Our Trip to the UK & Switzerland is 6 weeks away

We leave Brazil 6 weeks this Tuesday (DV) and arrive at Heathrow on Wednesday, August 26th. We value your prayers as we have a lot to get done before then and there are the normal on-going demands of the work here as well. 

EAB is organizing a cream-tea welcome for us (much appreciated) at Ipley in the New Forest on Saturday, August 29th in the afternoon. Information can be obtained from Keith & Mary Dyer at dyers.ipley@gmail.com The tea is open to family and friends from Tunbridge Wells to Timbuktu! Our ministry engagements are now confirmed as follows:

Aug. 30: Hardley am

Sep. 06: Thamesmead Baptist am
Sep. 08: Liz's birthday!
Sep. 12: Ledbury (personal visit)
Sep. 13: Bristol Ivy Church am / Bristol PHC pm
Sep. 14 - 19: Switzerland
Sep. 20: Cadnam Methodist
Sep. 23: Shirley Warren Baptist
Sep. 26: Train London > Durham
Sep. 27: Great Lumley am / Bishop Auckland pm
Sep. 29: Horden

Oct. 01: Hylton Castle
Oct. 02: Train Durham > Larbert
Oct. 3-4: Larbert AOG
Oct. 5: Train Larbert > London
Oct. 11: Millbrook am / West Wellow pm
Oct. 12: My Mum's 91st birthday!
Oct. 14: Dibden Purlieu Methodist
Oct. 17: EAB AGM pm
Oct. 18: Verwood am
Oct. 19-23: Rutland Water region 
Oct. 25: Danbury

Nov. 01: Cefn Cribwr
Nov. 03: Return to Brazil

Great service with dedications, baptism and packed church

Last night's service was really good in Patos with 3 children dedicated and I was helped by my 2 elders Pedro Guedes & Philip. As dear old Paul Newbury used to say: "The important thing is to make sure the elders 'eld' and the deacons 'deac"!

I also baptized a new convert whom God has really changed, having come from a spiritist past. We received her and and her husband into fellowship at the church later in the service. He is a captain in the military police and was a backslidden Christian who has returned to the Lord.

More details on the João Pessoa incident

I now have more news on what as happened at the João Pessoa Boa Esperança (Good Hope) church. In fact it was not the pastor who was tied up and beaten, but it was his 14 year old daughter. The thief came as the pastor had gone out to buy the milk and he tied up and beat the daughter so as to extract from her the whereabouts of the church's money and the money from the pastor's wife's little shop. The thing was that the poor girl didn't know where the money was so couldn't tell the thief to save her life.

Fortunately the pastor and his older daughter's husband arrived at the house in time to cause the thief to run away out of a back door - thus avoiding blood shed or the likes. When they got inside they untied and ungagged their daughter. They called the police who were of no help. The family is naturally absolutely traumatized and need prayer big time.

I have finished preparing my sermon amongst all this for tomorrow. I will also be dedicating 3 children and baptizing one lady. Some children and teenagers will be doing a choreography in the service too tomorrow night so it should be quite a service.

The P&W group have gone to minister at the Princesa Isabel church tonight and over 30 others from the Patos church have gone to Passagem to support the little EAB church there. Praise God for an active church alive for God!

Extremely serious news from João Pessoa

I am receiving very serious and alarming news from João Pessoa about one of our EAB/ACEV pastors who was held at gun point and tied up yesterday. I do not have full details yet and do not feel I should share more than this at this point. I just ask you to pray for this pastor and his family - one of which appears to have been badly beaten up. I will give further news as I can.

Great service and very busy indeed!

Last night's Bible study was fantastic! We call it the 'Praise, Prayer and Bible' night and we sure get just that with growing mid-week numbers (always between 45 and 50 now) and lots of participation from the members with short words (Philip, Leron, Espedita and Pastor Silvio visiting from our Portelo church) + praise from different ones, including a dear older brother whose song "Please help me Lord" sounded like he was strangling a cat and that he needed help!) But in church we don't just strive for perfection but for people to do their best to praise the Lord and learn to develop ministries. Fortunately I managed to control myself when the dear brother was singing so as not to get hysterical!

I did a photo shoot with Amanda Ivy, now 2 months old, doing well, getting a little bit plumper and certainly more and more beautiful!

I am utterly rushed off my feet with all the on-going ministries (dedicate 3 on Sunday + baptise 1) plus all the community protests I am leading plus all the preparations for UK next month + Action Child work + people who need to speak to me etc. etc. Please pray and those who are waiting for replies from me please hold your horses!

Communion

The Communion service last night turned out to be quite extraordinary with the sermon having wonderful response with different ones putting things right with others as a result straight after the meeting. PTL!

On the Saturday we had the deaf fellowship reaching out to the deaf, the Christians in Action group continuing their ministry with the church plant in Rio Grande do Norte State, a lot of the youth making a new start to an effort to plant a church where we have our school in Patos, and the teenagers visiting a senior citizens' home. 45 from one of our Campina Grande churches spent the day at Green Pastures.

On the Friday the new little church at the ex-slave community of Fonseca was opened and it was also Philip's 37th birthday!

Well - Drought - Bible Study

Yesterday was a long tiring but good day travelling to Sousa to inaugurate another well - this time for the largest Gypsy community in Brazil. It was quite an experience! Intestesting. I took 2 workers from the Care Centre with me. I collapsed into bed at night and slept really well. You can see in the photo two of our pastors at the event yesterday with one of the gypsy leaders in the centre.

This morning I went to Green Pastures where we are doing yet more work to cope with water supplies with the unbelievable drought we are now facing. What a challenge! Please pray. Tomorrow night 40 from the Campina Grande church will be sleeping there at Green Pastures and spending Saturday there.

I have prepared the Bible study for tonight and am looking forward to the service. I have also had my haircut.