February 23, 2005

Dear supporting Churches and Friends,

The grace and peace of our resurrected Lord be with you!

Happy Easter 2005, or “Feliz Pascoa.”

Our last letter to you was in September 2004. We planned to send out another letter before the end of the year but were not able to, thus, we are bringing you all up to date from October of last year through the moment.

October We made a quick trip to Wooster, Ohio, as Irene’s father was sick. He passed away on October 20, 2004, at the age of 90 and 7 days. He was lucid until the last few hours of his life. We stayed on and helped with the closing of the apartment and moved Irene’s mother to a nursing home because she can no longer take care of herself. We thank God for His providential care and ask that you pray for Irene’s mother each day as she is living in a new place and staying with a new group of people.

November After having my (Michael’s) annual health examination in Wooster, Ohio, I came back to Brasilia on the November 26. I was able to rest a few days before heading back to work. I finished giving out grades to the third-year students here at the extension in Brasilia in the area of pastoral care and counseling. They all passed the course. Please pray that they become good pastoral counselors.

December I spent most of my time planning our work with my colleague, the Reverend Jean Carlos da Silva, coordinator of the Brasilia seminary extension. We prepared the report cards, composed a letter of invitation to a special worship for the new academic year, a letter to sessions of the local churches urging them to send new students in 2005, made a new calendar for the academic year 2005, made a plan for the graduation ceremony in 2006, and composed an agenda for our meeting with the president of the seminary, the Reverend Silas de Oliveira.

I spent Christmas day preaching at the congregation of the Independent Presbyterian Church in Ceilandia, a satellite city of Brasilia, where one of my students is serving as student pastor.

Irene spent Christmas with her family in Nashville, Tennessee. She came back to Brasilia on December 28, and we spent New Year together.

January We spent our time recruiting new students. After having prayed, made contact, and finalized all plans, we admitted ten new students for the year 2005. We praised God for guidance and direction. Students from Cuiaba and Sinop in the state of Mato Grosso are in the new class. These cities are about 16 to 20 hours away from Brasilia. We also have students from west of the state of Sao Paulo. These students are able to be here because of your generosity. You help them by giving partial scholarships for their monthly tuition. The students themselves, with help from their presbyteries and their local churches are paying for books, bus tickets, meals, and so forth.

It was a hard work but it was worth it and the Lord did provide in mysterious ways to meet the needs of the year 2005. I also made a quick trip to visit my mother and family in Bangkok, Thailand, from January 17 to February 5. They are all OK. Praise God!

February 11: A joyous day

On Friday, February 11th, 2005, the Antonio de Godoy Sobrinho Seminary (Brasilia Extension) once again opened it doors to new and returning students. The Reverend Silas Oliveira, president of the seminary, came to preach. He challenged the students to think seriously about the call to Christian ministry, which God has placed in their hearts. He was filled with emotion when he realized that several of our students were traveling as far as 20 hours by bus to study at the seminary. He asked God to protect them and take care of them during their journey back and forth on the roads so full of potholes! At least two-thirds of Brazil’s highways are under a reconstruction plan made three years ago. Very little has been done to further that plan. Please pray for our students who travel these roads each month for four years in order to earn a bachelor’s degree in theology.

Prayer needs

• for the 11 students who will graduate on December 16, 2005, and the students of the first, second and third year, that all may study hard and prepare to be pastors “according to the heart of the Lord.”
• for all the professors and leaders of the extension, that they teach, preach, and live the word of the Lord.
• for 10 new students for the year 2006.

We will be in the United States on a short interpretation assignment in January and February 2006. Please contact us if you’d like us to share in your church.

Again, we thank you for all your prayers and financial support as we complete our twenty-third year of mission service of the Lord through our beloved PC(USA) and our partner church, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil.

Blessings,

Michael and Irene Sivalee

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 44