Dear Partners in Mission,

Most of you received a letter from us last year entitled, "How we Spent our Vacation." Once again we had the privilege of using two weeks of our "vacation" teaching at the Missionary Training Center (CPO) held each January (the summer vacation month) at the Edward Lane Bible Institute in Patrocinio, Minas Gerais.

This year our time in Patrocinio was less "fun" for Henry as he arrived with high fever; a chest x-ray revealed pneumonia. Someone once referred to Henry as a "bulldog" and this persevering characteristic enabled him to teach his course and grade all the papers. As his "teaching assistant" I must say his lectures were less dynamic this year (at times he nearly ran out of breath), but his dedication to his students taught them things not found in the syllabus. All in all, I feel that our 27 students learned, among other things, how an exegesis is done. We pray they will go and practice what they learned!

At CPO I had at least one counseling session every day and also met with ministerial wives to discuss their issues. And I had my traditional Sunday afternoon class with all the women students. We found that our students were somewhat older, and most seemed more mature than any previous group we could remember. Henry had about six students who were elders in their home church. These elders are planting new Presbyterian congregations. It was exciting to be with them and encourage them!

Returning to Sapiranga the construction began to eat large chunks of Henry’s time and energy, and I jumped into working with the vacation Bible school planning committee, which was already diligently at work under Lucileide’s leadership.

Here in Rio Grande do Sul we were in the midst of the wettest summer in memory and one of the hottest! (Remember that we have no air conditioners at home or church!) Well, with God’s blessing we made it through the week with a total enrollment of 64 boys and girls (about 50 came every day!), ten "tias" or women teachers and aides, and three adolescents who worked the sound system and overhead projector, led recreation, and helped sweep up after class. I had 28 students ages 7 to 9 in my class. (I cannot remember sweating that much since my old YMCA day camp days!) Oh, and it rained in the mornings before VBS and it rained in the evenings after VBS, but it never rained when the kids were walking to VBS. (Thank you, Jesus!)

Only about 15 of the children were from church families. At the "graduation" service on Sunday after VBS, we had about ten parents visiting. During VBS many children prayed to receive Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can confirm this initial decision in the hearts of these children. Please pray that we can follow them up and get them enrolled in Sunday school. To this end, we are planning a big visitation day before enrollment Sunday on March 4.

Henry and I, along with two men on the administrative board (pre-session) and the president of Presbyterian Women (SAF), met this month to plan the annual Carnival retreat. We will leave this Sunday after a worship service to go to a nearby Lutheran campground. (Because construction of our building is stretching our budget, we could not afford a trip to the beach this year.) We have about 35 adults and 10 kids and a couple of babies signed up to attend. Mornings will be spent in Bible study, group discussion, praise, and prayer times. This year the theme is "living holy lives." The afternoons are for recreation. In the evenings, we have a long session of praise music and than one of our laymen brings a message. After this worship there is a social hour, each night led by a different group in the church: youth, men, or women.

The construction has gone amazingly fast, considering all the rain. The walls of our two-story activities building are complete and the roof beams (made of steel) should go up next Friday. Then the roof goes on. At that point we will be out of funds. Actually, we already are, but the church here is taking up a special over-and-above offering on March 11 and we’ve heard of a special gift from one of our supporting churches in the U.S. that is "in the pipeline" so we believe we will be able to pay all our bills. Then, as funds are available, we will do the following things:

• Put in electrical wiring and light fixtures.
  
• Complete hydraulic installation: a sink and at least one toilet (or up to
  three) in each bathroom.
  
• Plaster the internal walls on the first floor.
  
• Put in windows, external doors, and burglar bars on the first floor.
  
• Put in the smooth cement floors (prepared to receive tiles later).
  
• Plaster the second floor walls.
  
• Put windows in the second floor.
  
• Install a sink in the kitchen.
  
• Paint the internal walls.
  
• Install ceramic tile floors and ceramic tile in bathrooms and one kitchen wall.
  
• Put in internal doors and walls (second floor) as appropriate.

When items 1 through 5 have been done we will probably "move into" our building. We are planning to meet for worship on the second floor. After the second building (fellowship hall) is built, we will meet there and divide the second floor of the activities building into Sunday school classrooms. (The view of the Ferrabraz Mountain from the second floor is just wonderful floor! I hope some day some of you can see for yourselves!)

I think our major prayer needs right now are two:

That in the "business" of construction neither Henry nor the other leaders would lose sight of the real "building of the church," which happens only as people are being transformed by the Word of God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

And that during 2001 our church will continue to grow: gaining new members and new tithers and new lay leadership, so that we will be ready to be organized as a church with a session by December 2001.

Yes, that is a big challenge for such a small group, but we have an awesome God who is able to do more than we can even imagine. So will you commit to dream with us? And thank you so much for taking the time from your busy schedule to read this long letter. Your prayers are vital to our success! I have tried to give you a clear picture of what to pray about. If you have any questions, e-mail us and we will try to answer. Let us dream together!

For the glory of God in all things,

Henry M. Haswell, Jr. and Lottie B. Haswell

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 258

P.S. Many of you prayed for months for healing for Edmundo. Tonight we are having a Service of Thanksgiving for God’s special care of this little guy. Since his spleen was removed at Hospital of the Clinics, he has steadily improved. His physicians are amazed. We rejoice in our God!
P.P.S. If you feel led to help with evangelism and new church development in Rio Grande do Sul, please designate your gift to ECO (Extra Commitment Opportunity) #361002 and send to Central Receiving Service, Section 300, Louisville, KY 40289. Write the ECO number on the subject line of the check and put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter to the Office of International Evangelism, 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Or you may give through the Presbyterian Outreach Foundation for the Haswells’ Southern Brazil Church Construction Project.