Emmanuel

Yesterday we ministered at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Thamesmead. It was a lovely service. Marian kindly took us. We all had a wonderful lunch with Pastor Vic and Lona.

On Saturday we visited Lepe Beach in the New Forest with Philip. This was the beach where Liz and I had our first kiss 56 years ago! From Lepe we went to visit Hythe Pier where we located the plank with Liz's Father's name on it.

We return to Brazil the day after tomorrow. We will fly out of Gatwick airport at 10:20 am. We will leave Basingstoke at 5:30 am. We will sleep in Recife before travelling on to Patos on the 3rd.

Evensong

Today we went to Winchester Cathedral for Evensong which was absolutely beautiful. When we got back to the car park we found it locked! Philip managed to phone somebody to let us out.

Yesterday we went to Windsor Castle. We went into St George's Chapel and visited the Queen's tomb.

This Sunday will be our last Sunday in England on this trip. We will be ministering at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Thamesmead, Kent.

Chairman

Yesterday we had a lovely working lunch in Basingstoke with the chairman of the EAB Board of Trustees Roy Dyer. To the taste of couscous, bread rolls, cheese and ham we had an extensive discussion which was very good. We learnt that Roy will be running the London Marathon next April!

This meeting was followed by an online meeting with the Christian environmental agency 'A Rocha'. I was representing Brazil together with representatives of Burundi, Costa Rica, Panamá, Spain, Germany, Nepal, Croatia, Singapore and Spain. The meeting was chaired by Júlio Reis who is the international operations networks coordinator of A Rocha International.

This was followed by a lovely chat with my sister Jean together with a delicious evening meal.

We return to Brazil next week on November 2nd and will reach Patos on the 3rd. I will be inaugurating the new church building at Travessia (3 hours south west of Patos) on the 5th. I will be preaching at Caroá on November 12th. I have also agreed to preach at the special 10-Day outreach at Juazeirinho on January 14th. Please pray.

EAB Meetings

On Friday night we took part in an important meeting of the EAB Board of Trustees. It was a very good meeting. It was held in Basingstoke.

On Saturday we took part in the annual EAB Celebration at Hardley, Southampton which was preceded by the delicious and usual fellowship tea. Both Liz and I spoke and Philip preached the word very well.

Yesterday I spoke at the Anglican Christ Church Chineham in Basingsoke. It was an excellent service.

After the service we went to Southampton for a lovely meal with Liz's brother David and his wife Tania.

At the weekend at Princesa Isabel our church baptized 7 new converts. PTL! Please remember their local pastor in your prayers. His name is Gersé de Oliveira.

EAB Celebration

This Saturday (22nd) our EAB annual celebration will be held at the Lighthouse Community Church, Hardley, Southampton, SO45 3NZ. There will be a fellowship tea at 6 pm and the service will start at 7 pm. On Sunday we will be ministering at Christ Church Chineham in Basingstoke at 10 am.

Yesterday we spent a lovely day with Ken and Marian Rashleigh at the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke. It was very interesting.

Today we had my sister Jean with us for lunch and a good chat. 

General Assembly

On Saturday night I chaired a general assembly of our pastors and leaders online. Unanimously we agreed to make a couple of alterations to our statutes increasing the mandate of the projects team from two years to four. We then chose the projects leadership team for the next 4 years. It was an excellent meeting.

Prior to this on Saturday Philip and family took us to High Wycombe to visit our brother-in-law Laurence who is in care. He looked very well and was totally lucid. Before the visit we had a nice lunch with my sister Joy.

Yesterday we spent the day in Bristol care of our friend Marian. We ministered at the Ivy church in the morning and at the PHC in the evening. We had a lovely lunch in between thanks to Pastor Phil Watkins and his wife Shirley. Then we had a tea at the PHC. It was an excellent day. Marian drove us home in the rain.

Youth Conference

Today sees the start of our annual EAB/ACEV Youth Conference which will end on Sunday. This year it is being held at Lagoa Seca near Campina Grande under the responsibility of the youth of the first church of EAB/ACEV in the borough of Catolé in Campina Grande. About 200 young people are expected for the event. Please pray.

I have just concluded the reading of the book 'Take Care of Yourself' written by Christian Psychiatrist Pablo Martinez from Spain. It is a good book which advocates a balanced life style for Christian leaders with enough rest and holidays, regular walks amongst nature, and plenty of quiet times with God, God's Word and good books.