The school year will soon come to a close. We only have about four weeks left and then we will have graduation on the 15th of November. This semester Jonathan has been teaching Pastoral Ethics and the Biblical books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. This year we will graduate 5 students in the program. Working with Pastor Nathanael who is the director of the Seminary and Bible School (SETELL)as well as the Pastor of Central church in Campo Mourão, has been a great experience. He is a great administrator, gifted agriculturalist, great hair stylist and very creative in ministry. Recently he baptized a lady who is 107 years old. She is the first to become a Christian in her home, and came under much opposition from her family. To get her ready for the baptism, he went to her house and did her hair. I think it probably was the first time she had had her hair done by a professional, and most unique was that this professional was her pastor who lead her to the Lord.
Last week Pastor Nathanael and Missionary Jonathan vaccinated 45 sheep at the Camp in Campo Mourão. In November we will do it again, and in December we will sheer them. Pastor Nathanael (Nata – as he is affectionately known here) has also started to raise some 300 chickens to help cut some costs in food for the seminary and orphanage. At the Seminary we are completing three rooms for guests and leadership who rent the campus for special events. Next school year we plan to make some important changes so that we can better serve our churches through the schools, and also increase our enrollment. Working with Pastor Silvio dos Santos has also been a good experience. He is the President of the Association in Brazil, The President of the Miriam Infant Home administrative board, a pastor in his local church and Treasurer of the Bible Camp Board, as well as General Manager of a Aluminum Forging company. He is a very capable and wise man, great teacher and leader. Pr. Silvio came to know Christ as a young boy at our Bible Camp. During all his growing up years, his father was in jail. His mother became a cook at our Seminary and has been with us for some 20 years. His sisters are also very active in our church. He is married to a wonderful wife and has two children, a daughter who is 15 and a son who is 13. Working with Pr. Nata and Pr. Silvio through these very hard times of transition in the church in Brazil, gives us the confidence that things are all going to work out and our church in Brazil is going to continue to grow.
