Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Bits from Brasil July

Last update we had just arrived in the US for a few week visit. We are nearing the end of this trip as we head back next Tuesday. Our time has gone better than expected. We started in Chattanooga and headed north after a great Fourth of July at the farm with Sarah’s family. We have never been at the family farm in the summer and it has been memorable. 

On our way to visit my family in Michigan we met up with some colleagues from Servant Leaders and had a good time with them. My family met in Manistee, Michigan. The last time we did a week vacation with my brothers and sister was in 2010. This year there were 7 couples and 8 grandchildren in two houses that were connected by a deck. We had a great time and it was neat seeing all of us within our little families. 




After sharing for a few minutes in our home church in Grand Rapids we left for Washington DC. The main reason for our US trip was to go to a conference for our mission that we are required to attend once every five years. There we did an interview on stage and talked about the church in Brazil. The interview went well and we had a good time catching up with other missionaries we had not seen for a long time. We were also able to go see a few key historical places in our nation’s capitol city. 

It has always been Sarah’s dream to catch a metro or train from Union Station and we did just that. We took the Amtrak to New York City for four nights. Evelyn really enjoyed the Statue of Liberty and Anna Claire liked chasing the pigeons in Central Park. 

We have lots of good news that comes in from the church and the services and prayer times that have happened in our absence. It is great to see our people taking ownership. Seu Nino, who has been unchurched all his life and has found a home with us, is taking care of the grass and plants at the church. Women have stepped up in leading the women’s prayer group. Each week a different man has preached and one of them is even going to Tupanatinga to do the studies. 

This month we will be jumping back into ministry but also rearranging our normal schedules. Pray for wisdom as we work on what our main works will include. Both girls will be studying starting August 15 which will keep Sarah hopping. I am working on trimming down my football activity to make more room for other ministries. We do want to eventually work the Tupanatinga group into a church and then start studies in other towns (Pesqueira might be the next one) and so we need wisdom as we proceed in those areas. 

This trip was mainly for the conference and vacation and so we were not in too many churches. We will be in churches soon though as we will be back in the states right before Thanksgiving until the end of March. So if you would like for us (or it might just be me as the girls will be in school) to come to your church for a visit please let me know. Hopefully we will not need more monthly support as we have had many faithful supporters that have kept us from that need but we have been close to our monthly need lately as some costs have been rising (health care and growing girls mainly). We appreciate you all’s prayers! Pray for our trip August 7!
All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, and my two little tourists; Evelyn who walked thousands of miles in NYC and Anna Claire who was grateful Pop found a stroller! 

Evie is second from the left and ACC is with her twin cousin Lyla right in the middle. Which one is ACC????? :) She is the first of the two. 

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