History

I have finished writing a book on the history of ACEV from 1938 to 2018. The book, in Portuguese, has been completely proof read by Liz and will now be given the final check by Lynn. Then we will have to work on the layout and publishing. I trust it will be a blessing to many people.

I have finished reading a book called 'The Rise and Fall of Movements' by Steve Addison. The book has good insights into Francis of Assis, Methodism and the Quakers, and is thought provoking as regards the mission of evangelism and church planting. However it lacks the balance of integral mission which he sadly refers to as "missional fog". Christians must evangelize and plant churches but they must also care for the poor and needy. The mission of the church is both faith and works. 

Last night we had a meeting with our assistant pastor Rafael to chat over different ideas and aspects of the work and give him some thoughts from our experience. It was a lovely meeting which went very well indeed.   

Rain

On Thursday night it rained 19 mm (almost an inch) and on Friday night it rained 30 mm (just over an inch) at Green Pastures, taking this rainy season to a total of 278 mm (11.5 inches) including December and January. This is a good start as long as we get some really heavy nights of rain between February and April to accumulate water. The lake at Green Pastures is still bone dry because the rains are coming in dribs and drabs and are not torrential. In order to fill the lake we need the sort of rain that causes flash flooding. Please pray with us for rain. Our eldest daughter Deborah and her family spent the day at Green Pastures on Thursday.

Our granddaughter Alice has been given the all clear after having had Covid. Gratefully her symptoms were mild and she is now fine. There are another 11 still with Covid in our Patos church. There were few in the Bible study on Thursday night but a good number watched online. The latest church family to be affected by Covid is that of Denis and his son Ayrton. In the last 24 hours Brazil had 257,239 new cases of Covid plus 779 deaths.

I had prepared a sermon for tonight's service at Green Pastures but the service has been cancelled owing to so much sickness in our midst. However tomorrow's service in Patos will go ahead with reduced numbers and I will preach on Mark 3.

Pandemic worse

The Covid pandemic is now in its third wave here in Brazil. Yesterday the pastor of the Assemblies of God church in Patos, Jonas Pereira died with Covid. In our church Tiago, who is our main guitar player, has gone down with Covid as has Milena who is another of our young people. This coming weekend it will be difficult to get a worship team together owing to the pandemic. Also the second guitar player is on holiday and the third is away studying at university. In the last 24 hours Brazil registered 606 Covid deaths plus 219,878 Covid new infections. The situation is increasingly serious again here which puts us in a dilemma as to whether we will be able to hold the Carnival Camp in just over a month's time. 

I have been talking to Pastor Nemias (Nehemiah) at Flores in Pernambuco State who asks for prayer for the young man, Cícero, who leads our sport for children and adolescents project there. He is in intensive care in Recife with Covid. 

Yesterday I received a phone call from the Christian organization World Vision which is interested in perhaps working in partnership with us linked to our projects. We will have talks with them next month. I also had further discussions yesterday with the ACEV senior leadership team as regards the new leader for our Soledade church. It is good to see that the church there is improving a lot with the revitalization work in progress under the leadership of our Campina Grande churches. Numbers are up in the services and the spirit in the church is fresh and full of hope. 

News just in tells me that we are now up to 10 people down with Covid in our Patos church. Nurse Liliane, a family of 4 and another couple have joined the ranks. We value your prayers.

We have just heard of the home calling of dear Brother Deryck Scard who went to be with the Lord on Monday (24th). Deryck was 94 I believe. He was a faithful supporter of EAB and an ex-member of the Board of Trustees. We visited Deryck the last time we were in the UK at Poole in Dorset and he sent us a Christmas card this Christmas with a note in perfect handwriting.

Roof

The roof of the Care Centre has been completely removed as part of the rebuilding and modernization process. The roofing beams were still in excellent condition so they will be reused as part of the new roof when the time comes. They have been stored at Green Pastures for the time being. Some of the walls have also been demolished in preparation for the Care Centre's new format. A specific large donation was made designated for this modernization project in memory of the late missionary Ivy Dyer (Liz's mother), who went to be with the Lord 9 years ago today. Added to this donation was a legacy from the late Nora Graham who was the original donor for the purchase of the Katriona M. Graham Care Centre building. 

Sunday night is always our time for our main service of the week, but this Sunday numbers were very low indeed. This was because folk were either ill with Covid or the Flu. Nevertheless the service, which I led, went well. João Filho, Marina and Tiago led the worship and Bible College student Murilo brought an excellent message. It is very encouraging to see young people like this developing ministries for the glory of God.

EAB/ACEV's pastor Renilson, his wife Getiane and their 2 daughters have all just come through Covid. They lead our church up in the mountains at the highest point in the State of Paraíba at Matureia. They also lead our excellent Action School there. Praise God that they had a very mild version of Covid. Pastor Wostenes (Campina Grande) is also much better after Covid and returns to normal activities out of quarantine as from tomorrow. Thank you for all your prayers.

Hold-ups

There have been 9 hold-ups of shops and petrol stations in the last 2 days in Patos! One man resisted a hold-up and got shot in the face. On top of this 3 motorbikes were stolen. All this violence coincides with the police's work to rule over a pay dispute with the State Governor. We just hope and pray that an agreement can soon be reached so that this dangerous anarchy can end.

Our 14-year-old granddaughter Alice has contracted Covid. Please pray for her. So far it is mild and we pray that it will stay this way. Alice is the daughter of our youngest daughter Sacha, who leads the praise and worship in church. This will mean Sacha is in quarantine and will be out of action for the time being.

Who called in to see us yesterday was Ben Price, who used to be a missionary here with us for nearly 10 years. He has come over from England for a visit for a few weeks. It was very nice to see him and have a chat. He brought me a W. H. Smith 2022 diary which I was needing as you can't get decent diaries here. Ben also gave me a book called 'The rise and fall of movements' by Steve Addison. Ben will be staying at Ibiara where he used to live and work. 

The weekly service at Green Pastures was cancelled last night owing to the ill health of so many of the people there. Many have the Covid symptoms but haven't been tested. I was going to lead the service and Rafael was going to preach, but we'll try again next week.

In the last 24 hours 202,466 new cases of Covid were registered in Brazil with 332 Covid deaths. Ômicron is by far the driving force in this, representing 97% of the cases.

Deuteronomy

This week I read all 34 chapters of the book of Deuteronomy in my continued study of Old Testament law. This is a fascinating and challenging part of scripture so as to understand what is culture bound.

Please pray for the general elections in Brazil in October to elect president, senators and federal and state deputies. Current polemical President Bolsonaro is standing for re-election, but the opinion polls show that he will be decisively beaten by ex-president Lula. Bolsonaro is therefore saying that the election will be rigged, following his idol Trump. This could lead to a lot of bloodshed in Brazil. Please pray for peaceful and orderly elections.

Please pray for the senior leadership team of ACEV/EAB here in Brazil. The team is elected every 4 years by the general assembly of church leaders and delegates. The current mandate is from 2020 to 2024. This team oversees all church and project activities and guarantees the continuity of the work under any circumstances. The team has 11 members of which 2 are women (Liz and Gleydice) and 9 are men (John, Wostenes, Umbirajara, Philip, Hamilton, Lindon Carlos, Matheus, Oseias and Francinaldo). These leaders represent wide ranging areas of our State of Paraíba: Patos, João Pessoa, Campina Grande, Imaculada, Manaira and Itaporanga. We are in constant contact through our WhatsApp group, email, Zoom and in person.

I have been working on preparations for our 2022 Carnival Camp to be held at Green Pastures between February 26 and March 2. I have now organized the speakers for the 7 services and the focus this year will be on youth. We praise God for the good young speakers he is raising up in our midst. Our theme this year will be "Intimacy with God" or it could be translated as "Living closer to God". Anyone willing to help contribute to poorer folk going to the camp will be most welcome.

Pastor Wostenes is the leader of EAB/ACEV's largest church in the borough of Catolé in Campina Grande and he is deputy-chairperson of our senior leadership team. If I am ill he is who will take over. He is a lovely brother. Please pray for him as he has Covid for the second time, though the symptoms are mild so far.

Bank

The Bank of Brazil in Patos is closed because 10 of its 30 staff are down with Covid. The whole building is now being disinfected in an attempt to contain the virus. The number of Covid infections in Brazil in the last 24 hours was 132,254 and the number of Covid deaths was 317. The Ministry of Health's statistics site seems to be finally up and running properly again after the "hack" over a month ago.

I have prepared a new sermon on Mark chapter 3. It is a series I am doing covering the whole chapter in each sermon. Of special note is verse 21 which must have been a terrible disappointment for Jesus. I feel that the shock of this verse is easily overlooked.

On Monday the revamp and modernization of the Care Centre began. On the first day the builders removed the entire ceiling in all the rooms. This job starts with a lot of knocking down prior to a fresh layout as worked out with an architect.

I ate the lovely Brazilian dish of Couscous yesterday which comprises of steam cooked ground maize mixed with chopped coriander, spring onions, egg and sausage. Absolutely delicious! 😋

I went on a long walk at Green Pastures yesterday afternoon and found and photographed the nest of a Pigmy Nightjar. I noticed the mother fly off from an area and so I looked very carefully for the egg in likely spots amongst stones as they like to use. The egg was perfectly camouflaged amongst the little stones around it.   

New Covid wave

We appear to be in the early stages of a third Covid wave here in Brazil. The press tells us that the transmission factor is 1.57 and hospitals are filling up, but clear statistics are not available owing to the Ministry of Health's mess and "hack" of the system. We presume that it is the Ômicron variant that is the cause of the new wave, but not even this is clear. This new Covid wave leaves us in a quandary as to whether we will be able to hold the carnival camp in just over a month's time. In Patos Covid wards and intensive care units are being reactivated and staff called back to run them.  

On Saturday the Patos church youth spent the day at Green Pastures for a day of fun and fellowship. Thus they were there to support the evening service always held there. However, the local farming folk didn't go to the weekly service owing to the rain which turns the earth road into mud. It rained 10 mm that evening. Hence the youth held their own little service with recently graduated lawyer Rayla bringing a message from John 15. Assistant pastor Rafael led the service.

Last night's Sunday service which I led was good. Assistant pastor Rafael preached from Matthew 25:1-13. A woman talked to Liz after the service and expressed the desire for her and her son to keep attending our church. The woman's husband is a Muslim. Neither the woman or the son have yet made commitments to Christ. Please pray for this family.

Sadly yesterday the 29-year-old son of Pastor Fernando of the Patos Nazarene church died of a "heart attack". This has come as a gigantic shock to everyone as he was a PE teacher and apparently very fit. Please pray for Pastor Fernando and family.   

Graduation

Our brother and co-leader of the EAB/ACEV church at Curral Velho (Old Cow Pen), Severino Ramos, will be graduating from Bible College on February 5th. Ramos, as we all know him, leads the church with his wife Tica. The graduation service will be held in our church at Itaporanga. 

Last night Louisa's Pug dog was barking in our back garden quite a lot and eventually we realized why. There was an owl looking down at it from a nearby lamp post. I am not sure if the Owl was thinking of attacking the dog, but we brought him indoors to be on the safe side.

Thursday afternoon brought 35 mm (almost one and a half inches) of most welcome rain to Green Pastures, whilst in Patos (only 20 km away) it didn't rain. 

Thursday night's Bible study saw the completion of the study of the book of James. We will now move to the first epistle of John.

Yesterday afternoon Liz and I drove out to Green Pastures to have a walk and saw a Roadside Hawk on the way. However we didn't get our walk in as the place was hit by a lovely storm with 20 mm of rain, thunder and lightning. Our chickens had laid us a dozen nice fresh eggs so we came home and ate some of them for our evening meal.

Tiger-Heron

I went for a long walk at Green Pastures on Tuesday afternoon and a Rufescent Tiger-Heron flew out from the bushes to my right, whilst squawking loudly as it went. It is a large 70 cm bird which is quite majestic. I also saw a Burrowing-Owl, a Pigmy Nightjar and a number of Guira Cuckoos.

I have had two online meetings with pastors. First of all Pastor Maésio from Teixeira who is on holiday in João Pessoa, then secondly Pastor Iremar from the village of Juá in Salgado de São Felix County. It is good to keep in touch with all the pastors from time to time. 

On Tuesday night it rained 11 mm (almost half an inch) at Green Pastures so slowly, and in small doses, the rainy season is under way here. On Wednesday night it rained a further 10 mm. In other regions, such as Princesa Isabel, they have had more rain than us. There it rained 34 mm on Tuesday.

I am working on the Carnival Camp which we hope to hold at Green Pastures from the 26th of February to the 2nd of March. I say hope to hold as we don't know how the pandemic will develop between now and then. I am working on the 7 services and the subjects for each speaker. If anyone would like to help poorer people go to the camp then please contribute via the EAB treasurer. The camp costs 30 pounds per person.

Our granddaughter Louisa, who is in the UK at the moment with her family, passed her Bar lawyer's exam. She had passed the first stage of the exam and sat the second and final stage just before going to England. The final result came out yesterday afternoon at 5 pm and there was much jubilation with the result. Louisa is now a fully fledged qualified and registered lawyer.

Sunday

Sunday night's main service of the week was really blessed despite all the challenges presented by many away on holiday or sick. I led the service and preached from Genesis 12:1-3. We nearly didn't transmit the service as the person responsible was on holiday, so was his deputy, and his deputy went down sick! We eventually found someone else who managed to do it. We had similar problems with our main guitarist who also was unwell, but we managed to get a last minute substitute. Phew!

Michael Griffiths, who was the Principal of the London School of Theology when I studied there between 1982-84, went to be with the Lord yesterday. He was a lovely Christian man of God who will be greatly missed.

A sister in our Patos church called Gisane has just tested positive for Covid. Please pray for her. Gisane is an experienced qualified nurse who is married to our deacon Esaú.

A young man was murdered last night at 2.30 am as a patient in the Patos General Hospital! Someone got in and shot him a number of times. The victim was in hospital recovering from another murder attempt in the gang war which is ongoing here parallel to the police working to rule.

A sister in our Juá church is in a crisis as her little house/shack has fallen down and she has children. They are in temporary accommodation whilst everyone sees what can be done to help her. 

Counselling

Liz and I usually go for a walk at Green Pastures on a Friday afternoon, but this week I went alone as Liz had a counselling session with a mother of our church whose name I cannot mention. Please pray for this young Mum with two children. The couple have serious marital problems and the sister is very low and sad.

Now that we've had five and a half inches of rain everything is green. All the dormant seeds in the ground have come to life and are sprouting. Of special note are the large-leaved creeper plants which are already 30 or 40 cm off the ground as they seek trees to climb up. There are countless thousands of them. Birds are very active making nests. I saw a nest in a large cactus plant, but I don't know which species it belongs to. I saw a pair of Brown-crested Flycatchers very close. I also heard and saw a Pearly-vented Tody-tyrant and a White-naped Xenopsaris. I post these official English names of fauna for the benefit of anyone interested in the wildlife of our region. For me care for creation is an important Christian task to move in the direction of the future new heavens and a new earth. 

I led last night's service at Green Pastures and a good number gathered after the Christmas and New Year's break. Bible college student Murilo preached very well on the new birth. Local farming folk Sabrina, Dodores and Nega also took part in the service. Fernanda was received into fellowship.

Sunday School

We have cancelled Sunday School for this week because so many people have gone away in this holiday month. It meant we only had two teachers so it was non-viable. May everyone have a nice break. On Sunday we will only have the main service at night at which I will both lead and preach.

Brazil has been without Covid statistics for a month now so we don't know where we are. I strongly believe that the system's "hack" was carried out by the government itself as President Bolsonaro has tried to hide the statistics from the press in the past. 

I am studying the law in the Old Testament. I have covered the Decalogue in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. I then covered the Book of the Covenant from Exodus 20:22 to the end of Exodus 23. I have since studied the 27 chapters of the Levitical Collection and I will now go on to the Deuteronomic Collection. Thus I am covering all the main blocks of Biblical law. This is a challenging part of Scripture which demands careful reflection and interpretation in the light of its primitive cultural context.

Liz had a meeting with the architect and the builder yesterday and the modernization of the Care Centre is to start a week on Monday (17th).

Pastor Renilson and his wife Getiane in Matureia visited little Maria Julielly yesterday, as she is out of hospital after having one of her kidneys removed. They gave her a belated Christmas present which really made her smile! 

Drug Gangs

The 2 dominant drug gangs in Patos have started another war to control territory. There have been 7 shoot-outs already this year which has hardly started! 4 of the shoot-outs have been defined as attempted murders by the police. The gangs are decreeing a curfew and telling people to stay indoors at night or get shot. This violent start to 2022 coincides with the police being on a work to rule over a pay dispute. We value your prayers.

I have been talking to a friend who is a journalist and radio presenter as his 15-year-old daughter Michelle wants to join our church. I am glad that her parents are happy about this.

4-year-old Maria Julielly is recovering well from her surgery to remove a cancerous kidney and her surgery has been followed up with chemotherapy. This precious little girl from our Matureia school up in the mountains is expected home from hospital this week. Please continue to pray for her.

Yesterday afternoon we took our granddaughter Amanda to Green Pastures with us, and I went for a walk whilst Liz stayed with Amanda on the swings and feeding the monkeys. Whilst walking I heard the call of the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl. Later I saw a Fox.

Annual Drought

At Green Pastures it rained another 30 mm (one and a quarter inches) last night and we can now consider the annual drought over. In Patos I don't know how much it rained but it was more. The rain in Patos stopped the people leaving church at the end of the Sunday night service as the rain was very heavy. The communion service went well apart from us running out of disposable little cups during the distribution! The deaconess Josinete, who usually deals with this, was off sick. We managed to sort out the problem but it wasted a lot of time. Assistant pastor Rafael preached and I led the service.

January is holiday month in northeastern Brazil so please especially pray for our projects team who will be having a good rest this month. Please also pray for the leadership transition at our Soledade church. In the first half of this year we will need a new pastor there to replace Ângelo who resigned at the end of November. In this interim period our two Campina Grande churches (only 50 km away) are caring for the Soledade church and seeking to revitalize it. We value your prayers for this.

Whilst our granddaughter is away in England Liz and I are looking after her Pug dog called Apollo. We are getting on well with him and he seems to like our company.  

New Year

Our New Year's Eve service lasted from 7:30 pm to 9:20 pm and was really blessed. The early time was favourable and the church was completely full. The main feature of the service was the participation of different church members who volunteered to take part. Philip spoke and sang from the UK via Zoom and in Patos 7 year old Maria Fernanda showed us how well she is now reading her Bible. This was followed by 2 senior sisters Espedita and Linda singing 'The Old rugged Cross'. Then Flávio gave a testimony. This young man came back to the Lord in 2021. Then the children sang a beautiful song followed by another testimony from young mother Milena. After this Dedé, who leads the Christians in Action ministry, read Psalm 23 and finally our granddaughter Bia sang a song. I then rounded things off with a short message from 1 Samuel 7:5-13. It was a lovely service and an excellent way to finishing the year.

After the service our lovely family came round to our house for a nice supper, fun and fellowship. We saw the New Year in together in this way. We praise God for bringing us through a very bad year in Brazil (Covid) and look to Him for much blessing throughout 2022.

With rain appearing at Green Pastures tortoises and snakes are out and about a lot. I saw 2 tortoises on Friday and Francisco, who takes care of the place, saw a 2 metre Boa Constrictor and a Rattle Snake this week.

Yesterday the youth from the Patos church spent the day at Green Pastures. They had fun in the pool, played games and ended the day around God's Word together.