May 2, 2002

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

We are once again writing from Central Brazil. We are now completing our 25th year here in Brazil as of July 1st. As we look back we marvel at the way the Lord has protected us and has used us in spite of we being such feeble creatures. We know that His Grace has thus far sustained us. To God be the glory! 

We have served in these years in three States in this great nation. We started out in Fortaleza where we were with Brother Bobby Aldridge & family where we studied the language and accompanied their first work as it was being opened up in Jardim das Oliveiras there. After a year we were invited to come to Mato Grosso to take care of the work so that the Richard Turner family could go home on furlough. We spent 14 months here at that time. Then we moved on up to Sao Luis do Marhanhao, where we finished out our first term. As we look back we can't believe we did all this the first term. We were younger then and everything was new and interesting. Also, the Lord blessed that first term with many souls being saved, which greatly encouraged us.

After serving for eight years in Sao Luis we felt that our time there was up and prayed about where to go. We were asked by Bob Creiglow to pray about the possibility of coming back down to Mato Grosso. We arrived here on April 29, 1988. Since then we have been here. We got here just in time to help paint the new building up in Novo Diamantino and to help Brother Creiglow open up the new work there. We now have been here 14 years and 7 new works have been opened up since our arrival.

I will be 60 years old this September. The Lord is still opening up opportunities for us to preach and teach the Word If the Lord allows, we would like to stay for at least 5 more years to have 30 years in Brazil. The Lord has given us some good young preachers who carry on a major part of the works now without our direct involvement. The work here is not easy. Modernism, false doctrine, and immorality abounds on every side. Each day we pray for grace and wisdom to carry on in a way that our Master will be pleased with us. We also feel a great responsibility to all of you dear people and churches who have confidence in us. We pray that the Lord will give us the strength and health to carry on. These past 5 years have been difficult in some ways. Ursula's health has caused her to have 4 surgeries and she has developed some other chronic problems that necessitate that she take a lot of medicine to keep going. The doctor told us some years ago that we should leave this intense heat because of her health. Up to now the Lord has given her the strength to bear up under it.

I have given this short history of our time in Brazil to show how wonderful our God has been to us! I hope that it comes across in this manner. Our aim is to praise Him and not ourselves. His Grace has brought us this far and will lead us on. We are planning to come to the States at the end of this year for Ursula to have her 2 year check-up on her colon surgery and to start a furlough time in January. We will mention more about this in future letters. We now have 8 months of hard work before us before this comes. We are now finishing up a very small dwelling behind our new work in Varzea Grande. We need it badly due to the vandalism that has plagued us there. We are gearing up to start the construction of the new building in Primavera do Leste this coming month. The Rankin family has provided an offering to put up the basic structure so we can have services in it. We still need help to get it and the last two totally finished with pews, etc. If you feel led to give to the Draper New Work Fund, it will be used for this project these coming months.

We appreciate so much the faithful support from all of you who make our ministry possible. I just finished teaching a Bible Course on the Books of Daniel and Revelations. It made me realize just how near the coming of our Lord could be. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! God bless all until next month.

Harold Draper

April 30, 2002

Dear Fellow Saints,

Hello from Brazil. Time just flies by in some ways when you are busy. I stay busy here. I like to do most of the cooking since my family likes home-cooked meals and doesn't like junk food much. The hot weather makes it a hot job. This past fall we moved into an apartment up on the 6th floor to be more secure after having been robbed twice last year. It also is much cooler and we can leave our windows open day or night. We really are thankful to be here and are enjoying it.

Our last child will soon be leaving the nest. Michelle will be 17 years old on the 26th of May and will finish High School in December of this year. We will be bringing her to the States to get her driver's license and get her started in college. Right now she is having some health problems. She studies from Monday through Saturday and has Spanish classes two nights a week. She just had semester exams and is very tired. We took her to the doctor yesterday and her blood pressure is very low and she has lost almost 10 pounds in the past 10 weeks. She needs more rest and may be anemic. She also may have a parasite problem in her blood or intestines. We will know this tomorrow when we take her back to see what the lab work showed. You moms know how we worry about our babies.

I stay busy visiting with Harold and teaching Bible classes in Ladies groups. Also we have every other week a meeting with pastors' wives, which is being a great blessing to all. The Lord has blessed our work in a great way these past two years and you there have responded by giving so that we may open up new works. We praise the Lord for that. It feels so good to know that you are being used.

My health is holding its own. I take a lot of medicine and am walking about 3 miles with Harold about 3 times a week. We both have problem with high blood pressure and triglycerides. We hope to see many of you next year when we come home for furlough. In the past years my health hasn't allowed me to always travel a lot. We hope it will be different this time. Our oldest grandson will graduate soon from High School and we won't be there. We hope to be there when he graduates from College. If the Lord lets us live we will be candidates to be great-grandparents before many more years. God bless all of you there.

Your Sister in Christ,

Ursula Draper