September 10, 2007

Dear Friends,

Can our three-year term already be coming to an end? How can the time have gone by so quickly? It won't be long before we will be packing up to go to the States, in mid-December, for our six-month home assignment. This has been a term filled with many rewarding activities and challenges.

I have enjoyed teaching Christian education throughout this term, and have been very pleased when my students report that teaching in their churches has become much more meaningful after being involved in this course. I continue to enjoy my music teaching activities, and seeing the musical progress of the students is always a positive experience for me, as it seems to be for the students as well.

An especially enjoyable experience for us was the visit in July of a group of ten from North Lakeland Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, Florida. In just a few days, good friendships were developed between this group and the members of our church, reminding us of the unity we experience in Christ in spite of being from different cultures and speaking different languages. The members of our church here received this group as if they were family.

Thelma has stayed busy with her studies at the seminary and looks forward to graduating at the beginning of December.

Volunteers and seminary students of the ""Projeto Escolar."

She and a friend of hers have been in charge of Sunday school at our church, and she has enjoyed teaching in the young people’s and adult Sunday school classes from time to time. She has also found time to direct the “Projeto Escolar” at our church on Friday afternoons. This project was designed to help needy children who are having difficulty with their school work and who need special attention. They are chosen by the director of a nearby public school as being the children with the greatest needs and with the most serious learning difficulties. Many of the children, who are from 10 to 14 years old, come from homes where violence and crime are a part of their daily lives, and where they are not used to discipline of any kind.

The volunteer teachers and seminary students who help out at the project have had many difficult experiences, as well as rewarding days that help keep them going! Gustavo was the most difficult student last year, and was the one most in need of help. But because of his constant foul language, disrespect for the teachers and students, and his habit of throwing rocks and stopping the toilets up with paper, and other such destructive behavior, Thelma had to dismiss him from the project. He left gladly, saying that he had never wanted to participate in the first place!

But then there was Jennifer, a shy little girl who had been passed from grade to grade without learning math and without learning how to read or write, because of the need in the school system to pass a certain number of students each year. One day, after many months at the Projeto, she tried to get Thelma's attention constantly by tugging at Thelma's shirt throughout the afternoon. This was not unusual for Jennifer, but on this day Thelma sensed an urgency that she had not seen before, and found a moment to sit down and discover what she needed. Jennifer was so excited that she could hardly contain herself as she told how she had recently been passed from one grade to the other at her school, not just because of the need to pass a certain number of students, but because she had actually made the grades this time after learning to read and write and to solve math problems on her own!

Thelma teaching at the "Projeto Escolar." Gustavo is standing and Jennifer is at front, far right.

A few months ago, while all the teachers and students were busily involved with their activities, a familiar face appeared at the door. It was Gustavo! He had returned of his own choice and begged to be readmitted into the after-school project, as he wanted to pass from one grade to the next “for real” this time, just like Jennifer had! Thelma allowed him to be readmitted, with the understanding that good behavior would be expected of him if he were allowed to return. He readily agreed, and has been participating respectfully, the foul language and destructive behavior, for the most part, now a thing of the past.

In closing, I’d like to tell you about a big event that is about to take place in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in October. It is called Mission Challenge ’07, where 48 PC(USA) missionaries will spend a week sharing the stories of their ministry in 144 presbyteries. Because we will be in Brazil until the end of the year, we will not be able to participate as speakers, but there are plans to put missionaries in 700 churches during the month of October to share the news that every day, in Christ's name—and thanks to your faithful support—hope is being shared with people in need around the world. Please be on the lookout for a box that will be sent to your church in late September. It will have bulletin inserts, a DVD, and the request that you choose a Sunday in October to watch the video and take an offering.

God has blessed us in many ways, and we are grateful for the support of the home churches that makes our ministry possible. Thelma and I thank you for your interest in our ministry here in Brazil, and we appreciate your prayers.

In Christ's service,

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study, p.41