August 1, 2006

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Greetings from Recife, Brazil. It is nice to be back in Brazil with warm-hearted Brazilians, enjoying its natural beauty and good food. We arrived on July 8, and the adults began looking for an apartment while the children, Elizabeth and Daniel, returned to Salvador, where we had lived, to spend time with friends. After ten days we were able to rent a very nice apartment in the neighborhood where the church would like us to begin a new church. The children will be able to walk to school, as it is half a block away.

Recife is a big city of 1,500,000 people, located on the northeast coast. Our apartment is eight blocks from the beach. The area of the beach is well known for being shark infested. It seems funny to have the sun set at 5:30 p.m. but we are only eight degrees south of the equator. Although it is rainy season, it is still very hot.

Our new address is
Rua João Eugênio de Lima, 207/302
Setúbal
51030-360 Recife, PE
Brazil

Our e-mail address is the same. Please stay in touch with us, either by “snail mail” or email.

The Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPI) has invited us to start a new church in a middle class neighborhood. The first week we met people and attended a small Bible Study that already meets in the neighborhood. We have found people in the neighborhood who hunger for Christ. The presbytery is composed of five churches in Recife and its suburbs. Both pastors and lay people are excited about us beginning new work in our neighborhood and have offered to help.

Brazilians love to sing, thus music is a very important part of worship here. A number of Worship Praise Teams from another church have offered to help us lead the singing and time of praise in our Bible studies and worship services.

Please pray for our new work, as we strive to reach out to those who do not know Christ and that the Lord will clearly present a strategic work plan, plus the wisdom and talents to carry it out.

In Christ,

Gordon and Dorothy Gartrell

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 45