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.
Todd and Julie Hendry
