Mission Trip

Dear Friends and Family,

We want to thank each of you for praying for our move. We are more settled in than we thought possible a week ago. Our kitchen is set up and we've unpacked most boxes. We still have quite a bit to do, but it's functional and we're so grateful to be able to start feeling settled in. Some of the boxes we are unpacking now are things that we packed back in December of 2008 when we were coming down. They were put on the container and never unpacked because we were already living in a semi-furnished home. It's been so fun seeing our old things and we all are feeling more settled already!

On Wednesday we headed back to Fortaleza to prepare for the short term mission team that is coming from Dardenne Presbyterian Church in the St. Louis Metro area. Todd's parents and four other people from church are coming tomorrow (Monday, Aug. 2) and will be spending until the following Monday doing two different projects.

The first project is a water purification system installation at the interior campgrounds called Pitombeiras. Drinkable water has always been an issue there. The last several camps they have brought in water from a tanker truck, but it's been contaminated and people got sick. This way, the water for drinking and used for cooking and washing the vegetables and dishes will be clean. That is a big relief for the people that run the camp and those of us that go! This will be done Tuesday through Thursday.

The second project they are doing this week (Thursday to Saturday) is a children's evangelistic program in three towns that have missionary work in them, including Croata. The purpose of these programs is to share the Gospel and open doors for the missionaries to provide followup ministry to them. We have put together a lesson, crafts, activities and songs with the central theme of the Wordless Book. The Lord has really brought it all together very well, even though the lady that was going to do the lesson's for us had to cancel this last week. Please pray for me (Julie) as I give the lessons.

The team will also have a day at the beginning and end for tourism. Todd's parents will be staying an extra three days with us to visit and spend time as a family. Then we head back to Croata to get more involved in ministry there and start homeschool for another year. Please pray for us to have wisdom how to start strong in the work in Croata. God seems to be opening doors already (more on that next time) so we are asking for prayer for God's guidance in how to proceed once we return to Croata.

Praises:
Good move
Safety in all our traveling so far
God's provision of a house to rent
Good contacts with people and city officials

Prayers:
Safety for this team--health and travel
Good ministry opportunities in all three cities
Completion of Water Purification Installation
Julie's health--trying to control hypoglicemic problems
Michaela and Sammy to have a good time with their grandparents. They are very excited!

Thank you for all your prayer and support. Your kindness to us is so encouraging!

Serving together,

Todd and Julie Hendry