July Happenings

Wow! July came and went so quickly and there's so much to write about! To sum it up, we were able to host two separate missions groups who came to help us with two kids clubs. It was hard work, but fun and God blessed our efforts in spite of the weather (it was cold and rainy during our open-air club) and our own shortcomings, and here are some of the highlights (in no particular order of importance) ...

A chance to present the gospel twice at a school nearby

Contacts made from doing a door-to-door survey -- we are starting Bible studies this week with new families as a result

Great food at our neighbor's house who cooked a great meal for us each day the second group was here. We are halfway through a six-week Bible study with this family.

Good burgers from a local restaurant -- meat pattie, ham, cheese, corn, peas, tomato, lettuce, potato chips and homemade mayo -- not of any importance, but just an interesting cultural note

Fun times with Rachel, David's sister, who spent a good part of her summer vacation here with us. She brought ingredients for smores -- how thoughtful!

Group #1 from São Paulo -- it was cold and rainy while they were here, but we were still able to enjoy an outing to a local fort during their time here

We had daily devotions with both groups. Here we're having devotions at the beach. It was a really special time. Thank you, James and David, for challenging us to have godly ambitions.

You can hardly see her, but the woman in this picture is a mom who brought her son (in the red) to our VBS last year. She has made a profession of faith in Christ and this year she helped us in our second club and brought her son and nephews every day to participate.

The boy on the left made a profession of faith during the second club. He has come many times to our Sunday School and has always shown a lot of interest in the gospel. Pray for this young boy, that he will remain firm as he reaches the hard preteen/teenage years, that he will not be lured away by everything the world has to offer.

Group #2 from Curitiba included both mine and David's parents and Rachel. It was great to work with family and to have both Grannas here to help take care of the little ones.

Dad concluded three of the days with great paintings illustrating an attribute of God and concluding with the cross of Christ

Song time -- by the third day, the kids were singing the songs really well

Good outcome in both clubs. We have around 50 new families to visit. The mother of the second boy on the left has already agreed to start a Bible study this week.

Good story time with James and David. The theme of both clubs was "The Real Treasure" focusing on God and His attributes.

Game time is always a big hit with the kids. We are thankful that the neighborhood school allowed us to use their gym for the second club.

There are many other details I could write about, but I think this is good for now. Thank you for praying for us. There is so much work to be done here. The more we come in contact with people, the more we are seeing the importance of God placing us here to spread the gospel.