Exciting Happenings in Fortaleza

We returned yesterday from spending 5 days at our Paz missionary conference on the Amazon. It was a great time of fellowship in English (praise the Lord:), and refreshing. It is great to be back though as God has been doing exciting things in the last few weeks.

We are so excited to report that 3 people from our Wednesday cell group (the one located in the small, poor community filled with drugs) just gave their lives to Jesus and are excited to share their new found love for Jesus with the world. Christina, the lady I asked for prayer for a couple months ago, is one of the 3 that just became a christian. We took her and her children to the beach a couple weeks ago and while Isaiah and the kids were playing in the water she once again began to open up to me and share her struggle to provide for her children as her husband continues to take all of their money and even sell their belongings for drugs. At the end of our talk I asked her if she wanted to give her life to Jesus and she said she did but hasn’t been able to overcome her temper and didn’t deserve Jesus. It was such a joy to be able to share with her that none of us deserve Jesus and only through the power of the Holy Spirit would you be able to overcome your temper. Right there on the beach with tears in our eyes Christina repeated the prayer to give her life to Jesus, there is nothing better than watching the transforming work of our Savior. One week later Christina told me that she has stopped swearing and can’t believe how much she has changed already. All 3 of these people are being discipled and taken care of well.

Please continue to pray especially for Christina’s husband, Emerson, that he will give up using drugs and realize that giving his life to Jesus is the only way to change his life for the better.

the 3 people in the back between Erin and the lady wearing orange are the new believers, Christina is the lady wearing black holding the pink Bible

Noah, helping us pack for the conference

What happened in 2011 and pictures!

Here’s a quick synopsis of what has happened in our lives in 2011.

Ministry-wise, we started out the year getting involved in cell groups and beginning to disciple some new believers.  We were faithful members of the cell group and helped it grow until it multiplied and we became the leaders of a new cell group at our own house.  Praise the Lord that this new cell group also grew and new leaders were raised up so that it has multiplied as well.  Long story short: we are now leading and supervising 4 healthy cell groups.  Some of these will multiply now in January and the total number will be 7.

Please continue to pray with us that many lives will be saved and well taken care of.  Pray also for our disciples that they will continue to grow in intimacy with Christ!

Family-wise, we have a beautiful, healthy baby boy named Noah.  He is now 8 months young!  We have been able to see both our families this year and many friends, which has been very encouraging.  Erin is learning how to speak Portuguese very well!  After Noah’s birth, finding time to study the language has been a real challenge, but she gets lots of practice through discipling and counseling numerous women.

Fund-raising-wise, God has blessed us with faithful supporters who truly care about us.  We are currently still in need of an additional $450 per month.  If God is speaking to you about partnering with us in this area as well, please feel free to hear and obey

We are sincerely thankful for all our supporters and we pray for you often.  May God give you a very blessed new year and may you grow even closer and more intimate with Jesus!   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We love you so much!!

cell groups get-together

cell group Christmas party

family picture!

Noah at 7 months!

Prayer Request

Just a quick update and prayer request. The Wednesday cell group in Messejana that was really struggling a couple months ago, has begun to change and grow. Praise the Lord that He has heard our prayers and is beginning to pour His mercy and grace on this little group. The cell group is located in a small, poor community with a desperate need for Jesus. There are many broken families due especially to drug use.

Last night, Cristina, a mother of three, came to cell group and sat wide eyed during the whole thing listening to people talk about our “Abba Father”, our loving heavenly Father who wants to have a relationship with us.  After the cell group, she opened up and shared that her mother recently passed away and her husband has been using drugs. He has been taking all of their family’s money to buy drugs and even selling items from their house when desperate. She began to cry as we shared with her that God has called us to her community for a reason and that He has not forgotten about her and her family.

Please pray with us that God will do a miracle in her life, that she will give her life over to Him, and that her husband will also realize the great need he has for Jesus. Praise the Lord that He is beginning to change this little community; we are so excited to see God at work after months of no growth!!

Victories and challenges

speaking at a young adult service

cell group beach party!

Noah getting ready to surf

Dear Friends and Family,
Today was our first day of rain in a long time. It was nice to have a touch of what almost seemed like fall weather. We have had an exciting and challenging last month continuing to catch up on our work here after our trip to the States. Isaiah especially has been busy. He has had the opportunity to lead a Bible study group at a nearby hospital made up of doctors and nurses during their lunch time. He has also been able to pray with patients and family members at the hospital. In addition he has been preaching more than normal this month at one of our church’s satellite campuses.
Two of our cell groups have been growing quickly and will soon be ready to multiply as there are too many people for one group. Please pray that God will show us who the leaders of the new cell groups should be. Our other cell group that takes place in one of the poorer communities of the city has been a challenge. It is located in the middle of a community filled with drug users and alcoholics where being a Christian is not easy. We never know what to expect Wednesday nights! We have recently been really challenging the group to step up and really make a firm decision to follow Jesus with their entire lives and do whatever it takes to reach their community.
Last week we temporarily lost one of the members as she decided she wanted to live “in the world for the time being”. Please continue to pray for this group, that they will grow in intimacy with Christ and desire to share Him with their friends and family.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to be here in Brazil learning how to follow Jesus and make disciples, thank you so much for your support

A New Opportunity!!

Several weeks ago, we were excited to announce that we have teamed up with DoBidder.com, a fundraising website that works with charities to raise money with an exciting auction format. Even better, last week we hosted our first auction! While the auction was a success, we could have done a better job advertising it. So we want to let you know a bit more about this partnership and how you can help impact our ministry.

The cool thing about DoBidder is it gives you an opportunity to purchase, at an extreme discount, items that you want and the money you spend goes to support a cause of your choice. There are some incredible opportunities for both consumers and charities, as it isn’t uncommon to win an auction for 80 percent off the retail price while still contributing significant amounts of money to a charity.

This Sunday, the 23rd, we will once again be hosting an auction, a beautiful Brazilian painting from Fortaleza. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the auction will go towards sending new Christians from our church to an “Encounter Retreat” where they will learn who they are in Christ and experience his love in a tangible way. We’ve seen many lives transformed through this retreat, it costs $70 per person and our goal is to send 6 people! Please consider signing up with DoBidder as there will be many opportunities to creatively give to missions through this website. We are excited to see how God will use DoBidder to bless the people we are working with and many other organizations as well!

Thank you for partnering with us to reach Brazil for Christ!! Isaiah and Erin