X is back

X (formerly Twitter) is back in Brazil having been banned since August 31st by the Supreme Court. Elon Musk has found a technical way round it being blocked, although it does not seem to be working properly. It seems like a technological battle is under way. 

I have been preparing my sermon for Imaculada's 40th anniversary service on the 29th. They have asked me to preach on 'The mission carries on' based on Mark 16:15-20. 

QPR have sadly been knocked out in the 3rd round of the League Cup. They lost at home 2 x 1 to premiership side Crystal Palace. The winning goal was ironically scored by England player Eze who QPR sold to Crystal Palace in 2020.

Yesterday was our son Philip and Gylmara's 25th wedding anniversary. Many congratulations to them!

Today is our grandson John David's 23rd birthday. He will graduate from university next May as a medical doctor.

Sunday Service

Sunday night's main service of the week went well. I led and pastor Rafael preached from Luke 5. Sacha, Fabio and Marina led the praise and worship backed by Rogerio (keyboard), Rogaciano (guitar) and Ricardinho (bass). We were tired from the pastors' conference, but it was a good meeting.

We are in the middle of the Patos September festival which runs from the 14th to the 24th. The 24th is the day of the town's patron saint of "our lady of guidance" and is a municipal public holiday. The festival is a show of strength by the Catholic church which blocks off the entire centre of town filling it with a fund raising fair ground.

Liz and I have been for our bi-annual doctor's check-ups and came out of them very well. My sodium and potassium levels (the problem I had a year and a half ago) are perfect as are cholesterol, glucose, vitamins B12 & D etc. Just Liz has started a course of antibiotics for an upper respiratory tract infection. 

Pastors' Conference

Our annual Pastors and Leaders Conference has just ended at Green Pastures and all went off very well, praise the Lord! On Friday we kicked off with a fellowship lunch and at 3 pm we held a general assembly of pastors and leaders. This was followed by a general assembly of our projects NGO. At night we had a period of prayer together followed by the first teaching session given by Pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice based on the book of Nehemiah. 

On Saturday, after a fellowship breakfast, some members of our senior leadership team met with a pastor who is in difficulty and we had a good discussion and gave advice. This was followed by a meeting of our projects team especially concentrating on the wells and market garden projects. After lunch we had further meetings of the senior leadership team. At night we had our second teaching session continuing our reflections based on the book of Nehemiah. We then had a late night extra meeting discussing a very challenging situation I can't mention and we only got to bed half an hour after midnight. The Conference ended with a fellowship breakfast this morning after which everyone left for their respective churches to be in place for their evening services. We thank the Lord for all his blessing at the conference and thank all those who remembered us in prayer.

Yesterday QPR drew at Sheffield Wednesday 1 x 1 keeping us in 12th place in the Championship table.

Christmas Play

Having finished the writing of a new Christmas play, last night Liz and I officially handed it over to our drama leader Dilma. I went right through the play giving my thoughts on how different parts should be done. It was a very good time of sharing together. Now it's over to Dilma and the drama team. It will be performed on Christmas Eve.

Our annual pastors and leaders conference starts today at Green Pastures. Please pray for this conference. 120 people are expected at the event.

Wake

Liz, Lynn and I have been to the wake of our good friend Ramalhinho who died of a heart attack in the night. It came as a great shock to us. He was the man who undertook all our building work and was an excellent person. He was who did the Care Centre building and more recently our garden back wall.

I have had some important meetings with some of our pastors this week sorting out problems and giving advice. We are also flat out preparing for the pastors and leaders conference which starts on Friday at Green Pastures.

Last night I travelled with the Patos men's fellowship to take another street service in the town of Sao Mamede. The service was excellent with about 50 people attending. It has now become a custom there for people to give me slips of paper with prayer requests, so last night we prayed for a woman's daughter who is on drugs and for another woman's daughter who is in deep depression because her husband is having an affair. It is lovely to see people bringing their requests with faith looking to God.

Liz's birthday

Yesterday was the day in the year when Liz catches me up in age as she is 7 months younger than me. She had a nice day with a family lunch together. Last night in church a special tribute was made to Liz and a birthday gift and card with church members' well wishes was given to her.

I led the service in church last night and I preached on the battle between the flesh and the spirit from Romans 7. It was a very good service with a full church and a lovely spirit of praise.

On Saturday Liz and I travelled to preach at the opening service of our new church plant at Diamante (Diamond). A large crowd gathered with folk from our Vazante, Barra de Oitis, Mata de Oitis, Conceicao, Ibiara and Curral Velho churches present. The church plant has started with 12 members. Please pray for Diamante.

Suicide

The father of 2 boys who go to our Matureia school, Igor and Italo, committed suicide last night. Please pray for the boys at this sad time. This tragedy was apparently provoked by the separation of their parents.

I led the Thursday night mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study which 30 people attended. Erika and Rogerio led the praise, Linda & Espedita sang solos, Dede, Deborah Maria and Marcio brought 'my Bible verses' and Pastor Rafael brought the Word from Amos 8. It was a nice service. 

I have just been to the doctors to have by ears syringed. I can now almost hear you talking in the UK! Praise the Lord that both Liz and I both have excellent hearing.

We are a week away from our annual pastors and leaders conference at Green Pastures and we are very busy with all the preparations. Please pray.

Wild Cat

I have just been to Green Pastures where a wild cat (Puma yagouaroundi) killed a peacock. It ripped the head off of the peacock and carried the rest of the bird off into the bush. It also killed 2 chickens.

On Saturday Liz and I will be travelling to preach at the opening service of our new church plant at the town of Diamante, which is about a two and a half hour drive west of Patos. Please pray for us and the church plant. The population of Diamante is of 6,431 people. 

On Tuesday night I took part in an important online meeting with pastors Wostenes and Renilson about our schools ministry. Getiane and Gerlania also took part.

Yesterday we took part in another senior leadership meeting online. It was a good productive meeting which lasted an hour.

Missions Sunday

The first Sunday in September is always Missions Sunday in all our churches, as it was on September 2nd that Albert and Daisy Mundy first landed in Brazil back in 1938. In Patos our drama group presented a 30-minute play about missions to commemorate the 86th anniversary of this date. I wrote the play. Then Pastor Rafael brought an excellent message on 1 Corinthians 15:58 challenging the church to stand firm in missions always "giving ourselves fully to the work of the Lord."

Yesterday we received the visit of Fia who is the wife of Pastor Maesio up in the mountains at Teixeira. She had a nice long chat with Liz.

We have had an excellent meeting with senior pastor Oseias and his wife Lucia, followed by a nice lunch together. Oseias is pastor of our Itaporanga church, but he is also interim pastor of our central Princesa Isabel church which is without a pastor at the moment.

QPR

On Friday night (afternoon here) QPR completed a very successful week by beating Luton away 2 x 1 in the league, having beaten them at home in the league cup on Tuesday. Well done QPR! 😃

I saw a small flock of House Sparrows on Friday at Green Pastures. It was nice to see them as their numbers are in decline around the world. House Sparrows are found on every continent except Antarctica. 

X (Twitter) has been banned in Brazil for refusing to obey Brazil's Supreme Court. Elon Musk thinks his fortune places him above the law as has also been seen in his recent stand-offs with the EU and with UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

I have received the visit of Pastor Saulo from the southern state of Paraná and we had a good chat about the work of the Lord in north-east Brazil. He was most generous in his kind words about the good work done by EAB/ACEV. 

On Saturday morning Liz led a jumble sale outside our Patos church which raised 130 pounds for the Care Centre.

This weekend the 5th Deaf Conference was held and led by our deaf pastor Luiz Carlos. Last night he led the service in sign language and preached on John 16:33. There were about 40 deaf people there. It was a wonderful opportunity for the Gospel.