Bits August

On Saturdays this month we have been busy going to Tupanatinga to work on the space we rented. We prepped for painting one week, painted the next and the following week we finished painting and worked on pallet wall with a cross. This week we should be just going for a study and service. We have had some visitors in the new building, but we really need to get out and invite more. For now I am really happy with the few we have had as they have been very faithful for more than two years now. I think I would definitely rather have a couple faithful people seeking to be solid disciples than a dozen members just wanting to be called a church member. 

 Our finishing work on the upstairs is in full swing and we hope to be using it in the next couple of months. Our people have been faithful to give and so far the work has not had to stop. We are really looking forward to having the space for the kid’s ministries. We also started Sunday School this month and we are going through the Roots of Faith OT.

Our discipleship groups are going well. We read the same chapter of the Bible for a week and then gather to discuss it. We don’t really have enough time for all the groups we could have, mainly cause most people can only meet at night and our nights are limited (at least we have decided not to load every night with activities. We have services in Tupanatinga on Saturdays, Arcoverde on Sundays and so we left Wednesday and Thursday for discipleship group nights. I have two groups on Thursday evening, one at 5 and one at 7. Our colleagues Roger and Marcy have groups as well (Marcy is about to start her own as she has been with Sarah). 

We have looked at this year as a year to focus on people’s spiritual growth rather than making a big evangelism push. It has been good, but also sad sometimes. Some people don’t always want to grow; they are happy with where they are at or satisfied with just attending church and checking off their church attendance box for the week. Others fall away for some reason. As much as we wish we could just have microwave ready mature Christians that pop out quickly, the reality is that maturity is a painful, long process. We are preaching through Romans this year and are now on chapter 8 in the chapters on sanctification. Pray that our church will catch the vision to work hard on their sanctification! 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and the girls who are on their 12th day of school! Evelyn is focused, diligent and finishing her school days before our perfectionist second born who has a higher amount of papers to do in first grade than she had in kindergarten. Our house also turned into a farm as we were give a cat and four chicks!  

Bits July

Sarah and Sarah

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. We have someone here, Sarah Rogers, who is deciding on her future in missions. We met her in Germany at the Missions Academy which was for young people interested in missions. She has been staying with us to see what it is like here in Brazil and to see about plugging into ministry here. Pray for her as she understands God’s will for her and the next steps in her missions journey. She has been a great servant here the last couple of weeks!

The mission team with some from our church

On the 23rd a group from Calvary Church in Raleigh, North Carolina arrived. Their schedule was loaded! I appreciated their willingness to do everything I put them up to! The first three nights were English camp. We have lots of good contacts in the Arcoverde English world and this event is always a highlight for everyone mainly because they can all communicate. There is no curriculum, just conversation, and so the Brazilians get to hear about what the U.S. is like and the Americans can find out more about Brazil. There are also opportunities to share the gospel. 

Musicians from the concert

From Wednesday through Friday, we made the trek to Tupanatinga. Because of the time of the year (rainy), holes have opened up and so it took us almost an hour and a half both ways. We visited schools, sang, presented the American culture and presented the gospel. Some of the students later went to the service on Friday night at the church that was launched there. We have been meeting in homes but now we have rented a small place to hold services. Saturday night will be our first service in the new building. Pray for this group that God would bless them. 

Our church service in Tupanatinga!

We had a youth event on Saturday afternoon, a concert Saturday night and a women’s event on Sunday afternoon before our regular Sunday night service. Our days were packed and we had a great time. When our partners can see Arcoverde and Tupanatinga and meet our people, our whole ministry becomes so much more real to them. These have proved to be great opportunities for us. 

This month we will be launching Sunday school right before the Sunday evening services. We will be teaching through Roots of Faith, which is a very in-depth look through fifty main events in the Old Testament. Our discipleship groups are going well, as well as our services. Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my translator Evelyn and my cat lover Anna Claire who had a kitten for a couple days again this month, but it ran away; she was super sad. 

Evelyn at Catimbau National Park

Bits June

Our small group in Tupanatinga

Small groups have been a main focus since our return. Currently David has three groups in Tupanatinga with three other men in each of them. Sarah has one with 6-7 women. We have been encouraged at times and slightly disappointed at other times in relation to these groups. We realize that some are not ready for a bigger commitment and others excel in these growth groups. We study the Bible and look to apply it to our lives. Ideally we read the same passage of Scripture daily for a week to discuss it at our meeting. Our discussions have gone well for the most part but we could be more faithful in the reading and putting it into action.

Our craft table

At the beginning of June I committed to the group in Tupanatinga that I would go every Saturday to have our Bible study. We also started small groups with them. They were proactive with these from the beginning! It was neat to see them get excited as I talked about our goals for the small groups including them being able to run the studies on their own. I want to at least be present for a few weeks before they take them on during the week. While I would love to have a permanent location for this group (I recently sent a project to ABWE that projected it would cost $35,000 dollars to buy land and build a church), we are looking into renting a place for around $150 a month. We have challenged the group on contributing to this and are excited about it working out. Right now we are waiting for the owner of the building to show it to one more person that was in front of us. 

Tupanatinga group

In April’s bits I mentioned how we had challenged the Arcoverde church towards giving to finish the upstairs for our kid’s, teenagers and other class space. It took them a couple weeks to get going but they have been really creative. The women have worked on crafts that have been bring in money. We have also had good offerings that have had us start on the work that needs to be done. Right now the walls are being plastered and the bathrooms are about to get the cement and tile work done on them this week. 

We enjoy having people to our house for pizza

This month is a big month for visitors. We met Sarah Rogers while we were in Germany. She just finished college and is interested in missions. She is coming for three weeks to see the work here! Please pray for her trip. She will be here while the mission team from Calvary Church in Raleigh is here. That will be a big week for us (23rd to the 30th). Please pray that the youth group will get a good boost as well as the church group in Tupanatinga! 

It is neat to see all the fun things our friends and family are doing during the summer months! Have fun and please enjoy your family! 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, and our two little girls who upon finishing school for the summer proceeded to play school all day for 2-3 days… they have now moved on to Polly’s, arts and crafts and asking for friends to come over. Evie finished third grade and Anna Claire finished kindergarten

. 

Bits May

Greetings to you from a three person Carrel household! Yes, we are down one here in Brazil! The most important one as well! Sarah is in Fortaleza for her Biblical Counseling module. I am here with the girls trying to survive. (please send peanut butter!) 

This month we went on a trip we hope to never forget. I wrote last month about the opportunity to go to Germany for a missions academy with Servant Leaders. We imagined it would be a great trip, but our imagination might have been too little. On the last night in Germany I asked the girls the favorite part of the trip. They both said being with both sets of their grandparents for a couple weeks (to be fair and honest, Anna Claire’s first favorite thing was all the ice cream (gelato) that she ate all week). Both Sarah’s and my parents had a wonderful time and we were so grateful for that).

While we did get to do a good bit of sightseeing, the main event was the missions academy. The days generally started at 8:15 and went until ten at night, although we ducked out early a couple times. Sarah and I both learned a good bit and were able to have some great discussions with students. I was able to teach on “Reaching your community with the whole gospel.” Then I moderated a panel discussion having to do with missionaries and their local churches. I also co-led a small group with afternoon discussion times. There were young people from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Equador, Iran, Ukraine, Ireland, Germany, and a few different states in the US. We had quite a variety of youth and all were interested in missions. Please pray about two girls who are interested in doing an internship with us in Brazil. We are working and praying about the details. 

This month we have also started small Bible study groups. These have to do with some training that Sarah received while in the states. We are starting to implement them and so far happy about what we have seen. Please pray that we would have leaders grow out of these groups. 

In July we will have a group from Raleigh come down to work with youth, women and help with our plant in Tupanatinga. We have looked at a couple buildings to rent or use for weekly Saturday night worship services. Please pray for these details. Bia has arranged for us to be in three different schools morning and afternoon for three days (6 separate presentations for full school assemblies). Please pray right now that these will be effective and will get their families out to the town square for the Friday night grand finale. 

For now, pray Evelyn and Anna Claire don’t starve to death on my watch (I am just kidding). Pray for our small groups and Tupanatinga. Pray for unity. Pray for the two possible interns. 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my little travelers who enjoyed their almost daily gelato with both sets of grandparents, along with a park with a zip line and a boat with a slide on it. 

Bits April

This month has focused on settling in on the ministries on which we will be focusing. We have some of our discipleship groups structured and they start tonight and Thursday night. Our focus this year will be spiritual growth of the members we already have at the church. We have some outreach events scheduled, but do not really have outreach on the weekly schedule. One main reason for this is that we already are getting up to fifteen visitors per week! If we do not strengthen our most faithful members we most likely will be a church with a rotating membership. 

Last week we hosted a Biblical Counseling course for leaders of local churches. We had several pastors participating and then some of our members. Over thirty people participated during the week and it went very smoothly. Part of our vision for Cetak (our training center here) are courses that are different and helpful to the community. This course went really well for our vision in the community. 

The counseling class

 So during the month of May we are taking a big trip. Servant Leaders has been planning a Missions Academy for youth to have an intensive and practical ten days of classes where they hear about missions and church planting and get to see it in action. In a couple years they want it to be in Brazil and so they asked us to go to the first one and see how it is run. This year it is in Germany. Sarah and I wanted to go together and after checking out the options, the best one was to get two sets of grandparents to watch the girls while we are at the Academy. We are going a couple days early and flying into Paris to sightsee. Although the trip is primarily a ministry trip, we are using personal funds for it, just to lighten up that it is a really cool opportunity for us and seeing the world. Please pray for our travels from May 13-28 and that there will be young people called to the field as a result of the Academy. I am teaching one section and we are mentoring in small groups as well.

Please pray for our small groups as they get started. Please pray for our weekly services to start soon in Tupanatinga. At this point we are borrowing a small space from someone’s relative there. We are going to clean it up, but it will be temporary. We are still praying about either building or renting another space and for the right timing for that. It is probably around a forty thousand dollar project to buy land and build a church building. 

Speaking of building, we have challenged our church family to be involved in completing our upstairs that has the brick structure but needs the finish work on the walls and floor, including electric. They are already putting their heads together for how we can come up with the money. 

Our boss Cal teaching in Tupanatinga

Praise the Lord for all the needs He has supplied. We feel unbelievably blessed. Thank you for all your prayers!

The girls for Easter breakfast

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and my brickmason helper that helped me fill in some cement around the church, and my big six year old who had a birthday this past month! 

Bits March

Our flight in to Brazil was delayed a little…but only two and a half hours and not the whole night. So we arrived in Recife at 3 AM on Friday the 22nd. At 9 AM we set out to find a car. We had done a good bit of research beforehand, but by 12:30 we were headed back to Roger and Marcy Smith’s apartment for lunch with our new slightly used car. God gave us a smooth process, good price and a great car. (The options for a car with more than 5 seats are limited). That afternoon we used six seats heading to a mini-retreat for our field council to catch up on everything. Then this past Friday we used those seats to go to Tupanatinga! Thank you all who gave sacrificially towards this car during our furlough! 

Our friend and colleague Randy Southwell came to visit us for a couple of days. I took advantage of it and scheduled a trip to Tupanatinga to have a study there. We had some interest from the church in Arcoverde and so we looked into another space to meet in rather than a living room. God provided a space through Rodrygo and it was really nice. We have been praying about our options and it sounds like we have a couple of options to rent as well as hearing about another church who was going to start a work there but decided not to. Please pray that we will find the right location as well as service time! We are looking to go to weekly services soon! 

We were pleasantly surprised at the turnout last night for church service. The church gained several families while we were gone and they have been faithful. Six former football players came last night! We had 59 adults and 21 kids in the service which is a total of 80 and a milestone for us. One key part of the service was Nivia talking about the destruction in Mozambique and it was neat to see a good response from our people in giving towards it. This year we will be challenging our people to raise the funds to complete the upstairs as we for sure are neeing more space! The youth can have a space upstairs as well as running a kid’s service. The youth started meeting once a month together with another church and Saturday night there were 19 of them. They had a lot of fun. 

While we were in the states Sarah did some training with running small Bible study groups. They are groups of 3-5 people that study the same portion of the Bible every day for a week, then meet together to talk about it, pray and talk about their spiritual life. Sarah has really enjoyed the process so far and has really grown spiritually as well. She is looking into how to implement it with the women of the church and I am looking at the men. While she is busy with homeschool, master’s degree, kid’s program, women’s ministry, baby showers and birthday parties, she will also look to have a group of women. I am looking to have several groups. Please pray that the right men will join and be committed to spiritual growth through these groups. 

Sarah’s masters is in Biblical Counseling and her professors are our colleagues from the mission. The last full week of April, Al and Kim Yoder are coming to Arcoverde to teach Module 1 of the Biblical Counseling courses they provide for church leaders. We have wanted our building to be a center for training in our city and region and so far we have a good group signed up and some coming from other cities. Pray that this goes well! 

It feels really amazing to be back with our friends and church family in Brazil. I don’t think I can express our feelings in writing with how blessed we are in our life at this point. A lot of it has to do with the love we feel from all of you who lift us up through prayer and send support. You all are a big blessing!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my egg cooker Evie, and my little artist Claire bear who are both glad to be back home with their friends. They were especially glad to be back with their church family! 

Bits February

The girls and their friends Julia and Sydney

We are on our way back to Chattanooga from our last meeting as a family where we need to travel. Miami was fun as we went to a missions conference at First Baptist Church of Westwood Lake. They fed us a lot and we were able to visit the beach as well as speak seven different times in services and chapels for their school. February was full of meetings as we went to Huntsville and Athens, Alabama at the beginning of the month. 

First Baptist of Westwood Lake Missions conference

For a few days I went up to Akron, Ohio to meet with Dr. Ken Lowe who is a Pastor at Hope Baptist. He spent twenty years as a missionary in Portugal and has a theological education system that he has been working on. I met him through Servant Leaders and he is partnering with Servant Leaders to come alongside churches to grow their leaders. We bounced ideas off of each other but mainly he taught me about how people learn and grow spiritually. I was also able to interact with the members of his church and preach and teach for the Sunday morning Sunday School and service. We are most excited about the mentorship partnership with him for Arcoverde and his plans to visit and teach once a year. 

Our round trip tickets for this furlough has us leaving for Brazil on March 21. We are really excited about heading back. However, we still need our clearances to leave. Please pray that they will all come in. The main one is our financial clearance. What started out as under $200 to raise per month went up to over $400 a month to raise due to a couple supporters that stopped supporting and raises in health insurance and our overall support level. 

Evie and her soccer team

This can be raised rather quickly whether by current supporters raising our support just a little or by new supporters or past supporters making new commitments. However, if no one can do anything, it could prohibit us from going back on the 21st. Please pray for the support to come in! God has always supplied our needs and we do not doubt He will allow it to come in before we leave. If it doesn’t, we know He has a plan regardless and we will see what we need to do….but we reeeaaaallly are ready to get back! 

At the Keys feeding Tarpon

Thank you so much for all of you who faithfully support us. We have been so blessed. God has been so good to us! So many have loved on us, especially the girls, as we have travelled. Evelyn and Anna Claire were able to go to the Christian school for a couple days in Miami and they loved it. They make friends really easy! Pray for them as the life of a third culture kid is rather unique and can either be seen as a huge blessing or a difficulty, depending on our choice of how to see it. Last night Anna Claire asked me to tell the yellow man story:

There was a man from yellow land that decided to go live in blue land. As he lived there for a while he saw that he started turning color. He ended up being green! He now looked neither blue nor yellow and stuck out in both yellow land and blue land because he was different. 

My girls had some interesting comments and questions with that story, but it is reality for any missionary kid, whether they like it or not. You all have been awesome with the girls. They see love from all over the country! ok, enough for now. God bless!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my runner up for her indoor soccer league who scored a goal in the championship game, and my little kitty cat lover who has a great friend in Rocky Balboa Carrel (I find it hilarious how much this cat loves Anna Claire and goes to her and lets her cuddle with her).