We are now back in Patos after an excellent Camp with just one or two hitches - but overall a very positive and blessed Camp. Philip led the whole event for the second successive year and did very well indeed. Liz coordinated the logistics despite ill health and I preached twice and was in a general support role. We had 210 residents at the Camp and another 60 came into to the camp on a daily basis giving us a total of about 270. This is lower then previous years and I would put this mainly down to the financial crisis in Brazil which is now hitting this country hard, years after Europe and the USA had it tough. Thanks to some people's kind donations via EAB we were able to allow some to come to the camp who wouldn't have been able to come otherwise. The number we had was a nice comfortable number to cope with.
The services were really good, the messages on radical discipleship were excellent and the whole spirit of the Camp was lovely. Unfortunately Liz's health was not good but she battled on despite it. Her allergy problems have not improved, affecting her throat and chest. She has been further medicated by the doctor since getting back to Patos and will being seeing the doctor again in the morning. Please pray.
We had the joy of baptizing 3 from Patos and 1 from Princesa Isabel at the Camp. It was a very blessed and victorious moment.
During the camp we had problems with poachers/hunters twice. Deborah and I caught them on the Saturday and Tarcísio caught them on the Sunday. What a pain!
On the final afternoon of the Camp I was preparing to preach at night in my room when I suddenly received a young man verbally abusing me quite awfully because his mobile phone had gone missing. He was so agressive. It was terrible. He turned out to be a new person from our Itaporanga church who says he's a Christian. He certainly didn't give me the impression that he was. The episode and ensuing enquiries ruined the final service for me and I don't know how I managed to preach. I felt it was very hard to preach and didn't go well. The mobile phone has not been found so the mystery continues.
Despite this bad taste in people's mouths one felt that the Lord blessed many people in the Camp and we thank all those who supported it and prayed for it. There is much more to praise about than the opposite. PTL!
I have just received the news that Phyllis Hurst, who was at the docks to see off the Mundys in 1938 at the launch of EAB, has today gone to be with the Lord. We praise the Lord for her faithful life of service to God to the end.
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