no documents whatsoever. Paul patiently teaches Clovis from the Word of God several times a day trying to help him understand God’s plan for his life. He also purchased a saw and made a table for him to make some crafts which he sells on the street. Clovis has been a very polite and helpful person and he has no bad habits usually associated with street people (drinking, smoking, drugs, stealing). We are praying that he will come to faith in Jesus alone and that we can help him become a regular citizen. We thank the Lord for the offer of a Christian man in our community to hire Clovis as a caretaker. Please pray that this whole process will be a blessing in Clovis’ life and that he would soon understand the truths of the Gospel and accept Jesus as His Lord and Savior.

Marcia and her daughters continue on with us. The father of her children has not shown any interest in seeing the girls and has not helped her in any way since she left him 7 months ago. Marcia is a hard worker and has been able to make enough money cleaning houses to support her daughters. She has a brilliant testimony and is always ready to lend a helping hand. I think I forgot to mention in my last letter that our friend Judah from Canada was not able to renew his visa and returned to his homeland in October. We hope he is doing well but have not had much news from him since he left our home.

Another reason for thanks is the successful mission trip that members from our Bateias church participated in the first weekend in November, taking advantage of a holiday (All Saints Day) to spend 3 days in the “back 40.” The weather was very threatening. It had rained for days and the roads were terrible, but that didn’t discourage anyone. We looked for another longer route to get to our destination without the risk of getting stuck in the mud. This was the second trip to this area called Canha where relatives of a lady from our Bateias church live. No running water and an old outhouse was a new experience for some of the 25 people who participated in this trip. Everyone pitched in to help with the visits and special programs for children and adults during the two days of ministry. Several people prayed to receive the Lord after the presentations in the form of puppets, skits, Bible stories and the Jesus film. We also distributed food and many clothes as the people in this area are very needy. The trusty ARCA bus got stuck in the mud the last day, but Paul successfully towed it out with our car and everyone arrived safely home again. We hope to return and continue to teach these people in the future.

The end of the year is fast approaching and with it lots of meetings and activities. Both of our churches as well as the ARCA board have their annual meetings at the end of the year. We have hosted several large groups with meals recently - just so that I don’t get out of practice in the kitchen☺. I am directing a joint choir for Christmas with participants from Bateias and Campo Largo. And this week we will be traveling to Campo Mourao once again to lead choir practices with the students in preparation for the graduation on Dec. 1. We were there the end of October and had important moments of ministry with our students and with other special people in Campo Mourao, including a visit to one of our “sons” who used to live with us.

We do see our girls every week and try to get together for a meal where we can catch up on each other’s lives and ministries. They will be here tomorrow along with other relatives for our Thanksgiving celebration. Our grandchildren are precious and keep us smiling. It will be fun to have the joy of little ones for Christmas.

There are so many other things I could share with you, but this gives you a little peek into our world for this month. We want you to know how much we appreciate your prayers on our behalf. For those of you who support us financially, we pray that the Lord will continue to impress on your hearts the importance of this ministry and our gratefulness for you.

Love in Jesus, Paul and Becky