July 17,2007

Dear Praying Friends,

        Winter has struck in the southern hemisphere. While we read and hear of the heat waves and wildfires in North America, we in southern Brazil are hit with cold, rainy weather, and a few days of waking up to frost on the ground. With the cold, the flu bug has arrived too. All of us have been struck, with Leila getting it the worse. We had to rush her to the emergency room when her fever spiked to 106°F. Praise the Lord she recovered quickly and returned home the same day.
        Attendance at church has been low these days. Several of our people are also having problems with colds and flu.  Please pray for the health of our people and family.
       Neila's parents, Joe and Elaine Hawkins, celebrated 50 years on the mission field in March. At the end of May, during the Bible Institute graduation in Manaus, a special homage in honor of them was presented, highlighting their ministry over the years. Our family had the privilege of being there. We spent three weeks visiting in Manaus with Neila's family and with friends. It was a blessing to visit the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, which Neila and I had part in the starting of fifteen years ago.  It has been with a Brazilian pastor now for several years and is going strong.
       Pastor Wendel and his wife Renata are settling into the work here in Caxias. Please pray for this young couple as they minister here. The finances of the church do not allow at this time a full salary, so Renata is working as a teacher in a daycare. She also teaches piano lessons to help supplement the income. Please be in prayer with us about the church's finances. We are in the process of teaching the congregation about supporting financially their pastor so he and his wife can minister full time. It is not an easy task. Please pray also for the evangelistic outreach of the church.
       We do have another prayer request concerning Pastor Wendel and his wife. The Lord blessed us with a small place for them to live in. It is a one room brick house (220 ft2) set up like a small kitchenette apartment. We are needing desperately to triple the space. The cramped room makes it difficult for them to prepare for their ministries and to receive visitors. Would you please pray with us that the funds would be provided for the construction? It is estimated that we would need close to $5,000.00 to complete the work.
       During the last week of July we are holding two VBS's here in Caxias. We will be hosting a three day VBS at our church, the Fundamental Baptist Tabernacle, and then the next three days will be across town where the church has started the Good Shepherd Baptist Congregation. The new work has been provided with the neighborhood Community Center for both the VBS and a weekly Children's Bible Club. What a blessing. We are excited about the open door God has given us for this new work.
       Our prayer requests are as follows:

       It is always an encouragement to know we've got people praying for us. Thank you for joining in with our prayer requests. May we all rejoice together in seeing the Lord's hand at work here in Caxias do Sul.

In His Service,

Mission Agency: World Baptist Fellowship /  P.O. Box 13459 / Arlington, TX 76094-0459    Phone: (817) 274-7161