April 2000

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from Natal, Brazil. We are really excited about this year, our ministry at the Missionary Training Center (CTM) and the various short-term work/study groups that will be coming. We have 15 new students at the CTM. Paul is having a wonderful time with them in his introduction to the Bible course, and Linda is teaching an English class which is open to CTM students and the public.

We have now been in Brazil for two years, and our biggest challenge continues to be preparing our teaching material in Portuguese. We have made a lot of progress with the language, but the learning process goes on. We think about all the years in school studying English, all the grammar and vocabulary study; this helps us to be patient with ourselves. And, as missionaries, we have the vocabulary of the Bible to acquire in addition to the vocabulary of daily communication. How long did it take you to pronounce the books of the Bible in English? And what about all the names of people and places and theological terms? Well, the spelling and pronunciation is all different in another language. Paul finds that it takes a lot more time to prepare a sermon in Portuguese than in English.

Speaking of sermons, Paul has been preaching regularly at several different congregations. These congregations do not have ordained pastors, but they have CTM students and missionaries teaching and preaching and providing pastoral care. Paul is going once per month to administer the Lord's Supper and preach. He is also available for baptisms, weddings and funerals. It is a real encouragement to us to see how the CTM students are effectively ministering. Before the CTM began three years ago, these congregations struggled for lack of leadership, which the CTM students are now supplying. In addition to these existing congregations, CTM students are going out and starting new works in communities and neighborhoods where reconciliation with God in Jesus Christ needs to be proclaimed. And there are thousands of these needy communities and neighborhoods in Northeast Brazil.

João Batista of Cajueiro

João Batista grew up in the county called Cajueiro, which means "cashew tree." It derives its name from the numerous cashew trees which were planted long ago on the old, colonial plantation. Life was grim for João growing up in the harsh environment of the scorched interior. He remembers eating four beans for lunch and saving the broth for the evening. João, now around 40, moved to Natal, the capital city, to gain a better livelihood. He began attending the Presbyterian congregation in one of poor neighborhoods in the periphery called Felipe Camarão. Five years ago he came to know Jesus personally and soon wanted to return to his home and share the good news of his personal relationship with Jesus. He convinced veteran pastor and church planter, Rev. Isaac, to begin regular visits to the Cashew Tree Farm. João was excited to go back home and tell. Over the past two years, Isaac and João have been regularly visiting families, conducting worship services and church school classes, and constructing. a church building. A large church with a kitchen has been completed along with a dormitory building, a soccer field, a volleyball field, and a caretaker's house. What's needed now is a water well and an agricultural project to support the growing ministry.

João and his young son, Leonardo, drove with us on our first visit so that we could know the way to the Cashew Tree Farm. Approaching the farm, bumping over gullies and ruts on the sandy, washed-out, unpaved road, João pointed out his uncle's land from the road to the river, his aunt's land next, and then his mother's land across the road from the church. There were close to 100 people in the Saturday evening worship service. Rev. Isaac and João program two visits per month in Cajueiro, always on Saturdays, because they are heavily involved on Sundays in Natal at the church in Felipe Camarão, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Natal where many residents make their living picking trash in the city dump.

João is one of Paul's new students at the CTM. Encouraged and recommended by Pastor Isaac, he was interviewed by the Presbytery, and is being trained as the lay leader for the congregation at Cajueiro. Join us in prayer for this evangelism project, which is based on a model being used by the presbytery. The project consists of a focal city and 5-6 satellite cities surrounding the focal city where a team of evangelists, working together, generate enthusiasm and interest for a new congregation in each of these cities. It's exciting that the presbytery now has identified four church-planting projects. Many CTM students are selecting these fields of ministry during their practicum years of study.

Beginning in May, we have four short-term work/study teams coming from the United States, and one team coming from the south of Brazil. Linda is busy with all the details involved in receiving the teams. Three of the U.S. teams will be involved with construction and evangelism projects in partnership with one or more Brazilian churches in the Northeast. Another U.S. team is a part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) special initiative "Year of the Child," and they will be with us for a few days to learn something about the problems for children in Northeast Brazil, including high infant mortality, child prostitution and children living in the streets. The Brazilian team visiting from south Brazil has a missionary interest in the interior of Northeast Brazil, the least evangelized region of Brazil. We have found short-term teams to be a win-win experience. The teams experience something of the magnitude of God's mission vision and grace, and the Brazilian churches are greatly encouraged knowing that they have partners in ministry who desire to work alongside them.

We experience the same encouragement from you in your partnership with us. We appreciate your prayers, your friendship and your support. We pray that you would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Colossians 1:9-12).

Nosso grande abraço (a big hug from us),

Rev. Paul and Linda Fahnestock

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 252