June 4, 2008

Dear Friends,

I’m revealing my age, but I remember when I was in the fourth grade in public school and the administration offered the prize of a New Testament to every student who could recite the 23rd Psalm. An administrator who tried to pull that one today would, most likely, lose his or her job.

Well, not here, yet. We are very patriotic. I love my birth land, the USA, but I know that many of the religious liberties that our God-blessed country enjoyed when I was a boy are no longer available. I bring this up to share with you what doors of opportunity God has provided for our evangelistic outreach here. During the month of May alone, we shared the gospel in thirty-one public schools in two different states in southern Brazil. I’m not talking about a covert Christian witness planted there secretly. Our Project Life evangelism team was specifically invited to come in and afterward, was virtually begged to return when possible. You see, God has opened this door. We couldn’t just will it open. And we don’t know how long it will stay open. I would never have imagined that the public schools that I attended as a youngster could ever be barred from sharing of the Word of God, so I know it can happen, even here. We don’t take this privilege for granted, but we do take it seriously. Pray with us that we will be faithful to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to these thousands of students and that many will surrender their lives to Him.

Our Leadership Training Center continues steadily. It is hard for me to express just how excited I am in seeing these young men and women committing themselves to what many would call “sacrificial service” to the Lord. They don’t see it as sacrifice. In fact, observing their attitudes, it looks like they’re doing their most enjoyable hobby or pastime. They really do seem to see and understand that God has called them to participate in something much larger than themselves, and that their role really is crucial and rewarding, both now and eternally. They are a constant source of encouragement to me.

For the first time in our church’s history we are going to baptize on the church property. Our property and building are small, so we couldn’t allow for a baptistery when building our auditorium because of the space it would take up. Yeah, I know, some of you engineers and building contractors are thinking, “You could have installed a baptistery beneath the pulpit,” and you’re right. But we didn’t. We have for years baptized our new converts in the lakes and rivers around our area and made a day of fellowship and worship in the open air. That was all great for a while, but now we are having too many conversions and too often to run off to the woods every time. Until we are able to purchase larger facilities (and make sure that we build a baptistery in them), it looks like we will be baptizing our new converts in a portable swimming pool on the church property. I love problems like these. We thank God.

We have received cards and letters of encouragement and we want to express how grateful we are to all of you who think of us, pray for us, write to us and support us. We ask God to bless you as you’ve been a blessing to us.

In Christ’s love,

Bobby, Charlene, Jessie and Brennen Wacaser