January 29, 2001

Dear Friends,

Grace and peace. We hope that you all are doing well, enjoying snow and cold weather. We enjoy seeing some snow flakes in Wooster, Ohio. It is quite cold but it is good to get away from a lot of heat in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso! It is nice to see wood burning in the fireplace, drink hot coffee in the cold weather for a change! It also makes us realize the power of our God, the creator of all
things—the snow, cold weather, and most of all our own lives are in His perfect and caring hand.

During this short home assignment (January and February), we will be able to visit eight churches in Ohio, six in Tennessee, one in Kentucky, two in South Carolina, one in Illinois, two in Alabama and two in Virginia. We will be busy on the road, and we ask for your prayers. We hope that we can visit all the folks who contacted us and that snow and ice will not be a major problem.

We hope that you all received our last letter (November 2000). We ask that you continue to pray for the Center for Missionary Training (CTM) and its students and teachers. The students who graduated in the year 1999 and 2000 are continuing to do well in their churches. Two of them are in seminary, as they hope to be ordained as ministers later on. We are happy to know that they are helping their churches to grow in the area of holistic mission (soul and body).

The students who completed the first year in residence during 2000 were sent out to various parts of Brazil. Please hold them up in your prayers, for they will face a lot of challenges, joys, and problems. Most of them have never taken care of a church before, and it will be their first time in leadership roles.

The CTM-West Central is now five years old. We have trained a total of 61 students, of which 58 are Brazilians, two are Peruvian and one is Argentinian. Fifteen have had to withdraw from the program for various reasons—some were sick, some decided to go to seminary, and some returned to their own churches when they realized they weren’t able to pursue the call. Of the 46 students (11 graduated, 35 still studying), 15 are serving in the Presbytery of Mato Grosso and Rondônia. We praise God, because it is the first time in the 12-year history of this presbytery that all of our churches and congregations have missionaries and pastors to lead and care. They are serving Communion monthly and can baptize without having to wait for a field pastor to pass by!

We are seeing God’s miracles through the work of our students:

Daniel Paulino, a 1999 graduate, is taking care of what was once an organized church in Porto Velho, the capital of Rondônia. The church lost its direction and a sense of being a mission church and it was almost closed. Membership was down from 100 to six or seven people. Working with care and patience, Daniel has won the trust and respect of the people. They now
have approximately 50 people in worship services. He is also helping them complete the construction of their church. Their goal is to be self-sufficient by the end of 2002 and be re-organized again as a church, with session and board of deacons.

Israel Bellantini, a rising senior, is working with a mission congregation that developed approximately eight years ago. It is a tough job and a big challenge for him and his young bride, Edilene. They were sent to take care of a young church that had been led by a missionary couple with over 20 years of experience in church-planting. Though they were afraid at the beginning, they worked hard to lead the people and trusted that God would bless them all. They are doing a great job in areas that the other leaders were not able to
do. They hope to organize this congregation in Sinop, Mato Grosso, by the end of this year. Praise God, because it will be the first congregation organized as a church since our Presbytery was formed 12 years ago! If you are interested in finding out more about the works and the needs of these two students, please write me a note.

As I am writing this letter, I realize how much God has done and is doing in the life of the Independent Presbyterian Church through students of CTM West-Central. Also realize that God puts the dreams in the hearts and minds of the leaders of the Independent Presbyterian Church as they were and are concerned about the souls and bodies of Brazilians, Indians, and other Latin American brothers and sisters. We are thankful for the opportunity to serve at CTM West-Central in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso.

Please remember the needs of our school during the year 2001. For any who feel God beckoning them to support the training center, contributions may be sent to:
Central Receiving Service
Section 300
Louisville, KY 40289

Write the ECO number on the subject line (ECO #864544) of the check and put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter to:
Office of Global Education and International Leadership Development
100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, KY 40202-1396

If you would like to send a church group to visit us, we will be glad to help plan and assist in any way that we can. Finally, the Presbytery of Mato Grosso-Rondônia and CTM West-Central are seeking a partnership with a presbytery in the United States. Please let us know if you are interested. Again, we thank you all for your prayers and gifts. We appreciate them very much.

In Christian Service,

Mike and Irene Sivalee

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