Soledade

Pastor Wostenes leads our largest church in the borough of Catolé in Campina Grande. He is also in the process of giving 7 months of his time overseeing our Soledade church which was very low and disheartened. Now that 4 months of this renewal process are over the church is going much better, is in a better spirit, and has higher numbers going to all the services. Pastor Wostenes was at Soledade at the weekend and reports lovely services and training sessions. Please continue to pray for our Soledade church which will need a new pastor in the coming months.

On Tuesday night 10 men met together in the weekly Men's Fellowship meeting. Lieutenant-Coronel Esaú Lucena led the service and Journalist Ray Santana brought a meditation from God's Word. 

I have started reading a new book by N. T. Wright called 'Surprised by Hope'. I am already really enjoying the book. It's a "can't put it down" book!

I forgot to mention that at the weekend we held another jumble sale to raise funds for our revamp of the Care Centre. It was held on the side of the church and raised 160 pounds. The revamp is progressing well.     

Services

The services went well on Sunday. The main service of the week at night saw a good number present. We had one elderly sister who arrived early and fainted. We called an ambulance, but it was not necessary for her to go to hospital. We learnt later that it was all from stress with her son who was involved in a shooting a little earlier when men tried to kill him. Her son is involved in gang warfare and is always armed. (I have deliberately not used names here)

The service itself went off beautifully with excellent praise and worship. I led the service. In the worship band were Ricardinho on bass guitar, Rogaciano on guitar, Tiago on lead-guitar and Biba on drums. Vocals were with Sacha, Mariana and Segundo. A special moment in the service was when granddaughter Alice brought a 5-minute meditation from Psalm 51. The sermon was preached by assistant pastor Rafael on Isaiah 43.

Liz spent two hours counselling our Patos school headteacher Gerlânia yesterday. Liz feels it went well and that she was able to help her. I spent the day preparing a sermon on Mark 5.  

Abundant Rain

This week it has rained every night of the week at Green Pastures! On Monday it rained 16 mm, on Tuesday we had another 16 mm, on Wednesday it rained 18 mm, on Thursday it rained 40 mm and on Friday we had the biggest rain of the year with 90 mm. This caused the dam in the river to overflow and plenty of water accumulated in the lake. The ground is saturated so any rain that falls now will add to the accumulation in the lake which is at 50% of its capacity. It rained again last night 25 mm. This is turning out to be a good rainy season with a total rainfall of 31.5 inches (757 mm) to date. We consider 40 inches an excellent rainy season. We praise God for this wonderful rain in this semi-arid region. Thank you for praying.

On Thursday rain diminished the numbers in the Patos church by about half for the Bible study, but the service went well. On Friday it was our eldest daughter Deborah's birthday.

Last night's service at Green Pastures and at our Patos School were both cancelled owing to the rain. It is a wonderful problem to have!

I have been sorting out some administrative matters for Pastor Maésio up in the mountains at Teixeira with the help of Pastor Hamilton from Campina Grande. 

Alice

Our 14-year-old granddaughter Alice has switched schools this week as she starts her first year of senior high school. Alice, who looks 18, now goes to the Roman Catholic school called Cristo Rei (Christ is King). She was unhappy with the teaching at her former school. Alice will be speaking this Sunday in the 5-minute "youth spot" in the main service. We value your prayers for all our grandchildren.

Last night our 20-year-old grandson Arthur travelled to São Paulo. He was the first person from our family to have flown on the new daily flights from Patos to Recife. From there he got the connecting flight on to São Paulo and was in São Paulo from Patos in less time than it would have taken him to travel by road from Patos to Recife.

Yesterday a lovely service was held at the village of Travessia in the County of Manaira. The service was held in their new church which we built last year.

Also yesterday we inaugurated the latest well at Macambira dos Lúcios Community in Tavares County and held the thanksgiving service with the preaching of the Gospel. A good crowd gathered from the community. The dedication prayer of the well was done around the well and the service was held in the community centre run by the local leaders. It was a joyful and blessed time together praising God for this well.

Passing on experience

Liz and I are at at the phase in our ministries where we are focused, above all else, in passing on our experience to our leaders spread all around our churches. It is great to see a good number of young pastors amongst our leaders. Last night Liz was with the workers in children's work passing on things from her vast experience. She used to teach a class of 120 children 60 years ago! I have been an EAB/ACEV pastor for 50 years. I was assistant pastor to Frank Dyer for 15 years. It is good to see what seems will be a solution for the leadership of our Soledade church. A young couple from our 2nd church in Campina Grande are coming to the fore. We value your prayers for this important aspect of our ministries. 

Last night in Patos the Men's Fellowship held it's weekly fellowship group and there were 9 present. Tonight it is the turn of the Women's Fellowship.

I have been holding good discussions with pastor Oséias (Itaporanga). I have also had blessed talks with pastor João George (Imaculada). What a lovely man of God he is. So dedicated. 

Incredible violence

On Saturday afternoon a terrible thing happened with a Christian family in Patos from the Regular Baptist Church. A 13-year-old boy shot and killed his mother and younger brother and shot and seriously wounded his father. The father is a policeman. Please pray for the man in hospital in Campina Grande. The boy said he did the shootings because his parents wouldn't let him play videogame enough!

I led the service at Green Pastures on Saturday and it was excellent. The Patos youth sang beautifully as did two local farming folk Manoel and Nega. Alice brought a short word which was very good, and Pastor Rafael preached. In last night's service in Patos I again led and Sacha preached very well indeed. The children and youth groups also did nice singing items.

I have been chasing up people missing from church and it's good to see a positive response. Despite a heavy half hour's rain last night just before the service we had a pretty full church.

Water in the Lake

Wednesday night's rain of nearly two inches was enough to put water into the Green Pastures lake. I have just got back from a walk there and seen the welcome sight. The lake is about 20% full. Whilst there I also saw a pair of Burrowing Owls and many giant centipedes that are always on the move in the rainy season.

My sister Joy is home from hospital and my sister-in-law Eunice is also recovering from her accident. Please continue to pray for them both.

Thursday night's mid-week Bible study went well with about 45 present. We studied 1 John 2:12-14. The children's ministry has started a children's meeting parallel to the Bible study so that parents can relax listening to the study whilst the children hear the word of God at their level.

Next Thursday we will be travelling to the County of Tavares for the official inauguration and thanksgiving service for the new well at Macambira dos Lúcios village. In the service Liz will do the Bible reading and prayer and I will preach the Gospel. 

Long talks

I have been having long talks with pastor Léo of our Juazeirinho church who has been having some difficult times at his church. I feel our talks helped him and he feels supported by the senior leadership. Please pray for pastor Léo who is one of our younger pastors.

Tuesday night's men's fellowship went well despite low numbers (6). Security guard Fábio led 3 songs of praise first of all, School Teacher Claudivan then prayed for a number of prayer requests, and then we shared a discussion around Revelation 2:12-17 which went very well.

I have been discussing the new school year with our Action Schools coordinators João George, Jacilene, Gerlânia and Sacha. All our schools are back into in-person mode this year which is much better. I am making sure everyone has got all the materials they need for their teaching. It's good to see that the Campina Grande school will have between 35 and 40 pupils this year and that the new school at Barra de Oitis has 20 meeting in their new church hall. 

Green Pastures will be very busy in the next few months. On April 2nd will be a Youth Day; from April 14th to 17th will be our Easter Camp in place of the Carnival Camp (thanks to those who are specially supporting this); On May 14th will be the ACEV Teixeira church fellowship day; from May 27th to 29th will be our annual General Conference; and from June 3rd to 5th will be the ACEV Campina Grande - Catolé Church Men's Conference. Please pray for all these important activities at our Green Pastures Conference Centre.  

Rain

On Sunday night we received both spiritual and physical rain during our service. It rained 51 mm (just over 2 inches) which cheered our hearts a lot. The service was greatly blessed inside the church too. The praise and worship was led by Sacha, Fábio, Marina and Tiago. It flowed beautifully. My sister Jean watched the service in England and she said afterwards how blessed she had been, and she doesn't speak Portuguese. I led the service and the children took part with a nice song full of actions. Assistant pastor Rafael preached from Ezekiel 37:1-14. Thank you for your prayers for all our churches here. Last Sunday night was the first service when everyone was back in church without social distancing though we still wear masks.

Please do pray for our churches at Soledade and Juazeirinho. At Soledade the church is in a phase of transition to a new pastor. At Juazeirinho there is discontent with the current pastor Léo and we are not sure how to help the situation there.

Thankyou for your prayers for my sister and sister-in-law who both have had road accidents. My sister Joy (car crash) is doing alright, but remains in hospital at High Wycombe. My sister-in-law Eunice (knocked down by a motorbike) is doing alright too, but is going back to hospital for further scans and check-up.

A Rocha

Green Pastures, known in Portuguese as Reserva Ecológica Verdes Pastos, has now become a member of FARN (Friends of a Rocha Network). A Rocha is a Christian environmental organization which has the aim, as we do, of caring for creation. We believe that being part of the A Rocha Network will be mutually beneficial. I am sure we will learn a lot from our brothers and sisters worldwide. You can see videos and photos of the Green Pastures wildlife at https://www.facebook.com/ReservaVerdesPastos . If you are interested in learning more about a Rocha please go to https://arocha.org.uk/ .

Last night it rained 15 mm at Green Pastures and the night before 20 mm, but we are still hoping and praying for big rains to fill the lake up.

Last night I led the service at Green Pastures and young Bible College student Murilo brought the message from Genesis 1. Three people volunteered to sing songs - Júlio, Fred and Linda. The service was excellent.

Yesterday afternoon Liz and I visited Sister Socorro Help whose sister died with cancer yesterday. We spent some time chatting with her as well as reading the Bible and praying with her.

My sister Joy remains in hospital after her car accident and my sister-in-law Eunice is recovering from her broken wrist after being knocked down by a motorbike. We value your prayers for them both.

Nehemiah

I have been having discussions with Pastor Nemias (Nehemiah) at Flores in the State of Pernambuco. He was telling me about the new outreach places at the Sitio Saquinho and the Sítio Pedreira where there are families really interested in the Gospel. Please pray for Nemias, his wife Fátima and their teenage son Isaque. 

Please continue to pray for my sister Joy who continues in hospital at High Wycombe after her car accident. Please also pray for Liz's sister Eunice who was knocked down by a motorbike yesterday in central London and broke a wrist.

We are working hard preparing everything for our Easter Camp which will start in just over a month's time on April 14th. The camp will be from April 14th to 17th. I am working on my sermon. Other speakers will be Pastor Rafael, Teacher Sacha, Bible College student Murilo, and lawyers Rayla and Louisa. We value your prayers. 

I have been working on EAB's Action Child/Schools today especially with all the materials needed for our new school at Barra de Oitis. The school there will function in the church hall. I have also sorted out materials for Flores and Imaculada schools.

There were nearly 50 at the Bible study last night and after this we had a meeting with the youth leadership team essentially about how to best take care of the pre-adolescents and adolescents. It was a positive meeting.   

World Vision

I chaired the virtual meeting of 40 of our leaders on Monday with Cristiano Dias who is the representative of World Vision. WV is proposing partnerships with our churches as well as with our social action projects. A wide ranging explanation of WV's aims and ethos was given, and now we will see what may come of this. We value your prayers.

The Care Centre revamp and modernization work is progressing well and the new walls will be started being built this week.

My sister Joy continues in hospital at High Wycombe after her serious car accident, but she is comfortable. Thanks for your prayers.

We had a meeting yesterday with Tarcísio, who used to be the leader of the EAB/ACEV church at Green Pastures and who used to care for the general day-to-day work there. It was good to talk to him because he has sadly lost his way since his wife died about a year and a half ago. Please pray for the restoration of Tarcísio.

Last night's Men's Fellowship meeting went well though there were only 6 of us present. We had a nice chat about football, a nice time of prayer and we reflected together on Revelation 2:8-11. When I got home I had a series of messages concerning the Juazeirinho church which apparently is in difficulty. It is another place which is going to need attention and much prayer.      

Politics

This week I received a long phone call from an evangelical leader in João Pessoa telling me about the "glories" of his candidate for the Senate in the October elections. I politely listened to him and then made it clear to him that in ACEV (EAB) we do not get involved with party politics. This will happen many times between now and the elections.

We are in the process of doing the final check on the text for my book about the history of ACEV between 1938 and 2018. Hopefully we will soon have it published.

Tonight I will be coordinating a meeting online between all the ACEV pastors and leaders and World Vision. The objective is to see whether there are ways to develop a partnership between ACEV and World Vision.

Please continue to pray for my sister Joy who remains in hospital at High Wycombe after a nasty car accident. She is in the cardiology ward. 

I both led the service and preached Mark 4 last night in the Patos church. The service was exceptionally blessed. Praise God! 

Joy in hospital

Please continue to pray for my sister Joy who is in hospital in High Wycombe after a serious car crash. 

Inter-varsity

I have finished writing my chapter for the Brazilian inter-varsity fellowship (called ABU here) history book, and I have sent it to the editor. My chapter covers the period from 1976 to 1982 when I worked with ABU. This was a rich time of ministry which included driving John Stott around Recife in 1980 as he was here to minister at the ABU national conference.

Please pray for our Easter Camp which will take place from Easter Thursday (14th April) to Sunday (17th April) in place of the carnival camp which was cancelled owing to Covid.

Please also pray for our pastor Ângelo and his wife Adilma that God might guide them and restore them. They used to lead the Soledade church and are without a church at the moment. I am having discussions about this with our senior leadership team.

On Thursday night the Green Pastures football team was knocked out of the São Mamede Beach Soccer tournament in the semi-final by 4 goals to 2 by Boa Vista (Good View). Green Pastures had won the quarter-final beating Cágado (Turtle) by 2 goals to 1. On Thursday night in Patos the midweek Bible Study went well covering 1 John 2:3-6. There were 29 in the service. It rained 15 mm at Green Pastures on Thursday night. Rainfall continues to be very low. Please pray for abundant rain between now and the end of April. 

Last night we had an excellent meeting with headteacher Gerlânia of our Patos School, which is the largest school we have. Our social worker Marah Danielle also took part in the meeting. We had a wide range of discussions about the school which is going very well and is now back to in-person teaching. We have decided to hold weekly Bible studies for the parents of school children who are making decisions to follow Jesus. At long last, after years of trying, the planting of a church at our school in Patos seems like it will work out. We also discussed a very dangerous issue of a parent of one of our pupils who is particularly violent and ruthlessly dangerous. I can't say more about this, but I do ask you for prayer. I also ask you to support EAB action schools for just 20 pounds a month.

Joy

My sister Joy has just been involved in a head-on vehicle collision at High Wycombe, England. I am told that both cars are write-offs. Joy is OK in general but has been taken to hospital with chest pains. Please pray for Joy. 

Soledade

Soledade is a town about a one and a half hour's drive east from Patos where we live. It is about 45 minutes drive west of Campina Grande. Pastor Ângelo was the pastor there for a good number of years until the end of November 2021. He resigned amicably having realized that he had lost the support of the majority of church members. Pastors in ACEV have mandates of 5 years and he realized that his mandate would not be renewed. Ângelo had lost his way, I think it would be safe to say, and this had a detrimental effect on the church.

In the three months, since Ângelo left the church, Soledade has been under the leadership and responsibility of Pastor Wostenes (Campina Grande - Catolé) who has organized special ministry, mainly from our Campina Grande churches, in the endeavor of revitalizing the church. Wostenes (vice-chair person of ACEV. I am chairperson) has a rotor of ministers every Sunday and Tuesday investing rich ministry of God's word into the needy church, and the fruit of this is already having a very positive effect. One key man called Sandro had left the church and was pressurizing his wife Sandra to leave too. Now he is back and his wife is also very active in the church again. 

Now Wostenes is starting to train leaders at Soledade for home fellowship groups with the objectives of fellowship, edification and evangelization so as to establish weekly fellowship groups around the town. Please pray for our Soledade church and for the revitalization process for the glory of God.       

Wheelchairs

We have a bank of wheelchairs so that we can help people in need who can't afford to buy one. This week two wheelchairs were received back from people and have already been reloaned. One of these went to our Sister Judite's husband. Judite is a member of our Patos church but her husband has never even been to church. It is especially gratifying to see a bridge being built to a person in a simple way as this. It is a bridge of God's love on wheels.

Liz and I had a lovely relaxing break over the carnival period and are now back into normal action. It was lovely to have the family with us, apart from Philip, Gylmara, Lucas and Luis who are in the UK. I did a lot of good walking and photographed many butterflies. Just over 100 species of butterflies have been registered by biologists at Green Pastures. We also observed a nest of Rufous-bellied Thrushes being fed by their parents and then on the Tuesday finally the 3 chicks left the nest. It was fascinating observing the whole process. We have been watching this nest for some time. On top of the family Tiago, Louisa's fiancé, was there, plus Vivi (Felipe's long time partner). Yesterday we were joined for the day by Segundo who is granddaughter Alice's first boyfriend. He is a lovely Christian boy. However Alice's father was ridiculously hostile to the boy which was quite embarrassing. We felt quite sorry for Segundo.