The sun was hot as it poured down on the four of us.  There are no cars on the island so there are only a few dirt roads to be found, as for ourselves we had chosen one of the many foot paths that parted from the main road. The path is filled with houses on each side and continues for over an hour before reaching one of the many beaches on the island. This density of houses is quite surprising to our little band. Apparently the population of this small island is growing much faster then we had originally estimated.

Our small group included two Brazilian pastors and my teammate Dave. This trip to the island of Cotijuba was an exploratory visit to discuss the possibilities of planting a new church on this small island with the support and participation of these two men and their churches. After our day walking the island both pastors concluded this growing community need a new church. They set a return date of March 2 to bring a larger group of people to catch the vision of reaching this island of Christ.  Pray for this effort.

That the Holy Spirit is going before us to open opportunities to share the Gospel Message on Cotijuba.

Ellen is feeling much better.

Praise God that all of our supporters have stood behind us and we ended this year in the black.
Luiz's group in São Fransisco continues to grow at a slow and steady pace.

We are in the process of selling our Blazer because it is difficult to get repair parts. Pray it can be sold for a good price and a smaller more affordable car can be purchased.  

Pray for our planed gathering on March 2 for the Holy Spirit to give us a team of Brazilians to commit to planting a church on the island of Cotijuba.   

Pray for Val as he prepares to spend a week in Capitão Poço at the end of February. The plan is that I will spend part of that time with him working new contacts and discipling existing believers.

Pray for Fatima in São Fransisco as she develops a womens bible study group.

Pray that our story development will continue to move forward as we move into a new community with stories from the bible.

Pray for Luiz in Marituba as he opens his home to people in the community in an effort to reach them with the Gospel Message through story and love.

Pray that the property issues can be resolved this month. It is like a thorn in my side.

Pray for our Bible Distribution ministry.  New Distribution points need to be developed.