Market Garden Project

 The EAB/ACEV projects team visited our growing Market Garden Project at Barra de Oitis Community this week and was particularly impressed with the progress of Dona Benedita and Senhor Francisco known by the nick name of Tico. Benedita expressed her joy at earning 36 pounds in a month. You might not think that's much for a month but if you realize that person didn't have any income before, you will see why she is happy. Francisco impresses with his plantation of beans, maize, lettuce, guava, mango, bananas, water melon and coconut. This project really helps people to help themselves, demonstrating God's love and care in tangible ways. 

New Year's Eve

New Year is bigger in Brazil than Christmas! It is strange that this is so in the light of a majority Roman Catholic population (at least nominally) and a large evangelical population (although many are hard to recognize as genuine evangelicals). I have had many more messages from Christians today wishing me a Happy New Year than I received wishing me a Happy Christmas.

As usual we will have a service at church this New Year's Eve. The only difference is that it will be from 7.30 pm to 9 pm instead of the usual 10 pm to 12.15 am. As the service will be a hybrid in-person and online one, and in the light of the second wave of the pandemic, we felt it would be better earlier.

Philip will be speaking tonight from England and Liz and I will be speaking from the office at home. We look to God for His blessing and pray His blessing on all our family, friends, prayer warriors and supporters throughout  2021. May it be a better year than this one! 

Christmas

I preached on the Birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve in Patos. I preached from my office at home so it was shown to the church on a big screen. Our services are hybrid in person and online. All went very well. The praise and worship team sang carols including a beautiful Brazilian one written by a converted young man who was on drugs back in the seventies. The gist of this song is: "At Christmas we always thank God for Jesus having been born at Bethlehem. But what we don't always remember is that He can be born in us too". After the service Liz and I had a Brazilian traditional Christmas Eve supper. This is normally with all the family but this year of course this wasn't possible owing to the pandemic.

On Christmas Day we follow the British tradition of Christmas lunch as far as is possible. We had no Christmas pudding as you can't buy them in Brazil.

Last night our young assistant pastor Rafael preached in the final Sunday service of 2020.

Christmas Eve

 It never quite seems like Christmas in the heat! Anyway I am already to preach in our Christmas Eve service.

Yesterday afternoon Liz and I visited 2 deaconesses from our church. Both were doorstep visits with us sat in the jeep. It was nice to chat to Josinete and then to Marcia. 

Today I have had reports and photos from our church leaders who have been distributing Christmas Hampers. Francinaldo from Manaira and Travessia was very happy as was Betinho at Ibiara and Conceição. Then came Isabela from Tavares, Lindon Carlos at Imaculada, Esequias at Juru and Nenem at São Vicente do Seridó. All express much gratitude. It has been good this year to spread the Christmas Hampers far and wide. They have blessed hundreds of people. Happy Christmas! 

Christmas Presents

 Liz and I visited our Action School in Patos on Monday afternoon where a team was distributing Christmas presents to the children. We called by to encourage the team for all their dedicated work throughout a difficult year.

Please pray for this school as the headteacher Gerlânia has decided to move on to different work after 17 excellent years in our Pastor Frank Dyer School. She will not be easily replaced so please pray for God to guide us in this. We are having a lot of discussions about this with different leaders.

Yesterday Liz and I organized the purchase of small gifts for all our seniors in our Young at Heart group. Márcia and Lila went out and bought them all in the morning and then visited each senior in the afternoon distributing the gifts. As with the children the day before this resulted in many smiling faces! We do try to take special care of our seniors at church at this time because they are especially under pressure with the pandemic's restrictions.

This morning we have organized another small team to go to the Green Pastures area distributing gifts for the poor children and Christmas Hampers for their families.

Last night I gave a short video message to the final Men's Fellowship meeting of the year. Philip also took part from the UK online via Google Meet.

Sister Lena is with the Lord

 Our Sister Lena from our Imaculada church died yesterday from Covid - 19. Imaculada is a one hour drive from Patos. Lena is the second person from EAB/ACEV churches that we have lost to the pandemic. Lena's sister Malu is in a Campina Grande hospital with the same disease. Please pray for this family.

Please also pray for another sister at our Flores church and for a man at our Barra de Oitis church who are both ill with Covid.

Last night's Sunday service went well with our young assistant pastor Rafael ministering the Word. I will be preaching this Thursday (Christmas Eve) at our special Christmas service. The praise and worship team will be singing Christmas carols.

Liz and I keep up our walking at Green Pastures at least twice a week walking a few miles each time. 

Another Well inaugurated

Another well has been inaugurated. This time at Macambira dos Dionísio Community in Princesa Isabel County. Much joy was expressed by the population in the thanksgiving service.  

Prayer requests

 Please do continue to pray regarding the Covid 19 situation here in Brazil. Please especially pray for 2 sisters that have gone down ill with the virus. One is Nininha at our Flores church in Pernambuco State. The other is Lena from our Imaculada church. She has been admitted to Patos General Hospital after waiting 24 hours for a bed to be available. All hospitals here are full. The situation is serious. 

Unimaginable

The Guardian this week has called the Covid crisis in Latin America "unimaginable - lurching from bad to worse". That about sums the situation up here! Brazil is the second worse country in the world in the number of Covid deaths. We greatly value your prayers. 

I had good discussions yesterday with Pastor Renilson high up in the mountains at Matureia. I also talked to Pastor Nemias (Neemiah) at Flores in the State of Pernambuco. He was asking prayer for a sister in our church there who has gone down with Covid 19. He also told me they have cancelled their mid-week in-person service to reduce the risks of Covid in the light of the seriousness of the present situation. 

The Patos General Hospital is 95% full to capacity as regards the Covid beds. The situation is the same all over Brazil.

This week Liz and I had 2 good 2 mile walks at Green Pastures.

Tribute to Ivy Dyer

 Last night a lovely special tribute was made to Sister Ivy Dyer who went to be with the Lord almost 8 years ago in January 2013. The tribute was made by a Bible College (JUVEP) on the coast in João Pessoa. Last week they contacted me asking for information, which I gave, as they had decided to speak about Ivy's long years (over 60 years) of service in the interior and make a tribute to her in their graduation service. Pastor Matheus from our first church in João Pessoa went to the service to represent ACEV/EAB. I have watched the tribute on YouTube this morning and it is really lovely. Praise God for Ivy's dedicated life to the Lord. She received her home call just 4 months short of reaching 90 years of age.

Pastors meeting

 Last night Liz and I held a very good meeting with our assistant pastor Rafael. We were all duly masked and socially distanced in our back garden in the open air. We first of all discussed the Green Pastures church which we are in the process of reorganizing after the previous leader Tarcísio left and moved to the town. We are now holding a service there every Saturday evening which is led by Rafael.

We also had discussions on the Patos church as well as the Teixeira and Juazeirinho churches where Rafael had worked previously. 

New Well inaugurated

 On Friday a lovely open-air thanksgiving service was held for a new well drilled at Olho D'água Seco Community in Tavares County. This well produces 2,800 litres of water per hour which is more than enough for the more than 40 families immediately benefitted by the well. This well will be great for irrigation for these farming folk too. We always hold a thanksgiving service at our project inaugurations and it was good to see a good crowd which gathered from the community who heard the Gospel loud and clear.