Green Pastures service

On Saturday night I led the service at Green Pastures for the local farm workers and it went well though numbers were down. Louisa led the worship accompanied by Rogaciano. Lindinalva sang a solo, Chico brought a short word of greeting and Rafael preached the Word. 

Liz and I had a good heart to heart talk to the young woman in our church who had expressed homosexual tendencies. She confessed her sin and asked for forgiveness in tears. We explained to her the Biblical position on the matter and we had a time of prayer with her. It was a lovely meeting. It makes such a difference when people are ready and willing to submit to God's word.

Last night I led the main service of the week and we had Pastor Ângelo as a visiting speaker. He is a very good preacher. He is the pastor that resigned from our Soledade church and he is without a church at the moment.

Drugs

A young man (I won't give his name to be on the safe side), who was addicted to Cocaine and is now a member of the Patos church, has sadly slipped back to using the drug. This is not Valério (another member) who has been free of Cocaine for nearly 6 years now. Please pray for the young man who has slipped back to drugs.

Another problem has come to light. A young mother (she is new to our church and not a member)  has left her husband saying she wants to live with a woman who is a member our church. Please pray as we handle this delicate matter with the young mother. Our affected church member told us about the problem. Homosexuality is rampant here these days.

The Thursday night Bible study went well despite numbers being well down to 25 which is about half of the number on a good night. The Men's Fellowship meeting on Tuesday and the Women's Fellowship meeting on Wednesday both had low numbers too.

Our projects team has held another meeting this week with the community leaders at Santo Agostinho in Teixeira County with the possibility of us drilling a well there in mind. The community has 164 families with 156 women, 156 men and 112 children. They stand in great need of a permanent clean water supply. Santo Agostinho is 18 km from the town of Teixeira up in the mountains. It is an area which is difficult to hit water in when drilling. 30 years ago I knew nothing about drilling wells but now I have a fair old bit of experience!

Lawyer

This week our granddaughter Louisa (who lives with us) received her identity card as a lawyer from the Order of Brazilian Lawyers (OAB). Liz and I went to the presentation ceremony at the Order's headquarters in Patos. We felt very proud of her. When students here finish their law degree they have to sit two independent exams set by the OAB and only then can they exercise their profession.

I have been having some important meetings with pastors Wostenes and Hamilton in Campina Grande to discuss problems with two of our pastors. The issues then went on to be discussed by the whole leadership team.

Liz and eldest daughter Deborah are at Sandra's house. It is a very difficult and sad case as she has Down's syndrome and is in her 40s. She is a special case who is helped by a church in the UK. She is currently groaning all the time as if she was in pain. If medication doesn't kick in soon she will have to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Campina Grande as we don't have one in Patos. Please pray for Sandra. Pray too for her sister and her husband who are her carers and are exausted.  

Crash

 On Sunday afternoon Tiago (our granddaughter Louisa's fiancé) had a nasty accident driving his father's car in a narrow one-way street in Patos. A drunk driver came up the street the wrong way and they had a head-on collision. Happily nobody was injured, but there ensues a legal battle to get the man who caused the accident to pay for the repairs. The drunk driver left the scene of the crash so as to avoid being breathalyzed and left his car to be towed away by the police. 

Sunday's services went off well in Patos. At night assistant pastor Rafael preached on attitudes of the Prodigal son's brother comparing him to someone lost in the church. I led the service. The worship group had to sing with play-back as Tiago (first guitarist) was too shaken up by his accident to play, second guitarist Rogaciano was ill and third guitarist Lucas was away at university. 

Over the weekend we had some more excellent rain with a total of 41 mm which is just short of 2 inches at Green Pastures. This takes our total this rainy season up to an amazing 1,144 mm (47.6 inches).

The Campina Grande Men's retreat ended well on Sunday afternoon at Green Pastures. Everyone left with much happiness and thanks. Pastor Wostenes left a bit early as he had to preach at night in Campina Grande.

Ants in your ...

Our front gate bell stopped working and as suspected the problem was caused by giant ants called 'taiócas' which produce a glue-like substance which causes a short circuit. This is the second time we have had to put in a new bell. Then in Liz's office a swarm of micro-ants called 'cupim' have eaten a cupboard!

I have just finished reading 'A Better Story' by Christian psychiatrist Glynn Harrison. It is a very good book which discusses how Christians should address the subject of sex and marriage today.

Please pray for our sign language expert Geralda who is really poorly with the virus Chikungunya. I am also glad to report that Carlos is recovering well from Dengue fever.

The death toll in the Recife floods/landslide has sadly reached 128.

On Friday the seniors morning went very well with a nice Bible reflection from Pastor Rafael and boy didn't they eat at food time! In the evening deaf pastor Luiz Carlos carried on teaching sign language to some new learners who are progressing well. 

Yesterday I went to Green Pastures to speak to the Campina Grande men's retreat being held there from Friday to Sunday. There are about 60 men taking part and it is being blessed.

Weeknight meetings

In Patos our weeknight services are as follows: prayer on Mondays, men's fellowship on Tuesdays, women's fellowship on Wednesdays as well as a service at our church plant at the school, Bible study on Thursdays, seniors morning on Fridays with a sign language course at night, and youth meeting, deaf meeting, Christians in Action at Ipueira and a service at Green Pastures on Saturdays.

Covid is back on the increase in Patos and schools are asking for masks to be warn again by their students. Liz and I are wearing masks again to church. 

Rain

The month of May ended on a lovely wet note with 36 mm (one and a half inches) of rain at Green Pastures bringing the total for the month to 92 mm and the wonderful total for the rainy season to 1,103 mm. This is the best wet season that I can remember. Thank you for your prayers.

The Patos men's fellowship was going to take a service in São Mamede yesterday but that was postponed owing to the rain.

Our 12-year-old granddaughter Beatriz (known as Bia) is quite an athlete. She is captain of her school's volleyball team who won the Patos championship and they are now going to play the João Pessoa champions. 

Thank you for praying for Jaciara who had a premature baby. Both mother and baby are now fine and have been released from the Patos maternity hospital and returned to Princesa Isabel.

Please pray for Carlos from our Patos church who has gone down with Dengue fever. 

We are busy preparing Green Pastures for the Campina Grande - Catolé's men's fellowship retreat which will start on Friday.