Esther 8 (résumé): The King's edict on behalf of the Jews

 King Xerxes gave the estate of the hanged Haman to Queen Esther and she made her cousin Mordecai overseer over it, and the King gave him his signet ring. Then again Esther interceded on behalf of her Jewish fellow countrymen and the king authorized the writing of a decree on behalf of the Jews which could be signed and sealed with the king's signet ring which Mordecai now had. Thus the king's edict granted the Jews right to assemble and protect themselves, being able to kill in self defense if necessary, and the couriers rushed the edict to all sectors of the kingdom. And Mordecai left the king's presence wearing royal garments and there was great rejoicing in Jewish communities far and wide including the capital city of Susa.

Jumble Sale

Yesterday morning Liz was up bright and early and she left at 7 am to go and run a jumble sale with the sisters of the Patos church which raised £140 for the church and blessed many people with access to good clothes cheap and with dignity. 

Last night I preached on the 'Pool of Bethesda Healing' from John 5:1-15 showing that Jesus was greater than the local legend and that he is greater in us than anything else. The service was the weekly service at Green Pastures and it was very good with a good crowd present.

Sadly QPR lost away to Norwich 3 x 1 yesterday. 😒 However Philip is happy because his team Flamengo (from Rio de Janeiro) beat Palmeiras (from São Paulo) 1 x 0 in the final of the Copa dos Libertadores which is the South American Cup, equivalent to the European Champions League.

Esther 7 (résumé): Haman hanged

 King Xerxes and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther and the king asked her what her petition was. She replied that her request was for her people the Jews to be spared as they were threatened with annihilation by the evil Haman. The king was furious and got up and left his wine so Haman approached the queen to beg clemency and the King was even more angry and accused him of trying to molest the queen! Then one of the eunuchs informed the king of the gallows Haman had erected to hang Mordecai, and the King had Haman hung there.  

Esther 6 (résumé): Mordecai honoured

One night the king couldn't sleep so he requested the reading of the records of his reign and came across the incident when Mordecai saved his life by warning him of a planned assassination attempt. The king then realized that nothing had been done to reward Mordecai so he told his attendant to call in whoever was present in the court and it was Haman. The king asked Haman what he suggested should be done for someone who he delighted to honour? Haman, thinking it was for himself, proposed that the man be paraded through the city on a royal house in royal robes. The king accepted the suggestion and ordered Haman to go and lad Mordecai through the city in the way he had suggested, and Haman was devastated! Then the king's eunuchs arrived to take Haman to Queen Esther's banquet.

Esther 5 (résumé): Esther's request to the King

On the third day of fasting and praying Esther adorned her royal robes and went to see the King who received her warmly extending to her the gold sceptre. When the King enquired as to what she wanted she invited him and Haman to a banquet the next day. Haman was thrilled by the invitation and boasted to his family and friends about it and his wealth and his sons. However he was still angry when he saw Mordecai unwilling to bow before him and he ordered the building of a gallows to hang Mordecai on. 

Esther 4 (résumé): Mordecai persuades Esther to help

When Mordecai heard about the antisemitic edict he was devastated and he put on sackcloth and ashes and mourned and wept together with all the Jews. Esther tried to get him to wear normal clothes, but he refused, and she was perplexed when she learnt of the edict. Mordecai asked Esther to go to the King and intercede for her people, but she was reticent to do this as going to the king without being summoned was punishable with death. Mordecai pleaded with Esther not to remain silent and said that who knows if she hadn't come to royal position for such a time as this. So Esther asked everyone to fast and pray and after 3 days she said she would risk all and go and speak to the king.

Esther 3 (résumé): Haman's plot to destroy the Jews

Now King Xerxes gave Haman a seat of honour higher that all the other nobles and all the royal officials knelt before him paying him honour as commanded by the king, but Mordecai refuse to comply. When Haman heard about this he was enraged and thus plotted to not only kill Mordecai in revenge, but to irradicate all his people, the Jews, in the Persian empire. Haman proposed this annihilation on a specific day in the 12th month chosen by lot. Thus the King gave his backing to Haman's plot so that on the 13th day of the 12th month all Jews would be slaughtered and the edict was published and became law. 

Esther 2 (résumé): Esther made Queen

When eventually the King calmed down from the Vashti escapade it was decided to search for a new queen. The King appointed commissioners to go in search of beautiful girls who would join the King's harem and the one most pleasing to the king would be crowned queen. Among the virgins brought to the palace, and put under the responsibility of the chief eunuch Hegai, was Esther who was a Jewish orphan brought up by her cousin Mordecai, and she was outstandingly beautiful. Esther found immediate favour with Hegai and he immediately provided her with beauty treatments and special food, gave her 7 maids and moved her to the best place in the harem. However Esther did not reveal he nationality. Then all the girls went through a staggering 12 months of beauty treatment! When Esther went to King Xerxes she was selected as his favourite and was crowned queen. The King then held a large celebratory banquet with all his nobles and officials present. Then Mordecai overheard a plot to kill the King and he told Esther about it and she reported it to the king. Upon discovering the veracity of the matter the 2 officials were hanged.

Christmas Party

Liz went yesterday afternoon to the 'Young at Heart' 60+ group's Christmas Party which was held at the 'La Doçura' restaurant which means sweetness. A lovely time of food and fellowship was had by one and all.

Early every morning at Green Pastures Francisco puts out ground maize on the 2 bird tables near the meeting hall. This "bird breakfast" attracts a wide variety of birds like Red-cowled Cardinals, White-naped Jays, Campo Troupials, Pileated Finches, Red-legged Seriemas, Caatinga Cacholotes, Rufous-bellied Thrushes etc. There are three times the number of species of birds in Brazil than there are in the UK.

The principal threat to the native wildlife of wild cats, foxes, giant lizards, armadillos etc. are wild feral dogs and wild feral cats. These are a worse danger than poachers and hunters. There are 30 million stray feral dogs and cats in Brazil!

Bible College Graduation

 Yesterday it took us 3 hours and 20 minutes to drive to Campina Grande for this year's graduation service at our Bible College which saw 13 students graduate. We arrived with 10 minutes to spare and it was a lovely ceremony at which I was one of the speakers. After the service we had a look round the improvements on the church building before staying the night at Pastor Wostenes' house. After breakfast this morning it took us 3 hours to drive home tired but rejoicing.

Teixeira

Yesterday we received the visit of our leaders up in the mountains at Teixeira who are Pastor Maésio and his wife Fia. Teixeira is only 30 km from Patos but it takes quite a while to get there owing to many hairpin bends and an extremely steep climb. We had a good discussion on the church there. It was a blessing.

I am pleased to have concluded my résumé of the book of Nehemiah chapter by chapter. This is the 16th book of the Bible completed, with a total of 426 chapters, which is almost 36% of the Bible. Now it's on to the 10 chapters of Esther.

We are off back to Campina Grande this afternoon for the graduation service of our SETEBRAE Bible College at which I will be speaking. After the service we will be having a meeting with Pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice. We will then stay there for the night returning to Patos in the morning. Our granddaughters Alice and Bia will be going with us as they are good friends with assistant pastor Jânio's daughters. 

The mighty QPR beat Blackburn away 1 x 0 last night and are now bang in the middle of the Championship table in 12th position and only 2 points off the play-offs. 😀

Esther 1 (résumé): Queen Vashti deposed

This book, set in the post exilic period, tells the story of Esther, and her cousin Mordecai, who rose to be queen of the Persian empire. For though the exile was history yet many Jews remained in Persia. Fascinatingly not once does the book mention God, yet divine guidance and intervention is plain to be seen. The author of the book in unknown.

Esther chapter 1 describes the opulent reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) of Persia who was in his third year when he spent 180 days displaying his vast wealth, with banquets lasting 7 days! In the enclosed garden of the King's palace there were couches of gold and silver on pavements of marble, and wine was served abundantly in gold goblets. Parallel to all this Queen Vashti gave banquets for the women in the royal palace. However one day King Xerxes called Queen Vashti to present herself so that he could show off her beauty, but she refused, and this made the King furious.

Hence the King consulted his nobles as to what to do with Vashti who had humiliatingly disobeyed him which was a terribly bad example and precedent before all his kingdom. The decision was to depose and banish Queen Vashti making way for a new queen, and setting an exemplary measure to show "that every man should be ruler over his own household". 

Nehemiah 13 (résumé): Nehemiah's final reforms

Upon reading the Law the people realized that Ammonites and Moabites should not be admitted into the assembly of God so they excluded from Israel all foreigners. Then while Nehemiah was away back with the king of Babylon, Eliashib the priest was given a room in the temple. When Nehemiah returned he was most upset by the news of the foreigner Tobiah haven been given a room in the temple and he threw out his belongings, purified the room and put the equipment and stores back in their rightful place. Nehemiah also discovered that the Levites were not being cared for correctly and he rebuked the officials and asked why the house of God was being neglected? This corrected the tithe-giving blip. However then Nehemiah noticed that people were working on the sabbath and engaging in commerce which he severely reprimanded. He locked the doors on the sabbath to enforce the keeping of the sabbath. Nehemiah also condemned the intermarriage occurring in Judah and he even beat up some men over the topic and pulled out their hair! Nehemiah closes his book asking God to remember him for his work.

Nehemiah 12 (résumé): Priests, Levites & the dedication of the wall

The first part of this chapter lists the priests and Levites that returned from the Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel. The lists serve to legitimize the religious life of the restored Jerusalem and Judah.

Then came the great celebration of the dedication of the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem. The Levites sang songs of thanksgiving to the sound of cymbals, harps and lyres. The priests and Levites purified themselves and the people, the gates and the wall. The leaders went up on the wall and 2 large choirs were organized. Some priests sounded trumpets and great sacrifices were offered in gratitude to God and as an expression of the people's joy. Then people were appointed to take care of the storerooms to take care of the annual tithes of the people for the sustenance of the priests and Levites.

Fera School

Last night I led and preached at a thanksgiving service of year 9 students of the FERA school in Patos. These students were concluding High School and came to church at the request of the school to give thanks to God. The church was packed out with the students and their parents who all heard the Gospel loud and clear. It was a lovely service.

Parallel to this the Patos Men's Fellowship travelled to the town of São Mamede to hold another street service there. This also was blessed of God with a good crowd present.

The Christmas lights up in Patos are quite spectacular this year. Congratulations to who designed the beautiful display and a big well done to the Town Council for a great job done! Our Christmas lights at home are in the process of going up yesterday and today.🎅🎄

Nehemiah 11 (résumé): The new residents of Jerusalem

 Now that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt the repopulation of the city was organized on top of the leaders and priests who were already there. 10% of the people were chosen to live in Jerusalem by casting lots. The 90% remaining lived in the widespread towns of Judah with part being of the descendants of Judah, some from the descendants of Benjamin plus priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers and people in general. The lists of names of the people involved in this reorganization of the population of Jerusalem and Judah is laid out in this chapter.

Nehemiah 10 (résumé): The sealed pact of the People

Having confessed and repented of their sins in the previous chapter, chapter 10 relates the written pact which the Israelites sealed as a binding agreement of faithfulness to the Lord. Starting with the governor Nehemiah, then the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, nobles and people in general they sealed their pact of faithfulness before God. They promised not to permit inter-racial marriage or to allow commerce on the sabbath, and they vowed to provide for the temple through their tithes and offerings. For the people vowed: "We will not neglect the house of our God".

Christmas & New Year Services

 As always December is a happy time of Christmas celebrations and this year will be as follows: 5 - Inauguration of Well at Água Grande with me preaching / 7 - Christmas Poem with Murilo preaching / 12 - Christmas service at Old People's Assisted Living Community / 14 - Campina Grande Choir to sing a cantata with me preaching / 19 - Christmas service in the Rua do Meio / 21 - Baptism of 9 in the morning and Choreography and Deaf Choir at night with Pastor Rafael preaching / 24 - The main Christmas play 'Son of Promise' / 27 - Inauguration of the new playground with Christmas service at the Pastor Frank Dyer School / 28 - Sacha preaching in the final Sunday of 2025 / 31 - Last service of the year with multiple 5-minute slots for the church members to take part. I will blow a hooter for whoever goes over 5 minutes!

Yesterday I spent the day preparing my message for tonight when a High School will come to church for a thanksgiving service for them having finished year 9 and can go on to college. These are wonderful opportunities to preach the Gospel to a large number of students. I also prepared my message for our Campina Grande Bible College graduation on Thursday.

I have just received an email from a sister in Christ at Verwood in Dorset who is to be baptized on December 7th aged 83! Glory be to God!

Sunday service

I took part in an online meeting of the Christian environmental organization 'A Rocha'. 2 of its leaders João Martinez and Júlio Reis conducted the meeting from Rio de Janeiro though they are based in the UK. I think that the conclusion of the meeting was that 'A Rocha' will not resume its previous activities in Brazil, although organizations like Green Pastures will remain as "friends of A Rocha", but I might be wrong.

I led the main service of the week last night in Patos and Pastor Rafael preached on Psalm 133. Most of our musicians were away so we just had Rogaciano on acoustic guitar and Sacha and Fabio on vocals.

Campina Grande

Yesterday we drove 2 and a half hours east of Patos to Campina Grande. We arrived at Pastor Wostenes' house before 4 pm where we had a good meeting discussing different aspects of the work. We then had a meal before going to preach at the church's 57th anniversary meeting which was held in the road in front of the church with a proper stage and hundreds of people present. It was a wonderful service really blessed of the Lord. We travelled back to Patos after the service and got home at 1 am tired but rejoicing.

QPR beat Hull 3 x 2 yesterday at home, twice coming back from behind.

Drought

The drought here is catastrophic. I have just returned from Green Pastures and the only thing green is the name. Everything is grey, wilted and dismal. Plants and trees are dying right, left and centre. Our lake has been bone dry for months. The Farinha reservoir for Patos is down to 2% of its capacity and the Jatobá reservoir is down to 13%. The reservoir in Coremas from where the pipeline comes to Patos, for which we fought years ago, is down to 30%. In the borough where we live water rationing means we are totally without water on Tuesdays and Fridays.

With the drought birds are more difficult to see. Today I saw and heard Chalk-browed Mocking Birds, Roadside Hawks, Caatinga Cacholotes and Red-legged Seriemas. I also saw lots of burrows of 6-banded Armadillos.

Oasis

Our architect grandson Felipe, and his architect partner Viviane, have flown to São Paulo to see the UK band Oasis on Saturday night. The concert will be in the Morumbi Football Stadium which has a normal capacity for 66,000 people.

I have finished translating 15 of the 16 EAB Action Child reports and sent them to Marian. The remaining school is late sending the report to me. I have also sent Marian 2 child sponsors letters and am awaiting the others to reach me in the office. Marian has put together a report for EAB Action School and Child sponsors and is sending it out. Anybody who would like to see this report please let me know.

A serious fire broke out in the COP30 Climate Conference in Belém, north Brazil, and has disrupted the closing proceedings.

Nehemiah 9 (résumé): The Israelites confess their sins

This chapter is a long detailed confession of sin by the people, confession for the sins of their ancestors, and praise to God. Initially the people fasted wearing sackcloth with dust on their heads, confessing their sins and that of their fathers. They read the book of the Law for a quarter of the day and confessed and worshiped for another quarter. Then some Levites told them to stand up and praise the Lord.

Then the people praised and exalted God as the sovereign giver of life. God is praised too as the God of Abram and as the God who delivered his people from Egypt. God is also worshiped as the giver of the Law and as the provider of food and water in the wilderness. They then confessed the stiff-neckedness of their forefathers but recognized the gracious forgiving compassion of God. God's compassion is exalted during 40 years in the desert. God is praised for giving his people Canaan and they ate to the full and were well nourished. Yet Israel confessed disobedience and rebellion, the killing of the prophets and blasphemy. However God heard their cry for help and compassion from heaven. Despite God's mercy they again practiced evil and God warned them to return to the Law, but as the people ignored God he had turned them over to neighbouring peoples. But the justice of God in everything was recognized together with God's faithfulness, and Israel despite this strayed far from God. Thus it is confessed that because of their disobedience  the Jews today are slaves in their own land. So the people made a binding agreement before God to change their wicked ways.

World Cup

With Brazil, England and Scotland qualified for the World Cup Finals I forecast that these teams will make it to the semifinals! 😀🏆

We have had further pastoral encounters and counselling sessions. We value your prayers. It's non-stop. I am also working on the EAB Action Schools and Action Child reports for this second half of 2025 reminding you that the school year in Brazil is the same as the calendar year. I am in the process of translating all the reports and sending them to Marian. So far I have done 7 of the 16 schools and 1 child's letter.

Our daughter Lynn and her husband Hutan have gone to João Pessoa to take part in a 5 km road race on a coastal route. They are certainly keeping fit!

Pastoral Meeting

We have had a very good meeting with Pastor Oseias and his wife Lucia who lead our Itaporanga church. How good it is to share together about the work of the Lord and live in His forgiveness, grace and blessing.

I have just returned to my sessions of aquarobics which is wonderful physical exercise to add to my Pilates.

Last night we held a Patos Church Council meeting. We approved the names of the 9 to be baptized next month and we approved the names of those from our church who will be part of the team at January's 10-day Outreach at Soledade. We also discussed the change of church cleaner as Linda, who has been doing it for 32 years, cannot cope anymore after suffering a mild stroke. It was also decided to hold a women's conference next March and it was also discussed improvements for work with the youth including a youth workshop next year. The meeting was full and productive.

Cultura Inglesa TEFL School

Last night we took part in the inauguration of a branch of our daughters' English Language teaching school called 'Cultura Inglesa'. The branch school is in the prestigious Patos Shopping Centre where it will be on the front line of the town's commercial and social activities especially favoured by the youth. The architects for the branch school were our grandson Felipe and his partner Vivi who did a brilliant job. The inauguration was animated by 2 mascots with one as a Buckingham Palace guard and the other as an English policeman! Many doctor friends were there together with directors of different schools, military authorities and many other friends. It was a lovely evening.

Nehemiah 8 (résumé): Ezra reads the Law

In the 7th month the people assembled in the square in front of the Water Gate and they told Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses. So Ezra read it aloud from day break to noon and the people listened attentively. Ezra stood on a high wooden platform so that all the people could see him and Ezra praised the Lord and all the people said amen and bowed down and worshipped. Then many Levites read the Law to the people and explained it to them. The people wept but Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites told them to stop crying and to go and enjoy this day which was sacred to the Lord because "the joy of the Lord is your strength". So the people celebrated with great joy because now they understood the words of the Law. And the people came to realize that they were in the 7th month when the Festival of Booths was to be celebrated so they went out and gathered branches to make booths and celebrated the Festival with great joy. So on each day of the Festival of Booths Ezra read from the Book of the Law of Moses and there was great celebration.

3 Baptized

3 men were baptized by Pastor Esequias at our Juru church about a 2-hour drive west of Patos on Saturday. Praise God!🙌

Last night I led the service in Patos and I preached too on Psalm 116 especially verse 12: "How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?" I also dedicated 2 lovely baby girls. First it was 2-month-old Milena and then it was 4-month-old Thayla. I gave the babies their first children's Bibles as I always do at dedications. It was a lovely service with a full church.

Science Show

Liz and I went to see our granddaughter Beatriz's scientific demonstration at her CCREI school, which is run by nuns. Bia and her classmates explained the positive affects AI is having on astronomical studies. From there we visited an agricultural show in the centre of Patos where Sacha and her husband Biba were selling homemade shortbread and where 2 brothers from church, Romildo and Eduardo, were selling chickens.

Thanks to all who write comments at the bottom of this blog, but don't forget that if you don't put your name to it I have no way of knowing who wrote it. Please put your name!

I have just got home from leading and preaching at the Saturday night service at Green Pastures. It was a lovely service with about 30 local farmers and their children present. It is great to see Manoel (got converted through me giving him a lift home when he was drunk) and Miriam's family coming more. They have 8 children, 32 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren! Fabrícia and Fernanda are doing a great work with the children at church. I preached on John 4:27-54 talking about the Samaritan woman evangelist, the Samaritan revival and Jesus' second miracle.

I have just been informed that David Shearing's funeral service will be held at Millbrook Christian Centre, 51A Wimpson Lane, Southampton, SO51 6AB at 12:00 noon on Thursday, 11th December. This will be followed by cremation at 14:00 at the Test Valley Crematorium.

Mid-week service

I led the Thursday night mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study. Erika, Rogaciano and Netinho led the praise; Vasti and Espedita sang solos and Pastor Rafael brought the Bible study on Zephaniah 1:1-6. The context of Zephaniah's prophecy is that it was during the reign of King Josiah of Judah (2 Kings 22 and 23) which was a period of rampant paganism, idolatry and corruption which Josiah worked to reform. 

I went to Green Pastures and saw some White-naped Jays and a Crested Caracara. 

Today is Liz and I's 56th wedding anniversary. We were married at the Millbrook Christian Centre in Southampton by Pastor Winston Shearing, assisted by Pastor Albert Mundy, Pastor Reuben Gunter and Pastor Jack Dyer. Other pastors present were Pastor Frank Dyer, who gave away the bride, and Pastor Colin Whittaker whose wife Hazel sang a solo. Our 4 sisters were the bridesmaids and my life-long friend Peter Miles was the best man. We have much to praise God for with 4 wonderful children and 9 amazing grandchildren. God is good! I gave Liz a bouquet of roses this morning and tea in bed! She is a fabulous wife!🌹

The Brazilian airplane manufacturer EMBRAER is promoting its small Super Tucano plane as a 'drone killer', for the European market, in the light of the Russian drone threat. The Brazilian plane is much cheaper to run for this job rather than using big military planes.

With the Lord

I have just received the sad news of the passing of our dear brother Bob Dalton whom we visited in Woking 11 days ago. Bob had been chair of the EAB Board of Trustees and a fervent supporter of EAB. He is with the Lord which is far better. Bob was 90 years of age. We send our condolences to his sons Ian and Marcus and all the family at this sad time. May God really comfort you.

Pastor Frank Dyer

 Liz's father Frank Dyer was a faithful missionary and pastor here in northeast Brazil from 1949 to 1987 when he went to be with the Lord. However prior to his service here he served his country valiantly in WW2 and received the DCM - Distinguished Conduct Medal from the hand of King George VI for his service in Africa and Italy, especially for his bravery in Italy when the British Army received air cover from the Brazilian air force. We knew Frank had received the medal but we had never seen the official report of how he received it and we certainly didn't know all the heroic details. So it was with immense joy that we thanked Marian Rashleigh for having gone to the Rifle Brigade's museum in Winchester whilst we were in the UK and unearthed, with the help of historians, the original document which I will now relate to you word for word. The capital letters are as they are in the original document.

"FRANK DYER - For gallantry and devotion to duty during the attack on TOSSIGNANO 0823.

At 0600 hrs on 14 Dec 44 L/CORPORAL DYER'S Platoon was ordered to seize a house on the southern side of TOSSIGNANO to relieve pressure on C Coy 2 RB being counter-attacked in the Western end of the village. The entry into the house was forced and the platoon established on the ground floor which consisted of only one room.

At first light the enemy counter attacked and the Bren Gunner covering the street was killed. L/CORPORAL DYER immediately manned the Bren gun and was himself hit in the leg almost at once. He refused attention and continued to fire the Bren with such good effect that the attack was temporarily stopped.

Later the house was attacked with bazookas, the ceiling blown in and the room set on fire with petrol so that the platoon was free to withdraw down the hill. L/CORPORAL DYER with his pl comd and Rfn Alldridge covered this withdrawal engaging the enemy at very short range.

Under cover of some rocks at the foot of the hill L/CORPORAL DYER tended 3 wounded men and then on his own initiative crossed 200 yards of open ground under observed MG and mortar fire to get help from the Coy HQ at Pt. 222. Smoke was put down but more men were hit near pt 222 while crossing the open ground. Seeing this L/CORPORAL DYER improvised a red cross flag from a white handkerchief and the blood of a wounded man and repeatedly went forward in the face of heavy MG and Mortar fire each time helping back a wounded man.

Finally as a result of L/CORPORAL DYER'S determined and courageous efforts the enemy recognized the red cross flag and it was possible for stretcher bearers to collect the remaining wounded who would otherwise have spent the day lying in the open exposed to enemy fire. Altogether 12 wounded were brought in, and L/CORPORAL DYER continued for 3 hours to bring in and help tend the wounded.

L/CORPORAL DYER'S gallantry was of the highest order and there is no doubt that by his determination and disregard for himself, he saved the lives of several men of his platoon.

GRANTED AN IMMEDIATE DCM

H. R. Alexander - Field Marshal"

PS: I know that this is a long document but I feel that many will find it interesting. Liz certainly had a father to be proud of and I thank God for having served in EAB/ACEV for 15 years under his leadership. If you write a comment please don't forget to put your name.

Pilates

I'm back to Pilates as physical exercise is very important. I missed Pilates while I was in Europe. I have just had a good hour's session and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do it twice a week.

Snakes at Green Pastures have killed 2 African Love Birds and 1 Peacock. The snakes are very cunning waiting by the water bowls to attack when the birds come to drink.

On Tuesday afternoon I visited our Pastor Frank Dyer School in the borough of Jatobá on the south side of the River Espinharas in Patos. Work is going well on the construction of a playground for the children and should be finished by the end of the month. The school is going well in general.

Another thing I'm back to is couscous. Our main meal is eaten around midday in Brazil and in the evening we eat something light, like couscous, which is cooked ground maize mixed with scrambled egg, chopped coriander and chopped tomato. Delicious before I went out to preach in the town of São Mamede.

A man is being taken to the drug-rehab on Saturday. He is a middle-aged policeman who has got hooked on heavy drugs. His daughter contacted us asking for help. Please pray for this man whom of course I can't name.

On Tuesday evening I went with the Patos Men's Fellowship to the town of São Mamede. I preached on 'being welcomed to the family of God' (Mark 3:31-35) and 'welcoming the word of God' (Mark 4:1-20). Chief of the Police Esaú led the service which blocked off the street with nearly 50 people gathered to hear the Gospel. 

Yesterday Pastor Valdemy was sworn in as a Councillor for the municipality of Manaira. He is pastor of our church at Caroá in the Manaira municipality. This is the second time Valdemy has been a councillor there. Please pray for our brother as he takes on this added responsibility. 

The critical drought situation in Patos and surrounding region means that as from next Monday water rationing will be imposed by the water board. Each borough will be without water for 2 days a week. Please pray for rain! 🌂☔☂☁⛈

Yesterday the 'Life Squad' (Pastor Rafael, Roberto Tiburtino and Iara) evangelized the Men's prison and 3 men made commitments to Christ. Please pray that they be truly converted.

Last night I ate Brazilian cassava tapioca pancake with an egg and curd cheese. 😋

Driving

Now I'm back in Brazil I'm back to driving after nearly 3 months being driven by Philip, Marian and Jean in the UK. Liz reminded me to make sure I drove on the right side of the road! What surprised me on the way to church was that the Christmas lights are already up and look very nice too. 

I led the service in church on Sunday. The church was full and we were given a very warm welcome back. There was a welcome banner outside the church too and we were given a welcome gift by the church. It was a lovely night and I noticed it was 31 degrees as I left church a little before 9 pm.

Phew! I am very happy to tell you that I have just had my haircut for the first time since August! What a relief! I hope you like it? 👨

I have scheduled us preachers in Patos, which are me, Sacha, Murilo and Pastor Rafael, up to the end of January 2026.

You should have received the EAB magazine 'InTouch' edition #104 by post by now, or it will be arriving any day. You will see the Christmas gift list as well which will now function with ecards. Please send your donations to the EAB treasurer and send us the email addresses of the people you want us to send Christmas cards to by email.

I see that it is 12 degrees in Basingstoke and raining, and here it is 36 degrees and extremely dry. Please pray for rain for the interior of northeast Brazil as the situation here with the worst drought in 10 years is desperate. The Green Pastures wells are almost completely dry as underground water levels have collapsed. Please pray! "I'm dreaming of a WET Christmas"!

There is a fascinating article on the BBC website about the fight to preserve the endangered Amazon pink river Dolphins. The international COP 30 environmental event is happening this week in Brazil and Prince William is here.

Yesterday I went for a walk at Green Pastures with Francisco who runs the day to day side of things there, sees off would-be poachers, feeds the donkeys, pony, cockatiels, rabbits and guinea pigs which  we have there for the children's events and camps, and waters the plants. The drought is devastating! The worst for 10 years. One well has dried up and the other is drastically reduced. I saw the gaggle of 4 geese, with one on its nest, plus the 3 peacocks and 1 Guinea Fowl. I also saw Picui Ground Doves and Chalk-browed Mocking Birds. 

Back in Patos!

To recap on our travels we got up at 5:30 am on Friday morning, had a shower and breakfast (my last Weetabix for 3 years!) and Philip took us to Heathrow seeing us safely checked in. The first flight to Lisbon was fine, and more or less on time, giving us 1 and three-quarter hours to get our second flight to Recife. I watched 4 films on this flight to help cope with the boredom, and we arrived on time in Brazil at 10 pm (1 am UK time). Our baggage all turned up and a taxi paid by the hotel took us there. The culture shock with the taxi driver was instant as he drove us as if he was in today's Brazilian grand prix! After a good night's sleep, thanks to air-conditioning, Clayton arrived in his car to bring us to Patos. We left Recife around 11 am and got home at 6 pm (9 pm UK time). Hence the total travelling time from start to finish was 39 hours with 2 road trips and 2 flights with a sleep in between.

We got back to Patos with our girls and grandchildren awaiting us and had a lovely time chatting about everything. The church had kindly made a 'welcome back' banner for us and the church 'welcome team' gave us a present of Brazilian sweets. It is lovely to be back and later today I will be leading the Sunday service, and young lawyer and theologian Murilo will preach the word. We ended up last night eating pizza with the family in a joyful time of reunion. 

One lovely surprise for us when we got home was that our children had had the front of the house painted for us whilst we were away! It was a wonderful surprise!

The Pope's firm stance for Jesus this week is causing quite a stir here. The 'Folha de São Paulo' newspaper (which I read every day) had the following headline yesterday: "Jesus, and not the Virgin Mary, saved the world, says the Vatican". This is what EAB/ACEV has been preaching here for 87 years!

6 people have been killed in southern Brazil and 750 injured by a tornado in southern Brazil in the town of Rio Bonito do Iguaçu. The tornado destroyed many houses and vehicles. 

We have just received a beautiful breakfast basket from the church with every fruit, bread, yogurt etc. imaginable! Thank you very much brothers and sisters! It is 33 degrees rising to 36. 😎

Names in Brazil

The latest Brazilian census shows that 32 people in Brazil are called Batman, 31 are called Sh_t, 36 are called Madonna and 2,443 boys are called Neymar! However the most popular names in Brazil are Maria (Mary) and José (Joseph). 

I have just had an invitation from the Christian Environmental organization 'A Rocha' asking me for my cooperation in re-launching the organization in Brazil. Green Pastures is already in partnership with the organization. We will have a meeting on November 24th with A Rocha.

I am very pleased to learn that our 4 geese at Green Pastures have started laying eggs and have so far laid 3 eggs.

The relative humidity of the air in Patos is down to 12% which is extremely low and desperately dry. The ideal level is between 30% and 60%. The drought in Patos is biting hard and the deep-bore wells at Green Pastures are in trouble again! Please pray for rain.

Oh dear! QPR lost the third game on the run on Wednesday losing at home to Southampton 2 x 1. 😖

We are back in Brazil! 😀Our second flight from Lisbon to Recife arrived on time at 10 pm (1 am UK time) and all our baggage arrived safely. We will now sleep in the Ibis airport hotel (it's now 3 am UK time!) and Clayton from the Patos church will take us to Patos in the morning.

Nehemiah 7 (résumé): List of exiles who returned

After the walls of Jerusalem were completed and the gates were put in place Nehemiah put his brother Hanani in charge of the city and made Hananiah the commander of the citadel because he was a man of integrity who feared God more than most. He then organized the gate keepers and the times for opening the gates. Nehemiah then noted how few exiles had returned from Babylonian exile so he decided to register all the families according to their genealogical records and the chapter lists all the men of Israel now present in Jerusalem which totalled 42,360 plus 7,337 slaves, 245 singers, 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys. Men who claimed to be priests but could not prove it from their records were discarded. Then the people contributed gold, silver, bowls and priests garments, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their own towns.

Nehemiah 6 (résumé): Further opposition to the rebuilding

Now Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem and the other enemies of the Jews schemed against Nehemiah when they learnt of the excellent progress in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem so they tried to arrange a meeting with Nehemiah to do him harm. Nehemiah saw through their evil scheming and repeatedly turned down invitations. With the fifth invitation they sent a letter accusing him of planning a revolt and that he would soon be declared king! Nehemiah rejected their accusations telling them they were inventing stories. Then one day Shemaiah suggested that Nehemiah should hide from danger in the temple, but Nehemiah said no to this too, and the wall was rebuilt after 52 days work. When the surrounding nations heard this they were afraid because they realized God was with them. However Tobiah continued in opposition to Nehemiah and sent him intimidating letters.

Nehemiah 5 (résumé): Nehemiah helps the poor

Now there was a famine and the poor came to Nehemiah in their vulnerable situation saying that they were being exploited by the nobles who were charging them interest upon loans which was contrary to the law, taking their children into slavery and they were being forced to mortgage their fields in order to pay their debts. In other words for many who had returned from exile in Babylon their lot had not improved! When Nehemiah heard this outcry of charges he confronted the nobles and told them straight that what they were doing was not right and he told them to stop charging interest and to return the confiscated fields and vineyards. The nobles agreed to do this, so Nehemiah summoned the priests to make the nobles and officials take an oath to fulfill their promise. Then during the 12 years that Nehemiah was governor he did not use all his food allowance so as not to be a burden on the people as previous governors had been. 

Bob Dalton

Bob Dalton in Woking was once the chairman of the EAB Board of Trustees and today he is 90-years-of-age, so Marian Rashleigh kindly drove us there to pay him a visit before we return to Brazil on Friday. It was lovely to see him for the first time in years together with his son Ian and his carer Madu. He greeted us in Portuguese when we arrived as he was a missionary in south Brazil many years ago and had visited us twice in north-east Brazil. Bob was sleepy at first but after a while Liz's person-to-person techniques came into their own and she had Bob responding well as she told him about the work of EAB/ACEV. It was beautiful and we certainly felt it had been a really worthwhile visit. We prayed together to end up our visit. God bless you Bob!

A terrible road accident occurred on Monday on the road we will be travelling on at the end of the week between Campina Grande and Soledade. The accident involved 2 lorries and 4 cars and killed 6 people in one of the cars and gravely injured a 7th person in the same car. The fatal victims were all from the town of Juazeirinho where we have a church. 8 other people are in hospital recovering.

Yesterday we took a train to London to go and see the new musical "Paddington" at the Savoy Theatre for which my sister Jean kindly gave us tickets. The musical is good, but not brilliant. The music is good but not inspired with the best song being "marmalade"! There are some good dance sequences especially the part with the Buckingham Palace guards dancing. It was a lovely evening out.

This will be my last post on this UK/Switzerland tour as we fly back to Brazil on Friday. We value your prayers. My next post here will be in Brazil.

Last 2025 tour service

Yesterday was our final service on this 2025 euro trip and we spoke to a full Christ Church Chineham in what was a lovely multi-national service full of the joy of the Lord. Pastor Jonathan led the service and my sister and music teacher Jean led the worship aided by Philip on guitar and band.

The EAB souvenirs, to work as prayer reminders, ran out as we finished the last service of this tour. The timing was perfect and we again send thanks to Liz's brother Sam in Switzerland who made and gave all the hundreds of items. 

With our trip coming to a close and with our return flights to Brazil this Friday, November 7th, we thank everyone who has made this ministry tour such a success and blessing. Thanks to all the pastors, missionary secretaries, friends and family for their kindness and welcome. This was the best trip ever for which we praise the Lord!

When we got out of the service the sad news reached us of the home calling of EAB member of the Board of Trustees David Shearing ages 88. David had been in the EAB Board meeting last Saturday week and I spent a long time talking to David at the EAB tea and celebration. David was one year old when EAB/ACEV was founded and his father Winston Shearing was EAB's first home superintendent. David will be sorely missed, but he is with the Lord which is far better. Our prayers are with all the family.

Nehemiah was a man of prayer

The book of Nehemiah shows that Nehemiah was a man of vision, initiative and courage, but above all else he was a man of prayer. The book has more prayers than chapters with 14 prayers in its 13 chapters. May we all follow his example!

Yesterday Liz went to Winchester with Philip, Gylmara, the boys and Marian to visit the Rifleman's Museum in Winchester as Pastor Frank Dyer (Liz's father) was a rifleman in the second world war.  He received a DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal) from the hand of the King for his extreme bravery and courage in the Battle of Tossignano in Italy in 1944. In this battle Pastor Frank was shot, but survived, and saved various fellow soldiers' lives carrying them to safety under fire over a period of 3 hours. It is interesting to know that in this battle the British army received air cover from the Brazilian Air Force!

Today I travelled to London with Philip and Lucas to watch QPR play Ipswich. It is the first time I have seen my team play for 7 years. Sadly QPR lost 4 x 1. 😓

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