ALTON and HELEN SMITH
WBF Missionaries to
BRAZIL

                                                                                                                           July 26,  2006

“...for the Lord, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou

has finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.” I Chronicles 28:20

Dear Friends in Christ,

The promises of our God are our sustaining power.  We will be celebrating our fourth year anniversary in the Igreja Batista Emanuel in Monte Gordo this month.  We are thankful for your faithful prayers and support for our ministry!  We are grateful for our Lord’s faithfulness to His promises!

We want to tell the stories of two of our new converts, Tatiana and Joelmir.

Tatiana is fifteen years old and has recently moved to our area from the interior of Bahia.

She listened intently as Helen explained the gospel.  Her eyes were filled with tears when Helen asked if she was a sinner, and with much joy she prayed and accepted Christ as Savior.  Sunday she was in church with a huge smile.  Later that same day she phoned her mom who lived in another city to tell of her decision.  Her mother’s response was one of anger, she insisted that Tatiana could not become a Christian; because of a vow that had to be kept which she had made to a demon god when Tatiana was a child.  These people live in superstition and fear. We are sadden each time this scene repeats itself which is often in an area where demon worship is very prevalent. What would you tell this mother?  Pray God will send someone to explain the wonderful gospel to her, and tell her she should encourage her daughter to follow Christ.

Joelmir was a struggling 20 years old. I had the privilege of leading this young man to the Lord.  When I showed him what he must do to be saved, he was convinced that the church he had been attending neither taught nor preached the truth of salvation.  His girlfriend has led him back to that same church.  His mother is a faithful member of our church and is broken hearted with his decision. Pray that God will show him how wrong he is.

We are struggling with our construction.  We have not been able to do near what we had hoped, because we have had so much rain.  This year has been the wettest in the eight years that we have been in Bahia.  I have not been able to do very much because of back and hip pain for the last three months.  The doctor says there is arthritis but also wants me to go to a specialist.   I have had some treatments for this problem without much relief.  Please be in prayer on my behalf for this problem.

 

We also ask your prayers concerning a satanic church that has recently opened within a few blocks of our church property.  This church evidently has the sanction of the Catholic church, because their first service was held by a catholic priest.  Pray that the only true God will give us opportunities and boldness to witness to these followers of Satan and that we will see their salvation.

In His Service,

Alton and Helen Smith