Bits February

The year is now officially starting. Brasil has always been interesting in this respect; people do not take the year too seriously until after Carnaval. Every year numbers are down in church until after Carnaval. But this year was different for us; we experienced only one week of this in our church which is normal due to retreats, beach trips and such to get away from Carnaval. This was really exciting for us as we feel we have continued momentum in the church and are experiencing good spiritual growth. 

The women are organizing discipleship groups for the year as well as continuing their prayer meetings. The men have been going through the course “How to Biblically Process Life” and we have had good turnouts. Our services have been dynamic. We are about to start an eight week series on the church that everyone is excited about. 

Sarah had her Counseling Module this month for a few days and it was all about practice. They went through counseling situations and received instruction. Our colleagues Al and Kim Yoder are her teachers and have been amazingly helpful in training Sarah. 

As we have preached through Romans 8:28-30 and how God uses circumstances to draw us to Him we have both experienced and seen this in the life of our members. Walking down tough roads can seem so difficult, but it is so comforting to know we serve a sovereign God who has a plan and purpose in all these rough details. Pray for the maturation of our church! We have a lot of great people that are learning so much through their own study and through the church. Pray we will be good stewards of the gifts He has given us. 

This month Roger, Anderson and I went to a town of 65,000 people about 35 minutes away where my friends Wilker and Ricardo live. Wilker was on the football team and turned into a good friend. He sometimes watches our live feeds although he doesn’t belong to any church. He gave us a tour of Pesqueira showing us some of the churches there and giving us a rundown of the town. Pray for wisdom for us as to whether this could be a possible future Bible study/church location. We are praying about it and continuing some research as we make long term strategy to reach the region for Christ. 

Thanks so much for your prayers and investment in God’s work here in Northeast Brasil!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my Bible study girl Evelyn (she does the adult Sunday school class on the OT) and my puzzle genius Anna Claire