February 2000

Dear Family and Friends,

As I think about the above greeting I realize how our family has grown over the last year and how many more friends we have since we have been visiting churches over the last seven months! It has been wonderful to match faces with names and realize how many people pray for our ministry and are concerned about the spread of the church throughout the world!

In January, Gordon and I spent two days in Louisville at our church's main office, making a videotape about our term in Brazil. The folks in the communications office helped us condense about 140 photos that we had of our four years in Imperatriz into 11 minutes. The tape explains a lot for folks who were confused about whether we lived in the Amazon jungle, in Rio de Janeiro, or somewhere in between.

We will be showing the tape as we speak to groups and visit with folks. Unfortunately we can't visit all of our supporting churches, all of our friends, or all of our family members. If anyone would like to see a copy of the tape you may contact the office of Peter Kemmerle, Associate for Mission Connections at the national offices of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). His address is: Room 3622, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396, Phone:(502) 569-5612; e-mail: Peterk@ctr.pcusa.org

Thank you for praying for Pastor Paulo and Jaqueline in their work with our previous congregation in Imperatriz! Things are going very well there. A couple of people have joined the church, members are growing in their willingness to serve in leadership roles, and the school finished 1999 in good financial shape. In Brazil, as many of you remember, the school year ends in December and begins in February. This year the school has added another grade, enabling more students to study there and the three teachers can work full time. Jacqueline is a wonderful administrator. In our situation it is nice to "work ourselves out of a job."

We will be returning to Brazil to Sobral, Ceará, in late June to begin a new church. Between now and then we have a full calendar of speaking engagements, but we also want to take advantage of being near lots of goods resources and people here in the seminary and in the community. The children are enjoying school and doing very well.

Please pray for Paulo and Jacqueline in their work in Imperatriz, safety in our travel and wisdom in making all the arrangements we need to make before we leave. Praise God for modern technology, which allowed us to make a great videotape from simple pictures in order to convey our message more easily. Thank you for your prayers and concern.

In Christ,

Gordon and Dorothy Gartrell

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