March 13, 2007
Dear Partners in Mission,
Grace and peace be with you all in the name of Christ our Lord!
Carnival had come and gone! Now many Brazilians are fasting,
no meat for their meals as they look toward Easter. Stores are
packed with chocolate eggs, which can sell for up to 30 or 40
dollars. Newspapers show photographs of crowded supermarkets in
Brasilia over the weekend because of these chocolate eggs. In
my neighborhood grocery store, children were crying because they
want these chocolates. But parents said to their children, “We
don’t have a dime to spare because we spent what we had
during carnival.” It is true story and a sad one because
millions of dollars are wasted during carnival every year.
We returned to Brazil on February 1, 2007, and after a vacation
in Antioch, Tennessee, we drove to Louisville and then on to Hamilton,
Ohio. There, we went to the courthouse, where we were married
in 1972, and got a copy of our marriage certificate. Later, I
(Michael) went to Washington D.C. to visit my brother and his
family. I also went to the Brazilian embassy, hoping to legalize
our marriage certificate before returning to Brazil. Unfortunately,
the process had changed. The Secretary of State of Ohio needed
to verify the authenticity of the signature of the judge. After
much back-and-forth work, we got out marriage certificate authenticated
and can now proceed to have it legalized in Brazil. Irene was
born in Brazil and has dual nationality, thus it is also good
to have our marriage certificate legalized in Brazil according
to Brazilian law. Of course it would have been easier to do when
we arrived in Brazil in 1982, but it is always a challenge to
get paperwork done to the satisfaction of both the United States
and Brazil. We have to be patient. Please pray for us.
We are preparing for another graduation at the Brasilia extension
of the Rev. Antonio de Godoy Sobrinho Seminary of the Independent
Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB). Four students will graduate
on Saturday, March 31, 2007. Bless their hearts: They endured
till the end! They will be examined by their presbytery and will
do a year of internship from April 2007 to April 2008. We hope
that all will be ordained in 2008.
There are 10 students at the extension. Four will complete their
work in December 2007. The other six students will graduate in
December 2008. Then the extension will be closed. The IPIB will
receive 24 pastors as fruits of this hard work. We praise God
for His guidance and blessings through your prayers and support.
It is amazing to see how God has given our presbytery a new vision
of doing mission and evangelism. No one can deny that the Brasilia
extension brings a new pastoral and mission spirit to the IPIB
in central-west Brazil.
In January 2007, the IPIB Presbytery of the Federal District
celebrated its new partnership with the Board of National Mission
by committing to plant three new churches each year—15 new
churches by 2012. We praise God because three new churches had
been opened this month. The presbytery is also re-evaluating the
mission fields that were opened many years ago and is in the process
of revitalizing these congregations with new partnerships. It
hopes that these existing congregations will be able to call pastors
and be organized as churches in the next few years. Presbytery
is also working on a plan to divide itself into three presbyteries—Goias,
Tocantins, and Federal District of Brasilia. This will be accomplished
only when all the regions have enough strong and organized churches
to support the new presbyteries. New pastors will be the driving
force of mission of the new presbyteries. They are working in
all three regions at moment. By the time the new churches are
organized, they will have enough experience to build on what was
planted years earlier.
I recently received news from former students who had studied
with us at the Lay Missionary Training Center in Cuiaba, where
we worked from 1994 to 2002. Many are now ordained clergy and
leaders of the Presbytery of Mato Grosso and the Presbytery of
Rondonia. Until November 2006, these two presbyteries were a single
body, the Presbytery of Mato Grosso-Rondonia. Churches are growing
and souls are being saved by the proclamation of the Word of the
Lord. You all can rejoice because your constant prayers, supplications,
and financial support have empowered young men and women to serve
our Lord and His Church. Thank you very much.
Prayer requests
- For Solange, Joao, Sergio, who will be ordained on March 23,
2007.
- For Ceci, Sirco, Vinicio and Eliseu, who will be examined
by the presbytery for internships on March 23, 2007.
- For financial needs of the Brasilia Extension, especially
for scholarships for six students for 2007 and 2008.
- For our present assignment, which ends February 28, 2008.
After that, we are scheduled for a four-month interpretation
assignment, but we have asked World Mission (formerly Worldwide
Ministries Division) to extend our assignment in Brazil until
December 2008. We are waiting for their decision.
- For Mission Challenge ’07—in October this year
30 PC(USA) missionaries will fan out across the country to do
intensive mission interpretation in 120 presbyteries. They’ll
be lifting up all Presbyterian missionaries.
Serving the Lord Jesus Christ,
Michael and Irene Sivalee
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 41 |
