| October 2, 2003
Dear Partners,
I am finally able to send an update on our activities—it’s
based on an email I wrote in response to a request from one of
our supporting churches. I apologize for having gone so long without
sending any news. The real reason I got behind on communication
with our partners, was lack of time. We have been so busy doing
mission, we haven’t had time to write about it.
I trust each of you received the letter telling all about the
organization of the new congregation here in Sapiranga. (I sent
it out at the end of 2002 by snail mail.) Becoming an organized
congregation with elders and deacons was wonderful, but not an
end; it was a beginning!
In December of 2002, I, Lottie, was elected president of Presbyterian
Women (SAF) for the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Henry thought
my election was timely, as he was planning to “cut back”
on some of his activities at the presbytery level in order to
focus more on evangelism and discipleship in our three young congregations
(Sapiranga, Taquara, and Caxias do Sul). Also, we imagined that
at our age, we would be winding down in ministry. But God had
other plans!
Also, I am serving a second two-year term on the municipal health
council in Sapiranga. This council is responsible for monitoring
the use of federal, state, and municipal funds to provide health
care for our citizens through the National Health Care Plan (socialized
medicine). I was recently elected to represent our city at the
state convention and have a good chance of being elected to the
national convention. This is a great opportunity to witness and
demonstrate how Christians stand for justice.
In January we went for our normal two-week “vacation”
to our teaching assignment at the Missionary Training School (CPO).
We stayed an extra week as the new moderator of the Presbyterian
Church of Brasil, the Reverend Roberto Brasileiro, requested that
Henry attend a meeting of the Board of National Mission (JMN),
to be held during graduation week at CPO. At that meeting Henry
was asked to become the supervisor for all the JMN work in our
state. (You may remember that Rio Grande do Sul is about the size
of Texas!)
So in February Henry returned to pastor our newly organized church
in Sapiranga along with her two congregations in Taquara and Caxias
do Sul. In March one of the JMN pastors left the ministry and
Henry became responsible for pastoral oversight of that congregation
in the port city of Rio Grande (about a five-hour drive from Sapiranga).
And so this year Henry has been the supervisor of the new church
developments in the cities of Cachoeira do Sul, Santa Maria, Farroupilha,
and Cruz Alta.
On September 21, 2003, we ministered at our congregation in Caxias
do Sul. Henry preached and administered Communion. I had meetings
with two of the women I am training as Sunday school teachers
and introduced them to their new curriculum. Henry also met with
the leaders. They are hoping to complete construction this week
of the two new classrooms for children. We had over 40 people
in the worship service in Caxias. The group now has 14 adult communicants,
and all were present this Sunday. So were the 11 baptized children!
There are also several adults attending regularly who are either
not yet converted or are still being prepared for baptism. We
also had five new visitors in that service. The members are planning
a neighborhood outreach on October 12, 2003, which is Children’s
Day (an annual holiday in Brazil).
The Caxias group is very enthusiastic! They are presently meeting
in a rented building, but looking forward to purchasing land for
their own building. Our Sapiranga congregation is committed to
helping them as soon as we are able. And we hope to give some
help to them through project funds. Contributions may be sent
to: Central Receiving Service, Section 300, Louisville, KY 40289.
Write the title (Urban Evangelism in Rio Grande do Sul) and the
ECO number on the subject line (ECO #361002) of the check and
put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter
to the Office of International Evangelism at 100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Or click here.
This will be a 50/50 partnership, that is, half gift and half
loan. I thank God that teaching financial responsibility has been
a hallmark of Henry’s ministry. We believe that too much
help from outside sources can handicap future growth.
Thanks to an end-of-year gift (2002) from the Outreach Foundation,
we were able to get a semi-new car at the end of December 2002.
Our son Daniel was visiting us and he helped us shop for a really
good deal. We found a 2001 Volkswagen Parati in “like new”
condition, having only 22,000 kilometers. Our old Parati had served
us well for 11 years and 300,000 kilometers! The new car has many
luxury items we have never had before in a Brazilian car: power
steering, air bags (in a country where someone dies every 17 minutes
in a traffic accident), tinted glass and even an air conditioner
and a heater (wonderful for our winters with temperatures down
around zero degrees centigrade) and a CD player. We have already
put over 20,000 kilometers on this car since returning from CPO.
The safety and comfort this car affords has helped us fulfill
our many new responsibilities. Praise the Lord and God bless the
Outreach Foundation!
Henry had his 65th birthday on August 6, 2003. Yes, we count
on the promise of Psalm 92:14 and pray that we can continue to
produce fruit for the glory of God, all the days of our life.
Please pray for:
- Continued health and wisdom to administer our time and fulfill
our many responsibilities. We propose to finish strong!
- Henry’s ministry as pastor of a church and three congregations.
- Henry’s responsibilities as supervisor to four other
new church developments and four missionary couples.
- Lottie’s work with Presbyterian Women at the local and
state level.
- Lottie’s work on the Municipal health council.
- Lottie’s work in Christian education.
- Safety as we travel the dangerous highways.
Thank you for helping us declare God’s glory among the
nations!
Lottie for both of us
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 258 |
