Entering September

Dear Friends and Family,
So thankful for each of you who have been praying and so faithfully giving to keep us working here in Brazil. We are so grateful for each one of you, and we pray for you faithfully as well.
These last few months have been much of the same--Bible Studies, Literacy classes, Kids' Club, visiting and evangelizing, traveling. It's been very good. July was vacation month here in Brazil, so attendance was down in our Kids' Club, but thankfully everything came back to normal for August.
We had the theme for the last two months on the Bible: motivating every child to memorize the verses to earn a Bible, memorize the books of the Bible, learn how to look up verses in the Bible, and so much more! On August 12th we had an Ice Cream Social for all the children that had earned a Bible. They were to invite someone from their family to come. We had 40 children and 7 adults come! More than we anticipated and each one had earned a Bible! It was very exciting!
Out of this social, we shared the Gospel and invited the adults to do a Bible study with us. One mother was very interested and we will be starting these studies soon. The only reason we haven't started yet, is because it seems that several of her relatives are interested in studying too and we're trying to find a time that will work for everyone. That's quite the neat problem to have! Please pray for these ladies and for the Lord to open their hearts to His life-changing Gospel. Another challenge is that none of them know how to read, so please pray that I can find an interesting way to present each study so that they understand and want to come back. We are also praying about starting a Couple's Bible Study, perhaps on Sunday evenings.
The children finished their school year late, the end of July, but very well. Then they had the month of August off and we just started their school year this last month, the 29th. Michaela is in 4th and Samuel in 1st. They are loving the new curriculum we bought, and so is mom.
Another new development is in regards to our building a house. Last week, we were able to get all the documentation needed in order to build. Today they started digging the hole for the foundation. It's all done with manual labor and quite a different method of construction than in the U.S. So we are learning as we go, and Todd feels like he's constantly asking questions, and hopefully not bothering our fellow missionaries too much with his many questions about how things work. Please continue to pray for us to be able to get the house into live-able condition within the budget amount. The house won't be huge, approximately 1000 sq. feet, but will be much bigger than where we are living, with a ceiling (so much cleaner), and will be ours that we can invest in and build for our family and ministry needs. As much as we were reluctant to go this direction, we see how God has led us to this point and we are starting to get excited. We thank the Lord for His provision with the loan and for a good bricklayer/foreman who has a very good reputation here in town. We pray that he is honest and won't take us for a ride. He says he will deliver the house to us in "finishing condition" (ready to put in the sinks and toilets, paint and tile, etc.) by the beginning of December. We might be in the house by the end of the year. We'll keep you updated on the progress!
Thank you all for praying for us. We are somewhat reluctant to share about the house, just because we're afraid of how people are going to take the news of us building a house. But we are doing this after much prayer and seeking council, and we will not be using mission money to pay back the loan, it will come out of our own personal salary. We also want to be very careful that we are able to concentrate on ministry, and even increase our contact base, sharing with more people about Christ, because of this process of building. Another aspect is that people will come to know Todd more as he is seen around town, buying supplies and talking with people. We pray that God will use this time to open many more doors for the Gospel here in town. We hope you each understand and can pray with us for God's blessing on this new challenge.
Here are couple more prayer requests:

• Pray for one of our boys, Marquinhos. He has turned very angry and rebellious toward the whole world, but has been extremely disruptive and violent toward us. Please pray for wisdom, he has been one of the most faithful to come since the beginning.
  
• We have committed to teach English with a community program. They are building the teaching area and we will probably start with the next couple months.
  
• Julie's health has been a little more stable, but please pray for the continued trips back to Fortaleza and the expenses that relate to that. Please pray that I (Julie) will do everything the doctor's recommend to get healthy again.
• Please continue to pray for Todd and the children with their language acquisition. There are times they feel really burnt out, especially Todd, but they are all doing well.
  
• We have felt Satan's attacks as of late--putting a blight on our intentions here (people accusing us of wanting to sell their children and other more disturbing rumors), our problems with continual stomach trouble and allergies to run us down, and even some fearful things happening--a drunk came by our house during Kids' Club on Saturday and was saying he was going to kill 6 people. Todd talked and shared the Gospel with him, prayed with him, but the whole time concerned that the man was going to shoot us. We are still acting cautiously because we don't know anything about this man and if he has other intentions. WE KNOW WHO has called us and enable to be here. And we know that nothing can happen without the Lord's permission. So we trust in Him and His care. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We also know that God works through the prayers of His children. Please do pray for courage, stamina, wisdom and strength, because the battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and spiritual powers.
  

Thank you for praying and serving with us here in Brazil!

Todd and Julie Hendry

Prayer and Praises for July

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope you all received our mail update in May/June and know what has been going on in our lives in Croata since we returned from the United States. If you didn't receive it, please let us know and we can either send it to your mail address, or to your e-mail address.

Our future co-worker, Neuma, is getting her first letter out and getting her prayer card printed. We will be helping her however we can in introducing her to churches in the area for support. We are praying for her to come as soon as she is able. Please also pray for her health as she has real problems with asthma. We believe the environment here will be a big help to her health as well as her being a big help in the ministry here.

Todd and I are very busy with doing Bible Studies with children and our Kid's Club. We are also going out visiting regularly to be able to build relationships and share the Gospel with whomever we can. We seem to never have a day go by without numerous children and some adults coming to visit, so we are getting more integrated into the culture here. The children are learning Portuguese by leaps and bounds, especially Michaela. And Todd's fluency is improving really well. He gets discouraged because people still correct his pronunciation and he struggles with finding the right word and with verb conjugations. But he is improving and will continue to improve with all the practice he's getting.

This month is looking pretty busy so we will be asking for prayer for all the activities we have coming up.

• Tomorrow, I, Julie, will be going to Fortaleza by bus for a doctor's appointment. We are praying for the doctor to be able to clearly explain what is going on with my system. This has to do with what caused me to have the tumor that was removed last November.



• On the 23rd, we will be hosting a men's group from our church in Fortaleza. They will be doing door-to-door evangelism on Saturday, then showing the Jesus Film in the evening. Please pray for many to hear and for the Lord to transform lives. We also pray for new contacts with adults.



• The 25th-29th, we will be helping a church 1 1/2 hours away with their Vacation Bible School. Please pray for safety in travel every day or for a place for us to stay while there.



• Our children are finishing their school year this month. They have had many opportunities to travel this last year, but this has made our school work lag. But they are almost done and excited to be almost done. So is mom! And they seem to be doing really well despite the interruptions.



• We are continuing our Kid's Clubs throughout the summer vacation and we have had a growth in the numbers of children that come. BUT, it has been very difficult for us to control. So we ask for prayer for wisdom for crowd control and still be able to share the Gospel and invest in the lives of the serious ones.



• Some highlights of this summer have been that Todd turned 40 and my (Julie's) parents came down for 2 1/2 weeks in June. Todd had a little birthday celebration in Fortaleza while my parents were here. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. They spent a good deal of their time visiting their many friends, coworkers and students from their time living here. It was wonderful to see them play and talk with the children too.



• We have been asked to seriously consider teaching English by some community leaders and the only way we will consider it is if we can use it as an evangelism tool. We know it is done all over the world for evangelism, but we don't really know how to proceed. Please pray for wisdom to know if this is the Lord's will. Some of our questions are these: Is it something sustainable for a long period of time? Will it have the good result of seeing lives transformed, or will it just be time consuming? We need to be able to have a pre-prepared program and we haven't been able to find anything yet that is from a Christian perspective. So we would ask you to come along side of us in prayer for the Lord to show us His will and way.



• We have been looking for a home to move into and have not been able to find anything suitable for a low enough price. After praying and searching for a year, we have decided that it will be cheaper for us to build than to buy. We are receiving a loan from the United States that is a limited amount. So please pray for us as we follow this path. Please pray for the documentation on the land we are purchasing to go through without any difficulties and for all the decision that need to be made to build a house big enough for our needs, but also cheap enough to fit our budget.

Thank you each one for your prayers, for standing in the gap and bringing our needs before the Lord. We are enjoying making new friendships and sharing the Gospel with the people we meet. Please pray for the Lord to break down the barriers that block people from seeing the truth of Christ's love and sacrifice for them.

We would also personally ask for prayer. We ask for your to pray for rest despite the stress. We are still getting used to having people in our home constantly, besides all of the stress of buying land and doing business with people that we aren't sure are honest. It takes a lot of wisdom and so we are praying a lot for that wisdom. But we have seen growth not only in opportunties and with the children we work with, but also in ourselves and our children. Thank you for being a support to us and for continuing your ministry of prayer on our behalf.

Serving together with you,

Todd and Julie Hendry

March 28th Update

Good report Inbox

Hendry, Todd Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 10:58 PM Bcc: thendry777@gmail.com Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original Hi dear friends and family, Thank you for your prayers for my procedure and recovery. Everything went well. In fact, it was the least traumatic surgery I think I've ever had. I was sleepy that day but haven't been sore at all and we returned to Croatá the following day. It was a blessing. Please pray for direction in treatment. Specifically that I could find a doctor interior that would be able to work with the doctor in Fortaleza so I don't have to go in (4 1/2 hr drive one way) every month for checkups. I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of prayers that you have given on our behalf and all the encouraging e-mails! I love being a missionary! Who else gets the privilege of having so many people pray for them whenever we have praises and challenges! Thank you for your part in making our journey in God's grace amazing! This evening we helped the lady I am teaching to read, move from living with her grandmother to a little two bedroom apartment. She was so thrilled to have her own place for the first time in her life. She has four children and a live-in boyfriend who does what he can to provide for the family. All of their belongings for 6 people consisted of 2 beds, 1 bag of clothing, a box of kitchen things, a dresser and a desk. That was it. The only toy I saw was a broken plastic truck. They have two plates. They have no stove or refrigerator, or table or chairs or sofa or TV. Very little of what we Americans consider a necessity. I asked where everyone was going to sleep and she pointed at the two twin beds and a hammock. I was overwhelmed by their poverty and their sheer joy in finding a two bedroom apartment about the size of my living room in our old house in the U.S. What a reminder for me to stop my complaining when we really lack nothing. Thought I'd share that which has been convicting me :). This week we will be: Todd will be starting a discipleship with 3 boys on Tuesday mornings Julie will be teaching literacy class to one lady on Thursday afternoons followed by a visit with a little old lady who wants a Bible and said I could come read it with her. We will be holding our weekly Kid's Club on Saturday--please pray that we can reconnect with some children that haven't been coming recently We will also be climbing a mountain on Sunday morning. One of the incentives for Bible Memory we announced before we left was that we would hike up a mountain and have a picnic at the top. That is this Sunday. Please pray for safety and a good time for all the kids that memorized 24 verses, and the books of the Bible to be able to go. Please pray as Todd tries to build relationships with men in our community--that the Lord will open doors to share His Word to these men and transform their lives and their families. Please pray that Todd's Portuguese will improve every day. Please also pray as we make contacts with parents of the children and try to witness in our day to day contacts with people. We are still praying for God's direction and provision for coworkers. Please also pray for Michaela and Samuel to be diligent in their schooling and to find joy in it. Also pray for their Portuguese learning and for them to adapt to life as missionary kids in the interior. They aren't used to people stopping by whenever they want, and Mickey especially is having a hard time dealing with the forced flexibility our schedule demands. Thank you again for praying for us. We have a family prayer time every morning and bring you to the Father as well. Serving together with you, Todd and Julie Hendry

March 23rd Update

Prayers Needed Inbox

Hendry, Todd Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 12:04 AM Bcc: thendry777@gmail.com Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original Dear Friends and Family, We have had a wonderful re-entry into life here in Brazil. What a blessing it has been as we arrived in Croatá during Kid’s Club and they all ran out with hugs and welcomes! They even held a surprise welcome home party a couple days later in which the children’s families donated funds to buy the food and decorations. It was such a blessing. We’ve had several people around town ask us where we’ve been and welcome us back with open arms. We have also been extremely encouraged to see all the opportunities available for ministry and have several prayer requests along those lines: · Wesley, Mateus and Marcos have accepted Christ, completed the 4 studies in the book of John and want more. Please pray for Todd as he does these Bible studies with them on Thursday mornings. · Mateus and Marcos’ mom, Leide, is the lady that asked me to teach her to read so she can read her Bible. We started last week. It will be a struggle but she is very willing to work hard and wants it badly. Please pray for patience and perseverance. She also needs a job badly to support her family of 4 kids. · Our Kid’s Club kids—that they would understand the Gospel clearly and see God’s love through us and the lessons that we teach · Opportunities to meet with their parents and share the Gospel. · Two children—Mayk and Mayume have been stopped from coming to Kid’s Club. Their mother came to meet with us and I offered to do a Bible study with her but she didn’t want it because God would hold her more responsible for her actions if she knows more. Otherwise, she believes, he just might let her into heaven due to her ignorance. Please pray for barriers to fall so she can understand the Gospel and allow her children to hear as well. · We are praying for two possibilities of coworkers. First is through a church 1 ½ away. We are talking with the pastor about logistics right now. There is also a single lady that is considering moving into town. Please pray for these people and for the many opportunities that we cannot fulfill because we are just two people! Our personal prayer requests are these: · Tomorrow morning 9 a.m. Brazil time, Julie will be having a procedure (under general anesthetic) to aspirate a large cyst in her right ovary. Please pray for no complications! · We are looking for a new place to live. Please pray for wisdom on renting or buying or building. The homes are not as cheap as we would expect them to be for building/buying but the rental properties are very rustic or just not available! We need a ceiling—Sammy is suffering a lot from allergies. And Julie’s sanity is suffering from all the dirt and bird debris on her kitchen counters! J · Please pray that we will prioritize our time and still take care and spend time with our children and be a family. We believe having an intact, loving family may be more of an impact on this culture than many of our words. · Our homeschool has fallen behind because of all our traveling (we planned for this) but if we are diligent we will finish our studies by the end of June. Please pray for diligence and perseverance for Julie and the kids. · Continue to pray for Todd and the children to learn more Portuguese. Todd is doing well but would like to grow much more in his ability to communicate the truths of Scripture. The children need to learn basically from scratch after spending time away. Thank you, dearest prayer warriors, for your part in our endeavor to serve Christ with all our hearts in Brazil. We depend on the Lord Jesus Christ and the prayer of His faithful ones while we serve here in the Southern Hemisphere. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with you in the U.S. and wish we had been able to see everyone. We look forward to the next time. But in the mean-time we are glad to be here and to be part of seeing God transform lives at the end of the road in Croatá. Serving together with You, Todd and Julie Michaela and Samuel Hendry

Heading Back

Dear Friends and Family,

Tomorrow is the big day--we travel to Brazil at 3:45 Central time. We will be arriving in Brazil around noon on Wednesday the 9th.

These last three months have been a wonderful whirlwind. We have done so much and seen so many people; it's really awesome to recount the ways that God has blessed us and guided us through so much traveling. We were able to visit with all of our supporting churches, we met with many of our supporters in St. Louis and Kansas City, though we still weren't able to see everyone. As one friend said, it is like we are trying to see everyone that we have known our whole lives in three months. It's not possible, but we enjoyed trying. For those of you we were unable to see, we are so sorry we couldn't, and want you to know we wish it had been possible to see everyone.

There will be a next time, though. We are praying about coming back to the U.S. in another 2 1/2 to 3 years. Hopefully by then we will have our permanent visas and will be able to stay for about 6 to 9 months. Please pray for that as well as for our transition back to Brazil now. We will miss family and the conveniences of the United States. But we are willing to give those up for the blessing of serving Christ in Northeast Brazil. We have been missing our neighbors and the children with whom we minister to in Brazil. And we have been longing to be able to share with more people the Good News of Jesus. Please pray for our transition into life and Portuguese again. Please also pray for God to provide Brazilian coworkers to assist in the work in Croatá.

Thank you all for your faithfulness in praying for us and giving toward our ministry. It has been wonderful to reconnect with so many of you and to also make new connections while here. May God bless you as you serve Him faithfully Stateside and with us in Brazil!

Serving with you,

Todd and Julie Hendry

Busy, Busy

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, we are busy! And we love it! We completely enjoy our time spent with supporters, family, colleagues and friends here in the U.S. Since January 9th, we have spent every Sunday speaking in churches, and in between times with supporters and family. It has been a blessing to reconnect with everyone after two+ years apart!

We are still attempting to visit everyone before we leave, but our time is running low! We've past the halfway mark and it's running out fast! If we have not been able to connect with you yet, please contact us at 636-284-8540 and let us know when we can get together. The calendar is getting full but we will make every effort to meet with you! In the note below is our schedule for the rest of our time in the U.S.

This weekend we are in Kansas City speaking at two supporting churches, Morning Star Church in Lawrence and Abundant Life Baptist

in Lee's Summit. If anyone would like to see us at one of these churches, we would love to see you!

On Monday we return for Sammy to have minor surgery on an umbilical hernia on Tuesday. We've also been trying to schedule a wisdom teeth removal for me (Julie), and may try that for Wednesday, if possible. So please pray for us to redeem the time we have left in the U.S. and to be able to thank all the people that have been a part of our ministry in Brazil.

The children are doing well. We are continuing homeschool in the mornings and they are progressing well. They've been enjoying catching up with friends and playing at the all the fun places available here in the States. We've tried to set aside time to give them a break and have play time. And they're enjoying it!

One thing we've all enjoyed is the SNOW! Everywhere we've gone there has been snow! And we have loved it! Please pray we would be safe through snow storms and traveling.

Thanks again for praying for us and please do let us know how we can pray for you. We would love to see you!

Serving together with you,

Todd and Julie Hendry

Our schedule for the rest of our time

Dear Friends and Family,

I promised in my last update a schedule of where we will be for the next couple of weeks until we return to Brazil. So here it is below.

We have already met with 2 supporting churches and have all the rest scheduled in the upcoming weeks! We praise the Lord for that. We would like to meet with all our supporters and prayer partners who live close by to some of these churches. For those out of the areas of our churches, we deeply apologize for not being able to make it to see you! Three months is too short! But we will do our best to see as many of you as possible! If you would like to meet with us, please contact us as soon as possible and we will schedule a time to meet with as many of you as possible. Our cell phone is 636-284-5207. Todd's parents' phone is 636-447-8540. Or, of course, e-mail us at tjhendry@avmi.org. Thanks!

St. Louis January 17-26
January 23rd--Dardenne Presbyterian Church

Kansas City January 27-January 31
January 27th--Travel to Kansas City
January 30th--A.M. Service--Morning Star Church in Lawrence, KS
P.M. Service--Abundant Life Baptist Church in Lee's Summit, MO

St. Louis February 1-8
February 1st--Return to St. Louis
February 6th--Grace Bible Church in Columbia, MO

Kansas City February 9-20
February 9th--Travel to Kansas City
February 13th--Community Bible Church in Odessa, MO
February 20th--Woodson Avenue Bible Church in Shawnee Mission, KS

St. Louis February 21-22
February 21st--Return to St. Louis

Florida Trip February 23-March 4
February 23rd--Travel to Florida
February 27th--Good Shepherd Church in Englewood, FL
March 3rd-4th--Memphis Homeschooling Conference

St. Louis March 5-8
March 5th--Return to St. Louis
March 8th--Return to Brazil

Thanks again! We thank you for your prayers for traveling mercies! We were stuck in Maine because of the big snowstorm last week but made it back to St. Louis in time for our meetings and managed to snag a couple more days with my parents. It was nice! We had a great meeting with Hermon Baptist in Maine, a beautiful open house with Dardenne church-folk and a wonderful reception at Bonhomme Presbyterian in St. Louis area. Thanks again for all your prayers!

Serving together with you,

Todd and Julie Hendry

Happy New Year

Dear Friends and Family,

We are already a few days into 2011 and want to send you a Happy New Year wish. We do pray that this next year will be a year of God's blessing on your life as you serve Him. We've really enjoyed looking back over the last year, seeing how God has provided for us and guided us. How amazing God is!

• Todd finished language school in March
• We took a survey trip and prayerfully decided on moving to Croata in April
• We took 7 trips to Croata looking for homes April-July
• Todd found a home for us to rent and we moved in the end of July
• Dardenne Church sent a work team down for two weeks in August
• The kids started Kindergarten and 3rd Grade the end of August
• We started our Children's Club in September which has grown to 40 children
• Julie was hospitalized and had surgery November-December
• We arrived in the St. Louis in December to be with Todd's family
• We flew to Maine to be with Julie's family after Christmas

What are we looking forward to? Starting January 9th, we start meeting with our supporting churches. Each Sunday we have left in the U.S. until March 8th is full as we meet with our supporting churches and prayer and financial supporters. It is going to be busy, but we love it! It's a joy to see so many people and spend time with each person who has invested in us and our ministry.

Many have asked how I (Julie) am. I have finally been having some time to settle down and get the rest the doctor ordered. It has been wonderful to spend time with both sides of the family. I feel much better with no pain, and my incisions have healed. I'm still to take it easy for another month and then can start getting back to my routines.

The kids will be starting school the week after we return to St. Louis from Maine. We will plan to spend consistent time with school for them in the mornings but will be available for visits with families and individuals during the weeks and most weekends. Please contact us on our cell phone at 636-284-5207 if you would like to set up a time for us to get together. We will be sending out our schedule in the next couple weeks.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and faithfulness over the last few years as we have gone to Brazil and started our ministry in Croata. May God bless you in your desire to serve Him and we thank you for entrusting us to be your arms and feet in Brazil.

Serving together with you,

Todd and Julie Hendry