Our joy is to see the lost take a step a faith and be baptized. There is a number in our group that is thinking about baptisms but are not willing to take that step of faith, yet.  As we make our plans, we like to end the year with the opportunity for those in our small groups to take the step of baptism.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will intervene in their lives and move their hearts towards Christ. The small seed of faith that they have needs to grow into the joy of the Lord. Our battle is not with flesh and blood but all in the spiritual realm.  This is why we need you to pray weekly for our small group to move them to take that step of faith at the end of the year with the testimony of baptism.

The Possum Island Kid’s Club ministry is in recovery mode. Mario, who is in the green shirt, is loved by the community there. Unfortanly last year he had to move away to care for a family member in a distant village. After he dropped out of the leadership and while Wayne & Ellen were in the States, our Possum Island ministry shrunk.  Then there were other issues with the building they were using, so when we returned to Brazil, the ministry was nonexistent.

Our Lord has heard your prayers.  The building was repaired, and Mario is now back living in Belem, the city near us. He desires to step back into the ministry there and pick up where he left off. Please pray for Mario, Jeremias, and Manwell as they rebuild this ministry. They are now gathering Sunday mornings twice a month as the tide permits.

Every year we send a handful of youth to the local youth retreat from our small church plant. This year we sent Anderson, Refella, Gabelle, and Carlos. None of these youths have taken the step of faith in baptism, but we are asking that you uplift these four youths in pray that the Holy Spirit will move them that direction.

We do not have a youth program, but these young people participate in our gatherings and sometimes help out with the kid’s club. As we plan our activities, we tried and included them as much as we can. Anderson attends the men’s Monday bible study when he can and plays the Cajón, a musical instrument, at our small group meetings.

Keep these four in your prayers, for salvation and baptism.

On the other side of the island, we have the Farol Ministry. This is a small group gathering similar to our Wednesday night meeting. The ministry there has been slowly growing, and it is with great joy that we continue to see new younger faces at the meeting. There is singing, storytelling and the good news of Jesus Christ is preached. Please pray that this gathering continues to grow as we share the story of Jesus.

This past weekend it was a great joy to be invited for a feast at friends home. They had asked a few friends from church and cooked a fantastic meal. There was one shortcoming to this meal; my host did not eat it.

Pray for my host Francisca who is facing the possibility of having cancer, and she has only minimal access to medical care. She is working with a natural healing doctor because she has hit the limit of her medical insurance policy. This is a country that has socialized medical care were the medical service are free. This is a common issue, only a select few have access to real medical care. So, she is just eating grapes for all three meals. Please pray that this crisis in her life drives her to put her trust in Jesus

At the Network of Biblical Storytellers conference, Ellen was a featured author in their ambassador issue magazine. She is taking a certification class for Biblical Storytelling. As part of the class, she wrote a paper about some aspects of our Biblical Storytelling ministry here in Brazil. The instruction loved the paper, so she forwarded to the volunteer staff that publishes their magazine.

It is a great article on the impact of Bible Storytelling on a foreign ministry field. I would encourage you to read it. The article is on page 17 of the magazine. You can download the pdf version at this link; TheBibical Storyteller.

Please keep Ellen in your prayers as she is still stuck in the States dealing with a medical issue.

It was easy to teach a class on how to start telling the stories of the Bible. Now the ministry has moved on into deeper relationships and the development of leadership. The task at hand is to work with the leaders God has placed in our hands and get them to start telling the stories of God.  We are set for this Friday to head out into the home of some contacts we have been praying for. Please pray that our fledgling leaders will have the courage to tell the stories they have to be practicing and that it will be a good experience for them. Most of all pray that the Holy Spirit opens the door that we can book a follow-up visit. Keep us in your prayers.