September 3, 2008

Dear Fellow-saints,

We greet you once again in the Name above every name. We trust that you are enjoying the blessings of our great Redeemer. As I get older I realize more and more how precious He is and how dependent I am upon him. We human creatures are so prone to become dependent on something or some one. My hope is entirely in my Lord Jesus Christ. How about you? (So much for the sermon)

This month we made a trip to the work in Novo Diamantino. We found that is has grown in number somewhat. New people are moving into the area due to a large meat packing factory that is being built there. We were blessed to see the growth there. Brother Edvan's wife has recovered well from the leprosy. He is being able to find some work with all the new people coming in. He is a general all-around handyman and a good preacher.

We preached at the Chacara dos Pinheiros church this month. A 32 year old young man came forward confessing Christ as his Saviour in the service. Please pray for Sister Teresa Santos (The Pastor's wife) there. She is probably in the last stages of her five year bout with cancer. Tomorrow she and Pastor Miqueas leave out for São Paulo for her to get treatment. She has a lot of cancer in her left lung.

We preached at the Boa Esperanca church this month as well. This coming weekend they are celebrating their 30th anniversary as an organized Baptist church. Under the leadership of Pastor Paulo Ricardo Gonçcalves they have really grown both in number and spiritually this past three years. They are finishing up a building program and the building looks really nice.

We have been busy this month building a room on at the Jardim Fortaleza Baptist church. It is about finished and will be a great blessing to the family of Pastor Wagner Borges Rodrigues. They are doing a good job in this work. It is in a very difficult neighborhood.

Ursula has really been sick this month. She is swelled and has much pain to deal with. Yesterday I took her to the doctor for the third time in ten days. He gave her a cortisone shot and now the pain is less. Hopefully it will help her get ready for our trip to the States next week. We are in the process of moving out of this house. When I come back in January I will be staying with a Brazilian brother who has a big house and lives alone. As I said in our last letter we will be there for about four months. We hope to visit some of you dear churches as time permits. God bless you all. God bless America!

In Him,

Harold and Ursula Draper