Dear Friends and Family,
Happy New Year! What a blessing you have each been to us over this wonderful journey! We have celebrated our first year on the field and have enjoyed remembering all the many ways the Lord has blessed us over the last year. You have been a major part of that blessing! We do not take your sacrifices, your prayers, your kindness and thinking about us lightly! It means so much to us! Thank you for your prayers for us.
Language School
We are on the home stretch with Todd's language school. He's on cycle 24 of 30 and working hard. Please pray for his language school teacher, Dona Edissa, she has not been consistent in coming for the last several weeks, and with the holidays, Todd's hasn't had a normal week for quite awhile. It's hard to keep up the schedule and the momentum, when there are constant interruptions. Since she doesn't know what she'll be doing for work after she finishes with Todd, we wonder if she isn't dragging her feet to finish. Please pray for her to be encouraged in the Lord and to find joy in her circumstances. Please also pray for wisdom for Todd as he ministers to her every day of classes and counsels her through her home problems.
I never did get back into classes, mostly because of these problems with our teacher's schedule conflicting with our homeschooling schedule. But I have made a commitment to read the Bible in Portuguese this year. I am familiar with the Portuguese Bible from growing up in the Brazilian church, but I need to become intimately familiar with it in order to teach and lead people to know the Lord using the Bible in their language. It's going to be a challenge I'm facing with Portuguese/English dictionary in hand! :)
Our Next Adventure
About March, we are planning to move into the interior of the State of Ceara (we have been living in the capital for this year of language school) to the town of Guaraciaba do Norte on a mountain range about 4 1/2 hours from here. It's close to the border of the next state over. We will be working as missionary interns (for our first field assignment) with James and Molly Goossen, whom you may remember we have mentioned many times before. They are some of our favorite people in the world and we are looking forward to working with them.
Please also pray for us as we start looking to what needs to be done for our move interior. The Lord is setting some neat circumstances in motion, directing a local pastor (in Nova Russas about an hour from Guaraciaba where we will be working with James and Molly Goossen) to want to send a team of people from his church to help with the footwork of evangelism and starting a new congregation on the other side of Guaraciaba from where the Goossen's have been starting a congregation since last March. Please do pray for details concerning the Nova Russas church being able to afford to send the group weekly and the team's commitment. That He will lead the right people to be on this team.
Please also pray for our preparations--looking for a house to rent, making good furniture choices to be sent there or purchased there. We're also gearing up for the rainy season, which with the flooding all over Brazil, they are predicting ours will be much the same. The Lord knows the perfect timing for us to move and if we'll have roads to drive on to get up the mountain. Please also pray for wisdom about a vehicle. We've appreciated having a little car here in the crazy city driving, but are realizing the necessity of having a truck or something more suitable for the horrible roads we'll be dealing with interior and especially living on the mountain. Please pray for wisdom and God's direction and provision.
Other News
Todd is awaiting his government identity number, it should arrive on the 10th. Please pray it will come so he can get a drivers license! This is a result of our applying for another form of visa since ours was not being processed and the department was 2 years behind in processing our kind of request.
We have sent a paper prayer letter out, it takes awhile because of the way we have it printed, so it may not arrive for a month or so. But if you don't get it and would like to, please let us know and we'll put you on the mailing list. It has a more detailed explanation of our visa situation and what a praise this is, plus a recap of our first year in Brazil.
And finally, the Lord provided a little dog for our family. Here, the best form of security is a dog. Brazilians are taught as babies to fear dogs, so they are a great deterrent from burglaries. They even have guard dogs for rent for when you leave your house for a trip. Anyway, we had been thinking about looking for a dog, but didn't quite know where to find one without having to spend too much on it. So the Lord brought him to us, literally. On Monday, our co-workers cleaning lady came in through the front gate and this little puppy (about three months old) followed her in. She'd seen him wandering the streets for a couple days, probably dropped off. He was covered with fleas and very skinny. We're giving him medication and will be giving his shots soon. His name is Biscuit Pal Hendry. And our children are absolutely ecstatic, especially our little dog love, Michaela. She said that this was the best day of her life and she'd never forget it!
After all the Lord has done for us--we want to cry out "Great is Your Faithfulness!" This past year was a big series of small adventures and hurdles and the Lord was so good to us. Thank you for going on this journey with us, thank you for caring and thank you for praying! May God give you a new year of godly adventures and service done for our Master and King!
Serving together with you,
Todd and Julie Hendry
Thank you! You are a blessing to us!
Happy New Year! What a blessing you have each been to us over this wonderful journey! We have celebrated our first year on the field and have enjoyed remembering all the many ways the Lord has blessed us over the last year. You have been a major part of that blessing! We do not take your sacrifices, your prayers, your kindness and thinking about us lightly! It means so much to us! Thank you for your prayers for us.
Language School
We are on the home stretch with Todd's language school. He's on cycle 24 of 30 and working hard. Please pray for his language school teacher, Dona Edissa, she has not been consistent in coming for the last several weeks, and with the holidays, Todd's hasn't had a normal week for quite awhile. It's hard to keep up the schedule and the momentum, when there are constant interruptions. Since she doesn't know what she'll be doing for work after she finishes with Todd, we wonder if she isn't dragging her feet to finish. Please pray for her to be encouraged in the Lord and to find joy in her circumstances. Please also pray for wisdom for Todd as he ministers to her every day of classes and counsels her through her home problems.
I never did get back into classes, mostly because of these problems with our teacher's schedule conflicting with our homeschooling schedule. But I have made a commitment to read the Bible in Portuguese this year. I am familiar with the Portuguese Bible from growing up in the Brazilian church, but I need to become intimately familiar with it in order to teach and lead people to know the Lord using the Bible in their language. It's going to be a challenge I'm facing with Portuguese/English dictionary in hand! :)
Our Next Adventure
About March, we are planning to move into the interior of the State of Ceara (we have been living in the capital for this year of language school) to the town of Guaraciaba do Norte on a mountain range about 4 1/2 hours from here. It's close to the border of the next state over. We will be working as missionary interns (for our first field assignment) with James and Molly Goossen, whom you may remember we have mentioned many times before. They are some of our favorite people in the world and we are looking forward to working with them.
Please also pray for us as we start looking to what needs to be done for our move interior. The Lord is setting some neat circumstances in motion, directing a local pastor (in Nova Russas about an hour from Guaraciaba where we will be working with James and Molly Goossen) to want to send a team of people from his church to help with the footwork of evangelism and starting a new congregation on the other side of Guaraciaba from where the Goossen's have been starting a congregation since last March. Please do pray for details concerning the Nova Russas church being able to afford to send the group weekly and the team's commitment. That He will lead the right people to be on this team.
Please also pray for our preparations--looking for a house to rent, making good furniture choices to be sent there or purchased there. We're also gearing up for the rainy season, which with the flooding all over Brazil, they are predicting ours will be much the same. The Lord knows the perfect timing for us to move and if we'll have roads to drive on to get up the mountain. Please also pray for wisdom about a vehicle. We've appreciated having a little car here in the crazy city driving, but are realizing the necessity of having a truck or something more suitable for the horrible roads we'll be dealing with interior and especially living on the mountain. Please pray for wisdom and God's direction and provision.
Other News
Todd is awaiting his government identity number, it should arrive on the 10th. Please pray it will come so he can get a drivers license! This is a result of our applying for another form of visa since ours was not being processed and the department was 2 years behind in processing our kind of request.
We have sent a paper prayer letter out, it takes awhile because of the way we have it printed, so it may not arrive for a month or so. But if you don't get it and would like to, please let us know and we'll put you on the mailing list. It has a more detailed explanation of our visa situation and what a praise this is, plus a recap of our first year in Brazil.
And finally, the Lord provided a little dog for our family. Here, the best form of security is a dog. Brazilians are taught as babies to fear dogs, so they are a great deterrent from burglaries. They even have guard dogs for rent for when you leave your house for a trip. Anyway, we had been thinking about looking for a dog, but didn't quite know where to find one without having to spend too much on it. So the Lord brought him to us, literally. On Monday, our co-workers cleaning lady came in through the front gate and this little puppy (about three months old) followed her in. She'd seen him wandering the streets for a couple days, probably dropped off. He was covered with fleas and very skinny. We're giving him medication and will be giving his shots soon. His name is Biscuit Pal Hendry. And our children are absolutely ecstatic, especially our little dog love, Michaela. She said that this was the best day of her life and she'd never forget it!
After all the Lord has done for us--we want to cry out "Great is Your Faithfulness!" This past year was a big series of small adventures and hurdles and the Lord was so good to us. Thank you for going on this journey with us, thank you for caring and thank you for praying! May God give you a new year of godly adventures and service done for our Master and King!
Serving together with you,
Todd and Julie Hendry
Thank you! You are a blessing to us!
2 comments:
Olivia is so excited that Mickey got a dog! He's so cute. :)
I'm so impressed that you will be reading the Bible in Portuguese this year. Great goal! I'm sure it will be extremely challenging, but it seems most things worth doing are. :)
Did you get my birthday greetings from Todd? Love you, girl! Call me soon!
If the size of Biscuit Pal's paws are any indication of his ability to protect you, I think you're safe! I always looking at the pictures. The kids are growing like weeds! We love you guys!
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