More fellowship

We have had a lovely afternoon of fellowship with our friend Marian Rashleigh. We had a lovely meal together. It was lovely chatting over the work of God both in Brazil and in the UK. Marian will kindly be driving us to Bristol on October 16th and to Thamesmead on the 30th. On the other weekends it will be our son Philip driving us to our engagements. We value your prayers.

Please pray for the Brazilian general election to be held this Sunday (2nd). Please pray that whoever wins may democracy prevail and may it be a peaceful day

Fellowship

Today we had a lovely time of fellowship around coffee/tea and biscuits with the writer Mike Hollow who lives in Basingstoke. He is the author of the Blitz Detective series of which I have read all and await a new book! Mike used to work for Tearfund and has been in our house in Brazil. If you want a good series of detective books to relax with I highly recommend Mike Hollow. Our chat today helped us catch up with family, church and mission news.

Joy

On Friday we had a lovely day with the visit of my younger sister and nurse Joy. Joy lives in High Wycombe but we met up at my older sister's house (Jean who is a music teacher) in Basingstoke. It was especially good to see Joy as we hadn't seen each other for 7 years. We caught up on all the family news. It was great. We all ate fish and chips together in the evening and Joy and I managed get lost in Basingstoke trying to return to my sister Jean's house after eating. We laughed till we cried!

On Saturday we went out with Philip, Gylmara and the boys to Gunnersbury Park, Ealing, London. First of all we went to the neighbouring cemetery where we put flowers on our late son Johnny's grave. Then we had a picnic in the park and the boys played on the playground before we went walking and visiting the museum. 

Today Sunday I spoke at the MCC (Millbrook Christian Centre). It was a lovely service. Pastor Mark Starbuck is the minister there.

Ben & Miriam

On Tuesday night Liz and I spent a lovely evening with Ben & Miriam Price who live in Basingstoke. Miriam is Brazilian and Ben is English and they have 2 grown up children: Josias who is 20 and Ana who is 17. Ben and Miriam worked with EAB/ACEV during quite a few years. We had a great meal together and a good chat about the work of God in Brazil as well as catching up with all the families news.

This coming Sunday we will be speaking at Millbrook Christian Centre, Southampton at 10:15 am. On the following Sunday (2nd) we will be at the Danbury Mission, Essex at 10 am. On Sunday (9th) we will be at the Rock Community Church at Devizes, Wiltshire at 10 am. On the 16th (Sunday) we will be at Bristol Ivy Church at 10 am and at Bristol P.H. Church at 6:30 pm. On Friday (21st) we will take part in an EAB Board meeting in Basingstoke at 7:30 pm. On Saturday (22nd) we will take part in the annual EAB Celebration at 6 pm (refreshments) and 7 pm (service). It will be held at the Lighthouse Community Church at Hardley, Southampton. On Sunday (23rd) we will be at Chineham Christ Church, Basingstoke at 10 am. On Sunday (30th) we will be at the Thamesmead Baptist Church in Kent at 11 am. We will return to Brazil on November 2nd. 

We will be leading the EAB/ACEV Leadership Conference at Green Pastures from the 25th to 27th of November. 

We value your prayers for all our travels and activities. 

Cadnam & Wellow

Yesterday we spoke at 2 churches. In the morning it was at the Cadnam Methodist Church in the New Forest. I both led the service and spoke. It was a lovely service. We had lunch with Howard and Hillary Babey from the church and from there went on to West Wellow Chapel where we spoke at night. Prior to the service we had tea with Neil and Naomi Parsons. In the service both Liz and I spoke. It was another very good service.

On Saturday Philip & Gylmara took us to Thatcham Nature Reserve where we had a nice walk amidst nature. It was a very nice day.

Today we watched the Queen's funeral on TV. All was impeccably done with great precision. The Queen's faith was emphasized a lot which was good.   

Royal funeral

Our time in Europe has coincided with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. She died when we were in Switzerland and for the funeral we are in England. It certainly gives us a strong feeling of British culture and the amazing ability to organize immaculately ceremonies with split second timing and perfection.

We have just been told that last week David Moses OBE died. David was a member of EAB's Board of Trustees many years ago. We convey our deepest sympathies to the family.

We had lunch with my sister Jean, her daughter Lisa and her daughter Isla on Tuesday afternoon. We enjoyed a lovely chat. It was a sweet time of family fellowship.

Last night we had a nice time of fellowship with Ben & Miriam Price. Miriam is Brazilian and she and her husband Ben have worked with us in Brazil in the past. 

England

We left Tschiertschen in the Swiss Alps on Sunday at 1 pm and flew from Zurich to Heathrow arriving in Basingstoke about 9 pm. Heathrow was chaotic but we survived. We are staying in England at our son Philip's house.

On Monday afternoon we had a lovely visit from our great friend Marian Rashleigh. We chatted about the work of God in Brazil and brought her up to date with all the latest news. Our daughter-in-law Gylmara served us up with a lovely evening meal together.

Any communications with us whilst in England can be made at 34, Britten Road, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4HP or via our usual email address of john.medcraft@gmail.com 

This coming Sunday we will be speaking at Cadnam Methodist Church in the morning and at West Wellow Chapel in the evening. We look forward to seeing you if you live in the area.

Sam's birthday

Friday, here in Switzerland, was Liz's brother's official celebration of his 70th birthday. He was 70 in March of last year but the family celebration was postponed owing to the Covid pandemic. Liz and I were part of a group of 17 who gathered to celebrate Sam's big birthday at the Tamina Gorge, cave, thermal water font and restaurant. Sam and his wife Gerti, and their 2 children Matthias and Linda with their partners, were all there plus his sisters and brother and their spouses, plus 3 of Gerti's family. We visited the gorge and cave where there is a fast flowing river and after this we had a wonderful meal together. We restate our warmest wishes for many happy returns to Sam! Sam and Gerti are strong EAB supporters.

Our flight to England will be today. It was to have been on Saturday but the flight was cancelled by British Airways.

Liz's Birthday

Yesterday was Liz's birthday. Her brother Sam arranged a surprise birthday breakfast for her at a nearby farm followed by a morning watching the farm workers making cheese. It was very interesting. At the breakfast there were a dozen types of cheese on offer!

On the previous day we visited Switzerland's grand canyon which has some spectacular scenery.

We were saddened by the news of Queen Elizabeth II's death yesterday. She is surely with the Lord.

News from Brazil is good with 6 people being baptized at our second church at Princesa Isabel in the borough of Maia. Another person was baptized at Tavares. PTL! 

Nice time

We continue to enjoy a nice time in Switzerland. Liz's sister Eunice and her husband Jon arrived from London and Liz's brother David and his wife Tania have arrived from Southampton. Yesterday we had a nice cultural day with a meal together with some of the villagers here. One played a traditional small piano accordion and another played an alpine horn which was quite enormous. Today we visited the Swiss grand canyon which was beautiful. We will be staying here until Sunday when we will fly to London.

We are in constant contact with Brazil and all is well in the churches. Please pray for the survival of democracy as the general election fast approaches on October 2nd.  

Good Trip

We left Patos on Friday at 12.15 pm. Our daughter Lynn and her husband Hutan drove us to Recife airport where we arrived about 7 pm after very heavy traffic in and around Recife. Our first flight to Lisbon (10:20 pm) left a little late and we arrived in Lisbon 10 minutes behind schedule. It was a long tiring night but the trip was fine. We caught our second flight from Lisbon to Zurich which ran about 1 hour late and arrived in Zurich at 5 pm. Sam (Liz's brother) was there to meet us and drive us the 2 and a half hours up the Swiss alps to Tschiertschen where Sam and his wife live in a beautiful chalet. Today we are having a nice restful day.

Tomorrow Liz's brother David and her sister Eunice and their spouses are arriving from England in the afternoon. Also arriving from England will be Sam's best friend Tony Lane with his wife Tricia. This week is Sam's 70th birthday celebrations. The only one of the brothers and sisters not coming will be the youngest sister Esther.

Switzerland

Liz and I will catch a flight from Recife to Zurich via Lisbon later today. We count on your prayers. We will arrive in Zurich tomorrow afternoon and stay in Switzerland till September 11th. We will then fly to London. We will remain in England until November 2nd when we will return to Brazil (DV). We are looking forward to a nice break.

While we are away in Europe Pastor Wostenes (deputy chairman) will be in charge of the work in general. Pastor Rafael (assistant pastor) will be in charge of the Patos church together with its daughter churches at Ipueira, Green Pastures, Passagem and at the school in the borough of Jatobá in Patos. Please especially pray for these pastors.