Monkey business

At Green Pastures there is a Marmoset monkey that has been rejected by the main group. This monkey always hangs around the kitchen to get food and we have named him Chico. This week a pack of 18 monkeys came after Chico and attacked him violently but Chico was saved by a flock of White-naped Jays who squawked loudly and pecked, driving the monkeys away. Chico was left limping for a day but is now fine again. 

I went on three walks at Green Pastures with Philip this week. Two were of 3 km and one was of 5 km. Philip photographed White-naped Jays, Pileated Finches, Scaled Doves, Iguanas etc. We also observed three species of snakes: Leptodeira annulata, Philodryas nattereri and Oxyrhopus trigeminus. 6 snakes in all were observed. I gave the scientific names in case anyone would like to look them up on Google.

Last night I conducted the wedding of Gerlânia (the head teacher at our Patos school) and Sérgio. All went off very nicely. May the Lord bless them.

On Wednesday the weekly service at the Patos school had a good number of both adults and children present and went very well. On Thursday the Bible study went well too. At Imaculada the youth camp went off very well and a number of young people present made decisions of commitment to Christ. At our Água Grande church they held a special service on 'Farm workers' day and had over 10 non-Christian farm workers there to hear the Gospel. Our Flores church has been doing some more work with youth this week revolving around the Bible and Ball. They are doing excellent work.

São Mamede Service

Last night I travelled with my son Philip (who is here for 6 weeks from the UK) to the town of São Mamede, 25 km north-east of Patos, to hold a street service with the Patos Men's Fellowship. I led the service, Philip led the praise and worship with a guitar and he preached the Gospel from Mark 1. Paulo Silas, Dodora, Flávio, Rafael, Chico e Dedé also took part in the beautiful service. 42 people attended. 

Our eldest daughter Deborah has just been on another of her long distance bike rides travelling 168 km from Campina Grande to Patos in 7 hours 48 minutes. She left with her friends in the cool of the evening and got home in Patos at 3 am.

Our church up beyond the mountains at Imaculada has just held a camp for their youth which was really blessed of God.

I led the service in Patos on Sunday night and Philip and family were warmly received by the church receiving two gifts in the process. Our 7-year-old grandson Luis sang a lovely solo and Philip preached on the 'Mission of God' from Matthew 28:16-20. It was a great service.

Adolescent night

Last Friday night was adolescent night with two activities for them which went very well. First of all there were about 30 adolescents at a meeting of our church kids at which I was asked to speak. Then there was a separate gathering of 36 adolescents linked to our Patos school who went out with headteacher Gerlânia, Pastor Rafael and his fiancée Rayla to have fun and eat pizza. We praise God for all the work being done with this age group.

Yesterday I conducted the wedding of João Paulo and Juliana from our Patos church. The wedding was scheduled for 4:30 pm but started at 5:15 pm with a 20-minute series of entry processions by the witnesses, bridegroom, bridesmaids and the bride. I finally started on the ceremony itself at 5:35 pm and all went off smoothly. The ceremony took 40 minutes.

After the wedding Liz and I finally got to see Philip, Gylmara, Lucas and Luis. It's lovely to have them here with us for about 6 weeks. I will be leading the service shortly and Philip will be preaching.

Friends Day

The Patos Women's Fellowship meeting on Wednesday night held a special meeting for "friends day" and some non-Christians were present. In all there were about 30 women present and our daughter Sacha gave the Biblical reflection. There were snacks for all at the end of the meeting. Liz says that all went off beautifully.

I have prepared another sermon on Psalm 119. This time it is on the second block of 8 verses from verse 9 to verse 16 which focuses on "how can a young man keep his way pure".

I have today sorted out some documentation for Pastor Sílvio at our Portelo church and had my signature officially authenticated by a public notary. These sort of activities are always part of my job as chairman.

I have received a very good extensive reply from Grahame Morris MP, of the Easington constituency in County Durham, where Horden is a run-down village. I had written to the MP to complain about Horden's apparently abandoned state since the pit there was closed. My cousin Philip lives at Horden.

Our son Philip, his wife Gylmara and their sons Lucas and Luis flew from Gatwick to Recife via Lisbon yesterday and landed in Brazil about 9 pm. They are staying in João Pessoa with Gylmara's family till Saturday when they will all come to Green Pastures. 

The Bible study went off nicely last night. There were about 25 present.

Workshops

This semester in our Patos school we will be holding two workshops for adolescents. These are youngsters who have finished our normal year 5 but have remained connected to the school, and we pray for them to commit their lives to Christ. We will be holding two three-month long workshops, with one in mathematics, to help them with their more advanced maths at their regular schools. The other workshop will be to teach them judo at a judo centre near to our school. Please pray for these new ventures.

Last night's Men's Fellowship meeting went well and there were nine of us present. Claudivan led the meeting, Rafael brought the Biblical reflection from Matthew 23 and Ricardo led our prayers.

Deaf Conference

The 4th Deaf Conference went very well indeed at the weekend. The closing service was led by deaf pastor Luiz Carlos who also preached. It always is very moving when he leads the service in sign language and it is translated to us hearers through an interpreter. There were around 100 people present for the service including about 30 deaf people of which some made commitments to Christ. As he reminded us in the service Luiz Carlos has been coming to our Patos church since he was a little boy. What a change now to see him as the deaf pastor! There were also 2 small choirs which presented signed songs in the service: the pupils of the current sign language course and the interpreters. Our drama group presented the "light of the world" pantomime at the deaf folks' request as it is a totally visual presentation. At the end of the service Pastor Luiz Carlos presented Liz and I with a gift in thanks for all our support of the deaf ministry over the years.

On Saturday afternoon we held a jumble sale at our school to raise money for our building work. At night Murilo led the service at Green Pastures and Eduardo led the service at Passagem.

Last night I led the main service of the week in Patos and I preached too. I did an exposition of Psalm 119:1-8. Many people came to me afterwards saying they had been blessed by the word. It was a lovely service.

10 songs

In the Patos church all the songs we sing in the church worship are first checked and approved by me as regards music and theology. This week I received 10 songs in one go to be checked and I approved 8 of them.

On Thursday afternoon Liz and I had a lovely meeting with Adriana and Segundo who are the leaders of the adolescents ministry in our church. They gave us a lot of very important and useful feedback about the adolescents which I can't go into here. We noted down that which needs attention and prayed about it together.

On Thursday evening the mid-week Bible study went well with about 30 people present.

Last night's adolescents fellowship group went so well that the leaders asked the parents to only come and pick them up at 10 pm. This gave them half an hour of extra time. We praise God for how well the work is going with this younger section of our youth.

Ex-landless settlement

On Tuesday night I travelled with the Patos Men's Fellowship to the ex-landless settlement near the town of São Mamede. We held a Gospel service under a tree in front of one of our sisters' houses and a crowd of at least 40 people gathered. A parallel children's service was held by Rebeca who went with her husband Caetano. The children loved it. It was a very good evening.

I have written to MP Grahame Morris and Horden Parish Council (northeast England) to express my concern for the town after reading a report on the run down state of the place in the Daily Mirror. Horden has been abandoned by government since the coal pit closed in 1987. Now houses there sell for as little as 5,000 pounds and the place suffers with stabbings and shootings. The government must establish enterprises there, which generate jobs for the young, to revitalize the town. My uncle Wilf Robinson worked in the mine all his life and my cousin Philip Robinson lives in Horden to this day. I will let you know if I receive replies from the MP or Council.

Last night Liz and the women's fellowship held their meeting at sister Socorro Help's house. There was a good number there and it went well. Parallel to this the weekly service at our school was held and a couple and another woman came in to hear the Gospel as well as about 10 children.

Matureia

Up in the mountains at Matureia the EAB/ACEV church, led by Pastor Renilson, held special anniversary services over the weekend. 6 new converts were baptized and 1 woman made her commitment to Christ. She is the mother of one of our action school children. PTL!

On Sunday morning Liz helped the deputy adult class teacher with the lesson as the main teacher could not come. At night I led the main service of the week. I dedicated a 2-year-old little girl called Emanuelly. Her grandmother Verônica is a member of our church and she asked me if I would dedicate her granddaughter. I agreed to do so and she turned up with 6 or 7 family members to witness the occasion. It was a wonderful opportunity for the Gospel. The preacher on the night was Murilo César who recently graduated from Bible College. He preached very well indeed on 'Set your hearts on things above" from Colossians 3:1-4.

Last night we had a meeting with Sérgio and Gerlania whose wedding I will be conducting on the 29th of this month. Gerlania is the head teacher of our 'Pastor Frank Dyer School' in the borough of Jatobá in Patos. Please pray for this couple.

Meeting

On Friday night we had an excellent meeting with our assistant pastor Rafael. We had a discussion of a wide ranging field of topics, church members that need attention etc. We also had a time of prayer together.

On Friday afternoon we saw a flock of Smooth-billed Anis. There were about 20 of them flying amongst the tree tops. These are a black bird with a long tail. Feedback from the wild cat researchers at Green Pastures is that they are surprised by how many wild cats there are at Green Pastures.

Please pray for the family of José de Lima, of our Princesa Isabel church, who died of a heart attack on Friday. Please pray for the church too.

Last night I was to have led the weekly service at Green Pastures where I was also to have preached. However in the late afternoon it rained which led to a call of 'rain stopped pray'. It is a pity the service was cancelled, as the people wouldn't come out in the mud, but we are grateful to God for the rain.

I have prepared two wedding cerimonies for the 22nd (João Paulo & Juliana) and the 29th (Sérgio & Gerlânia).

Philip, Gylmara and the boys are coming over from the UK for five and a half weeks on the 20th. 

Women's Fellowship

Wednesday night's women's fellowship meeting was held at sister Hilda's house as her little boy called Heitor has just got out of hospital having had his adenoids removed. Liz says the meeting went well despite there having been a low turn out.

Our Kombi is in the garage for repairs having presented a loud strange noise. I don't know what the problem is but I hope they soon fix it with the minimum of expense.

The Care Centre and Mum's kitchen building work presses ahead in its second week. We are having to install a biodigester to the drainage system which is yet more expense for the job. The biodigester (see it on Google if you don't know what it is) is being installed at the insistence of the environmental department of Patos. I wouldn't mind if other people were obliged to have biodigesters, but I think ours will be the only one in the centre of town! 

Last night's Bible study went well despite a very low turn out of only 17 people. We did have some rain in Patos (not at Green Pastures) yesterday, so maybe that put people off.

Visits

Liz has just conducted two important visits. First of all she went to visit a person from the Patos church, together with Deaconess Deborah Maria, who is undergoing treatment for cancer. I can't give the person's name for privacy reasons. Please pray for this person. The visit was as good as possible under the circumstances. Liz also visited, this time on her own, a couple who are enduring extreme difficulties whom I can't name again for privacy reasons. The husband is bedridden and has severe mental problems, and the wife is very low as a result of the stress of caring for her husband non-stop. Please pray for this couple.

Yesterday Liz and I went for a 3 km walk at Green Pastures and saw a White-bellied Nothura which flew off wildly, as they always do, when we disturbed in in the long dry grass.

Last night there were 9 of us in the Men's Fellowship meeting which was held at Vicente Conserva Junior's house. It was held there to encourage him as he recently lost his aged mother and is feeling it a lot. Recently graduated from Bible College Murilo César brought an excellent Biblical reflection on faith, focusing on the examples of Noah, Abraham and Moses from Hebrews 11.

I have been checking and monitoring the EAB Action Child and Action Schools' bi-annual reports as they are sent to our coordinator in the UK Marian Rashleigh. Our daughter Sacha does the translation and compilation of these reports, but I monitor things so as to keep in contact with the progress of this excellent project which blesses over 800 very poor children. I found especially moving the story of a 7-year-old little boy called Moisés at Juru. He and his two little sisters were abandoned by their parents and are being cared for by an aunt. He has asked out teacher there to adopt him saying he "promises to be good!" Please pray for dear Moisés and his sisters.

Green Pastures

On Saturday night I went to lead the weekly service at Green Pastures and Pastor Rafael preached. Fred, Júlio and Manoel sang songs, but of special note was the group of 8 women, led by Nega, which sang absolutely beautifully. It is lovely to see the local church developing in this place. In fact Green Pastures is a multi-faceted place of Christian ministry. It is a local church, a Christian Conference Centre and a nature reserve which gives a great example to all in our region of caring for God's creation. Please pray for and support Francisco and Leca who are the couple who care for the day to day running of Green Pastures' ministries. In the last 3 days we have had 27 mm (just over an inch) of rain which is most unusual at this time of year and most welcome.

A Boa Constrictor snake caused a great commotion amongst the Cancãos (White-naped Jay) as it was lodged in a tree digesting a large animal, which may have been a wild guinea pig or a giant lizard. The birds kept on crying out greatly distressed by the snake!

On Saturday night the Patos youth had a nice time of fellowship together playing volleyball.

I have been preparing a sermon for ministry at our Glória church in a few weeks time.

Last night I led the service in Patos and the church was full to capacity. The service was good. We heard a lovely testimony from a Veterinary Doctor, who is a member of our church, called Adriana.

Decisions for Christ

I am glad to report 2 decisions for Christ at Fonseca this week. Damião and Lourdes committed their lives to Christ in a service led by its leader Fábio (who many years ago was a sponsored EAB action child) and the regional pastor Francinaldo. Please pray for these new converts.

The building work at our Care Centre, which will now include 'Mum's Kitchen' (in memory of Missionary Ivy Dyer), recommenced this week. The builders first of all cleared out all the supplies of sand etc. which had been stored inside the building, and organized it outside. They then worked on the drainage system.

I have finished reading the book: 'The Camden Murder' by Mike Hollow and thoroughly enjoyed it as I have the other 6 books in the Blitz Detective series. Mike now has a competitor in our grandson John David! He is about to publish his first novel called 'Magic Crystals - O Carrasco'. He has today signed a contract with Pen Dragon Publishers. I suspect that John's book will not be my cup of tea, but I will read it when it comes out and let you know.

The mid-week service at our school was hampered by an odd shower of rain which fell at a time which stopped people from going out. That evening Liz enjoyed the women's fellowship meeting with 11 present. On Thursday we had about 20 present for the Bible study.