June 4, 2007

Dear Fellow-saints,

Greetings in the Name above every name. We trust trust that you are enjoying His presence and peace. We have traveled many miles since our last letter. We came through the States and went on to Germany. It is cheaper that way than going from Brazil to Germany. Also Ursula needed to see her doctor and I must go tomorrow to sign up for Medicare. I can't believe that I'm so old that our health Insurance plan refuses to insure me and advised me to sign up with Medicare. How life flies by when you are busy!

We had an interesting trip to Germany. My German is getting much better but still has a long way to go for me to be able to preach in it. I once visited Bolivia and was able to preach in broken Spanish due to the similarities with the Portuguese language, but not so with German. It is very rich and complex language. My brother-in-law Heinz got us a sleeping room about a block from his house and we were thrilled to find out that the owner of the house was a Baptist. They were thrilled to have us also. We also a week later went to an English class and helped teach. The teacher of this class is the mother of the present Prime Minister of Germany. Her name is Angela Merkel. Her mother who befriended us two years ago at a church in Northeastern Germany is a charming 84 year old sister in Christ. The class was a question and answer session. The teacher asked in English for us to explain in English what we do as missionaries in Brazil. It was a great opportunity to get in the Gospel message in a subtle way. I know she did this on purpose. She is a former pastor's wife who labored under the Communist regime for many years. It seems that our Lord has a few of His saints scattered around the world. Also I bought a small book while in Berlin on its history and found out that 300 years ago one in every five Berliners were Huguenot Baptist who had come there 100 years earlier fleeing persecution from France. I found all this quite interesting and thought it might be a blessing to you. We had our picture made with the Prime Minister's mother but she asked us to not give it to the press. So we will honor that request and not send it to the mission sheet. You will see her in heaven and I will introduce you to her (if necessary).

I ask that you pray for our preacher and his family up in Novo Diamantino. I just found out that he is down with malaria really bad. He has had it for some time and hasn't taken care of himself. He is only 29 years old but is very sick. His family has really suffered the past two months. His name is Edvan Cegueira dos Santos. He and his wife have two precious children: a boy, 6, and a girl, 4, who is sick also with dengue fever. By the time you get his I hope they will be well on the road to recovery.

I want to correct a minor mistake from last month's mission sheet. We have been in Brazil for thirty years and not nineteen. We have been in Central Brazil for the past nineteen years. We have been missionaries with Baptist Faith Missions since July 1, 1977. God has blessed us with faithful supporters like you . Only because of His sustaining power and grace have we been able to continue on for this long. There have been many mountains and valleys along the way. May God bless each one of you. We welcome the Tate family into our fellowship. May the Lord give them a long and prosperous ministry.

Yours in Christ,

Harold & Ursula Draper