When God places His call on a life or on a ministry it is a “given” that opposition will arise to try and thwart efforts to turn hearts toward the truth. This morning while reading the account of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall I realized once again that there is no victory without struggle, perseverance, and faith in God. There are dangers from without and dangers from within, but God’s wants us to persevere and trust in Him to strengthen us for every good work. The words that encouraged me were – “Do not fear, remember the Lord and fight for your brothers and sisters.” We continue to work on building up a spiritual wall of protection, calling Brazilian Christians to work together in edifying the church. It is important to not be intimidated by the threats of outsiders or discouraged by the apparent difficulties that rise up within, but to trust in Jesus to help us build a firm foundation for ourselves for the generations to come. Thank you for your continued prayers for us and for those with whom we work. We must not abandon the work midway. As Jesus reminds us in John 9.4 – “It is necessary to do the work of Him who sent me while it is day, for the night will come when no man can work.”
And the work continues….There has been little rest for us since I last updated you on our life the end of January. Thank you for praying for our Youth Camp during the Carnival holiday in February. A busload of 40+ young people from Campo Mourão joined our group of 90+ from the Curitiba churches to spend four days of spiritual challenge and fellowship at the ARCA. Once again we praise God for blessing us with favorable weather and with spiritual blessings. The one word most often used to describe this camp was “different.” Our speakers emphasized making a rational decision to follow Christ, not based on an emotional appeal. We helped the youth understand that in the midst of so many philosophies and lifestyles in our world today, the only spiritual answer that really can satisfy and sustain us is found in developing a living relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray for the many youth who dedicated their lives to following Jesus.
The week before camp we finally finished a project we have wanted to get done for years – the ARCA was painted inside and out! We also purchased a new industrial stove and two ovens for the kitchen. And Paul built a porch on the front side of the ARCA which ended up being a wonderful area for eating and small group meetings during camp. These projects were all possible because of a generous donation from some friends of the ARCA ministry in the U.S. – thanks so much!
We were happy to welcome Paul’s folks, John (84) and Ruby (80), to spend time with us once again this year. John shared a wonderful morning message at camp based on Romans 12:1-2. It is a blessing to see his zeal for the Lord and his concern for young people and the work of the church here in Brazil. They plan to visit many of the churches and hold two evangelistic campaigns. John also volunteered to give daily Portuguese classes to the four short-term missionaries who arrived the day after camp was over.
We are very happy to have Nathan Olson, Jon Nelson, Amanda Aldrich and Bethany Marschner with us. They spent their first two weeks with us in Bateias. We are very impressed with their willingness to make friends, learn the language and share their faith in Jesus with others. Their first two weeks were packed with many activities involving work projects, relationship-building and witnessing opportunities. Yesterday we left home and drove in two cars to Campo Mourão where they will be spending the bulk of their time and ministry at the Bible School and orphanage. Please pray for these four young people as they adapt to life in Brazil and seek to serve the Lord in this place. If you are interested in seeing Brazil from their perspective take a look at their blogs - http://preachandteachbrazil.wordpress.com/ and http://www.bethanyandamanda.blogspot.com/
Tonight we will be going to a wedding here in Campo Mourão. Sunday and Monday we will help get the short-termers settled and set up a schedule for them as they get to work here. Then we will be on our way back to Bateias and the work and challenges there. We are happy that lay pastor Augusto has started his ministry in the Campo Largo church. Paul will be finish giving a course of Profession of Faith, and I will be giving a training course for people involved in the children’s ministries at our churches in March. Then we hope to take a little time to organize our lives and house in preparation for our furlough which begins in May. You probably have no way of understanding how wonderful and crazy our life is here without experiencing it firsthand. But, we want you to know that we appreciate your prayers and support. I am sure that the Lord has worked through your prayers to sustain us and encourage us as we offer our lives as a living sacrifice to God. Working together we hope to win some for Christ and keep building the “wall” for God’s glory.
Our love to you,
Paul and Becky
