Eve

Liz and I went to visit Eva (Eve) and family. She is a widow and member of the Patos church who has two children and a son-in-law living with her. Our plan was to sit and talk in the front garden but Eva insisted we went into her house and both her and her son Marcos were without masks. Thus the visit didn't go according to plan but once we were there there was little we could do about it. We had a long chat with the family, read the Bible and prayed with them. We plan to do another visit today and value your prayers. 

Yesterday I did hours of EAB administrative work sending receipts and bank paper trails to the treasurer in the UK. All this is an important part of our work.

20 men from our Men's Fellowship went to the Assentamento village in São Mamede County last night to take a service. It is a joy to see such a fine group of men joyfully serving the Lord and preaching the Gospel on a Tuesday evening to a very poor ex-landless community.

Tomorrow I will be taking part online in the UK 'Justice Conference' with the Roman Catholic and most famous living Brazilian Liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff (aged 82), who will be the speaker. His topic will be 'Climate of Injustice: The Climate Crisis and Inequality'. I am very much looking forward to hearing this brilliant theologian. He might be a bit too radical for me but we shall see. Anyway I am sure I will be challenged.

Yet another White-eared Opossum has turned up in a town showing how much this is happening as a result of deforestation. Our Pastor Lindon Carlos sent be a video of one in front of his house at Imaculada.

Hundred

Our wheelchair bank this week lent a wheelchair to a lady who is 100 years old. She is totally lucid, but is very down because her 103 year old sister has just died. It was then that her daughter heard about our wheelchair bank for the poor via our online services. She hopes that it will cheer her up being able to get about in a wheelchair. Please pray that this family will hear God's voice through this practical demonstration of God's love.

The services over the weekend went very well. The service at Green Pastures on Saturday night which I led was really good with our young lawyer Rayla preaching the Gospel. She was excellent. This service was supported by the Patos church youth which was good having over 20 of them present. Then on Sunday morning the Sunday School in Patos had over 50 present. It is lovely to see our 11 year old granddaughter Bia doing such a great work with the little children who love her. Bia is just like Liz was at her age. Finally on Sunday night the service was lovely with some people back in church who we hadn't seen since the start of the pandemic early last year.

Liz and I visited our 89-year-old elder Pedro Guedes on Saturday afternoon together with his young wife (86) and deaconess Beatriz. It was good to see that Pedro is better in health and we encouraged them to get a grandchild to bring them to church soon. Please continue to pray for them.

Early research in Uruguay shows that having a third Covid jab with the Pfizer vaccine on top of two jabs of the Coronavac Chinese vaccine, that we had, increases anti-bodies 20 times! We hope to have this third jab in October.

Elder

Liz, Lynn (she's really attached to the couple) and I will be going to visit our elder Pedro Guedes and his wife and deaconess Beatriz this afternoon. He is 89 and she is 86. Beatriz is fine but Pedro is very weak and doesn't want to eat. Please pray for this lovely couple.

I spent a lot of time yesterday chasing up all the Patos church members who haven't been to church after our return to in-person services. It was good to chat to people and to hear from most of them that they will soon be back.

Our project team has presented to me 5 families at Barra de Oitis village that all meet our selection criteria so as to be apt to receive chicken runs with chickens from our 2 Wings Project. We have funding for 4 of these families. The selection process takes time but is vital to make sure we are dealing with genuine cases of the poorest of the poor.

Yesterday saw a classic example of the need for care with choosing project beneficiaries. Our head-teacher at our Patos school got into a state of panic because two of our pupils had moved with their families into cardboard shacks on the outskirts of town "because they couldn't afford to pay the rent for their tiny houses". Liz insisted with the teacher that the story was properly checked with visits made to the cardboard houses etc. Thus it was discovered, as Liz had suspected, that the families had in fact opted to live in this precarious way so as to qualify for council housing.

On the other hand another shanty town dweller has been checked out and seen to be a genuine case where a donkey and cart (100 pounds) will help the family to help themselves through rubbish collection and recycling, so we will help.

I have finished reading 'The church, the country and the world' by Robinson Cavalcanti. I have also finished reading another book by Mike Hollow in the Blitz Detective series called 'the Stratford Murder'. I am glad to report that Detective Inspector John Jago managed to solve the mystery! I am now reading R.T. France's commentary on Matthew's Gospel. Dick France was an excellent teacher of mine at LST decades ago and his commentary is great. I have often used it over the years as a point of reference on different texts, to the extent that the book is falling apart with wear, but now I have decided to read the book from start to finish with the Bible open to match.  

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley is the treasurer of our Manaíra church at the extreme west of Paraíba State! Please do not spread this news otherwise we could receive an avalanche of fans hindering the work here! I discovered this yesterday when the local pastor Francinaldo asked for me to help in opening a church bank account there and I asked for the treasurer's full name which is Elvis Presley Pereira Florentino. Beat that! 😁

We held a Patos church leadership meeting in our back garden last night. Apart from Liz and I, also present were deacons Ricardo and Esaú, assistant pastor Rafael, deaconess Deborah Maria and Social worker Marah Danielle. The meeting was excellent and lasted just short of two hours. We decided that we will hold a meeting of all the different ministries' leaders shortly. We also decided that on the second Saturday of every month the married couples' ministry will go to Green Pastures to support the weekly service there. The youth already do the same on the last Saturday of the month.

19 men were in the Men's Fellowship meeting on Tuesday evening. The fellowship is going very well. I am in the process of preparing another sermon.

The Brazilian health minister has tested positive for Covid in New York and has stayed in quarantine there, whilst the president has returned to Brazil after speaking at the United Nations general assembly. The Covid passports are being disputed & questioned in Patos, but are still being legally required. However, most shops are not asking for the passports which is what they are legally required to do.

The Green Pastures Meeting Hall is being painted this week so that will be nice and fresh for this Saturday's service.  

Leadership

We will be holding a Patos church leadership meeting tomorrow evening and value your prayers for it. One or two problems have cropped up and we will be meeting to discuss and pray about them.

Sunday night's service went very well indeed. I preached on 'A Life with Purpose'. The praise and worship group was particularly blessed when they reintroduced a very old hymn which was especially good.

I am glad to say that our 20 year old psychology student Keylla has recovered from Covid. Thank you for praying. Sadly, however, her uncle died with the disease this week. The Covid death rate in Brazil is rising again somewhat and has reached an average of 557 a day. It would seem that Liz and I may be able to receive a booster dose of Covid vaccine next month. This will be especially good as we received the Chinese Coronavac vaccine which is low in efficiency and not recognized in the UK. If we were to receive the Jansen single dose vaccine, which is recognized in the UK, it would be particularly good. We shall see what happens and value your prayers.

Please also pray for our daughter Lynn who has endometriosis and will have to face extensive surgery which will include a hysterectomy. Please also pray for Fatima, the wife of Pastor Nemias at Flores in Pernambuco State, who is also far from well.

I have been having discussions with our project team leaders Marah Danielle (social worker) and Lindon Carlos (pastor) about different aspects of quality control in our projects which we always want to keep improving for the glory of God.

President Bolsonaro is speaking to the United Nations in the USA right now. Yesterday he and his group of ministers were refused entry to a restaurant because the president has not been vaccinated against Covid! He ended up eating pizza outside and I saw the photo! The president gives a terrible example living in a fantasy world of denial concerning the virus. I know people in Patos who devotedly follow his lead and are refusing to be vaccinated.   

No vaccine - no church!

As from tomorrow a new law in our State of Paraíba means that people can only go to church or to the supermarket, and such places, if they show their vaccine passport. This will create a delicate situation at the door of the church if we have to turn away church members who are Bolsonaro supporters and have not been vaccinated. President Bolsonaro has said people will turn into crocodiles if they are vaccinated! 

Last night's service at Green Pastures went well. I led the service and one of our young men called Murillo, who is studying both law and theology, preached the Gospel from John 21:15-19. He was excellent. It is so encouraging to see how some of our young people are growing in the ways of the Lord and developing as excellent speakers. One person at the service called Fred, who is a local farm owner, remarked how quickly the service flew by as it was so good. Praise God! 

This week at Green Pastures one of our automatic cameras took some excellent photos of a beautiful Jaguarundi wild cat. I am in discussions with the Christian ecology organization, A Rocha International, so that Green Pastures will become a 'Friend of A Rocha International' with a view to becoming an associated project of the organization.

This week I took part in a meeting organized by the Roman Catholic church about renewable energy projects in our State and region. At the rate such projects are being installed, with both wind turbines and solar energy farms, our state will be self-sufficient in electrical energy quite soon. Of course this self-sufficiency is good. However our concern is for the land small-holders who are being sucked into the process without hardly any share at all in the profits of the systems. What we are seeing are massive companies intimidating simple farm folk, and the international companies have the support of the State Government.

I will be preaching in the service tonight in Patos. I value your prayers. I will be leading the service too. I had invited the assistant pastor to lead but he is not feeling well. Please pray for Rafael.    

Ants & Skunks

Our Patos church has a burglar alarm principally to protect our musical instruments and sound equipment. We once had a burglary before we had an alarm. Last week the alarm kept going off for no apparent reason, but eventually we discovered that the problem was a nest of large black ants behind one of the sensors!

With the destruction of wild animals' habitat we are increasingly coming up against them in urban areas in search of food. This week a person told me how Skunks are appearing in her back garden and another told me of White-eared Opposums. People come to me with requests for information about such animals as I am known for my care for God's creation.

We have been working on our Patos School building today as a large crack has appeared in one of the walls. This appears to be a structural problem which will have to be fixed at considerable expense. Maintenance of buildings is always an on-going task. We are soon to modernize the Care Centre and we are in the process of repairing and painting the dormitories at Green Pastures.

I have agreed with the Projects team the dates for the next project inaugurations and thanksgiving services. At these services Liz will be doing the Bible readings and prayers and I will be preaching the Gospel. On October 28th we will inaugurate the new market garden project at Belém community in Tavares County. On November 4th we will inaugurate the latest well at Saco dos Pintos community in Princesa Isabel County. Then on November 11th we will inaugurate and give thanks for a variety of new projects at Barra de Oitis community in Diamante County including toilet/shower units, chicken runs and market gardens. 

Sunday School

This Sunday our Sunday School for all ages returns to its normal Sunday morning in-person format with classes for children, adolescents, older youth and adults as well as a separate class for the deaf. Everyone will be masked and socially distanced. In the evening main service of the week the kids' church will return which runs whilst the sermon is being preached.

Thus far this week we have had the prayer meetings for youth and adults on the Monday and the Men's Fellowship meeting last night. Tonight the Women's Fellowship meeting will be held. On Thursday we hold the seniors young at heart meeting online and the Bible Study at night.

This week I have held some important meetings with leaders. First of all I discussed the EAB Action Schools programme with our Patos head teacher Gerlânia. Then I have had meetings with Pastor Wostenes who leads the larger of our two churches in Campina Grande. Both churches are going particularly well. Pastor Wostenes' church is in the process of purchasing a piece of land at the back of the church where they aim to expand work with children and youth. Our other church in Campina Grande led by Pastor Hamilton has bought adjacent land for parking.

Yesterday I went alone to Green Pastures for a walk as Liz was too busy to go. I saw a pair of White Woodpeckers, a Swainson's Flycatcher and many Scarlet-throated Tanagers. There was a lot of bird activity yesterday.

Thanks to those praying for our folk down ill with Covid. Keylla (aged 20) is doing alright as are Joseane (23) and Sabrina (17). The little boy Jacob who had symptoms turned out not to be Covid thankfully. By the way President Bolsonaro has still not been vaccinated! He lives in a world of Covid denial. 

Services

Saturday night's service at Green Pastures went off beautifully. I led it, projects team worker Marah Danielle gave a word of testimony and assistant pastor Rafael preached. We learnt at the service that two of the girls from our church there have gone down with Covid. Joseane is about 23 and her sister Sabrina is about 17. Please pray for them. Sabrina was in the service on the previous Saturday. The girls' mother gave a word of testimony and read a verse from a Psalm and their grandfather Julio also brought a word and sang a song with great emotion. It is so encouraging seeing men like Julio now following Jesus as I remember him years back when he was far from God.

Last night's service in Patos went very well too with the same format as the Saturday with me leading and Rafael preaching. I will preach next Sunday. Last night Sacha, Louisa and João Filho led the praise and worship very nicely. We learnt that 20 year old Keylla is coping quite well with Covid thus far, but her uncle, who seems to be from whom Keylla got it, is seriously ill in intensive care. Please pray.

I am reading a book by my late great friend Robinson Cavalcanti. He was an Anglican bishop in Recife who was murdered nine and a half years ago by his own adopted son. His wife Miriam was also murdered on the same day. It was one of the most abominable tragedies I have ever come up against. Liz and I went to their funeral in Olinda, Pernambuco. The book is called: 'The church, the country and the world - the challenges of an engaged faith'. (in Portuguese)    

Wheelchair

EAB has a wheelchair bank in Patos and it is in great demand. We lend people wheelchairs who have surgery or who break a leg etc. It is a simple way to show compassion and the love of God.

Last night an evangelistic team went and held a service in front of a house at Sítio Lagoa de Favela which is about 5 miles west of Green Pastures. The service was led by Sister Dodora and Pastor Rafael preached. The lady of the house has cancer and requested that our team went there to conduct a service. The team was very well received.

I will be leading the service tonight at Green Pastures. Yesterday I saw about 50 Pigmy Nightjars flying and swooping over the Green Pastures Lake. Tonight the youth will be having a fun games night in Patos.

Our daughter Lynn bought us some ginger biscuits from Hayes in England last week, which were on sale at a supermarket in João Pessoa. The last time we had seen these was in 2018!

The Brazilian economy is in a mess as are most things here under President Bolsonoro. The official inflation rate per annum is now at 9.68%.

We are in the process of producing pastoral identity cards for all our leaders so as to help them with access to hospitals to visit the sick etc. The cards will be of similar material to credit cards.

Keylla is alright so far with Covid. She is on day 5. A little boy called Jacob who is also from our Patos church is suspected to have Covid. His mother has it but she is not part of our church. The result of Jacob's test is awaited.

Covid case

Please pray for a young woman in our Patos church who has just gone down with Covid. She is a 20-year-old student of psychology called Keylla. Her father Fábio sings in the praise and worship group so he will be out for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile on a national scale gratefully the daily death rate continues to fall from the peak of 4,000 some months ago, and is now at 461.

Yesterday was Liz's birthday and she had a nice day. We drove out to Green Pastures in the afternoon and went for a walk after we had checked on the work being done there. The painters are in painting the house.

I am preparing a sermon. I have also been having discussions with our projects team about the selection processes for the next wells we will drill, for which we have funding for four. We also have funding for four 2-wings Chicken Runs. The selection processes take a lot of time and demand great care choosing families and communities which will really take the projects seriously etc. We also have many requests for our Market Garden project but have no funds for this at the moment. The cost is 1,100 pounds.

Independence Day

Today is the 199th Brazilian Independence Day and it is very tense. This is because the populist extreme right wing President Bolsonaro has whipped up his supporters into a frenzy calling for the closure of the Congress and of the Supreme Court which would amount to a Coup d'état. This he is doing because the writing is on the wall for him to loose the 2022 election. Tear gas is already being fired in Brasília this morning to control the crowd. Please pray for Brazilian democracy and justice in these dark and difficult days. Our Patos church is having a day of prayer today.

To show the sort of chaotic situation Brazil is in at the moment the Brazil x Argentina World Cup preliminary match on Sunday was a classic example when public health officials stopped the match after 4 minutes alleging that 3 Argentinian players had not quarantined for Covid. It was a fiasco with the game cancelled. 

Our Sunday night service went well. I conducted communion and preached from Luke 10:25-37.

Last night we had a long meeting with our youth leadership team of Ray, Rayla and Louisa together with our assistant pastor Rafael. It was a good meeting planning for the remainder of the year and discussing one or two problems.

I have finished reading the book 'Planetwise' written by Dave Bookless who is the theology director of the Christian ecology organization 'A Rocha International'. The book presents a good Biblical argument in favour of Christian ecological action and lifestyle. I have long been in favour of this and seek to live it out caring for creation and reducing our carbon footprint. I like Dave's "one step at a time" approach as he challenges people about day to day options such as reduced meat and electricity consumption etc. It's good to realize that we can all take steps in the right direction which all add up to make important differences to God's earth.     

Rat

The Thursday night Bible study in our Patos church was hindered by an awful smell which was unexplained. By Friday morning the smell was yet worse so we investigated further and found a nest of rats underneath the floor in a store room with one extremely large rat dead. All was removed, disposed of and filled with cement. Problem solved!

Our daughter Lynn was in João Pessoa this week having medical check-ups but thankfully avoided a main road which suddenly produced a large deep crater which swallowed a car with a father and daughter in it. Thankfully the people were rescued.

Last night's communion service at Green Pastures was lovely. I led the service and Pastor Lucena preached. Louisa and Fábio led the worship and the birds were singing louder than ever last night. At Green Pastures I saw three Black-necked Stilts and I heard an orange and black Campo Troupial singing. I received my Bible back last night which has been repaired as the cover had come apart. For less than 4 pounds I have a new cover on my Bible!

I will be leading the communion service tonight in Patos and I will be preaching too on the Parable of the Good Samaritan as an example of a complete missionary. The theme of missions will be in the service as September 2nd was the 83rd anniversary of when the work here of EAB started in Brazil back in 1938. The service tonight will also be a thanksgiving service for the promotion of our military man Esau who has just been promoted to Lieutenant Coronel. Esau leads our Men's fellowship and is also a deacon.

Juazeirinho

I had some long excellent discussions yesterday with Pastor Leandro of our Juazeirinho church. He is one of our younger pastors and he is doing very well. He wanted to know what to do about a young mother who has been converted and who wants to be baptized, but she is not legally married to her husband who has not come to the Lord. I suggested that the church should offer to pay the legal costs of about 60 pounds for them to become legally married and that is what he is going to do. For poor people it is a lot of money to pay out so, as in this case, couples end up just living together without getting married. I also had discussions about the legal documents of our church at Juazeirinho and of the land given for a church building at a church plant at Antonio Ferreira community.

I also talked to Pastor Maésio who leads the Teixeira church and who is very encouraged by the amount of people going to the weekly service at their church plant at Sítio Sabonete 1 community.

The Covid daily death rate in Brazil thankfully continues to drop and is now down to 628, which is 84% lower than the peak.

16 -year-old mother Andressa is expected to be sent home with her baby daughter today our social worker tells us. Both mother and baby are really doing well. Thank you for your prayers.

It's a girl!

16-year-old Andressa gave birth to a girl yesterday by caesarean section in the Patos Maternity Hospital. She is from the Fonseca slave-descendent community in Manaíra County where EAB has a little church and various projects, including a well which supplies all the water to the population. Andressa was very ill with pre-eclampsia and was in intensive care, but praise God the hospital handled her case very well and mother and baby are doing well. Andressa's case has been carefully monitored by EAB's social worker Marah Danielle. Thank you for praying.

The Men's Fellowship took an open-air service at the Assentamento Village on Tuesday night and 14 travelled there. It was a really blessed time of fellowship and of sharing the Gospel with the community.

A carpenter has repaired 34 beds at Green Pastures in preparations for a return to church events there next month. 3 aluminium doors were put on toilet/showers as the wooden ones had become warped beyond repair. These toilets serve the local school which we run there as well as the dormitories. 

I saw a pair of Caatinga Cacholotes this week at Green Pastures. They are reddish rust coloured birds about 25 cm long and the pairs sing duets together.

We have finished building another toilet/shower unit at Barra de Oitis Village and the family is well pleased and grateful. We also have kitted out with chickens another chicken run. Previously we had built the run but didn't have any chickens to put in it, but now this problem has been solved.