March 1, 2002

Hello to all,

I am taking a break from studying and working to write this letter, which is a good thing because you know, sometimes we get so caught up in the work we are doing that we forget the important things that are around us that need attention.

We are studying Portuguese four days a week, and this is a challenge. We are learning how to speak this language correctly and when you don't speak your native language correctly that could be a great challenge. So now I am having to go back and relearn the rules and regulations for English so I can learn Portuguese. I now know for certain that God has a sense of humor.

As this month is closing we are finishing with the drilling of an artesian well, which was badly needed. We had a well but it was not enough for the families that will live on the property and when it rained we got surface water in the well. So we had to buy our drinking water. All that is lacking now is to dig the ditch and put the pipe in that move the water from the well to the holding tank and energize the submersible pump. Sometimes the little things take longer than the big things. 

We sometimes have problems with our communication here- no not with the Portuguese but with our phone and computer. Seems almost every week our telephone line gets cut and stolen. This usually causes 3 days a week without communication. If it is not the telephone line it is the computer. We purchased a cellular phone so that we would not be cut off from the world when this happens but what do you know, the signal does not reach to the farm. Sometimes living in a rural area is not all it is cracked up to be, other times it is.

The mission we have started here on the farm is progressing. One of the young men that was baptized last month has expressed the desire to preach so in the mid-week service last week he had his first opportunity to present God's word. He is 14 years old and his name is Ricardo, please remember to pray for him. He says that he feels that God has called him to the ministry, pray that we will be able to correctly advise and train him for this work. And pray that God will raise up others for this work. What an awesome God we serve, to give a person like me the opportunity to be a part of all this. Thanks to all of you I get to experience it first hand. And I am trying to keep you informed so you can feel the Awesome power of God as He works here.

Continue to pray for the release of the container, as it will be one year this month since it arrived here in Brazil. We are waiting on the miracle we know that God is going to do to liberate this container. Because it will take the hand of God to liberate it and the people there on the docks need to know the power of the God we serve. Continue praying and see what our God will do.

Summer is on its way and you have the opportunity to spend your vacation in a great place and serve God at the same time. In case you didn't get it this is a invitation to spend your vacation here in Brazil at the Haven of Hope Children's Home. As we say on the farm, "Come on down".

In His service,

AJ and Barbara

Barbara Hensley teaching Sunday School at Haven of Hope Children's Home