Bits September 2024

 “Get to know Koinonia” We had a new class before church for people new to our church. The turnout was great; we answered questions and discussed how our church works. We went through our doctrinal statement and told how our practice reflects our doctrine. Praise the Lord for visitors and new members being a constant at the church. After one of the services, Heitor asked Jesus to be his Savior. He adds to a list of several more for the baptism service we will have in November. 

The Tupanatinga church had a baptismal service last week. Four people were baptized. One of our first families saved in Tupanatinga is Rodryggo and Danielly. Danielly has held Bible studies, prayed, talked, and invited, etc… her three sisters to attend church. Dayse has been in and out of church for several years but really picked up this past year. She had several reasons to not be baptized including a doctor’s order after her eye surgery the previous week. But she bandaged it up, put on goggles, and insisted on being baptized. Her sister Dani was in the water baptizing her together with me. It was an emotional moment! Also, Chico and Bia’s daughter decided to be baptized almost ten years after her parents made their decision. It was a long time coming, but we are glad she could decide on her own to follow Christ.  

At the end of last month we had an evangelism module and this month we put it into practice. We went to the park during a parade day and were able to have some good conversations. Then we did a Saturday service at Batalha where we hope to plant a church. A couple from our church did the evangelism presentation (they are also teaching the youth this weekend). How cool to see people being trained for the ministry and having the courage to preach the gospel. We had a better turnout than we expected both from Koinonia and from the community of Batalha. Some women who had said they wouldn’t give up their night to drink to go to a church service showed up anyway. 

Evelyn volunteered to teach English at the children’s support home. Recently a missionary couple from South Brazil (the city where Evie was born) joined our church. At the same time, they were taking over a non-profit that serves higher risk kids in our city. They have around 25 kids that receive breakfast, teaching, and then lunch. Most of them wouldn’t otherwise be eating that many times a day. The church has come alongside them by supporting them, sending people to help in different areas, as well as being on their board and other involvement. Pray for Kaleb and Viviane as they get used to the new non-profit, raise support, and serve these children (their vision is actually much more than they are actually doing). One day Evie said she would like to help there and later in the day Kaleb asked for someone who could teach English. His other request was also provided by another member that same day! 

Evie turned 15 this month. We are very grateful for her. She is a freshman and so we talk more and more about her future. We are thankful to serve a sovereign God whom we know will direct her path as she continues to trust in Him.

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, our linguist Evie (she speaks Portuguese, English, does well in Spanish and has dabbled in French and sign language as well), and Anna Claire who beats us in Mancala pretty much every time. 

Bits Agosto

The ladies in Tupanatinga have enjoyed getting more involved in teaching the kid’s class. Here are Julia and Mary, new kid’s teachers in Tupanatinga. This month we had a time to call up the kids and pray for them as they head back to school. We have seen growth and excitement in them to learn the Bible. This month they will have a chance to say all the books of the Bible and earn a Bible; which will help them then be able to look up references in their class time. 

Stefan had a module on Evangelism he wanted to do and we were able to teach it this past month. We had a great group of people wanting to learn. He did a great job and had an interesting, illustrated way of teaching the gospel. We plan on putting it to use in town on the day of the Independence Day parade. We hope to have a good group from the church there. 

In a couple of weeks, we are doing a church service in Batalha and one of the couples from church is supposed to do the presentation of the gospel. We are excited about it! Pray for conversions; as we do not know of any in the community that are actually saved. They all have faith in God but don’t understand the gospel and do not really know much about the Bible. That is really common in the culture. High in faith in God, but low in Bible knowledge (unless they are in certain evangelical churches). 

This month we had another police training with Jeremiah Cook from Rescue 82. He is a full-time police officer in Chattanooga, but travels to several countries a year to do humanitarian relief and police/first aid/shooting training. If you know any first responder that is interested in trips like this, feel free to ask me how to get in contact with him. They have made trips to Ukraine, the Bahamas, and Central America and have others scheduled as well. 

We have a good group of guys in the church with varying skills. Jailson is a huge help to us in preaching and teaching, both in Arcoverde and Tupanatinga. He also welds and works on wood projects. He and a few other guys who like to do projects like this, worked on a sound booth for the church. We now have a nice-looking sound booth and the projector and a monitor in the rafters! It feels like a big upgrade. Soon we will finish the flooring at the church. We have challenged the church to raise the money for all of this and it is coming in, slowly but surely. 

Thank you for all your prayers and support! We feel so blessed to be ambassadors for the gospel in Northeast Brasil!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and our soon-to-be 15-year-old Evelyn (Sept 20) and Anna Claire. Both were daring in our vacation/adventure/celebration of Evie’s 15th birthday- a trip to a water park. She chose to go on a trip rather than have a big party. 15 is the coming of age year in this culture and we are very proud of the young lady she is becoming. Right now she is on a language learning kick, trying to advance in her Spanish and now picking up French. 

Bits July

The youth group lock-in this month was a big success. Evelyn had a blast and all the teens seemed to love it. The Chosen was the theme and there were several messages on following Christ despite difficulty. We did a theological debate that at least some of the kids enjoyed. Earlier in the month we had the youth group over for a campfire where we grilled hot dogs and made smores. 

Sarah and Evelyn did a teacher’s training for the kid’s ministry in Tupanatinga. They have all been excited about the activities and learning there. This past month there were a couple of deaths of relatives of people going to our church and so we have had some opportunities to minister in the grieving process. Jailson, who is from Arcoverde, but helps pastor in Tupanatinga as well, was a big help during those times. He lost his wife to cancer when she was in her thirties and can better relate to the grieving process. 

This past weekend our friends and colleagues Roger and Marcy Smith visited us. We hadn’t seen them for a year. They recently retired but plan on coming back every once in a while for a visit. It was really good to see them. 

Some of the people from the church started a basketball pick-up time in a closed condominium with some nice facilities. We hope to reach out to some people through that time and get some exercise as well. 

Here, winter break is over and the kids are getting back to school. The next few months are a great time to get momentum going in the churches as the parties are over until the end of the year and people generally don’t travel as often. 

Family wise: Sarah had a great birthday; Evelyn started back at the English school today after a month break, and Anna Claire had a great time at camp earlier in the month!

Thanks for your prayers!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and teacher Evelyn and camper of the week AC

Bits June 2024

June is a big party month in our city. People flood in from other cities to attend night concerts. We had a harvest party at the church where we played games and ate their traditional food. We had a few more people from the neighborhood this year and one family has started attending church. The neighborhood we are in is difficult to reach. We have known this family for many years now and so it is neat to see them participate.

We also met a family with two girls and a boy who grew up in Florida. They have been here for a couple of years and we just met them this past month. Thursday they plan on coming over for a Fourth of July party. 

Pray for our scheduling and time management. This month we hit a peak of working too hard and not taking enough time off. We are working on healthier working hours and taking more breaks. (Monday is our day off, so I am trying to finish this update Sunday night after church). I have scheduled myself to preach less in both churches! We have multiple preachers for both churches, praise the Lord! God has blessed us as we have both developed leadership and grown. 

Pastor Douglas preached for the first time this past month. After pastoring in several churches, his last church, near Arcoverde lasted for six years before he suffered from burnout. He and I walk some mornings and he has been helpful to me. They decided not to continue in ministry and have a sweets business that they had started when their previous church was not able to pay them much. Their lessons are good for us and their plan for now is to be at Koinonia. Pray for them as they recover. He is not ready to go to a non-healthy church situation, but they feel at home at Koinonia. 

Earlier in the month the Huegel family visited. They were friends of friends who were looking for an adventure. Jon and Sheldon have two daughters Shelby and Charlotte. We had a couple of English conversation nights, visited a school, and had them teach our youth. It was neat meeting them and seeing their willingness to serve. Shelby shared her testimony in front of over 100 kids in a school in a nearby city. It was a neat opportunity. 

Thanks for all you do, whether it is reading, praying, supporting, or sending encouragement. We understand that we have many partners in ministry in reaching out and growing God’s kingdom here in Brasil. 

All for HIS glory, 

David, Sarah and our ministry partner Evelyn and our headed to camp tomorrow Anna Claire  

Bits May

 “Have you ever heard the story of creation before?” Stefan had just taught the creation story and was curious about those in the new Batalha study. There was a 65-year-old woman, a couple in their forties, and a few other married adults present. No one had heard the story of creation. These are people who confess their need for God, how He is good and faithful and One in whom they have faith. But they hadn’t heard the first story in the Bible. It was amazing to see and exciting to have the privilege of working in this community. Pray for Batalha to understand God’s story of Hope! 

As Stefan and Julia have integrated into life here, we are now praying about how that will change our scheduling. I have asked the leadership of both churches to consider roles and responsibilities in our presence in each church. It certainly has not been ideal to lead two churches and we have not been overwhelmed (but we are tired). At this point, we have three preachers in Tupanatinga and 5-6 who can preach in Arcoverde, including Stefan who can take a greater role. I want to make sure that I lead well and have a healthy balance of pulpit time while also continuing to develop leaders. Please pray for wisdom in these decisions! 

Sarah added another discipleship group this past month and she is up to three groups and a few counselees. She has kept busy for sure! We had the idea for the discipleship groups to have a reading competition with a nice prize. It was neat to see the excitement, the seriousness of the task, and the unity of some groups to complete the task. The book to read is a short read with powerful truths, “From Pride to Humility” by Stuart Scott. Pray for wisdom as we lead these groups and as they grow, that we would be able to have the right leadership, right timing, and that each group would continue with great discussions. We have switched from the groups having separate studies to encouraging the reading of the sermon passage and to chew on questions from the Sunday message. This has led to some great discussions and growth. 

There is a book called “Trellis and the Vine” in which the author talks about having the right structure in place to be able to support growth. We feel like we are on the cusp of this and the last few weeks there has been some good signs. Please pray that God will be glorified here in Northeast Brazil! 

Our friends Jeremiah and Cindy Cook were here this month and this team some other SWAT guys came with him. We had a few training days and it was neat to make new contacts and to serve the police forces here. 

This last month Evelyn started coming to the church a couple afternoons a week to help organize and plan events. She is doing a great job helping at the church as well as working at the local English school. Next week we have an outreach event for English for a couple of nights and then the following week we have a Harvest Party. We always invite the community but rarely have people from our neighborhood show up. Pray that our neighbors will start coming to these events! 

Thank you all for your love, prayer, and support!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and our hard-working Evelyn and grandmother to four little kittens, Anna Claire 

Bits April

Tuesday night May 7 is our scheduled start to weekly Bible studies in the community of Batalha. We had a meeting with leaders Mimo and Cristiane this month in which we talked about their life stories and the future possibilities of our involvement in their community. I had written down to ask about their favorability to start something weekly, but they asked for more Bible study before I even had to ask if it was welcome or not. They talked about how they were taught to have faith, but never had a consistent church influence in the community, from anywhere. More recently there are churches within walking distance from the community, but no one has planted a work there. This is not something we hear often as there are churches around us; (many small ones with questionable doctrine and practice). We are excited about this opportunity. Stefan and Julia will be heading that study up. 

Our pizza nights still going strong

On Sunday we had a mini-module on Mobilizing the church for ministry. It was good to talk about how our church can be better equipped to minister, spread the gospel, and make disciples. We are at an exciting point in ministry in the Arcoverde church. Last night we had several families that were on repeat visits to the church. 

This month Sarah made a visit to Poço do Boi, an impoverished community nearby. She visited with one of the
missionary families who is connected to a ministry center and was shocked to see the poverty level. The next day she and Anna Claire ran/walked in a 5k to benefit that ministry. Some members of the church have been involved in better helping the community, including an idea for the women to take on sewing or knitting as a means of making money.
 

At the beginning of the month, Evie had surgery to put a tube in her ear. She still is having minor health issues that we are trying to have checked out. They don’t have a major effect on completing tasks, but they have bothered her a good bit. She and her friend Ellen started helping out more at the church during the week, doing organizational tasks. 

Over the next couple of days, we have a goal of resting our minds and souls! We have improved our sabbath habits somewhat lately, mainly taking Monday off, but haven’t had a more extensive time off (not that three days is a lot), but we have told our church family to leave us alone. haha. We said it nicely. Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah our secretary Evelyn and turtle-owning 11-year-old. 

Bits March

 

Happy Good Friday and Resurrection Day to all! We are so blessed to  serve a living Savior who is involved in our day-to-day lives. I pray that this Easter there will be renewed hope in all that God is doing in your life and around the world. In this part of the world, we are more and more excited. Our new Brazilian partners Stefan and Julia have arrived and are settling in. God provided a place for them to stay sooner than expected. They have already jumped in on some ministries, including preaching, and have shown servant hearts.  

Last weekend Evelyn and I went to the camp in Recife for English Camp. A church from Grand Rapids, Michigan (my hometown) came down to run the program. There were 19 people from the church and 5 from Lake Anne Camp that brought down games and messages. I helped with small group discussions and Evelyn had fun participating and making new friends. Ellen, from our youth group, went and we had good discussions on our way there and back. She did not grow up in church and so she has asked some good questions about faith.  

This month Sarah spoke at a women’s breakfast about stress and trusting in God. She involved some other women in the programming as well. It is neat to see some women stepping up and using their gifts in the church. 

 

The teens also ran an Easter program for the kids in Batalha. Evie did a great job doing a play and helping with the games. Pray for direction as we look at planting a church in Batalha this year. On Saturday the women from Batalha are going to our church for a special program.  

This last week a lady from our church, a school secretary, set up two groups of 35 1st and 2nd graders to visit the church and learn about Easter. We had three Pastors present to help out with the guided tour with stories about Jesus. Evelyn did a great job on music and the wordless book. 

We are excited about what is to come here, whatever that is! haha. We are grateful for God’s many blessings, part of which are you. We have been able to be more and more helpful to others here because of your generosity. 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, Evelyn (as you can see from the letter, she is already on full-time missionary status), and Anna Claire (who turns 11 next Saturday)