Meeting

We had an excellent online meeting with Pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice (Campina Grande) yesterday. We had an ample discussion of the work. Wostenes is the vice-chairman of ACEV.

Two of the Patos church's young women, Daysa and Geralda, have graduated from university with degrees in Brazilian sign language. It is amazing how much our work with the deaf is producing fruit.

I saw and photographed yesterday afternoon a Common Potoo. It is an amazing bird which remains stationary all day upright on a tree. It is about 14 inches high. It is so well camouflaged that it is very hard to see.

I work in a partnership with a Christian poetess called Zenilda Lua. She writes the poetry and I supply the nature photos. These are published on a Christian site. We have just produced another 'poetic photo' which will be published next week. This poem is in defence of God's creation.

Last night's service went well at the Assentamento Village in São Mamede County. Tonight we will hold another service at Green Pastures. Today is our granddaughter Alice's 14th birthday. 

Snow

Yesterday they had snow in the extreme south of Brazil in Rio Grande do Sul State! Meanwhile up where we are in the northeast it is hot and dry with a high today of 36 degrees. We have no water in Patos for 2 days as the pipeline, we fought for about 20 years ago, is being repaired.

Liz has been at the Care Centre again together with an architect friend to get her thoughts on the revamp there being planned.

EAB has a donation for 10 goats for the 4-Legs Project and so far 6 beneficiaries have been located. 3 will be for poor folk especially affected by pandemic at São Vicente do Seridó where we have a church. (all our projetcs are church based) 1 will be going to Teixeira up in the mountains and 2 will be going to Juazeirinho. The selection process is still on-going for the other 4. 

We received a photo from one of our senior church members in Patos called Aina. The photo was of an animal which was in the mango tree at her house. People come to me with questions about native animals and birds as they know I have acquired a lot of such knowledge over the years. The animal was a White-eared Opossum which is quite often seen at the Green Pastures Nature Reserve.  I was able to assure her that it is quite harmless apart from the very strong smell it emits if it feels in danger so my advice was to leave the animal in peace!

Liz and I walked at Green Pastures yesterday and saw a beautiful Rufescent Tiger Heron which was startled by our approach to the lake and flew majestically away. Then we also saw a pair of Brazilian Teal and 2 Southern Caracaras. 

I am reading another book alongside the 'Canning Town Murder' which even has the name of a character in the book whose name 'Roy Dyers' is very similar to our chairman of the EAB Board! The other book I am reading is 'The Story of the Church' by A. M. Renwick.

The Men's Fellowship meeting (Tuesday) and the Women's Fellowship meeting (Wednesday) both went off well in Patos. 

I am very glad to tell you that our 11-year-old granddaughter Beatriz has developed into a QPR supporter! She is more in touch with QPR news than I am.

20 Years

The drug addict that recently was taken to the Christian Centre of Recovery (there must be a better name than this in English but I don't know it) from Patos has been an addict for 20 years! Please especially pray for him as it would be wonderful to see him set free and it would be a wonderful testimony. We don't give names to people on drugs but please pray for this man.

Sister Gilda lives at Flores in the State of Pernambuco and she is extremely poor with an open drain running past her front door and she didn't have money to fix it. We have sent the local pastor Nemias 50 pounds to solve the problem.

We get two species of humming birds every day in our garden in Patos which are especially attracted by the Russelia equisetiformis flowers which are red and beautiful cone shaped. (I don't know their English name) The birds are the Glittering-bellied Emerald and the Swallow-tailed Hummingbird. They are a wonderful sight hovering from one flower to another as they feed off the pollen and nectar.

Sunday's service went very well. Pastor Lucena preached and Sacha led the worship so very well. Yesterday I spent the whole day preparing a new sermon. I also had a talk with the Caroá church pastor Valdemy where all is well praise the Lord!  

Lovely service

Last night's service at Green Pastures was really lovely. A good number of local farming folk gathered there and one of the farmer's daughters did the Bible reading. Our daughter Sacha brought an excellent message on worship encouraging everyone to really worship God in the services.

Liz and I did our usual Green Pastures walk on Friday afternoon and saw and heard birds such as a pair of Caatinga Cacholotes, Southern Lapwings, Great Egrets and five White-naped Jays.

This week all the plastering of the new EAB/ACEV church at Travessia was finished both inside and outside. The windows and doors were also cemented into position and all the doorways and window frames just need finishing off this coming week. Then the floor inside the church and the outside pathways need to be cemented. The toilet needs to be installed and all the electric lighting needs to be installed. Then finally the whole church needs painting inside and out. I think we will have the new church finished in about a fortnight. The sight of the new church is really impacting the village. The weekly open-air service (open-air until the church is finished) was really enthusiastic and blessed this week with a good number of people taking part. The young local leader Fábio Furtado (who many moons ago was an EAB sponsored child) is doing a great job there and really getting to know the people. This week Fábio was supported by the Manaíra regional pastor Francinaldo.

I have sent a recorded message to our third João Pessoa church in the borough of Boa Esperança. I have a very good relationship with the pastor there Manoel Oliveira Filho and his wife Alexandra.

I have finished reading the excellent book 'The God I don't understand' by Chris Wright. The book covered the topics of the origin and causes of evil and suffering; the Joshua "genocide"; the cross; and eschatology. My next book (I like reading a lot!) is of a completely different type. I will be trying to help Detective Inspector John Jago solve the Canning Town murder! This is the second book in a series I am reading written by Mike Hollow. You will be pleased to know that Inspector Jago, who is the 1940 blitz detective, did manage to catch the murderer in the first book against all odds!

Seniors

Yesterday was another of our special treat days for the 20 ladies who take part in our 'young at heart' weekly fellowship sessions for our seniors. They had their meeting online as usual and then our team drove round to every one of their homes distributing 'brighten your day' baskets of goodies. Inside the baskets we put a fruit juice, 2 packets of biscuits, 1 small cake, an apple, a tangerine, a bar of chocolate, a bread roll with cream cheese and a croissant. Needless to say they were very happy to receive the baskets. God loves people of all ages.  

Last night we held the Bible study which was continuing in the Epistle of James chapter 1 verses 13-16.

Our projects team is in Barra de Oitis village in Diamante County where it has defined where our next toilet/shower unit is to be built for poor people without even a toilet. The family chosen is that of Jacleildo Delfino da Silva and his wife Claudia Pereira da Silva. They have two children. They live off a 22 pounds per month government benefit. Their house is one made of mud and sticks.   

Care Centre

Liz and I have spent time at the EAB Care Centre twice this week and checked everything over. We are thinking of doing a revamp there. The roof needs renewing and the building needs a refreshing to make it nicer for those that come there for the dentist, and for the seniors 'young at heart' group, the deaf fellowship, the sign language lessons, the cooking for the soups runs, the food bank, the after church fellowship times and the Sunday School children. Please pray with us on this matter.

Another young man was taken to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Santa Rita near João Pessoa this week. That is the fourth person to be taken there in a month. Also linked to this ministry our assistant pastor Rafael spent time yesterday afternoon with the mother of one of the men recently taken there. The mother is so grateful for our love and concern for her son and she is showing to be open towards the Gospel as a result of this ministry. It seems that Bible studies might develop with her as she has asked us to return next week. Please pray for this woman who really does need the Lord.

I have been talking to Pastor Betinho who is responsible for the two churches at Conceição and Ibiara. This young pastor is doing a great job together with his wife Maciene. Both churches are going well. Also in that region are the churches at Vazante and Barra de Oitis which are both led by Pastor Nezinho Abílio. The pastor has been telling me how these place are flourishing. Both churches are encouraged as they have been able to do work on their buildings. Both churches already use their unfinished buildings so it is nice for them to get nearer finishing them. Inside the Vazante church looks really beautiful. Finally in that area is the church at Itaporanga. Pastor Oseias is encouraged there that they are back to holding hybrid services online and in-person and the "services are lively and blessed". 

Services

The weekend services went very well. On Saturday night we went out to Green Pastures where I led the service for all the local farming folk from that region. Sacha led the praise and it was very nice to have Bible College student Mailson Macena preaching God's word. He spoke very well indeed. He spoke on Pharoah's dreams from Genesis 41 and Joseph's interpretation of them. The farming folk could readily relate to the 7 thin cows swallowing the 7 fat ones and the 7 thin heads of corn swallowing the 7 fat ones. This really caught the people's attention. It is good to see young folk developing in Christian ministry which is one of our principle goals.

On Sunday night I again led the main service of the week in Patos and young assistant pastor Rafael preached on Luke 19 and the encounter of Jesus with Zacchaeus the tax collector. It was interesting that a member of the church, who rarely comes to church owing to ill health, and who is called Zacchaeus, came to church last night.

I have finished reading a book in Portuguese called 'What is integral mission?' and I am now passing the book on to the youth for their fellowship group's study. The book has 19 short chapters which makes it ideal for one topic per week study and discussion. I have now started reading a book in English called 'The God I don't understand'  by C. J. H Wright which reflects on tough questions of faith like evil, suffering, the killing of the Canaanites and the Cross.

We are enjoying the fresh lemonade from the lemons we brought in from Green Pastures on Friday. There is something very special about consuming your own products. The lemonade tastes exceptionally good.

Walk

Yesterday Liz and I went for our usual Friday afternoon walk at Green Pastures. We had a nice chat to Francisco and Leca who are the couple who take care of the place for us and we checked different things there with them. Once off on our walk we came immediately across a pair of Iguana lizards mating. We could tell by their size and colour that they were young. A little bit further on we came across a large wild tortoise native to our area. There are a lot of these at Green Pastures. Amongst the birds we saw and heard were a Smooth-billed Ani, a Picui Ground Dove, a White-tipped Dove, a Ferruginous Pigmy Owl, a Green-barred Woodpecker and a Common Tody-Flycatcher. The latter species sometimes come into our front room in Patos. We brought back from Green Pastures more that 10 green coconuts to drink and about 20 lemons to make squash with. The only negative thing on our walk were the mosquitoes which are out in their millions after the surprise rain earlier this month. We are used to mosquitoes but yesterday they were ridiculous! 

We will be taking the service at Green Pastures tonight and the Patos youth group will also be going to support us in the service. Please pray that God will richly bless the local church there.

I am thrilled to say that Márcio, a man from our church in Patos, has come out of hospital having recovered from Covid. He is much better and thanks everyone for their prayers. 

Elder & Deaconess

Yesterday Liz and I went to visit our oldest leadership couple in the Patos church. Elder Pedro Guedes is 89 and his wife and Deaconess Beatriz is 85 (86 next week). They are a lovely couple who are in good health. Beatriz had Covid but recovered well without any after effects. We had a lovely chat to this outstanding Christian couple and had a time of prayer together as well.

Yesterday I also had my influenza vaccination so that's that done for another year.

The Covid situation in Brazil has improved though it is still serious. Deaths per day are around 1,300 as opposed to 4,000 a day at the peak of the pandemic crisis. Slowly (too slowly) vaccinations are being done and this is helping of course.

This Friday we are organizing a field day for our market garden project participants. Starting very early, and going right through the day, we will take about 20 market garden leaders to visit our market gardens that are doing well so that everyone can learn, share and get inspired. Our technical agricultural expert will be part of the day's leadership team to answer question and give tips. Please pray for this important and special day. 

History

Having finished my book on the history of the work here, in Portuguese, I have now organized all 29 chapters and I'm in the process of going through these and inserting some photos into the text. I will then write the preface and final conclusions as well as do a final check up on the whole thing. I remain on target to publish the book on the first 80 years of ACEV/EAB (1938-2018) this year.

I am sorry that England lost the Euro Football Championship to Italy in the final. I watched the first 90 minutes but couldn't watch extra time or the penalties as I had to go to church. I only learnt the result after the service. I thought England played well in the first half but were tactically outplayed in the second half. I was disgusted to learn of the racial insults made to the players who missed the penalties.

The Sunday service went well. I led the service and I invited a young lawyer to preach. Rayla spoke from Psalm 146 and did very well.

Covid continues to bring suffering and death to our region. A young 30 year old man called Fábio Lima from our Tavares church died at the weekend which was an enormous shock to the church and of course to his family. Our Patos church has Márcio Alencar in hospital with 50% lesioned lungs and on oxygen. His 12 year old daughter Maryana also has Covid but she has it mildly so far. Please pray.

Liz and I are feeling lighter headed having had our hairs cut yesterday! 👨 👩 

Green Pastures Service

Last night we returned to holding Saturday services at Green Pastures with all the local farming folk who are members of the church in that region of São Mamede County. I led the service, Sacha led the praise and worship and Pastor Rafael preached. Everyone was duly spaced out according to social distancing and everyone wore masks. Folk there were very happy to have the services back again. Last night was a real blessing.

On Friday my old mobile phone finally gave up the ghost and our grandson Arthur helped me get a new one and transfer everything from the old to the new. Arthur already spoke Portuguese and English before the pandemic, but since then he has learnt French and is now learning Spanish. Arthur, aged 19, is not only an expert with mobile phones but a very good business man. He managed to trade in my old phone for the new one! Arthur is sharper in business than my friend Pastor Michael Rollo in Scotland, and that is saying something! 😀 

Brazil lost to Argentina 1 x 0 last night in the final of the Copa America. Argentina played better that Brazil and deserved to win. I watched the match after getting back from the service at Green Pastures. It was a typical derby between these two great rivals with countless petty fouls.

I have finished reading the book on Old Testament ethics called 'Living as the People of God' by Chris Wright. The book is a bit dour or stodgy but it is a good book. It discusses the relevance of the principles of Old Testament law to today's society and individuals. It certainly makes God's concern for the poor extremely clear. I am now reading a book in Portuguese called 'What is Integral Mission' which we are going to use with our leaders and youth. It is divided up into 19 short chapters with each chapter ideal for a youth meeting or the likes.

Visit

Liz and I made a lovely visit yesterday afternoon to Dr. Adriana who is a Veterinary Doctor and a member of our Patos church. She is married to Klênio (I conducted their wedding) and they have 2 sons, Léo and Daniel. We visited Adriana at her pet shop and clinic because she has just moved to new expanded premises. She loved our visit and became so emotional when we arrived that she burst into tears. We were shown round the place and we prayed with her thanking God for his blessing.

Yesterday the LST Summer Conference ended and the final day was just as good as the other days. This was an outstanding conference and the good news is that the online conferences are being such a success that LST has decided to continue them online even after the pandemic. This for me is fantastic as I have access to top class ministry through this means.

The keynote speaker at the LST Conference was Dr. Dave Bookless who is the Director of Theology for A Rocha International, which is the leading evangelical Christian environmental agency. I exchanged emails with Dave during the Conference and we are to explore the possibility of our Green Pastures Nature Reserve being an associated project of A Rocha International. Watch this space!

Yesterday Brother Wilson from our Princesa Isabel church was released from hospital. He had been very ill in intensive care with Covid so we are certainly rejoicing. Also the couple from our Patos church, Márcio and Jacyara, are feeling much better after their bout of Covid. Thank you for praying.

Pastor Sérgio Freitas and his wife Luciane are both psychologists who live in the southern Brazilian State of Santa Catarina. They have been to our area helping people as psychologists around our churches and ministering the Word of God too. They love the balance we have in our churches between faith and works, or preaching and practicing the Gospel. So they have approached us regarding the possibility of starting a church in fellowship with us where they live and we are to have discussions with them regarding this. Please pray and watch this space too on this matter. The leadership team will have a meeting with them soon.    

In the Final!

I have just watched the semi-final match of the European Championship in which England beat Denmark 2 x 1. This was exactly the score I forecast! Now I forecast that England will beat Italy in the final 1 x 0. 

Campaign against Drugs

EAB/ACEV's work against drugs continues here. Last week 2 young men from Juazeirinho (one hour east of Patos by car) were taken to a drug rehabilitation centre at Santa Rita near João Pessoa and yesterday an older man from Patos was taken to the same centre. Please pray for the deliverance of these men. They are expected to spend about 8 months at the centre where they will do occupational therapy on the land and have both spiritual and psychological support. May they all come to have a real experience with God.

Tonight is the women's fellowship meeting and last night was the men's. On Monday night was the prayer meeting and tomorrow afternoon is the seniors' meeting, with the Bible study in the Epistle of James at night.

I have attended online the second day of the LST Summer Conference today which was again excellent. Dr. Margot Hodson joined yesterday's speakers today and she was great as were they. The conference finishes tomorrow.  

Hair cut

Our eldest daughter Deborah fixed her hair yesterday for the first time in one year and four months! She never had it cut owing to the pandemic but now she has had the first jab of vaccine (Astrazeneca), a month ago, she felt secure enough to make this venture and she certainly looks better for it.

I have taken part in the first day of the London School of Theology's (LST) Summer Conference today and it was superb. The theme of the conference is 'Evangelical approaches to Ecotheology' and the speakers were Dr. Dave Bookless (A Rocha International) and Dr. Martin Hodson (Oxford University). I was up at 5 am for the conference as the first speaker was on at 5:30 am. Just time for a quick shower and then into lectures but it was well worth it. The Conference continues tomorrow and Thursday. 

Sunday's service went very well. I preached on 'the Children of Abraham' starting with Genesis 12:1-3. 

I have been talking to Pastor Maésio about the church he leads up in the mountains at Teixeira which has started a new church plant in the rural area at Sítio Sabonete. On the other hand the youth work in the church has run down a lot. Please pray for these matters.

I am glad to give you good news of answers to prayer regarding our folk with Covid. Ellyson (our Patos sound man) and Kecinho's (PE Teacher in Patos) family (daugher, mother, brother and neice) have all recovered from the disease. Márcio and Jacyara (Patos church) are still fighting the illness and Wilson (from the Princesa Isabel church) is out of intensive care. Thank you for your prayers.  

Living as the People of God

I am reading another book by Christopher Wright called 'Living as the People of God' which is about the relevance of Old Testament ethics. It is good although not as well written as the previous book I read by the same author. 

We had lunch with our daughter Deborah, her sons Felipe (and his girlfriend Vivi) and Arthur on Friday at Green Pastures. We then spent the afternoon there with them and it was a lovely time together. We took them on a nice walk along some trails at the end of the afternoon.

Yesterday was our son Philip's 43rd birthday there in England where he is with his family, apart from their eldest daughter who is here with us. I know he found the day quite difficult being far away from us all. However they did go and have a nice meal and a birthday cake with Ben & Miriam Price and family where they also watched the football. Philip preached at Hub Community Church in Basingstoke this morning.

Talking about the European football match my prediction of a 3 x 1 victory for England against Ukraine wasn't far off the 4 x 0 win. England played well. My prediction for the semi-final is England 2 x Denmark 1. 

Yesterday our youngest daughter Sacha and her family spent the day at Green Pastures having arrived there for breakfast at 6 am.

This past week saw us sending 2 young men to a drug rehabilitation centre in João Pessoa and another man will be going this coming week. Please pray for this important ministry.

Surprise Rain

We didn't have one drop of rain in the second half of May or throughout the month of June. The rainy season had ended. However yesterday, July 1st, we had a surprise rain of just over 3 inches (75 mm)! Usually in our part of Brazil we just might get an odd light shower of rain in July but never 75 mm. It is the best rain we have had this year and the best we have had in July since we started keeping records of rainfall at Green Pastures 20 years ago.

I am very happy that our granddaughter Louisa (aged 21), Philip and Gylmara's daughter who lives with us, started her online Bible College course yesterday at the Faculdade Teológica Sul Americana (FTSA). It is a very good highly respected and high quality degree course. She finishes her law course this year and so has already started her degree in theology as well. She was bubbling last night about church history and we had a good discussion. The college's system is that she does a subject a month per semester followed by a one month break. Thus she will do 5 subjects this year before having December off. She then will do 5 more subjects in the first half of next year prior to having June off - and so it will continue over 3 years. Please pray for Louisa.

I have prepared my sermon for this Sunday's communion service which I will also be leading.

Ana Paula, Pastor Hamilton's wife at our 2nd Campina Grande church, is much better from Covid and is expected to be sent home from hospital today. Thank you for praying.

Market Gardens

The market garden project continues to go well and as time goes by we have an ever increasing number of people and places involved. So we have created a group on WhatsApp with all the project participants plus me, the project team and an agricultural expert so that experiences, photos and videos can be shared and questions asked. This online aspect of the project is going very well indeed. Yesterday, for example, a lady who is new to the project was helped because it was noticed by a video she posted that she was planting her lettuce too close together. Other help was given on how to protect bananas, guava and bread fruit from being ruined by insects without using insecticide. Another advantage of this online group is that those who are doing better can encourage and wake up those who are slacking. 

I went for a walk yesterday morning at Green Pastures with Francisco. I photographed the tiny Tawny Piculet Woodpeckers, a Tropical Kingbird and a pair of Great Antshrikes. Such outings are good exercise and are very enjoyable. We are very grateful to God for the way the Green Pastures Project has developed over the years from a little farmstead to a nature reserve and Christian Conference Centre. As Chris Wright says in his book I am finishing reading: "Creation Care flows from love for the Creator." To care for God's creation is proving to be a real testimony to folk in our part of Brazil. And this is coupled with the Christian Conference Centre side of things which is also a great blessing to so many of our leaders and church youth and members. But "holistic mission is not truly holistic if it includes only human beings and excludes the rest of creation for whose reconciliation Christ shed his blood (Colossians 1:20)."

The pandemic nightmare carries on here. President Bolsonaro's government has been found out buying vaccinations with one dollar per dose built into the price as a kick back! This means that for every million doses Bolsonaro and his gang makes a million dollars! Meanwhile the Covid crisis goes from bad to worse here with 2,000 people dying every day which seems to be something which people have got used to. A couple in the Patos church, Márcio and Jacyara, have gone down with Covid and Marcio, who was in church on Sunday, is extremely nervous. Brother Wilson from our Princesa Isabel church is in intensive care, intubated, with Covid, having 70% lung damage. Ana Paula in Campina Grande continues in hospital with Covid but is out of intensive care. Please pray for all these people.

I watched the England x Germany match in the Euro Championship on Tuesday. My forecast of 2 x 1 to England was nearly exactly correct. I certainly got the result right and expect England to beat Ukraine on Saturday in the quarter-finals. I'll forecast a 3 x 1 win for England.