Greater Ani

I went to Green Pastures and saw a nest of the Greater Ani which is a dark blue bird with white eyes which measures 46 cms. I saw the parents and 3 young in the nest who are quite large already and should soon be flying. This species comes to us every year in the rainy season. I also heard the Scaled Dove cooing and saw a number of small flocks of Red-cowled Cardinals.

Yesterday afternoon I received the visit in my office of the leader of an evangelical mission in Joao Pessoa called Juvep. The leader's name is Sergio Ribeiro. He was coming through Patos and so contacted me asking to set up a meeting. We had a very good discussion about the work of the Lord in northeast Brazil which was most worthwhile.

Yesterday QPR beat Leeds 4 x 0 at home and therefore guaranteed their permanence in the Championship with one game still to play. I watched the second half on TV as I had been in a meeting so missed the first half. It was an outstanding performance against a top side.

Hospital visit

Liz and I went to the Patos General Hospital to visit our worker Fabio who was injured in a motorbike accident. His hand/arm is broken and in plaster and his knee is heavily bandaged having been ripped open in the accident. The 2 girls that were also on the bike were fortunate to be unscathed as they didn't even have crash helmets on!

We have received news from Peter & Marion Miles of the death of Pastor Ray Westbook, aged 88 years, who was the pastor at our old church Peniel Chapel for many years. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our dear brother.

On Tuesday night I travelled with the Patos Men's Fellowship to the town of Sao Mamede where I preached the Gospel from 1 Peter 1:1-9 in a street service which gathered between 40 and 50 people. It was a good service.

On Wednesday afternoon Liz and I had an excellent meeting with our social worker Marah Danielle about the Action Schools project and the 'young at heart' encounters. It was a really productive meeting in which we defined problems and sought solutions.

Liz went to the Wednesday evening women's fellowship meeting and it went well with 10 present. Liz also had a difficult counselling session with a woman but I can't give her name.

Motorbike accident

Fabio is one of our young leaders who leads the Travessia and Fonseca little churches. When he was a child he was one of the EAB sponsored children. Well, he has been injured in a motorbike accident when he was taking his sister and her friend on his bike! The excesses of youth! 3 on a motorbike is a bit much! Fabio was sent to the general hospital in Patos where he is being treat for a fractured hand and badly damaged knee. Please pray for Fabio.

On Sunday night I led the service in Patos and Rafael preached on Mark 9. It was a good service.

Liz and I have renewed our Brazilian drivers licenses this week.

I so enjoy my friendships with the little children in church. Last night little Samuel (his Dad is our keyboard player) came up to me after the service and gave me one of his sweets! Samuel "helps" me in the Bible studies by writing on the flip chart to give me a hand! Little Moses (whose Dad drills wells) came up to me after church last night (as he always does) and extended his hand to me greeting me with the grace and peace of the Lord! The lovely little girl identical twins (whose Dad is a policeman) both gave me enormous hugs after church last night! And so it goes on... "of such is the kingdom of heaven".

Liz has just been visiting an 80-year-old lady called Graça with Deaconess Deborah Maria. The lady was very lonely and thoroughly enjoyed the visit which was really blessed.

Green Pastures

I went for a walk at Green Pastures and saw and heard a variety of birds: Many Picui Ground Doves, Caatinga Cacholotes, Burrowing Owl, Red-cowled Cardinals, Striped Cuckoos, Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, Smooth-billed Anis.

I have proof read EAB's InTouch magazine #101 and it looks very good. Our thanks to Dave Flowers and Marian Rashleigh for all their good work. In this edition topics include: 60+ Movement, Pink & Blue, Tavares Outreach, Baptismal, Carnival Camp, Bathroom project, Ministry to the Deaf, Donkeys and Sheep. You should receive this magazine in early May. Please read it and then pass it on to someone who might enjoy it.

Our pastor Gerse at our first Princesa Isabel church has had the blow of his car catching fire. Please pray for him. The car is a mess, probably a write-off and it wasn't insured.

I have just driven back a little over two and a half hours after having preached at our Princesa Isabel church in the borough of Baixa last night. This is our second church in that town which celebrated its 19th anniversary. I preached on the faithfulness of God from Psalm 89. It was a lovely service. We slept the night at Princesa Isabel in a "hotel" which was pretty basic to put it mildly!

QPR beat Preston 1 x 0 at home yesterday which was excellent! However we are still not guaranteed survival in the Championship. 

Women

Liz has been at the Women's Fellowship meeting which she says went well. Deborah Maria led and Rebeca spoke. They also had a good time of prayer together.

Liz and I have been involved in a good counselling session with a couple who I will not name. 

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study last night and the praise was led by Marina and Rogerio on keyboard. Rafael brought the study from Amos 2. It was a good service.

Counselling

Liz has been involved in some counselling of a young person with relationship issues. I can't mention the name or go into details.

I have been doing sermon preparation for the annual general pastors' conference next month. Your prayers are valued.

Liz and I had our bi-annual blood tests today so I've been walking round all day with an empty arm! We get our results online and everything that has come through to date is fine. 😊

I went to the Men's Fellowship meeting last night which was led by school teacher Claudivan with Rafael coordinating the reflection in God's Word. Only 7 went but it was a nice time of fellowship around God's Word.

Toilets

The difficult selection process for three more toilet/shower units to be built at Barra de Oitis has been completed and the building materials have been delivered this week. 81-year-old Maria de Lourdes is finally going to get her very first bathroom and she is thrilled! There are no less than 21 people living in her 4-room house, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so the loo will be well used! The second toilet/shower unit will be shared by the 3 families of Maria Jose, Camila and Francisco benefitting a total of 17 people. The third will go to Maria Luciene and family benefitting 6 more people.

Saturday was a youth day at Green Pastures with a time of sport and leisure for our youth. They stayed for the evening service there at which one of them, Ray, was the speaker.

The young at heart group enjoyed their morning on Friday of ocupational therapy and fellowship. We have received various messages of thanks from them.

QPR lost at Hull 3 x 0 on Saturday and are now 3 points and 3 places above the delegation zone with 3 matches to go to the end of the season.

Liz has just made me an avocado pear smoothy. Absolutely delicious!

Liz and I have been to a tragic wake of a young man aged 35 who was murdered last night by a policeman. The deceased's mother Salete is a member of our church. The murder took place as part of a dispute over a girlfriend. The wake was very emotion charged. Please pray for Salete.

I led last night's service and Bible College graduate Murilo preached on 'being holy' from 1 Peter 1. He was excellent

Marathon

Jose Joel and Rafael with their 2 little sons were thrilled to receive a sheep last week as part of EAB's 4-Legs project. They live in the Sitio Genipapo in Santana de Mangueira County. As well as being a farm labourer Jose is a marathon runner like EAB chairman Roy Dyer. Perhaps we could set up a race between ACEV's Jose and EAB's Roy?! 😉

The time is fast approaching for the annual Cadnam Methodist Church Concert in the New Forest in aid of EAB. It will be held on the last Saturday of the month (April 27th) at 7 pm. Tickets cost 10 pounds. Phone 01794 323279 for reservations and details. The concert will have a fine musical programme with some very good musicians. Our son Philip will be taking part. Our thanks go to Howard & Hillary Babey for all their work put into organizing this event.

On Thursday Liz and I held an excellent two and a half hour meeting with Pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice. Pastor Wostenes is the deputy chair of ACEV. We had a wide ranging discussion in preparation for next month's general conference of all our pastors and leaders. I will be preaching at the Conference. Please pray.

Annual General Conference

I am very busy preparing the agenda and details for our annual general conference which is always held at one of our churches in the month of May. This year it will be held on the coast in Joao Pessoa on the 24th and 25th of May and will gather together all our pastors and leaders for 4 general assemblies of sharing, planning, debating, praying and envisioning together. The Conference will end on the Saturday night with the Conference' Commissioning service at which one sister will be given probationary missionary status and 2 pastors and one woman missionary will be ordained. We greatly value your prayers for our general conference.

QPR drew 1 x 1 away to Plymouth on Tuesday. 4 matches are left in the season and we are 4 points clear of the drop. This is nail biting time!

On Tuesday night the Patos Men's Fellowship travelled to the town of Sao Mamede to hold the fortnightly street service. Numbers were down owing to rain, but the service went well. It rained 15 mm at Green Pastures.

Baptisms

Pastor Maesio up in the mountains at Teixeira baptized 3 at the weekend in a joyful and blessed service. The church there is ticking over nicely.

Liz and I didn't go to church yesterday owing to the flu but we are feeling steadily brighter. The main service of the week on Sunday night was led by our co-pastor Rafael and he preached too. We watched the whole service live on YouTube. It was a lovely service.

Our granddaughter Alice is staying with us at the moment for a few days which is very nice.

I had paw-paw and a banana for breakfast as usual. Occasionally I eat custard apple with banana.

Called to the Bar

On Friday our grandson Arthur and his girlfriend Bianca were both called to the bar and are now fully fledged barristers. They have done very well. The president of the Brazilian Lawyers Association (OAB) invited me to say a prayer of blessing upon the 15 new lawyers at the ceremony.

One of our pastors and his wife have left ACEV/EAB this week. They were in a temporary co-pastors role. I understand that the couple have serious personal problems which triggered their decision. 

I went to Green Pastures and saw 2 wild cavies scuffling off into the bush.

Both Liz and I have the flu. Liz had it first and 3 days later it was me. We both have nasty coughs.

QPR sadly lost at home to Sheffield Wednesday yesterday 2 x 0. We are still 4 points clear of the relegation places with 5 games left to play, so we're not safe yet.

Matureia School

Up in the mountains in the town of Matureia (highest point in our state of Paraiba) EAB/ACEV has a church which is going well under the leadership of Pastor Renilson. It also has an excellent school there under the leadership of Renilson's wife Getiane which has 260 children in it. This week a young teenage boy made a lovely commitment to the Lord and he is the 8th pupil from our school there to do so. PTL!

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study last night. Sister Espedita sang a solo and Marina and Rogerio led the praise. Rafael brought the study from Amos 2:6-7.

Last night it rained 53 mm at Green Pastures (just over 2 inches) so this was very good. The dam in the river which flows through the Reserve is overflowing. PTL!

Feedback

It is always encouraging when one receives positive feedback on a sermon and this I'm getting from my sermon on Easter Sunday which was an exposition of 1 Corinthians 15 about the ressurection of Jesus, the ressurection of Christians and the ressurection body and what it will be like. One young father who came back to the Lord at the Carnival Camp is bubbling about it and has contacted me various times on WhatsApp. How good it is to see people being touched by the Word of God!

QPR won away to Swansea 1 x 0 on Easter Monday which puts us 6 points and 6 places above the relegation zone. Things are looking much better! 😀 There are 6 matches to go in the season.

Last week we distributed 9 more hair sheep as part of the EAB/ACEV 4-Legs project to help the rural poor. Everyone was overjoyed to receive the sheep. We distributed 6 sheep at the Sitio Boa Vista in Tavares County, 1 sheep at Sitio Genipapo in the County of Santana de Mangueira and 2 sheep at Assentamento Mata Verde in Diamante County. Sadly I have to report that one of the sheep in Tavares County was killed in the night by feral dogs and I have received photos of it.

On Monday night 6 gathered for our youth prayer meeting. I am always encouraged when I see the youth praying.

4 new converts were baptized at the weekend at our Caroá church by local pastor Valdemy. PTL! 

Last night I led the Bible study with the men's fellowship based on Revelation chapter 1. It was a good meeting.

Easter Sunday

Yesterday (Easter Sunday) was a wonderful day in church. Everything started with our annual church fellowship breakfast together at 8 am. This was followed by a half-hour time of resurrection worship with hymns like "Up from the grave he arose" with us sat down for the verses and stood up for the choruses. We also had a reflection on the resurrection text from John 20.

At night I preached on 1 Corinthians 15 and it went very well. We also had a special resurrection short drama from our drama group and deaf fellowship which was very good.

I have read a book called 'Can women be pastors?' written by a Brazilian called Vik Zalewski Baracy. It is a good book. I am now reading 'God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics' by C.S. Lewis.

Easter break

We had an Easter mini break from Thursday to Saturday at Green Pastures which was very nice. I enjoyed some good walks in the middle of lovely green pasture and trees and saw and heard dozens of species of birds. I also played some chess. I beat my architect grandson Felipe and drew with his partner Vivi. This morning we had the traditional Easter egg hunt with all the family including Liz's sister Esther and her family. We had heavy rain (18 mm) at the time of the hunt which added to the fun!

For those interested in nature let me give you the English names of the birds I saw at Green Pastures. If you Google these names you can see what they look like. Campo Troupial (orange - saw young in the nest in a lamp shade), Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Solitary Sandpiper (migrates from Canada), Small Egret, Rufous-bellied Thrush (sang lots), Blue-black Grassquit (flies up and down on the spot as it sings), Common Tody-Flycatcher (by its nest which hangs from a twig), Picazuro Pigeon (a lot of these), White-tipped Dove, Picui Ground-Dove, Red-cowled Cardinal (singing a lot at dawn), Caatinga Cacholote (making nests), Squirrel Cuckoo, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani (by its nest), Long-billed Wren, Southern Wren, Brazilian Teal, Spot-backed Puffbird (flew out of its burrow), Rufous-browed Peppershrike (singing profusely and beautifully), Pigmy Owl (singing night and day), Striped Cuckoo, Short-crested Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Cactus Paraqueet (2 nests in ant mounds in Eucalyptus trees). Whilst walking we observed over 100 Brazilian Plum trees that we have planted over the past years in partnership with the federal university forestry engineers.

QPR beat Birmingham 2 x 1 at home yesterday! 😁 They are now 4 places clear of the relegation zone. 👍

I led the Easter service at our Patos school tonight and three teenage boys made commitments to Christ at the end. PTL!

Asphalt

The street where we live in Patos is called 'Avenida Rio Branco' and we live at number 629. Next door to us is our daughters' English School. Streets in towns here start as earth streets, but with time these progress to cobblestone streets made from blocks of granite rock widely available in the region. Our street has been cobblestoned since we bought our house back in 1984 but today our street is finally being asphalted which will be much smoother than cobblestones. We feel quite posh! 😊

I travelled to Sao Mamede on Tuesday to hold the fortnightly service in this town together with the Patos men's fellowship. I preached on 'Jesus the mediator' from 1 Timothy 2:5 and stressed from verse 4 that God, through Jesus, "wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth". It was a good service.

I see that Brazil beat England 1 x 0 at Wembley at the weekend. I didn't watch the game.

At Green Pastures I heard a Pigmy Owl giving its staccato hunting call. As its name suggests it is a tiny owl yet it is a feared hunter of other small birds. Yesterday it rained another 52 mm. PTL!

Big Black Snake

This week we found a 'Caatinga's Black Snake' 2 metres (6 feet) long at Green Pastures. It was found under the bed of our chief cook Linda but anyone in Brazil please don't tell her this! This snake is actually a very positive snake as its main diet is other snakes as it is immune to their poison.

The Brazilian census has shown that our state where we live and work (Paraiba) has the third highest level of illiteracy in Brazil, better only than the other northeastern states of Alagoas and Piaui. It is good to realize that EAB/ACEV's 17 little schools are contributing towards solving this problem and we thank all for their support for our action schools which help over 800 children. Our aim is to have with every church a school, as Martin Luther once proposed.

On Palm Sunday Liz taught the adult class in the Sunday School again in the morning. I led the main service of the week at night and in the service we showed the carnival camp video which we sent to everyone in the UK. Our Bible College student Rayla preached from Matthew 21:1-11. It was a good service.

On Sunday a father called Mateus, who had been backslidden for years, rededicated his life to God. We rejoice and ask you to pray for Mateus. 

BBC Global Minds

I am a member of the BBC's Global Minds listeners and watchers panel and have just replied to a survey concerning the BBC's new mission statement. About once a month they carry out a survey on some topic and it is always a pleasure to do my bit for the BBC. I have been on the panel for as long as I can remember as I used to be on it when I used to listen to the BBC at 3 pm every day on short wave radio! Now we have it on TV and via their website.

On Friday night a team from the Patos church went to the pituresque and tiny village of Picotes in the county of Sao Mamede. They held a blessed service at the home of Olga and her husband Etinho who are members of our church.

I have just received the sad news of the death of Margaret Irish in Australia who was the wife of David Irish for 57 years. They were missionaries to Papua New Guinea for many years. Our thoughts and prayers are with David and all the family who are consolled by the fact that Margaret is with the Lord.

I led the service last night at Green Pastures and Bible College graduate Murilo gave a good message from John 21. Nega sang together with three other sisters followed by Manoel who sang a solo. Sacha led the praise and worship with Lucas on guitar. It was a nice meeting.

Women's Fellowship

Liz took the study at the women's fellowship meeting on Wednesday evening and all went off well. Parallel to this a team held the weekly service at our school in the borough of Jatoba.

I have heard a number of Striped Cuckoos at Green Pastures. Its plaintive call has generated legends that it is a bad omen. I personally love to hear its call.

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study last night and there was a good number present of 30. Co-pastor Rafael brought the study from Amos 2:1-5. Vasti and Espedita sang solos.

Rogerio

Rogerio is a lovely man aged 42 who many moons ago was a pupil of our Pastor Frank Dyer school in the borough of Jatobá in Patos. Today he is doing a job for us in our garden. He is married and the father of 3 children. 2 of these have been pupils of our school and the third is currently at the school. His 2 older children take part in our adolescents follow-up group at our school.

Orlando is working with Rogerio in our garden today where a wall has fallen down. Orlando is the fruit of our Job Creation project which helped Orlando commence a gardening business kitting him out with tools. Today he is the best gardener in Patos. These two men are the direct result of EAB's practical projects which put God's love in action. Orlando and his son have since been converted. PTL!

We had a busy day yesterday with counselling and meetings. We counselled a young man who stands in need of your prayers. We also had an excellent meeting with our co-pastor Rafael about a variety of church issues including the 12 being prepared for baptism by the month of May.

Our men's fellowship meeting last night went well at the house of my co-pastor Rafael and his wife Rayla.

Cemetery vandalism

One of Patos's three cemeteries was attacked during the night and over 30 tombs were violated and smashed. Many coffins were exposed and even some coffins were opened! Please pray for the culprit to be caught and punished. This did not happen at the cemetery where Liz's parents are buried.

A young woman in our Patos church has just had a traumatic experience with an armed robber forcing his way into her house and robbing mobile phones and other items. Please pray for Fia. 

QPR travelled to Sunderland on Saturday and drew 0 x 0. We remain one point above the relegation zone with eight matches to go to the end of the season. It is going to go down to the wire! You need strong nerves to be a QPR supporter. 😊

I have had good discussions with Pastor Valdemy of our Caroa church. Such contacts are an important part of my work. I also sent a recorded message to the Caroa church via the pastor.

The Sunday services went well. Liz taught the adult class in the morning Sunday school and I led the main service of the week at night with my co-pastor Rafael preaching from Luke 13. Fabio sung a lovely solo.

Counselling

Liz has done a 3-hour session of marriage counselling. Please pray for the couple. Liz also enjoyed the women's fellowship meeting which was held this week at an elderly sister's house.

4 little Peacocks have hatched at Green Pastures and they are strutting around the place with their mum! It has rained a further 40 mm. PTL!

3 young people have been baptized at our third Joao Pessoa church in the borough of Boa Esperança. Please pray for them.

More very positive reports keep coming in as feedback from last month's Carnival Camp at Green Pastures. One mother came to me last night and told me that her "family has been revolutionized by God as a result of the camp!" The family is now always in church whereas previously they came very little. Another young father tells us he has been drawn closer to God as a result of the camp. This just goes to show how worthwhile these events are! They are a lot of hard work, but God's blessing on lives is really encouraging. Thank you for your prayers and support.

I led the mid-week prayer and Bible study and I gave the study on Romans 12. We had a good tussle with "heap coals of fire on their heads"! How would you like me to heaps coals of fire on your head as a goodwill gesture?! 😉

Tavares Reservoir

 On Monday night it rained 117 mm in Tavares (2-hour drive from Patos) and their enormous reservoir there is overflowing with a beautiful waterfall. At Green Pastures it rained 16 mm.

Next month I am going to preach at our second church at Princesa Isabel which is about a two and a quarter hour journey south-west of Patos. I value your prayers. The church is led by Jair and Silvania and is in the borough of Baixa. It will be their 19th church anniversary.

I went out to Green Pastures and boy isn't there are a lot of birdlife! We have Green-barred Woodpeckers nesting and Little Woodpeckers too. Also nesting are Southern Wrens, Rufous-bellied Thrushes and Campo Troupials. All these birds are nesting around the house there. 

On Tuesday evening I travelled to the town of Sao Mamede where I preached the Gospel on 'The just shall live by faith' from Romans 1:17, Habakkuk 2:4, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. It was a lovely service.

Jurema Village

Jurema village in the county of Tavares is about a two hour drive south west of Patos where we are based. For a number of years we have been working on planting a church in this village, but the going is very tough. The village, which has no other gospel witness in it, is being pioneered by a young woman called Iraneide and we ask you to especially pray for her. Up till now only one woman and her son had come to the Lord there, but now a man called Jair has also made a commitment to Christ. Please pray.

On April 27th Cadnam Methodist church will be holding their annual musical concert in aid of EAB. Please support this event. This church has an amazing group of expert musicians who put on quite a show! Tickets cost 10 pounds. Call 01794 323279 for details. 

On Saturday morning I led a group of adults on an educational walk around Green Pastures encouraging them to care for creation. We came face to face with a young Tropical Screech Owl which just stood on the ground and wasn't the slightest bit scared as the people got really close to it to take its photograph.

I led Sunday night's main service of the week as I usually do. Our youngest daughter Sacha preached on Hebrews 12:1-3. She preached very well. Her half hour just flew by. The service was a thanksgiving service for women allusive to International Women's Day which was on Friday.

Green Pastures Walk

On Friday afternoon I went for a lovely walk at Green Pastures which is really green in this rainy season. I saw the footprints of a Racoon and of an aquatic bird called a Wattled Jacana. I also saw the markings in the soil of the 6-banded Armadillo. I also saw thousands of large flying ants and countless butterflies. The Wild Cavies were on the move too and I saw 2 of them. Sadly I also saw a large dead wild tortoise which was caught in the river in the heavy rains and drowned.

On Friday night I had a good meeting with the leaders of the Patos youth and we discussed the plans for the first half of this year. These include a day at Green Pastures on April 13th and a youth camp at Green Pastures between June 21st and 24th. Please pray for our youth. 

This week our projects team has been travelling a lot monitoring the progress of our market garden project in a number of places. They have also been visiting families at Barra de Oitis as part of the selection process for the building of further toilet/shower units. One lady they visited is 81 and has never had a toilet in her life!

Yesterday QPR lost at home to Middlesbrough 2 x 0.

I led the weekly service last night of our Green Pastures church. It was a lovely service with about 30 present and the local folk took part with lots of praise. One of our Bible College students and youth leader Rayla brought the evening's message.

I watched QPR!

On Wednesday Brazilian TV showed the QPR match against West Bromwich which ended up as a 2 x 2 draw. It is the first time I have actually seen QPR play for years. 😀QPR deserved to win. The independent Brazilian commentators said that. QPR missed a penalty and had a goal saved on the line by handball which the referee didn't see. There is no VAR in the Championship.

On Wednesday evening Liz led the Women's Fellowship meeting at which there were about 35 present. The meeting commemorated international women's day and there were 2 non-christians present.

On Wednesday it rained another 22 mm which is almost an inch. PTL!

It is wonderful to hear the bird called in English 'Caatinga Cacholote' everyday outside our house in Patos. This rust coloured bird is about the size of a Blackbird with a crested head and a long tail. The pairs sing duets which are beautiful and unmistakeable.

Yesterday afternoon we went to visit sister Margareth whose sister has been diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. We had a long talk to her and prayed for the whole situation.

I led last night's mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study which was very good with 30 present. Co-pastor Rafael brought the study from Amos chapter 1.

Ezekiel

I have had some important discussions today with Pastor Esequias (Ezekiel) from our Juru church. I am glad to say that news from there is good with the church growing. I discussed with him an issue (I can't say what) that was worrying him and gave him advice.

I am thrilled to report that a young father called Jordan from the Patos church came to tell me how his life was changed by the carnival camp! He said he's a different person as a result of the ministry of God's word at the camp. Please pray for Jordan.

In the first 5 days of this month of March it rained 121 mm at Green Pastures. The dam in the river bed is overflowing and the lake has taken in a very large amount of water. We are rejoicing and praising the Lord! Thank you for praying, but please don't stop as we need much more. If the lake was to overflow it would be fantastic! 🙏

Liz and I were up praying at nearly midnight for elderly sister Socorro Help who was having an anxiety attack. We went and visited her the day after and found her much better.

There were 11 of us in last night's men's fellowship meeting which was led by chief of the police Esau.

Rain stopped Pray

 We had another 7 mm of rain on Saturday at Green Pastures and this was enough for the local ACEV/EAB church to cancell the weekly service which I was to take. Nevertheless a service went ahead in the town of Ipueira led by Dede and the Christians in Action group. There were also fellowship group meetings in Patos of the deaf and the youth. This meeting of the deaf is their main meeting of the week led by deaf pastor Luiz Carlos.

QPR travelled to top of the Championship Leicester and beat them 2 x 1. This means we remain just outside the drop zone on goal difference.

Last night's communion service was really blessed of God. I both led the service and preached. I preached on 'True Freedom' from Psalm 119:41-48. In the morning Liz taught the adult class in the Sunday School.

There is another epidemic of Dengue Fever in Brazil at the moment and it is killing a lot of people. The illness is spread by a mosquito. Please pray.

Rain count

Here is our rain count for this rainy season, with last year's amounts in brackets: December 100 mm (67), January 103 mm (94), February 160 mm (147). Thus you can see that so far we are up a bit on last year.

I both led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and gave the Bible study on Romans 12:9-15. It was a lovely service with 30 present.

I went for a nice walk at Green Pastures and it is lovely to see everything so lush and green with the rains. The birds are hiperactive nesting with some species already into their second nest this rainy season. I heard a Tropical Screech Owl and a Pigmy Owl as well as a Southern Wren. I saw a Pale Baywing and a Caatinga Cachalote.

Francisco, who works at Green Pastures, hung his leather gloves, used to handle thorny cactus plants, in a tree. However one of the gloves he left quite low and in the night a fox came and stole the glove! The markings from the fox were clear for all to see. So if you see a fox wearing only one glove please tell it that we have the other one! 😉

He is risen

I am preparing a new sermon for Easter Sunday on the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15 covering: 1. The resurrection of Jesus (v1-11). 2. The resurrection of Christians (v12-34). 3. The nature of our resurrection body (v35-58).

Last night the men's fellowship held a nice service in the town of Sao Mamede in the street outside Jose and Marico's house. Not many gathered this time as there was rain about, but those that were there heard the Gospel.

We have had two more spots of rain at Green Pastures. First there was a shower of 4 mm and then one of 11mm. We value your prayers for more rain.

3 very hectic days

We were having our usual Sunday lunch of egg, chips and peas when the sad news came to us that our great friend for 52 years, Pastor Cesario in Joao Pessoa, had minutes before passed into the presence of the Lord aged 96. We knew he was at the end but it still hits you. He remained lucid and active to the end still preaching the Gospel. He sang hymns loudly on his death bed, recited Psalm 126 and prayed for God to save those who were caring for him in his last days. Pastor Cesario was a great man of God and a founder member of the EAB/ACEV Patos church back in 1948.

Liz and I went to our Sunday evening service as normal, I led and had special prayer for the bereaved family, and our Bible College graduate Murilo preached very well indeed. By this time we already knew that the funeral service would be the following afternoon on the coast in Joao Pessoa at 1 pm. So we got up yesterday morning at 5:30 am, left Patos on a 5 hour journey at 6:30 am and arrived bang on time for the funeral service. I spoke at the funeral service as did a numbers of other pastors and family members. The open coffin was before us during the whole service as is the custom here. The burial itself took place around 5 pm at a cemetery quite a few miles away from the church where the service was held. We praise God for Pastor Cesario's life and fruitful ministry. His wife died 6 years ago and they had 10 children.

After the funeral last night we went for a lovely meal at Liz's sister Esther's apartment up on the 14th floor of a 53 storey apartment block not far from the beach. Today the return journey from Joao Pessoa to Patos took us 6 hours with a break for lunch in Campina Grande. We are tired but all was most worthwhile.

Census

The 2022 Brazilian census shows that out of Brazil's population of 215 million, 49 million are without adequate drains and 4.8 million are without piped water. EAB's well drilling carries on!

Next to our Pastor Frank Dyer school in south Patos is a quite large area of land. We have long wanted to do an exchange with the owner of the land with a piece of land we have in east Patos, but the owner refuses to do the deal. However he has now agreed to rent the land to us for 85 pounds a month with a hope (he says) of doing the exchange deal in a couple of years' time. This land will be a wonderful help to our school as it will finally give the children a playground and will give us space for our football workshops for teenagers. It will also give us space for our evangelistic services that we hold there. Please pray for the exchange deal to work out.

The mighty QPR beat Rotheram at home 2 x 1 yesterday! It means that this is the first time we have got out of the relegation zone since September! 😁

Last night I led the weekly service of our Green Pastures church. It was very good with a good number present. Services were also held at our Patos school and at Ipueira. Saturday is a night on which the Patos church spreads out in a variety of directions. The deaf have there big weekly get-together too.

Women's Fellowship

Liz has been at this week's women's fellowship meeting which was held in conjunction with Ana Karla's birthday celebrations. It was very good because about 10 of Ana Karla's non-evangelical Christian work colleagues went to the meeting and heard the Gospel loud and clear. It was an excellent meeting with a good number present.

I have just eaten some nice fruit: a custard apple and some red mombins. 😋

On Wednesday night it rained another 40 mm. Praise God! 👍

Last night I led the weekly prayer meeting and Bible study. There were 25 present and it was a blessed time together. Dede, Mada and Marcio shared verses of Scripture and Fabio led the praise using a playback as the guitar player couldn't make it.

Great Meeting

On Monday night we held a great meeting of our Patos church ministries' leaders. We had a wide ranging discussion of the fellowship groups and discussed different church members in need of special attention.

Donkeys have greatly disappeared from northeast Brazil as a result of their trade to China where their skins are greatly valued. Whereas there would often be accidents involving donkeys at night on our roads (I have had 3 such accidents) these are now rare.

I had discussions yesterday with Professor Flavia Moura of the Federal University. She is going to commence research at Green Pastures into mound-forming termites.

Last night I both led and spoke at the Men's Fellowship meeting which went very well. There were nine of us present.

It rained another 4 mm last night at Green Pastures.

Mud glorious mud!

Mud glorious mud! Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood! We had 40 mm of rain on Saturday at Green Pastures and this caused the cancellation of our weekly service there because the mud on the roads made getting there impossible. 

On Saturday morning I was asked to help at the English school by my daughters with a conversation class with about 15 students. It went very well and I really enjoyed it.

QPR travelled to Bristol and beat Bristol City 1 x 0 which was an excellent result. This result leaves us only 1 point adrift in the relegation zone. 😄

I have seen and heard a lot of Caatinga Cachalotes at Green Pastures lately. I even heard some in Patos this morning.

I led our main service of the week yesterday in the Patos church and Pastor Rafael preached from Mark 2. It was a good service with 2 decisions for Christ at the end. It rained another 14 mm after the service.

Pizza

After the mid-week prayer and Bible study meeting we went out and ate a pizza together to celebrate our grandson Arthur's passing in his Bar exams, together with his girlfriend Bianca. It was a nice time together.

I led the service, Joao Filho and Lucas Conserva led the praise, Dede and Deborah Maria brought verses of scripture and words of testimony about the carnival camp, and Rafael started a new series of studies in the book of Amos.

On Thursday it rained 15 mm at Green Pastures.

People were surprised when I reported that Tearfund has pulled out of Brazil. I received an official report yesterday from them and was told that they have in fact pulled out of the whole of Latin America! I am told that Tearfund's focus will now be on countries in conflict and war which is a total change.

The total number of people who took part in our carnival camp was 166.

Rains

We had 14 mm of rain this week at Green Pastures but the rains are very localized and low in intensity. Yesterday it rained for an hour and a half in Patos but nothing fell at Green Pastures, which is only a 20 minute drive northwest of Patos. Please pray for rain!

The weekly service at our Pastor Frank Dyer School in the borough of Jatoba in south Patos went ahead last night despite the rain. A nice little group gathered to hear the word of God.

QPR travelled to Stoke yesterday and lost 1 x 0. We remain 4 points adrift in the relegation zone with 12 matches to go to the end of the season. Things are looking bleak! 😕

Our lawyer grandson Arthur and his girlfriend Bianca have both passed their Bar exams and are now fully fledged lawyers! The results came out today and we are thrilled.

Scorpions

This carnival camp at Green Pastures saw an abundance of scorpions and last night, the final night of the camp, unfortunately saw Bianca (our grandson Arthur's girlfriend) bitten by one. The pain is excrutiating! She was taken to hospital to be checked out, but is now fine. We have just got home from the camp. Thanks to all who prayed for the camp.

The camp went very well indeed and was a real blessing. On Sunday night Murilo preached on 'Sound teaching' (2 Timothy 1:13-18). On Monday morning I preached for the second time on 'Be strong in the grace of Christ' (2 Timothy 2:1-7). On Monday night our daughter Sacha preached on 'God's word is not chained' (2 Timothy 2:8-13). On Tuesday Pastor Lindon Carlos preached both morning and night. In the morning the topic was 'A workman approved by God' (2 Timothy 2:8-13) and at night the topic was 'Instruments for noble purposes' (2 Timothy 2:20-26). The whole camp was richly blessed with excellent teaching ministry and lovely praise and worship.

On the leisure side of the camp there were very good volleyball matches every afternoon, there were fun competitions in the meeting hall, swimming, and games of table tennis, dominos, uno etc. Lights out at night was 11 pm and everyone behaved very well this year.

Carnival Camp in progress

Our 2024 Carnival Camp (the first one was in 1979) is in progress at Green Pastures and there are 100 plus present (I don't have precise statistics yet). I both led and preached in the opening service last night. I preached on a 'Clear Conscience' from 2 Timothy 1:1-7. The service went very well.

This morning was our second service (out of 7 in the camp) and I led and pastor Rafael preached on 'Do not be ashamed to Testify' from 2 Timothy 1:8-12. It was another blessed service. Sacha and Marina led the praise and worship backed by Rogerio, Davi, Netinho and Ricardinho. We had a good time of prayer during the service too. 

QPR drew at home to Norwich yesterday 2 x 2 and remain in the relegation zone. That's 4 matches in a row unbeaten so that gives us some hope.

We have had two showers of rain at Green Pastures. One was 7 mm and the other was 4 mm. It is better than nothing.

People are asking me about our son Philip's health. I am glad to say that he is now recovered from his pneumonia and is back to work. Thank you for your prayers.

Carnival Camp

Everything is full steam ahead with the organization of the carnival camp which starts at Green Pastures tomorrow and will run through to pancake Tuesday and to ash Wednesday. Liz is going like the clappers! Please pray for the camp. This blog may be irregular or non-existent over the coming days of the camp because internet is very weak at Green Pastures plus the fact that we have an extremely tight schedule.

I have had serious computer problems this week but they have now been fixed.

I had never more looked at my blog statistics, but I now see that last month this blog was visited 4,222 times from people in a variety of countries. My blog has its 20th anniversary this year! When I started it in August 2004 many people asked me what a blog was that I was talking about!

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study. Rogerio and Marina led the worship and Dede, Deborah Maria, Romildo and Marina brought verses of Scripture and Pastor Rafael gave the study on the final verses of Joel. Next week we will start in the book of Amos.

Trouble shooting

Liz and I have held 2 lengthy trouble shooting meetings with people from the Patos church whose names I can't mention because many people from the church read this blog. I would just ask you to pray with us on this, especially for one of these people who is in serious spiritual need.

There were 12 in the youth prayer meeting on Monday night. I think that is wonderful!

Last night's men's fellowship meeting went very well and this had 12 men in it too. It was a good meeting with warm fellowship.

I have held considerable discussions with our projects team as we get going in 2024. Our team had January off as usually happens.

The rains have disappeared and we are quite concerned about this. The long-term forecast is not good. Please pray for abundant rain for our region as either we get it now or we will have to wait till 2025!

Communion service

I conducted the communion service on Saturday night with our Green Pastures church and our grandson Arthur went with me. Bible College graduate Murilo preached the Gospel from 1 John 5:1-5. Fred and Nega with the sisters sang songs and Marina and Joao Filho led the worship accompanied on keyboard by Rogerio. It was a good meeting.

QPR did well on Saturday winning away to Blackburn 2 x 1. I hope this is the start of a winning run of matches! 😀

Last night's communion service in Patos was wonderful with our youngest daughter preaching about the Holy Spirit from John 14. She preached very well indeed. She is becoming quite a preacher! As it had been my birthday in the week the church did a special video with messages from some of our pastors and presented me with a new belt and some sugar-free Brazilian maltesers! It was all very nice and very much appreciated. 

Prayer

 I led the prayer meeting and Bible study on Thursday evening and there were 30 present. Davi and Joao Filho led the praise and Vasti and Espedita sang solos. Dede, Mariana, Marcio and Rayla shared verses of scripture with us. Rafael brought the study from Joel 3. We also had a lovely time of prayer together. It was a good meeting.

I have had a good meeting with our schools' coordinators at the beginning of the 2024 school year. It was a positive meeting.

I went out to Green Pastures and had a chat with Francisco. I heard a Striped Cuckoo, a Guira Cuckoo and a Rufous-browed Peppershrike. We badly need a lot more rain at Green Pastures. 

We keep some non-wild Guinea Pigs at Green Pastures for the enjoyment of the children who go there for camps etc. The Guinea Pigs have been dying so we decided to do a major clean up of the area they are kept in to see if we could find the cause. We found it! A deadly poisonous Caatinga Lancehead snake (Bothrops Erythromelas) was hiding inside their caged area. No wonder the guinea pigs were dying!

Birthday

I enjoyed my 75th birthday yesterday and received hundreds of messages from friends and family far and wide via Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp & e-cards. I was born on January 31st 1949 in London and have lived and worked for God in Brazil for 52 years. While I have health and strength I endeavour to carry on in the work God called me to and which I love. If Clint Eastman can still make films at 93 and David Attenborough can still fight for the environment at 97 - I certainly can preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I am enjoying excellent health by the grace of God at this time. It was especially good to receive messages yesterday from men I baptized and taught over 40 years ago.

I had a good walk at Green Pastures showing some men around, and heard the beautiful song of the Rufous-browed Peppershrike. 

Satisfaction

I preached on 'Satisfaction (delight in the English translation) in God' on Sunday night with an exposition of Psalm 119:33-40. It went very well. I also led the service and Sacha and Fabio led the praise and worship backed by Rogerio, Ricardinho and Davi. It was a good service with a full church.

I have completed my course on John Wesley's theology with the ISBL Bible College. It was a very encouraging and refreshing course. John Wesley's theology is strongly in line with mine. Excellent stuff!

QPR drew 1 x 1 at home at the weekend against Huddersfield. It was a very disappointing result as a win would have taken us out of the relegation zone as Huddersfield is the next team above us.

There were 6 in the youth prayer meeting last night including our grandson Arthur and his girlfriend Bianca. PTL! Arthur even gave a short word in the meeting.

EAB Board Meeting

Yesterday morning I took part in an EAB Board meeting at 7:30 am (10:30 am UK time) and it was very good. I took part in the meeting via Messenger. Amongst other things this year's AGM was set for October 19th at Hardley, Southampton. At the same time Liz was at the church with a team running a jumble sale.

On Friday night the Patos church's praise and worship team held a time of fellowship together at our house.

Please pray for our local church at Tavares which is doing the follow-up work to the 10-day outreach. 26 people made decisions, 4 re-dedicated their lives to God and 83 people agreed to visits to be made to their homes. It is a lot of work, but we believe God will bless and that there will be much fruit for the Kingdom.

Liz went with Deaconess Deborah Maria to visit a person (I can't give the name) from the church who has been recently diagnosed with cancer. Please pray for this person. Liz also went with our church visitation team to visit the home of Pastor Rafael and his wife Rayla who were married a month ago. They had a nice time of fellowship and a nice snack together.

Zoom meeting

 On Wednesday evening I took part in a Zoom online meeting involving Christians who care for God's creation. The meeting lasted a little over one and a half hours and was organized by the Canadian branch of A Rocha which is a Christian environmental organization with whom we are in partnership with. It was an excellent meeting chaired by Canadian Rick Faw. Migo took part from Costa Rica, I took part as did Lourdes from near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Cristina took part from Chile. Each one of us non-Canadians talked about our environmental work and answered their questions. I was able to share all about our work at Green Pastures and how we care for creation. I also shared about the work of EAB/ACEV in general. How wonderful it is to share fellowship with Christians who love the Lord and care for his creation!

If you share with us a love for nature and a concern for caring for God's creation at Green Pastures then please contribute towards its upkeep and the worker Francisco there. Please designate your gifts to 'Green Pastures' when sending to the EAB treasurer. Next month we will be holding our annual Carnival Camp there.

I led the prayer meeting and Bible study last night and I gave the study on Romans 12:1-8. It was an excellent service with over 30 present.

Youth prayer

There were 12 in the youth prayer meeting on Monday night. How wonderful it is to see our young people keen to pray! Parallel to this a meeting was held at the ex-landless community of NS Aparecida II.

I took the mattresses out to Green Pastures that we had loaned to the 10-day outreach team to sleep on the floor at Tavares. Whilst there I heard the Scaled Dove singing joyfully. 

Last night I went to take another street service in the town of Sao Mamede. I led, Dede led the praise and worship, pastor Rafael took part with a short word and Bible College student Ray brought the main message from Exodus 15. It was a nice little service though there were less there than usual. 

Outreach

On Saturday night I preached at the evangelistic outreach at Tavares a two hour ten minute drive south west of Patos. We ate sandwiches on the way and arrived there about 5:50 pm for a 7 o'clock service which was held in the central town square. Upon arrival we held a meeting with the outreach leaders and learned that there had been 26 decisions for Christ during the 10-day outreach plus 4 reconciliations with the Lord. How many of these decisions will turn out to be conversions remains to be seen.

The service went off very well and the outreach team did choreographies and drama, plus jubilant praise. I preached on Mark 1 a sermon called 'Everything points to Jesus'! We got home to bed at gone midnight, and we praise God for the lovely trip.

On Saturday afternoon QPR actually managed to win a game! We beat Millwall at home 2 x 0. 😃

On Sunday morning Liz led the Sunday School in Patos and taught a united class of adults and youth. I led the evening service and Rafael preached.

Pneumonia

Our son Philip is quite ill with pneumonia. The doctors almost admitted him to hospital but he has been allowed to continue his antibiotics at home. Please pray for Philip!

Our mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study was very good. I led it, Fabio and Rogerio led the praise and worship and Bible College graduate Murilo brought a study on Psalm 1. Espedita sang a solo and verses of Scripture were shared by Deaconess Deborah Maria, Dede, Marcio, Maria and Romildo.

At Green Pastures it now lives up to its name of green after the rains. It is a sight for sore eyes! Yesterday I saw a Red-cowled Cardinal, a wild Guinea Pig and a Burrowing Owl whilst there.

Liz and I will be leaving shortly for Tavares to preach at the last big rally of the 10-day evangelistic outreach there. We go up the Teixeira mountain to get there and drive for between 2 and 2 and a half hours. Then we have it all to drive back again after the service so get back very late. Please pray! 

Water cooler

Liz and I have been taking things to Green Pastures as we prepare for the Carnival Camp next month. We took out a water distributer/cooler which we had brought into Patos to be repaired. We also took out a whole lot of cleaning materials. Francisco is busy checking all the clay-tiled roofs for leaks in this rainy season.

Deborah and Arthur's 10-year-old black and white cat Marley died this week. Pets don't live very long and their death brings much sadness to those who are attached to them.

The Southern House Wren (Troglodytes musculus) is in fine song with the rains falling at Green Pastures.

The 10-day outreach is going well and yesterday our 92-person team evangelized the villages of Belem (where there were decisions for Christ) and Jurema.

The weekly service at our Patos school was held last night, led by our firefighter brother Romildo.

Decisions

I led the Sunday night service and Bible College graduate Murilo preached excellently on the new birth from John 3. One woman made a decision to follow Christ at the end. Praise God! Liz led the Sunday School in the morning.

The 10-day evangelistic outreach at Tavares is underway and there have already been some decisions for Christ. The team is 92 strong. Please pray for the team.

Yesterday was our granddaughter Beatriz's 14th birthday although she looks older than 14. She is known as Bia. She is the youngest daughter of our daughter Sacha.

QPR sadly lost at home yet again at the weekend. They lost 2 x 1 to Watford. The fans say that they played better than Watford, but the thing is they lost! 😠

Ben & Miriam Price

On Friday we had Ben & Miriam Price, their grown up children Josias and Ana, and their friend Henry Ford with us for a meal and for fellowship. All these folk live in the UK but are here on a short visit to Brazil. It was very nice to have a good long chat with them.

I went for a walk at Green Pastures on Friday afternoon and heard many Red-cowled Cardinals singing joyfully as they made their nests. Just after I left 10 mm of rain fell which would have made them sing even louder! Last night it rained another 75 mm so this is truly wonderful!

I was going to lead the service at Green Pastures last night and preach. However down came the rain and rain stopped pray! The service was cancelled because the people can't get there on the earth tracks which turn to mud.

Meetings with leaders

On Wednesday evening Liz and I had a meeting with Andrea and Marah Danielle who are the leaders of the Patos women's fellowship for 2024. Liz is the back-up leader for them. 

On Thursday afternoon we had an excellent meeting with our deaf pastor Luiz Carlos, with Geralda as sign language interpreter. We had a wide ranging discussion about our ministry with and to the deaf. A number of new ideas for 2024 were proposed by Luiz Carlos and approved. Please pray for this wonderful ministry to the deaf.

I have had discussions with Pastor Maesio in Teixeira up in the mountains. The church there is slowly growing and one person made a decision for Christ this week.

We are busy preparing for the Carnival Camp at Green Pastures next month and value your prayers. If anyone can help poorer people to go to the camp please send your donations to the EAB treasurer.

Please pray for our 10-day evangelistic outreach which starts today at Tavares. The 100 plus team will be gathering there today. Everyone will be staying at a school and sleeping on the floor.

I saw 2 Smooth-billed Anis at Green Pastures. These birds are the size of a thin wood pigeon and are jet black.

I led the prayer meeting and Bible study last night and Pastor Rafael gave the study. There were 24 present.

Christmas Cake

We received a Marks & Spencer's un-iced Christmas cake from our son Philip and his wife Gylmara via Ben and Miriam Price who are on a visit to Brazil. We are eating a small piece of the cake every day so as to make it last! It is delicious! 😋

Liz and I had a good meeting with our social worker Marah Danielle. We discussed the fact that Tearfund has virtually completely finished in Brazil apart from minor activities linked to the environment. All their work funding projects has ended for everyone.

I both saw and heard 3 Bananaquits in our garden this morning. These are small yellow, black and white birds about the size of a Blue Tit.

Last night I led the street service in the town of São Mamede and Bible College student Ray brought the Gospel message from Luke 14. Dede led the praise and various other brothers and sisters took part. After the service Jose and Marico (the service was in front of their house) served soup and bread to everyone including their neighbours.

Visit

On Saturday afternoon Liz and I went to visit one of our young church families: Rafael & Carol and their children Ana Liz and Rafael Lucas. The father has recently had surgery for a hernia so we went to see how he was doing. We had a lovely long 2-hour chat with them. It was very nice. They also served us a beautiful snack before we read the Bible with them and prayed for their home.

QPR were knocked out of the FA Cup losing at home to Premiership Bournmouth 3 x 2, after having been 2 x 0 up at half time. 😖

We are busy organizing next month's carnival camp at Green Pastures to be held from February 10th to 14th. This year the Bible teaching will be from 2 Timothy chapters 1 & 2. I will teach on Saturday night and Monday morning. Pastor Rafael will teach on Sunday morning and Pastor Lindon Carlos will teach on Tuesday morning and night. Bible College graduate Murilo will teach on Sunday night and Bible College student Sacha will teach on Monday night. Please pray for all of us who will minister God's Word. 

On Sunday Liz taught the adult class in our Sunday School in the book of James in the morning. I led the communion service at night and co-pastor Rafael preached. On Saturday night there were also communion services at Ipueira and Green Pastures.

Mid-week service

Our Thursday evening mid-week prayer service and Bible study was especially blessed and there were 22 present. Our youngest daughter Sacha led the praise accompanied by Rogerio on keyboard. People shared their prayer requests and we had a nice time of prayer. Then Deborah Maria, Marcio, Mariana and Dede shared verses of scripture which have recently been a blessing to them. Then Sacha brought the Bible study from Mark 5. She was excellent. Sacha is studying at Bible College online and is developing wonderfully as a minister of God's Word.

Yesterday (January 5th) our first Christmas cards arrived from the UK by post. Our thanks go to Gill Parsons, Neil & Naomi Parsons and my sister Jean and family. It was very nice to receive them.

I had a nice walk at Green Pastures yesterday and saw a Jungle Runner Lizard (Ameiva ameiva), 4 Cactus Parakeets and 2 Crested Caracaras. I heard White-tipped Doves and Scaled Doves.  

Dates for my Diary

As always at the beginning of a new year I spend some time with our pastors organizing the dates of our conferences and events. So please add to your prayer list the following events in 2024: The special 10-Day outreach with a team of at least 100 participants in the town and county of Tavares between the 12th and 21st of January (I will be preaching at this); The carnival camp at Green Pastures between February 10th and 14th (I will be preaching at this too); Our annual General Conference in Joao Pessoa on May 24th and 25th (I will be leading this); Our annual pastors and leaders conference at Green Pastures between September 27th and 29th (I will be leading this also).

I have had a nice walk at Green Pastures after the rain and saw a pair of Chalk-browed Mockingbirds courting, which always happens once we get rain. I also saw a beautiful Green-barred Woodpecker. 

I have been handling some administrative issues with Pastor Hamilton of our Campina Grande Presidente Medici church.

Rain glorious rain!

New Year's Eve brought us wonderful rain, with 87 mm falling at Green Pastures, which is just over three and a half inches. This is just what we needed. Thank you Lord!

Our New Year's Eve service in Patos was a real blessing. I both led and preached. We also had many people taking part as we always do in this annual service. Espedita, Linda, Sacha and the Conserva family all sang. The adolescents read a poem which they themselves wrote. Adriana, Dede, Romildo, Ray, Deborah Maria, Claudivan and Aleksandra all spoke briefly. We had video messages too from Philip and Lucena.

At our house we all had supper together after church.

At our Itaporanga church 4 were baptized on New Year's Eve. Praise God!

I have just seen 2 Ruddy Ground Doves in our back garden.

QPR lost at home to Cardiff 2 x 1 on New Year's Day. Relegation looms with increasing likelihood! 😖