Mum in great form today!

I visited my dear Mother this morning again and she was in a very good mode with smiles, chat and singing! It was a lovely session with one to go on Monday prior to our return to Brazil. God is good.

Liz has packed our second case and we took it to Boots to weigh it and all is well and within limits. We bumped in to Phillip Dyer whilst in the shopping mall so that was nice.

I posted some photo's of Jon & Eunice's Christmas Cactus today on facebook and people are telling me they have this cactus in Patos! I now discover that its origins are south-east Brazil! There are a number of varieties of species of this cactus.

The Christmas cactus is well in keeping with the family meal Jean has organized for this evening which is a Christmas dinner!

Lovely meeting & lunch with Bob & Jo Dalton

Today we drove to Woking, on the way to Basingstoke from London, and spent a lovely time with the ex-chairman of the EAB Board Bob Dalton and his wife Jo. That is 2 ex-chairmans we've met in 5 days as on Sunday we shared fellowship with Ken White and his wife Pat at Danbury. We had a lovely chat about the work of EAB with Bob & Jo and they took us out for a wonderful lunch. We even managed this selfie! 

Once we arrived in Basingstoke we headed to see my Mum who was in a somewhat sleepy mode, but we managed a bit of conversation. I asked her if she remembered Bob Dalton and she replied straight away: "Of course"!

We had stayed longer in London than planned owing to my niece's little girl's funeral in north London which was yesterday afternoon. Our church in Patos has been praying for little Tilly and family over the past 3 years so it was significant how we were here in England at this sad moment. We continue to pray for the family.

This evening Ken & Marian Rashleigh have called in for a chat and kindly given us a suitcase to help our return to Brazil on Tuesday for which we are very grateful.

One week to go!

Liz and I will be leaving Basingstoke at 4.30 am a week today on route to Heathrow, then Lisbon and then Natal in north-eastern Brazil. We plan to sleep in Natal, as we will be arriving there at night, and heading for home in Patos the following morning. Your prayers are valued for our travels.

I have received an email from Brazil this morning concerning a possible new church plant in the State of Ceará so I will be holding discussions with the leaders, via internet, on this matter over the coming days.

The service in Patos went well on Sunday despite the visiting speaker's little girl having a nasty fall during the service. She was fine in the end apart from a bit of blood and bruises, but these incidents can be a bit disruptive.

Leafy Essex

Yesterday we had a lovely day at the Danbury Mission in Essex. It was a really blessed day with services morning and evening and a church family lunch all together in between plus some nice fellowship with a fellow bird enthusiast and member of the DM Missionary Committee John Thompson. The church was knocked down and rebuilt since we were there last and it's beautiful, seating 380 normally (was nearly full yesterday) and expandable for 500.

It was lovely to see EAB ex-chairman of the Board Ken White there and his wife Pat, sister Margaret, daughter Sarah & her family in the morning. In the evening ex-EAB Board member Peter White was there together with his wife Corrine.

Back in London

We got back to London about an hour and a half ago after spending some lovely days in Rutland with Marian Rashleigh. The highlight for Liz was going to Sandringham yesterday where she had the joy of sitting in the exact seat that the Queen always sits in there in the church on the 8,000 hectares estate. Liz really loved it.

We also had great times in the beautiful little villages of the area, travelling on a Steam Train from Wansford to Peterborough and visiting the Snettisham Nature Reserve in the Wash. It was all wonderful!

Now we are down to polishing up our preparations for our penultimate Sunday in the UK on this visit at Danbury Mission in Essex (CM3 4QL) with services at 10am & 6.30pm. 

Sadly on the following Wednesday we will be going to the funeral of my niece Abigail and her husband Chris's little 3 year old child Tilly at Cockfosters in north London. Please pray for this family who have been through an awful lot and now need your prayers even more so. Owing to this funeral we have cancelled the meeting at the Basingstoke Anglican Christ Church.

News from Brazil is good from the churches, but bad concerning the heat and the drought which are increasingly worse. We value your prayers for this and us returning to the intense November heat and drought on November 3rd.

Few Days Break

We're having a nice few days break in the tiny rural County of Rutland in the east midlands of England together with Marian Rashleigh. Today we walked 9 km round the Rutland Water Nature Reserve and saw some lovely villages too.

 

Great Service this Sunday in Patos Church

Philip led the service again this Sunday in Patos and the band played for the special singer and speaker from Rio de Janeiro. We are receiving rave reports of a fantastic service with tremendous blessing from God on all present. 

Liz and I are having a few days break this week walking in the County of Rutland with Marian Rashleigh. We are staying in a beautiful wooden lodge or chalet. This coming Sunday we will be ministering at Danbury Mission in Essex all day.

8th Sunday in the UK (2 to go)

Today saw us in Verwood (am) and Winterslow (pm) in good services with lunch in between (with Liz's Aunt Rosemary, brother David and his wife Tania) + tea (with Nat & Heidi Parsons and family). Photos below: 

Great EAB 77th Celebration

The Lord really blessed this weekend with a lovely 77th EAB Celebration on the Saturday with a good crowd gathered in a wonderful spirit. See photos below:

A Day of Celebration with EAB

Today is EAB's 77th anniversary so we'll be heading down shortly to the Lighthouse Community Church at Hardley, near Southampton, SO45 3NZ for a great time of celebration and gratitude to God!

First of all there will be a Board of Trustees meeting at 2.30pm when we will discussing a variety of matters for the future progress of the Mission.

At 5.30pm the fellowship tea will start with lots of chatting and catching up with many EAB supporters' news. Parallel to this will be a table-top sale in aid of EAB and a fun auction too. I usually get roped into the role of auctioneer when I'm in the UK.

Then the Celebration service will start at 7pm which we are really looking forward to. May the Lord bless all present!

London London!

We had a good time at the Dibden Methodist church on Wednesday. Then Thursday we went to London and had a great time covering the theatre, a meal out, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Picadilly Circus, The Thames and London Eye. It was lovely.

Today we have been working on our presentations for EAB's 77th Celebration tomorrow and those for Verwood on Sunday morning and Winterslow on Sunday evening. All are completely different. On Monday we head for a 5-day break in the County of Rutland.

Easy Life!

This Wednesday Liz & I will be speaking at the Dibden Purlieu Methodist Church, North Road, SO45 4PG at 2.30pm. 

This Saturday we'll be at the EAB 77th annual Celebration at Hardley (SO45 3NZ) for the fellowship tea and fun auction + table top sale at 5.30pm, followed by the celebration at 7pm with an exclusive presentation for the event. 

On Sunday we'll be at Verwood Chapel (BH31 7AH) at 11am and at Winterslow (SP5 1RD) at 6pm. Your presence and prayers are valued! :)

Mum 91 not out!

With great joy today, and much gratitude to God, we have celebrated my dear Mum's 91st birthday. We had a little cake and candles and my sisters joined Liz and I in a lovely time with Mum. Mum was full of zest today, wide awake, smiling and talkative. It was wonderful. PTL!

Another photo of yesterday's Liz's cousins' lunch at Hythe

From left to right: James, Luke, José and Steve Valentine, me, Liz, Angela, Mark and Emma Chafe

7 down and 3 to go!

Our 7th Sunday in the UK was blessed and full (to put it mildly!). We left Basingstoke at 8.50am and headed for the Millbrook Christian Centre where we ministered in the 10am service.

We then headed for Hythe where we had a lovely family meal with Liz's cousins Jose and Angela and families.

From Hythe we headed for West Wellow where we had tea at Gillian Parsons' house prior to ministering at the West Wellow Canada Road Gospel Hall. As well as the folk from West Wellow others were present from Alderholt and some ex-MCC members. It was quite a gathering of the clans! We followed this service with more food at Neil and Naomi Parsons and then finally headed for Basingstoke praising God for a good full day!

EAB strengthens its partnership with 'JustGiving'

JustGiving is an institution which helps charities raise funds. Whilst the core support of EAB comes from its faithful supporters, many of which have been supporting EAB for decades, EAB believes that other forms of fundraising need to be used so as to help the work in northeast Brazil grow yet more for the glory of God. EAB has worked in partnership with 'JustGiving' for some years but is now strengthening this partnership.

If you can think of an event you could hold (concert, ceilidh etc.) or something you could do (run a half marathon or walk round your town or across the New Forest?) then 'JustGiving' can help you raise funds through such mechanisms and help you set up a simple EAB fundraising page free of charge through which your friends can donate to EAB.

For details please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/evangelicalactionbrazil

"By all means save some"!

God's love to the very Poor with EAB

'We preach & practice God's love to bring hope and change to the very poor'.

Please help EAB continue and increase its work by making a donation to this Charity today. Click on the "DONATE ONLINE" button (top right) of EAB's website at http://www.eabrazil.com/. 

Gifts small or large will be really appreciated.

Quite a Weekend!

Please pray for:

1. EAB/ACEV's Youth Conference which starts today and ends on Monday. It is being held at Green Pastures and being led by Philip Medcraft.

2. EAB/ACEV's Patos church services will be led by Sacha Medcraft this Sunday and Pastor João George from our Imaculada church will be the preacher.

3. John & Liz Medcraft will be ministering at the Millbrook Christian Centre in Southampton at 10am (Postal Code: SO16 4QF) and at the West Wellow Gospel Hall at 6.30pm.

EAB Diary Update

I have already dispatched the latest EAB Diary Update this morning.

I am very pleased that Philip has been able to arrange a real bonus for the Patos church whilst we're away and a week this Sunday (18th) he's been able to agree a visit with a lovely Christian singer and speaker Carlinhos Felix. It's a real scoop for Philip, bless his heart. The thing is that in Brazil's evangelical mayhem (not revival as so many who don't understand the scene call it) evangelical music is such a disgusting money making racket so you have to know who is who and carefully chose genuine Christians! Carlinhos Felix is one of these rare specimens! Please pray for this visit and for the Youth Conference at Green Pastures this weekend prior to it.

Annual Report written

I completed the writing of the annual report and sent it to the EAB Board today in preparation for the AGM on the 17th. It's another good job done, but quite a large task.

I have also dealt with a backlog of emails today, discussed some issues with Philip and sorted some ActionChild matters with Sacha.

EAB Youth Conference this Saturday, Sunday & Monday

Here's the leadership team for the EAB Youth Conference to be held at Green Pastures this weekend including Brazil's bank holiday on the Monday. Please pray for Philip, his wife Gylmara and all the other members of the team that God will mightily bless this event. We trust God for great things!

Update on EAB's Annual Celebration

EAB's 77th Annual Celebration will not only have a fellowship tea and fun auction at 5.30pm prior to the service at 7pm - but will also hold a table top sale of items (not including clothes) in aid of EAB. Everyone is invited to bring items along to help with this initiative. The Celebration will be on Saturday, October 17th at the Lighthouse Community Church at Hardley Green near Southampton, SO45 3NZ. Please be there!

Today we spoke at the Verwood coffee morning which was really lovely.

EAB's 77th Annual Celebration

EAB's 77th Annual Celebration will be held at the Lighthouse Community Church, Hardley Green, near Southampton, SO45 3NZ a week this Saturday (17th October) with a fellowship tea and auction at 5.30 pm and the service at 7pm at which Liz and I will be speaking and making a PowerPoint presentation unique for the event. Please be there and pray with us for a great time of blessing!

Mum in great form!

We went to spend time with my dear Mum today and were overjoyed with how things have changed since last Wednesday when she was very seriously unwell. She has turned it around and was full of the joys of spring today, laughing, singing, and even quoting Scripture! We thank the Lord for his goodness in giving Mum some more time with us. PTL!

Tomorrow morning we'll be speaking at Verwood and on Sunday we'll be at Millbrook in the morning and at West Wellow at night. We value your prayers for all our travels and ministry.

Back in London

After a wonderful weekend in Larbert, Falkirk, Scotland we got the train back south today and enjoyed a lovely relaxing journey. It was a really blessed weekend and below is a photo of the Larbert Churches Together Celebration we took part in last night.

Now this Wednesday morning we'll be speaking at the Verwood Chapel at 10:30am and on Sunday we'll be speaking at the Millbrook Christian Centre in Southampton in the morning and at the West Wellow Chapel at night.

Tomorrow we'll be heading for Basingstoke to see my Mum who hasn't been so well. She'll be 91 next Monday!

News from Brazil is good and the Lord continues to bless the Patos church in our absence. PTL! Please continue to pray for Philip responsible for the leadership in our absence and for his leadership of the annual Youth Conference this coming weekend.

Great weekend in Scotland

Liz and I spoke at a Couples meeting last night at Larbert Pentecostal Church and it went very well. Today we have had a lovely day too speaking at the church in the morning and at a united churches meeting tonight in Larbert.

Tuning up my Bagpipes!

We will be heading for bonnie Scotland this afternoon getting the train from Durham to Edinburgh and from their to Larbert, Falkirk where Pastor Michael Rollo will meet us. Tomorrow I will be going to watch a football match with him as Michael is Chaplain of the Stenhousemuir FC. In the evening Liz and I will be speaking at a Married Couples' meeting. On Sunday morning we will be doing an evangelistic presentation which should be interesting. We will be doing a presentation about the work in Brazil, but with an evangelistic slant and focus. We return to England on Monday (DV).

Mum improving

We made the most of the lovely weather here in NE England yesterday and went to different beaches/nature reserves. It's great to see how folk here are working hard at recuperating the damage done by this area's coal mining days and other industrialization side-effects. Great to see and photograph Seals in the River Tees which had completely disappeared. 

As we were travelling around yesterday afternoon we received word from Jean that Mum was most unwell all of a sudden and this concerned us a lot. Thankfully she has got over it (whatever it was?) and has eaten and drunk again today so PTL!

Tonight we head for Sunderland to speak at the Hylton Castle Church and then tomorrow it's back on the train to Scotland for a weekend of ministry. I am working on my accent and trying on my kilt!

Below are photos with my cousin Philip of his church and 'Ark' we spoke at on Tuesday.