April 1999

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Natal, Brazil. So far this year we have rented and furnished a house, purchased a car, classes have begun at the Missionary Training Center (CTM-Northeast), and we have welcomed four groups to Northeast Brazil.

In January, shortly after moving to Natal, we joined a group of 23 young adults from the south of Brazil who were launching an evangelism project in the sertão, a physically and spiritually impoverished region of Northeast Brazil. We traveled to the city of Patos in Paraíba, the neighboring state, and spent fours days in the interior with the evangelism team. This was the beginning of a five-year project, involving the ongoing presence of nine Brazilian missionaries, in conjunction with the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB) and the Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Paul is the liaison between the two organizations.

In February, we welcomed to Natal the Rev. Eddie Soto, the PC(USA)'s area coordinator for South America, along with a group of Presbyterian pastors and leaders. They visited churches and congregations in Rio Grande do Norte, the state where we live, in order to learn about the ministry of the IPIB in Northeast Brazil.

The Presbytery of Great Rivers of the PC(USA) sent four pastors and one elder to Natal in February to solidify a presbytery-to-presbytery partnership with the IPIB's Presbytery of the Northeast. This group was extremely well received by the Presbytery of the Northeast.

Paul began teaching "Introduction to the Bible" March 1 to eight first-year students at the Missionary Training Center (CTM) in Natal. He realizes his students are very patient with him as he teaches in Portuguese, and he believes they are benefitting from the class. After a year of full-time study at the CTM, these Brazilian men and women will work for three years with supervision as evangelists and missionaries in various cities in Northeast Brazil, returning to the CTM for two-weeks of intensive Bible, evangelism, and leadership studies two times per year.

From April 15 to 19, the Knox Fellowship, in conjunction with the Worldwide Ministries Division of the PC(USA), sent a team of three individuals to Natal for an evangelism conference. This conference, held at the First Presbyterian Church of Natal, attracted 80 participants from 12 denominations! Linda hosted this group while Paul was in the United States speaking at the annual missions fair of the Presbytery of Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He joined the Rev. Enock Coelho de Assis, the director of missions for the IPIB, in a presentation of the mission vision and work of the IPIB in Brazil and the world.

On his trip to the United States Paul was able to stop in Dallas for a few days to visit with our children, Chaitan and Marisa. Chaitan is working in the area of marketing for a firm called Audit Force. Marisa will graduate in May from the Baylor School of Nursing. She hopes to land a job with Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York City after taking her New York State exams in June. Please pray for Marisa in this big transition from school to work, and from Dallas to New York City.

Linda is gaining experience quickly in hosting groups, and she has found it to be a joy and a pleasure. We see these visiting groups as an integral part of establishing partnership in mission with the Brazilian church, as well as, creating interest and excitement for missions in the PC(USA).

These are the other work/study groups we are expecting in 1999:

• June 7 - July 7—New Wilmington Missionary Conference, Summer Service Program
• July 12-19—Outreach Foundation, the Rev. Jeff Ritchie
• July 31 - August 7—Memorial Park Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Ms. Mindy Fetherman, Missions Chairman
• August 14-16—Presbytery of Eastern Iowa, the Rev. Mike Sangler
• August 30 - September 13—Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, the Rev. Dan McNerney
• October (1st week)—Zionsville Presbyterian Church, Zionsville, Indiana, Mr. Jim Cochrane
• November (1st week)—Great Rivers Presbytery, the Rev. Paul Gilmore
• November (2nd week)—First Presbyterian Church, Campinas, Brazil, Mr. Paulo Camargo

We covet your prayers. Please pray the Lord will give us wisdom, strength, and joy for the work we have been given here in Brazil. Thank you for your encouragement and support. Remember, we always enjoy hearing from you, and don't forget to let us know how we can be praying for you.

Um grande abraço (a big Brazilian hug),

Paul and Linda Fahnestock