August 31, 2004

Dearest Friends,

So much has happened this month that it is hard to know where to start. So I will begin with the ministries: When we returned the main Church and the three mission points were going well. But as you know as in all things there is always one that needs more help than the others, so we are going to concentrate on the mission point at Pereque. The work there is not the newest one but it is the slowest growing one. We have Bible school there every Saturday morning and Church services on Thursday nights. This week we had 19 children and 4 adults on Saturday and we have asked the children to bring their parents this Thursday night for a special service. With this we are hoping to get more adults involved.

The other two points are growing steadily and more and more adults are beginning to come to the services. We have built a building at the Mission point at Morror and are meeting in the house at Olarira. We are looking at beginning another congregation in a subdivision a little farther from the main church. Pray for the workers of this new work because of the distance they will have to travel.

We have told you about the Seminary we have started at the main Church, well we are hoping from that we will get dedicated workers for these new works. We had 4 classes last semester and will have 5 classes this semester. Please pray that the people that are taking the classes will remain dedicated to the end.

Now for some more great (AWESOME) news. We have found the property for the School. YES!!!!! We have a contract on 5 and 1/2 lots. How AWESOME it is to see the Lord at work---- sometimes in mysterious ways. When we left here in January we were pretty much set on a piece of property and had made an offer on it. When we came back we contacted the owner and he had given up on us coming back and had sold part of the land. He thought he could back out of the deal but we were unsure of trying. We began to pray and look for another place. In the meantime God was at work as He always is and we sometimes forget it. We found these lots and the pastor and several church members prayed over the lots and the results: we are beginning to build our fence to secure the property. With the money we received when we sold some property in Paris, KY and the generous giving of God's people there in the States we were able to put more than half on the purchase price. We have the rest of this year and until next August to pay the rest. We have enough money to build the fence around the property and start the building for the School. If God should bless you with some money and you would like to help in the purchase of this property or with the building of the School please send your donations to B.F.M. designated for the new work we are doing. We have also bought the block making machine (thanks, Terri) and have set it up on the property to begin making the blocks for the fence and the first building. I will be getting pictures as the work progresses.

We have begun the footer work and have given thanks to God that the lots are 95% flat as all the digging is done by hand with posthole diggers and matics and shovels. It will take some time as we have to put the fence around all the property to protect the construction materials and the tools. The lot sizes are 10M X 36M.  This is a standard building lot here in Brazil. They are in a good neighborhood and will suit our needs wonderfully for the Vocational School. It just never ceases to amaze me how AWESOME is the God we serve.

Our doors have always been open to visitors, but now moreso than ever as there is a never ending amount of work to be done. Work groups are welcome. We are looking forward to seeing you all.

Again as always, Thanks for your prayers and for the support you give to us through Baptist Faith Missions. You are an important part of our work here in Caraguatatuba, Brazil.

In His service,

Aj and Barbara