Baptismal Service

A baptismal service was held at Imaculada at the weekend. 5 were baptized from the Imaculada church plus 1 from the Sítio Glória church in the same county. We rejoice with the progress of the work in that region.

Yesterday I received a phone call from a man called Marrey who is a producer for the TV Globo which is the largest Brazilian TV network equivalent to the BBC in the UK. He phoned from the south of Brazil as he had heard of our Green Pastures Nature Reserve and Christian Conference Centre and is thinking of doing a programme about us. In the chat we had he kept asking "why on earth did you decide to do such a work in such a dry region?" I was able to tell him that Green Pastures is part of the much wider work of EAB/ACEV. We shall see what evolves. Watch this space!

Yesterday was Saint Peter's Day and the fireworks were a bit louder than on Saint John's Day, but still not as bad for fireworks as normal years.

We are sending 10 stacking plastic chairs to the Aparecida Settlement Village in São Mamede County as the little weekly outdoor services there are developing under Sister Dodora's leadership and this week some neighbours are being invited to attend. Up till now the services have been for the extended family. Please pray for this venture.

Special prayer is requested for Ana Paula in Campina Grande. She is the wife of Pastor Hamilton who leads the second EAB/ACEV church in the borough of Presidente Médici and she has now gone into intensive care with Covid.  

Church roof

In this past week we put the roof on our new church building we are constructing at Travessia village in Manaíra County. The overall building is 12 metres long by 6 metres wide. The actual church area is 9 m x 6 m with a three metre room at the back for a toilet and shower plus storage space. To put the roof on, hefty beams of wood are put first and then thinner wood is nailed to the beams so as to make a wooden mesh which can support the clay roofing tiles. All this work was done this week and the roof is complete with clay tiles. In the coming week we will do the electric wiring and then start the plastering of the walls.

Other building work done this week was at our Vazante and Barra de Oitis churches. At Barra de Oitis many lorry loads of earth were brought in to fill in the entrance area to the church, which was needed owing to the dip in the land in the location. At Vazante the entrance area to the church was finished and the church flooring tiles were started being put down. We are very pleased with all the building work progress here despite the pandemic.

We have received a prayer request from Kecinho who is a PE teacher and a member of our Patos church. His mother and his little daughter have both gone down with Covid-19. Please pray for them.

I watched part of the first half yesterday between Wales and Denmark and switched off with the score 0 x 0. I discovered later that Wales lost 4 x 0 so my forecast of a 2 x 0 defeat wasn't too far off. Now we wait for Tuesday and the England game.

Ecotheology

I enrolled yesterday in the London School of Theology's (LST)  Summer Conference to be held from the 6th to the 8th of July online, from 5 am to 9 am each day, which is 9 am to 1 pm in the UK. The theme this time will be Evangelical Approaches to Ecotheology and the keynote speaker will be Dr. Dave Bookless who is Director of Theology for the Christian conservation organization A Rocha International. Also speaking at the event will be Dr. Martin and Rev. Margot Hodson. This is the third such an event at LST that I will be taking part in during the pandemic so every cloud has a silver lining. The topic this time is very close to my heart and life. These LST conferences are challenging, enriching and excellent ways to recharge one's spiritual batteries.

Talking about recharging spiritual batteries I am reading "The Mission of God's People" by Christopher J.H. Wright which is a wonderful book which I highly recommend. It is such readable theology and very challenging too. It is right in line with our integral mission approach. I have just passed the halfway mark in the book.

I have just received the news that our church sound control man Elysson Pergentino, who is about 20, has got Covid. Please pray for him. He is understandably scared. We paid 18 pounds for him to have the test as the government free tests have run out and we needed to know where we are with Elysson. He didn't have the money to pay for the test.

Last night's meeting at the Aparecida II Settlement Village was again blessed of God. It is led by Dodora and Paulo who are a lovely couple who run one of EAB's Market Garden projects. I really feel that they are going to be greatly used of God spreading the Gospel in their region. Please pray for Dodora and Paulo.

Saint John's Day

Yesterday (24th) was Saint John's Day which normally is a very big party time with bonfires, loud fireworks and late night or all night dancing. This day is especially culturally important in northeast Brazil. However this year the state and municipal governments banned all the festivities to try and stem the flow of Covid-19. Some people still went ahead with their fireworks but it was a lot less than normal.

Meanwhile President Bolsonaro visited the northeast of Brazil campaigning to be re-elected next year (God forbid!). He was not wearing a mask and I saw him on videos when he made two different children remove their masks when they were performing for him!

I spent yesterday preparing a sermon to preach in Patos on the Children of Abraham from Genesis 12:1-3.

This morning I have been talking to Pastor Hamilton in Campina Grande who tells me his wife Ana Paula continues in hospital with Covid but she is improving. He says that if she continues the way she is she will hopefully be sent home by Monday. Please continue to pray for Ana Paula.

I will make my forecasts for the British teams in the football European Championship. My guess is that Wales will lose to Denmark 2 x 0 and that England will beat Germany 2 x 1.

Chicken Pen

A new chicken pen has been built at Barra de Oitis Village as part of our 2-wings project. The family benefitted by the project is that of Cícero Mariano de Silva and his wife Francisca Nicolau da Silva. They have 3 children and the family is part of the EAB/ACEV church in the village. The chicken pen comes complete with 7 lovely laying hens so as to guarantee a good supply of fresh eggs for the family.

I took part yesterday in an online meeting about renewable energy in our State of Paraíba. The meeting was organized by the Roman Catholic church who invited me to take part in the light of my commitment to caring for God's creation. The Bishop Dom Eraldo also took part as well as 3 other priests. All of those of us in the meeting are in favour of renewable energy sources via solar energy and wind turbines. However what is being questioned is the way these technologies are being implemented in our State. For instead of subsidizing solar energy panels on houses and buildings all around the State what is proposed are massive solar energy farms which will destroy thousands of acres of forest and vegetation in the process. One such solar energy farm is being proposed for São Mamede and Santa Luzia Counties which would destroy 5,000 acres of caatinga forest. We hope and pray that some sort of agreement can be reached with the big-money companies planning to build the solar energy farms which also have government support.

Please pray for Ana Paula who is Pastor Hamilton's wife in Campina Grande. Ana Paula has Covid and has taken a turn for the worse and been admitted to hospital. Pastor Hamilton and their daughters are getting over it but just Ana Paula has a stronger version of the virus. It's strange how this virus works because 4 people in the same family got the virus together and just one needs hospital treatment.

We are very encouraged this week with the news that an EAB supporter is to fund the drilling and equipping of 2 wells in this semi-arid region of northeast Brazil. Each well, completely installed with water tanks, submersible pumps, piping, water troughs etc., costs 5,000 pounds. We are especially encouraged, first of all because we are in a poor year for rain where the need is greater that usual, and secondly because Tearfund is only funding one well this year with none next year. We have a queue of villages and communities crying out for help, and we were praying about what to do, so we're very pleased with this answer to prayer. The wells will bear the name (on a plaque) of the donor's late wife, which is rather nice.

We praise God too for donations that have come in for another toilet/shower unit and another chicken pen. We thank everyone for support for the work here and for all your prayers.

On a lighter note let me tell you that I watched England beat Czechoslovakia in the Euro football. They played better than against Scotland but it wasn't exactly inspiring stuff. They're going to need to improve if they are going to stay in the tournament.   

In-person Service

Last night's main service of the week was back to an in-person service again after a two week break. The authorities here are at sixes and sevens with their lack of controls for Covid and just keep taking measures in dribs and drabs. It is a mess in Brazil in which we have now passed half a million deaths from the pandemic! Sadly one of the latest victims was Pastor Fátima of a Pentecostal church in João Pessoa whom we knew very well. Her and her husband were a lovely couple we have known for years. First he died with Covid a week or two ago and this weekend she died. What a tragedy! Their poor children and church don't know what's hit them. Please pray for this family. Half a million deaths and still the president discouraging people to get vaccinated and playing everything down. What an immoral mess!

Anyway I led the service last night, Sacha led the praise and worship and Pastor Lucena preached God's Word. It was a blessed service. The church of course had a small number present owing to the rules on social distancing, and it's very odd singing with masks on, but we press on! Many take part in the service via YouTube and Facebook.

I have been having further discussions this morning with our projects team regarding the new market garden project at Belém Village in Tavares County where we have a thriving little church plant. The location of the new market garden has been defined by our team together with the small holding owner. The project will be a fine sign of the kingdom in this village. Please pray.  

Match

I watched the England x Scotland football match yesterday afternoon and I was not surprised to see it was a close game which could have gone either way. I thought QPR's Dykes played very well for Scotland and I can't see England getting very far in the tournament.

Last night's training session for our online communications team went very well and lasted 3 hours!

I went to an ophthalmologist yesterday as a few days ago I woke up in the morning with a swollen left eye and every morning it has been the same. I thought it was going to be a sty or that Liz was bashing me in the night! The doctor prescribed some drops and an ointment to put in the eye at night. I awoke today with the eye much better.

I finished reading René Padilla's book on integral mission yesterday just before the football. It was very good. I have traced another book on the same subject to a used book shop in São Paulo so am in the process of buying it. The book is from 1992. In the meantime I am going to have a look at C.J.H. Wright's - The Mission of God's People, which I already have.

I have just spoken to Caetano from our church in Patos who has been in hospital with Covid but is now home and improving from the after effects of the disease. I have also been talking to the daughter of Pastor Fátima of a Pentecostal church in João Pessoa who is dangerously ill in hospital with Covid. Fátima is in intensive care and doesn't know that her husband has died with Covid whilst she fights the disease. Please pray.

This week's work on the church building being erected for the glory of God at Travessia Village in Manaira County has gone well. We are now almost ready to start putting the roofing timber on.