October-November Update 2016

Dear Friends and Family,
What a blessing we had to be able to go to the U.S. for a whirlwind trip.  The first two weeks we spent with Julie’s mom and dad, George and Anne Hicks, preparing and celebrating their 50^th Anniversary with family, many who came from far, old friends from seminary days and many lovely people from the church.  Many of those same lovely church people helped make the day possible, giving of their time and their talents in decoration, food preparation and cleanup, and musical talent.  Thank you so much to our fellow believers at Hermon Baptist Church for your care for mom and dad.  And a special thank you to my Aunt Roberta who brought and organized the bringing of the food.  It was a large undertaking that so many helped make possible and made the day very special. Another special thing was that my brother Glenn was able to join us from California and so all of Mom and Dad’s kids and grandkids were in one place for the first time since 2009. Both Alan and Glenn shared from their hearts and I wasn’t able to speak so my dear Uncle Ken and I were able to see “Thank you, For Giving to the Lord” to mom and dad.  Glauciana, my sister-in-law, came up with a great way to end our time there with a Birthday party for the three grandkids having birthdays so close together.  Levi turned two on the 29^th and we were able to celebrate in Maine and in St.

When we arrived in St. Louis, we hit the ground running with medical and eye appointments, church activities, appearances at two supporting churches and fun family parties and outings.  At the eye appointment they discovered that Todd has a hole in his retina.  He was immediately referred to a specialist who gave us the best news we could hear.  This was an old hole that had self-scarred so it would not require surgery.  The specialist recommended we leave it alone and come back in a couple years to make sure it was still okay.  When this happened we’re not sure but we are praising the Lord for his protection of Todd’s sight.  Lilyanne has also been having some health issues and we were able to get some testing done at St. Louis Children’s Hospital that eliminated the possibility of something very serious that it could have been.  The Lord was so good to us that we were squeezed in to see a specialist, even though we didn’t have an appointment, and there was normally a two-month waiting period.  We were also happy to assist Sharon as she underwent cataract surgery while we were there.  It was successful and we were glad to be able to be there for her for that.  We celebrated Levi’s birthday, family Christmas, attended Bonhomme Presbyterian’s 200^th anniversary service, went to a Cardinal’s Game, the St. Louis Zoo, and a Fall Hayride and Hot Dog Roast at Dardenne to top it off.

When we came back to Brazil, we spent the night in Fortaleza and drove the 6 hours to Croatá the next day.  We found our house still standing and the ministries continuing well.  There were some things to deal with but for the most part everything went well while we were away.  We are very thankful to our coworker Neuma who helped keep things running smoothly with the changing of the guard between Pastor Nivaldo and his wife Adelia and then Diego and Gisleny who helped with the work.  When we arrived there were half a dozen youth waiting for us with big hugs and welcomes. 
Last week we put on a Baby shower for a believer named Rita.  She has a few clothes but that’s it for her baby and even though the doctor’s say she’s not due until December 25^th, there is no way that baby is going to be staying in that long.  She’s ready to pop!  Sooo, Micky made some booties for door gifts for those who come and I’m baking and decorating a cake (pray it turns out in this heat!) and please pray for Rita.  The local doctor is on vacation and she doesn’t have another appointment until November 22^nd.
We were glad to have a normal ministry weekend with all of our Croatà church family and Monday we finished recording our Christmas program audio that our puppets will speak.  Today we arrived in Fortaleza ready to travel another international trip.  This time it will only be for ten days but the trip to Quito, Ecuador will take even longer than our trip to the US because it has an 8 hour layover and goes through Columbia.  We will be meeting with all of the Avant Ministries missionary families from South and Central America for a first time ever Latin American Conference.  We will also spend a couple of days with our Calvary Bible College friends, Dave and Brenda Meyer, who serve with our sister mission Crossworld in Quito.  If you are reading this between Nov 3^rd and Nov 14 please send out a special prayer for us and our travels.  Thank you for your care and support.
Showers of blessings,
Todd and Julie Hendry (Michaela, Samuel, Lilyanne, Levi)

August 2016 Note- some from July update that had a sending error

Dear Friends and Family,

This summer has been a form of marathon with fun extra activities added to our normal routine.  We had our Baptismal on May 29th, a Youth Adventure day on June 18th, and then the month of July was vacation month.  Besides adding a Saturday afternoon Kids’ Club and Wednesday night Movie night, we also hosted a couple from a sister church in Fortaleza who held twice-daily guitar lessons for a week.  It was an amazing time!  We were so thankful for the Lord working in our lives, in the lives of our youth, and in growing our little church. 

We would ask for you to pray for three people who have been placed in our path recently.  One is a young man named Thiago.  He is in his early twenties, lives alone and has diabetes.  Todd is very concerned that he has depression and has considered suicide.  Todd has been spending time with him several times this week checking on him.  Please pray that Thiago would be open to hear the Gospel.  Please also pray for Bruna who has come to church once and accepted us sharing the Gospel with her last week.  She’s lured quite easily by the things of the world even though she admits that they aren’t truly satisfying.  Jurandi is the husband of a lady named Jaqueline that has been coming to services for a month or so.  She is a believer who turned away from the Lord and married an unbeliever, and has now repented.  She is asking for prayer that Jurandi would understand his need for a Savior.

This weekend (yesterday and today) we are hosting a group of 55 people from a church in Messejana, Fortaleza.  They will be doing evangelistic surveys, three children programs, an open-air meeting, a ladies’ evangelistic tea, and on Sunday morning there will be a large event with a Bazaar as well as free services like haircuts, blood pressure and blood sugar measurement, fluoride treatments and counseling.

Please pray:

1.  We can get all the logistical details ready by Saturday morning when they arrive.  We will be providing the first meal but they are bringing cooks for the rest of the weekend.

2.  Please pray for the health and safety of those coming.  The driver was just diagnosed with the same mosquito-borne illness, Chikungunya, that Neuma has.

3.  Pray for the hearts of those that will be contacted and who attend to be soft to the Gospel.  That hearts will be touched with God’s Good News of Salvation.

4.  That we will have an action plan for follow-up with those that came or participated in the Evangelistic Survey.

Another big thing that the Lord is blessing us with is a month-long trip to the U.S. for my (Julie’s) parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.  We had been considering this trip for a while since the robbery.   Then the Lord directed us to do it when we were given several gifts that were specifically allowed to be used for this trip and we are so thankful to those who provided for it.  We will be in Maine from Sept. 15th to the 28th, and in St. Louis from the 28th to October 17th.  We will attempt to visit a few churches during that time, but the main purpose of our trip is to spend time with family. 

Recently the Lord has reminded us of His constant and dependable presence in our lives.  We have had our share of scares over this last year, the most recent being a potentially deadly situation where Levi could have been killed but he escaped unscathed.  The Lord has shown us over and over again that He is our shield and that He is our protector.  This week in our family devotions we were given the verses in Hebrews 13:5b-6 which say, “He Himself has said, ‘I never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid.  What shale man do to me?’” 

Please know that we are incredibly grateful to you for your prayers.  We covet them, we feel them and we need them every day.  It’s amazing to know that we are covered in prayer and that God works through the prayers of His people.  Your prayers are what God uses to give us strength in our ministry. Thank you also to those who have blessed us through gifts and your consistent support as well.  We thank you all who have been so generous and so consistent to providing for our family’s needs.  May the Lord bless you in all your effort to serve Him.

Serving together with you,

Todd and Julie Hendry

Our church now has a name and a sign: Emanuel.

 

Our sister church in Fortaleza arrived this weekend with more than 50 people to provide social services and evangelistic services (in the middle of the road) for the community.