September 24, 2007

Dear Brethren,

While we were on furlough, we reported as one of our goals for this term on the field as that of getting a national pastor (Brazilian) for the church here in Caxias do Sul within two years of our return. The goal is not to necessarily turn the work over to him right away, but to work him into the ministry if it be the Lord's will. Well, with our first try, it hasn't worked out. Wendell came to me last month and expressed that he doesn't believe it's God's will that he stays with the work to become pastor one day. Praise the Lord he had the courage to speak up now about it before they got too heavily involved with the people and ministry. Yesterday he and his wife moved to a nearby town to serve in a church as an interim pastor for a few months, until the Lord's perfect will be defined for their lives. We have some adjusting to do in regard to the ministries, but we know with God's help it will all work out.

Great victories have been won in the midst of the adjustments. Two weeks ago John led a 32 year old Mormon to the Lord. Mauricio had been questioning his faith already for some time, and the Lord brought him in contact with our church by way of one of our families. His story is quite interesting, including that he was awarded as 'top missionary' during his time of two year missions. He even won his whole family (parents and siblings) to Mormonism. Mauricio's wife, Patricia, has not yet made a profession of faith. She is listening intently, however, to the truth of the Word. Please pray for them.

Another victory happened two days later at the end of Sunday School. Claria (58 years old) has been attending our services fairly faithfully for several months. In our last prayer letters we asked for prayer for the salvation of her and her husband, Nestor. She came to us to turn her life over to Christ in salvation. Claria used to be very active in the Catholic church. Now she is a big help to our ministry. Just Sunday night, she made a point of making sure John saw that she was helping out with making the Children's Day gifts. What a huge blessing it would be if every member of the church had her attitude to serve.

Our church is about to enter into a three month Sunday School campaign. The planning is a class project for our three Bible institute students, as we are currently studying about Sunday School administration. Our goals are increased faithfulness and lost souls won to Christ. Please pray for the Lord's blessings upon the efforts to His honor and glory.

Our prayer requests are:

	Spiritual growth of Mauricio and Claria
	Salvation of Mauricio's family and Claria's family
	A blessed Sunday School campaign
	The ministry here in general
	The health of our family, a full recovery for John from bronchitis.