Hi Everyone!
Another month has swiftly flown by! Our Youth Camp last weekend at the ARCA was a blessing! The weather was perfect. We had a small group of 50 people. Many teens from Bateias (from low income families) were 
able to participate because of Bible Camp Scholarships given by the Salem Free Lutheran women in Freeman, SD. Our heartfelt thanks for the help! Two of the girls are pictured with Paul and Yara. The theme of the weekend helped campers reflect about the things they needed to renounce or give up in order to let Jesus have first place in their lives. 
Pastor Joel was used by God to develop the theme verse - “If any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Matt. 16:24. Pray for these teens who are now back in the reality of the secular world surrounded by temptations and non-Christian values. May the Holy Spirit strengthen them to live for Jesus and choose to walk the narrow path that leads to life.
August will be remembered as the H1N1 month. Schools and colleges were closed down for two to three weeks, many large churches cancelled all their services, and even some shopping centers closed down. The scare has somewhat subsided now after several days of sunny weather, but there is still a deep concern. Young and old alike are washing their hands more than ever before and the stores cannot keep up to the demand for alcohol gel. We do not know anyone personally who has died from the flu but many families have been touched by this sadness in southern Brazil. The repercussions for us have been the cancellations of all camps at the ARCA (except for ours) for the past 5 weeks which has put a great financial strain on our operation here. Here again we add a note of thanks to God’s special people who sent in donations for the ARCA ministry at this crucial time.
Paul has had his turn at being sick this month. It started with a cold and resulted in laryngitis which has persisted now for three weeks. We are thankful for the men of God who have filled the pulpit for him while he has been without a voice. Tomorrow he has an appointment with an ENT specialist to see if there is some other treatment he needs to pursue. Please pray for complete recovery for him as we are scheduled to be in Campo Mourão Sept. 14-18 to present a course on Christian courting to the young people from the churches there.
We look forward to many special events in September. We are planning an outreach in Campo Largo again for Sunday, Sept. 13, preceded by door-to-door invitations on the 12th. We have had improved attendance these past few weeks which has been an encouragement to us. There is also a Talent night planned and a Film night scheduled in an attempt to reach out to the community. Next week we anticipate the arrival of Jon Nelson and Nathan Olson as short-term assistants. They are still waiting for their visas, so this is another prayer request. The boys hope to spend a year here helping out in various ministries. We are also excited that my parents plan to arrive on Sept. 23 to spend three weeks with us.
Two weekends ago we had the joy of hosting Jesse Long for a quick visit. Although he was only here for parts of three days, Jesse was very willing to share in three of our churches about his ministry in Tanzania. We are thankful for his great example and for the friendships he has maintained with people here over the years. May the Lord continue to bless him as he sacrificially serves the Lord in Africa. That same weekend I had a wedding shower for Karla, Edival’s fiancée, as she came from Campo Mourão to visit family members and friends.
Every week we have opportunities to teach the Word of God and minister to peoples’ lives. It is a joy to be involved in the work of the Lord, yet at times it is very hard to know how to deal with certain situations. The state of our churches and national workers is a constant concern. The president of the Association of churches here in Brazil, Pastor Nilson, recently resigned. The director of our Bible School, Pastor Natanael, had a motorcycle accident and almost died. He will not be able to do any physical exertion for the next six months, but we are so thankful that the Lord has preserved his life. Other pastors have serious concerns that we need to address. We also would like to ask you to pray for our dear fellow worker, Yara. She has not been “herself” for awhile now and seems to be battling with some depression issues. We pray that the Lord will restore her joy and love for the work God has called her to do. No one promised that our calling would be an easy one. Yet, we know in Whom we have believed and we trust in Him who has called us. May He empower us and use us for His glory. Can you take a moment to pray for us and for the people with whom we work?
We realize that you, too, are busy and involved in relationships of your own. May our limitless God grant unto each of us the wisdom and patience and vision necessary to live out our lives for His glory. We count it a privilege to open our lives and ministry to you and in this way involve you in the work in Brazil.
In His service, Paul and Becky
Family Corner – Silvio is busy with his work at the city hall and always makes time to play basketball as a means of evangelizing and discipling young men. He and Joanna are looking for new partners as they forge ahead with future plans for the Christian school. She is an amazing school director, teacher, mom, singer, writer, cook – you name it! Daniel works 90 hours a week doing his medical residency so we do not see much of him. Besides her work at the English school, Christina decided to take a one-year course for being an instrumentalist so that she can help her husband Daniel in performing orthopedic surgeries. Andrew is back at Northwestern College studying Electronic Media and volunteering on the media team of the Missions group there. Matthew returns to AFLBS this weekend for another year of Bible School. The brothers had a great summer on the farm in between many vacation adventures! Even though we do not have the joy of working directly with our children anymore, we praise the Lord for our extended ministry through them.
