Bits September 2025

The Arcoverde church is experiencing a slow growth over time, with a good bit of visitors. We have ups and downs as a church, and we feel a new time is coming for growth. On my heart, as the next phase of ministry is healthy churches. Our town, as well as others, experiences a lot of church growth through division. Church members often float from one church to the next. Our church is not the exception. 

So what is a healthy church? Mark Dever wrote a book called 9 Marks of a Healthy Church and it has some great content on the subject. But you can’t just say, this is how it is going to be without needing to change some regional church culture. We have plenty of people who grew up or are used to different church cultures, and we are trying to establish our church culture. Old habits are not easily broken. 

This month, we had a day in which we talked about what a healthy ch
urch looks like and what we try to do in our church to be a healthy church. We had over forty people present on a Saturday afternoon! It went well; people seemed genuinely interested in what was presented. 

Sarah continues to be involved in different women’s ministry activities, whether it is conversations, going for walks, organizing, or serving. 

On September 20, besides Evie’s birthday, Camp Paradise celebrated 60 years of existence. We went to the camp for the celebration along with some of our bosses. It was a great weekend to talk to them as well as be at the camp. I am on the board of directors… but really, I don’t do much. The girls enjoyed walking around the places they aren't allowed to go during camp season

On Saturday, we have our annual kids day celebration. We have over 60 kids signed up to come praise, hear the gospel, play, and eat cotton candy. We are excited, and Sarah is working overtime on all the details. Pray for these kids! 

The following day, we travel to All Brazil, a conference for ABWE missionaries in Brazil. We will be gone a week and be able to speak in a couple of churches in Porto Alegre (where Evie was born), see our colleagues, and have a good time. 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, and our sweet sixteen-year-old Evelyn (no, she is not driving yet, cause Brazil doesn’t allow until 18), and our crocheting Anna Claire, who is working hard on her big blanket, amongst other projects

Bits August 2025

Jeremiah and Cindy Cook often come down to visit and serve. They arrived two days after we arrived back in Brasil. Jeremiah was able to get into the local police station for a day and teach a training on first aid and shooting. He was also able to share the importance of Christ in his life as a police officer. 

A group of five friends from Oregon came down on the invite of the english school Fisk. Claudia, who owns Fisk and we have known since arriving in Arcoverde, started coming to our church about three years ago. This year she has had more of a burden for her students and has set up times of immersion in which the students are in contact with native American speakers…. us. She inserts times for spiritual conversation as well. 

She organized a beach trip with these friends from Oregon, our family and the Cook family, and 15 students. We had a great time with plenty of conversation moments. On Saturday afternoon, the groups rotated between three groups talking about sports, money, and religion. They all heard the gospel from Ellen and were respectful and even receptive. After the trip, on Tuesday and Thursday, we organized conversation times in the church. The Fisk classes were held at the church, and we had over 100 students. It was open to the public as well. There were five different groups that had Americans in it. It was a great opportunity to invest in lives, as well as having a different group of people see that our church exists and where it is located. 

On Saturday, September 13th, we are planning a time at the church where we talk about how the church works as well as the vision for the church. The pastors are excited about this and we ask for prayer that our people will be excited as well. 

Sarah had surgery for varicose veins on August 11, and it has been a fun month for recuperation. She is almost back to normal, and for that, we will all be grateful. Thank you for your prayers and constant support!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, and teacher and swimmer Evelyn, and our artsy AC 

Bits from Brazil

This month was a blessing for us with our rest and recuperation goals. Mainly, the mental rest. We find that we are normal people in that we can get drained living in a different culture. We love Brasil and can’t picture ourselves anywhere else, but we needed a break before our trip. We now feel ready to return and get to work. We feel rejuvenated and are excited for the second semester of activities for the year. 

Being able to worship in church services without responsibilities has been helpful for paying attention to the Word and letting praise music speak to us. Several times we sang teary-eyed. Let me encourage you all, wherever you are, to advocate for your Pastor to have time off so that he can be in a healthy spiritual place. It seems like there is a generation of Pastors retiring, and so the less Pastors there are who are quitting, the better for the church. We were encouraged to meet an Air Force chaplain while hiking a mountain; he asked everyone at the top of Mount Major (in New Hampshire) for a photo together, asking where they were from. 

One Sunday this month, we were able to speak at a North Georgia church where Sarah’s parents attend and her uncle is pastoring. We also attended two small groups in which we talked about what God is doing in Brasil. It was very encouraging to dialogue and be able to have questions as we talked about the different church plants. This Sunday, we will be able to speak at our sending church in Michigan. 

In Batalha, Stefan has had a couple of workdays for the new property. An architect who attends our church, but is not yet a member, is volunteering to work on the design. Because there was no rebar or solid structure in the walls, we decided to take down the current structure and build it the way we would really like it built, rather than adapt an unstable building to our needs. It was a blessing that several men from Batalha worked on it the first day, and then several men from the Arcoverde church worked on it the second day.

On Tuesday, the 5th of August, we fly back to Brasil, arriving on the 6th. Pray for smooth travels and a good entrance back into ministry! We have a busy few months coming up, with a couple of groups this month visiting, a module, preaching and organizing in the church. 

We so enjoyed seeing a few of you all this trip. Please know how much we appreciate you all! 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my girl with her driver’s permit, and our trampoline gymnast 

Bits from Brazil June 2025

Reunite, rest, and recuperate. Some of our goals for our trip to the US have already been reached. We have seen a lot of family! It has been wonderful. The girl’s cousins have been busy growing! When we booked our tickets to the US, we had no idea that Sarah’s great aunt would have a graveside service the following day, just a couple of hours down the road in Huntsville, AL area. Her Aunt Becky had visited us in Brazil in 2009 and had been a faithful supporter. Sarah was able to see her on a girls’ trip in 2023. 

From there we drove to Hilton Head with Sarah’s family to spend the week in celebration of her parent’s 50th anniversary! That was one of the main reasons to be in the States. We had a great time with them and then flew up to Michigan to hang out with my family for a week. 

While we were there, we had scheduled a marriage seminar to put on at our sending church. We had 11 couples there and had a great time. So great a time that we didn’t even take photos! We hope to be able to do this marriage seminar more often! We had a lot of fun with my family as well, and I was able to spend a good amount of time with my brothers there. We then drove through Knoxville, close to North Carolina, to see my sister Kim for an afternoon.

We are now at the farm in North Georgia. Needless to say, we hadn’t gotten much rest up to that point. But here on the farm we are working on some more rest. Sunday, we were able to get some spiritual revival and renewal when we spent the day with our friends Jeremiah and Cindy Cook and Silverdale Baptist Church. The service really was a blessing, as well as seeing a good bit of friends. Later that day, we participated in their small group, and they asked us on the spot to share some about Brazil. We figured out how to put some pictures on the TV and even looked at the church security cameras as the church service in Arcoverde was due to start. 

We are reading some good books, helping
out on the farm, and excited about some Fourth of July partying with friends and family. The girls are reconnecting with some friends as well. We will be sharing about Brazil in a couple of churches while we are here. On the 21st of this month we have an ABWE conference to participate in. 

We have had good reports of the churches in Brazil, but they do want us back, evidently. haha. Thanks for your prayers and many blessings in our lives!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, and our swimmer, reader, and podcast listener Evie (she was excited to get her library card renewed so she can use her library app, and she is also studying to get her driver’s permit); and Anna Claire, who has been excited to see several different friends

Bits May 2025

On Saturday, Stenyo made a decision for Christ after going through the Story of Hope evangelistic book. He didn’t think his name was written in the book of life because he hadn’t been good enough yet. After reviewing all that we have learned and talking about salvation by grace, he happily prayed to receive Christ. The next day in church he asked Pastor Douglas to come up to the stage and pray for him. 

Stefan with the owner of the property

Our church has long been involved in the community of Batalha, and when Stefan arrived we started trying to have a regular study. Recently, three women were saved there, and this week we have been working on closing on a property there. Nothing has worked out since we started trying over a year ago, but this month we discovered a house under construction that never finished. It is right close to where we usually meet, and after taking an engineer and an architect there, we decided it would work. Pray now as we put in a better structure and decide how to best remodel it to work as a meeting place for Bible studies. 

Sarah continues to counsel different ladies. One young lady finished a book study and eagerly asked what the next book would be. Praise the Lord that she is willing to do these studies. She has enjoyed going to the youth group as well. Speaking of which, Anna Claire is now in youth group and enjoying it. She has several friends her age who are entering as well. 

On June 5, we head to the airport to leave on a jet plane! We are going to the states for two months to 1) celebrate Sarah’s parents 50th anniversary; 2) attend ABWE’s Missionary Enrichment conference; 3) give a marriage seminar at our sending church, Heritage Baptist Church (June 14); and 4) just be in the US and have some vacation time with family. We haven’t been home as a family for two years now and are excited to see some family and friends.  

You all are a blessing to us! Thank you!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, our teacher Evelyn, and our artsy Anna Claire

Bits April 2025

We celebrated our 7th church anniversary this month. On Saturday, the 5th, we had a concert, inviting other churches to participate in worship. It was a packed house and very encouraging. One goal we have here is to help unite churches in a town where they stay pretty divided. We had several pastors present and other churches represented. The next day, the 6th, we had a special service with extra music as well. 

Easter service was also a blessing! Besides the service, we had four different groups hear about the importance of the Resurrection. Two schools came to the church and one foster care home, and then our group went to Batalha and presented there as well. Evelyn did a great job leading the kids’ songs a couple of times. Stefan is already thinking about next year and what we can do.

This month, we had another man, Thiaggo, in the church preach. He had preached elsewhere, but not in our church. He has been a blessing to the church, and it is great to see him growing. He signed up for a master’s degree with our ABWE seminary in São Paulo and has been working hard on his classes. Thiaggo sees a future in the pastorate. Another young man in our church has also been wrestling with this decision about ministry. This month, he said that he felt God’s call for ministry and has started looking into how he can go to a seminary. Praise the Lord for raising up new leaders. 

As a family, we were able to take some days off last week after Easter, after several grueling weeks of ministry. We are grateful to be at a place where we can afford to do that. One of the new pastors, Douglas, has experience with burnout and frequently encourages us to make sure we are taking time off when necessary. 

We have another month of ministry before we go to the states for two months. It has been two years since we have been back to the states as a family. Before we go we are working on structuring the church better so that is can run more efficiently. Pray we can get all of our kinks worked out! We appreciate your love and prayers.

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah our reader and teacher Evelyn and our 12 year old AC who is learning all things hair and make up. 

Bits March 2025

For years now, our churches have done a women’s tea. This year for the Arcoverde we put Luma in charge of the tea. Her organizational skills helped her to do a wonderful job. Sarah and Luma were the speakers for the event and Evelyn took photos. We encouraged our people to invite and pay for unchurched women they knew. There were a lot of visitors and it was a very special moment for the women. 

For the second year in a row, Evelyn and I went to Recife for English Camp. A group from Michigan has been coming down and running a weekend of immersion in English. There are several services during the weekend, small group time, and lots of fun. I went as a counselor and was glad to connect with some students. 

For the second month in a row, the teens put on a service. This Saturday night the youth entirely led the worship time. They also do a skit, have a reception team and media team. The youth group has grown so much that we now have a separate group for young adults (college and career age). 

Service with new flooring! 

We have several new families in the church that we are excited about and this past Sunday we had a time called “Get to know Koinonia” where we could talk about the church and why we do what we do. In a couple weeks, we will officially be adding 3 families to the membership. This weekend is the 7th anniversary of the church and we are celebrating with a mini-concert on Saturday night and then continue celebrating Sunday night. 

In Tupanatinga we finished up a study on raising children, did one on conflict resolution and this month will start up New Testament survey. The services have been consistent, but pray that we will be able to break some barriers in the city. Tupanatinga has more ramifications for being evangelical; it has been rigid catholic for a long time and families look down on those who are converted. Pray for courage for those who might face this persecution in order to come to church. This month Sarah was invited to speak at a school to the students’ parents about spending time with their kids. It seemed well received! What a great opportunity. 

Thank you for your sustaining prayers and support! 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, teacher and photographer Evelyn, and artist Anna Claire (who turns 12 on Sunday) 

Women's tea!