February, 2002
Hi!
Hope all is well with each of you. We are all doing well here. God has shown His constant presence with us. It is good to know that God will never leave us or forsake us. I can't imagine what it is to live without the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
Odali is in Manaus taking care of things for the Children's Home there. Please pray for him while he is gone, and for me also. I certainly appreciate your prayers. Continue to pray for the children that God's love will be shown to them and that they can understand the love of God. We constantly need to stay calm and seeking wisdom from God. Satan has a game he likes to play pretty often. It is called "upset the fruit basket." We need to be on alert not to get mixed up in the turning. We must keep the Fruits of the Spirit in our vision.
Also at this moment I would like to ask prayer about the container. It has been in the port for one year. There are a couple of things that made this a difficult situation. (1)There should have been donation letters sent with the container that where stamped at the Brazilian Embassy in the U.S. and (2) the second problem is that there is a BIG MAFIA at the port. In other words, a money-making business. Right now, things are getting tighter.
SO I WILL ASK OF YOU TO GET THIS MESSAGE TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE FOR US TO PRAY FOR GOD TO SOMETHING SPECIAL. I KNOW THAT FOR THOSE THAT GAVE THIS IS IMPORTANT. A MIRACLE!!!!!! THE THINGS THAT ARE OUT OF OUR REACH. THAT IS WHAT I'M ASKING FOR. I BELIEVE IN PRAYER AND I KNOW WHAT GOD CAN DO. I HAVE SEEN IT. AT THIS MOMENT I WANT TO THANK GOD FOR WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pray also for a young man called LEANDRO. He came to church and asked for help. He was a witchcraft priest. He had done all kinds of rituals to get where he was. That included human sacrifice. He is going through lots of torture because he asked for help. Like many, he is homosexual. Pray for him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went to visit him and the demon had hurt him very bad. I know this may sound strange, but it is true. Jesus Christ dealt with many of them, and Satan himself tried to get Jesus to deny God. So you can imagine what he would like to do with us. Thanks for your prayers and support. May God's richest blessing be on all of you.
Kathy
"Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies" (Proverbs 31:10). Like all the other parts of the Word of God are true, so this verse is very true. I believe that many times we do not understand the real meaning of a virtuous woman. Traditions, added to the showiness of today, have caused us to lose much of the meaning of what a virtuous woman is. I believe that there are still many virtuous women, but I want to write to you about just such a one that I met on a Sunday morning Service.
The reason that I think she is much like the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 is because her characteristics are much the same. This woman I know is an excellent cook, but that is not the only thing. She doesn't have to weave our clothes, but she does know how to drive a Bobcat. She also likes to go to junk yards with her husband, looking for things to buy at a good price, since all the things that are needed can't be bought new. She fishes better than most women I know. She doesn't sell linen, but you will find her selling vegetables from our garden on the streets of our town. I have seen her buy cows and kill them herself. She loves to shoot, even though at times it might take 12 shots to kill the cow. I have seen her kill a bull with 22. Well, it is dead meat now!
Another great quality is that she knows how to live with little and is content, knowing how to console her husband when in financial difficulty or in any other problem. Like things are at the moment. According to her, God is in control of ALL things. That is a virtue. For you to have a better idea of this super virtuous woman, let me share that while this letter was being written, the phone rang for her husband. It was a social worker desperately needing help. She had a girl with her that is nine months pregnant and was thrown out of her house by her parents and then by her brother. The social worker needed to find a place for her to stay until the baby is born. It is being donated to a couple in town, through the judicial system. The husband told the social worker that he would call her back in about 10 minutes, because he needed to ask his wife what she thought. When he asked his wife, do you know what her answer was? She said, Sure, let's help this woman. Needless to say, the pregnant girl is already at this woman's house. Yes, as the days go by I think this woman has more and more the qualities of a virtuous woman.
One time I was at a conference and a preacher was preaching about marriage and said that husbands should never give their wives gifts that come with electric wires, for that meant work and not a gift! The problem is not how much money to spend, the problem is what could possibly make them happy. A few days ago I saw this same woman very happy with her used washing machine and also with her used dishwasher which she had fixed herself, now working as good as new. That preacher is going to have to forgive me, but for a virtuous woman, even an old machine (electrical wires and all) can make her happy.
I think that there are 2 ways to actually know if a woman is virtuous or not: 1. By the love that she has for God. Once I heard a missionary wife say that God had called her to take care of her husband and her children and that was all. That is fine and beautiful. The woman that I consider virtuous, besides taking care of her husband and children, has opened the door to her heart and her home to others which work with her husband. When her husband traveled, she took care of all the areas where her husband worked. She even had to deal with the pompous men who, knowing that her husband was gone, tried to make things more difficult. She takes God's word literally as authority for her life and applies the principles to her life in all areas. 2. I believe that another way you can tell if a woman is virtuous is by the children that she produces. The virtuous woman that I know surpasses many in this area. She raised 3 kids and, if you forgive me, I believe they are the best. The 3 kids love God like few kids that I know, they are loving, and love their parents. For me to talk about this is one thing, but to hear it said from her children is totally different. So I'm going to let you hear it straight from her children. - Odali
I feel tremendously blessed to have grown up with the mother God gave me. She taught us how to be thankful in any circumstances and how to respect and love others even when it seems impossible to. The important thing about teaching us this is that she taught us by living it. Daily she loved on me when I was still at home, and even now when I am away from home, I can look back to things she has done for me that make me the person I am today. She has a very forgiving heart like no other person I know. I believe there is a very small amount of women in the world today that would give up their well decorated home, their nice bathroom, matching kitchen, only having to worry about their husband and 3 kids, to go live in a hospital building with 93 kids that are not her own and not the best behaved. But I do know one virtuous woman who has done all this and much more. I thank God everyday for giving her to me, my MOMMY!!!! - Kathy Lee
I don't ever recall waking up in the middle of the night to serenade my mom, but whether she would have liked it or not, she has no doubt been worthy of being serenaded on a regular basis. Mom has, without a doubt, been Mrs. Proverbs 31. She has always taken care of her children, been responsible with the family's finances, been a wise work delegator and administrator to those working for her and has made it so that Dad's name was never defamed because of her actions and behavior. She's up there with Abigail, Deborah, Hannah and Esther. - Love, Zinho (II John 12). It is hard to talk about my mom in so little space. To talk about all the qualities that my mom has would be impossible. For as each day goes by, I find more qualities that I had not seen before. I admire the determination that she has in staying in the center of God's will. Also the time that she finds to hear so many people and counsel with lots of patience and wisdom. It is amazing to me, how she can take so many children feel loved like she were their real mother. I am her natural daughter and have nothing to complain about, because Mom has always worked faithfully to keep our family cared for and in unity. - Amelia Barros
Well, it is how you heard from her children. She is a fantastic mom. There are many fantastic moms. What makes me think that she is a virtuous woman is that after raising her children she accepted the idea of adopting 3 more. She loves them like only a virtuous mother could. So many that adopt later are sorry for doing so. And to top that off, she has adopted 97 more into her life. They come from the most various backgrounds. From the worst backgrounds you could imagine, and still she calls them her children as a proud mother would do for her own. I think that she would die for them. I have seen her face to face with drug dealers that were after her "children." Proverbs 31 says that the husband of a virtuous woman is well seen among the elders. Sometimes I believe that the husband of this virtuous woman is better seen and accepted than the mayor of this town. Much of this has to do with her work. Like I started this letter, a virtuous woman is hard to find. TRUE! But I found one! Thank you, God; thank you Mrs. Alta Hatcher, for being a virtuous woman and for raising a virtuous daughter. Kathy, thank you for being my wife, friend and my partner in the ministry. Maybe you are asking, What does this have to do with missions? To me, it means a lot to have my wife by my side and being an encouragement in my ministry.
Love,
Odali Barros
Odali and Kathy Barros
Amelia Barros, sharing love and giving gifts to others