Spring 2018 MISSION HEADQUARTERS 30 Carnglave Manor, Spa, Ballynahinch, Co. Down, Northern Ireland BT24 8XE Brazilian girls with their new dresses from Northern Ireland in Rio Branco Tel: 028 97 563200 Mob: 07710506939 email: acregospelmission@hotmail.co.uk Page 1 web: www.acregospelmission.org
info contents Page Mission Addresses 2 President s Page 3 Building for the Kingdom 4 Looking Back with Thankfulness 5 Reaching Out in the Vale Judeu 6 By All Means To Save Some 8 MISSION HEADQUARTERS 30 Carnglave Manor, Spa, Ballynahinch, County Down, Northern Ireland BT24 8XE Tel: 028 97 563200 Mob: 07710506939 email: acregospelmission@hotmail.co.uk Charity Number: XN47625 web: www.acregospelmission.org Opportunities to Sow The Seed 10 Overflowing with Joy and Praise 11 God Knows and Works in Hearts 12 School Ministry in Manaus 13 News from Rio Grande de Norte 14 A Little Child Shall Lead Them 16 President Pastor Victor Maxwell Tel: 028 9209 3867 Co-ordinator Pastor Keith Lindsay Tel: 028 9756 3200 Treasurer Mr Paul McManus Mission Addresses Lanzarote Pastor Richardo & Sandra Apartado 390 Arreciffe 35500 Lanzarote E: r.ache.leon@hotmail.com Brazil Dr Bill Woods Caixa Postal 217 Rio Branco, ACRE. CEP 69,900,970 Brazil Dr Tom & Lucimar Geddis Rua Silvestre Coelho 478 Bairro José Augusto 69900-773 Acre Brazil Tel: 0055 6832 245501 Portugal Mr & Mrs Aroldo Areas Bairro das Panteras Bloco 3-3 1 Dto A 7500-140 V.N Santo Andre Portugal e: aroldo.areas@gmail.com Tel: 00351 269 744285 Mr & Mrs Mark Loney PO Box 109 8100-910 Loulé Algarve Portugal Tel: 00351 28 9328635 e: iecavj@sapo.pt Jeffrey Ferguson Bairro Das Panteras Bloco 3-3 1 Dto A 7500-140 V.N Santo Andre, Portugal e:jeffreyferguson24@googlemail.com Mr & Mrs Barry Henry The International Evangelical Church PO Box 109 8100-910 Loulé Algarve Portugal e: iecapt@hotmail.com Mr Glen Bowden The International Evangelical Church PO Box 109 8100-910 Loulé Algarve Portugal e: bowden_glenn@hotmail.com Page 2
P resident s age At our Acre Prayer gathering this morning we were considering the prophet Isaiah lifting up his eyes to see the Lord, high and lifted up and sitting on the throne. He said, Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:5). When we see God as He really is, it clears our vision to see other things as they are. After seeing God, Isaiah saw himself as he really was. He was undone and unclean but discovered that there was mercy, forgiveness and cleansing. After seeing himself, the prophet saw others as they were, needy and lost. It was then he listened to God s conversation asking, Whom shall I send and who will go for Us? Without hesitation, Isaiah willingly offered himself, Here am I, send me. A proper view of God as Lord of hosts and Lord of the harvest impels us to share in His concern for the lost around us. That is why Acre International and its missionaries devote their lives to preaching and teaching God s Word. We thank God for our colleagues who engage in the great work of the Gospel and for our friends who stand with us in prayer and support. During the last year we had excellent visits from our workers in Brazil and Portugal. We just got word that Pastor Francisco Poderoso s mother-in-law went to be with the Lord. Pastor Fabiomar and his wife, Marilene, from Labrea were so blessed and encouraged to meet so many friends who pray for them. Audrey and I continue to be busy representing the work and preaching the Word as we have opportunity. Thank you for your prayers and support. Victor Maxwell Page 3
Buiding for the Kingdom Aroldo & Emmanuelle Areas, Santo Andre, Portugal Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Psalm 127: 1 The end of 2017 brought a blessing from the Lord as the church finally received the tax refund due two years ago and this money will be used in 2018 DV to start the building of the wall around the church property. This is one of the projects we are having for the church in the year 2018. As the church building and the brand new dorm are steadily being established we, as a church, are starting to plan some more events that could be done as soon as the wall is built. In 2018, with or without the wall being built, we do hope to be able to organize some outreach days and camps around Easter. We are also already planning for next Christmas to have a Carol outreach and a Christmas workshop around the church building and at the entrance of the close-by supermarkets. Of course these plans would be more efficient if the wall was built. Just before Christmas and for the Christmas services, we had another blessing as we were able to have the church name engraved on the top and side of the church. The new dorm has already been used by the Fatima Outreach Team and some other small groups who have come to help us at the church with outreach work. Some have even stayed just to have a time of relaxation. These are the main purposes of the new dorm, to welcome groups or individuals who come to help or to rest. This Dorm has proved to be a real blessing indeed. Another great blessings is to have Marco, the young people s leader, and his wife Daniella together with Rosalina as faithful helpers in the work here. We look forward to having Slemish, a group from Northern Ireland for an outreach in March. Please pray that people will come into this outreach and hear the Gospel. It has also been a great blessing to have Jeffrey joining our Alentejo Team. He is making good progress in learning the language and soon he will be fluent in Portuguese. These are the blessings we have been having and these are our plans for 2018 but we know as Solomon wrote in Psalm 127 that Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand in vain. Therefore, we trust in our Lord to guide us as we make our plans so that His will will be done and His glory be shown in our town of Santo Andre. Page 4
Looking Back With Thankfulness to 2017. Barry & Raquel Henry, Algarve, Portugal Where does the time go? It only felt like yesterday that we were celebrating the beginning of 2017 and now we are at the end of it and have welcomed in 2018. In all things we have a lot to thank God for in relation to the way He has sustained us in all circumstances throughout the year. The month of May saw several young people obey Jesus' command of baptism and it was with great joy that we were able to be a part of it. Summer as always was a busy time with Summer camps and we praise God for His help and guidance over the three weeks and especially all the new faces that were either campers or leaders. As many know, the Portuguese contingent are less numerically than the International side in the church here in Vale Judeu and although we don t follow numbers, we did feel that it would be good if we had a place that was more suited to a smaller group. The church building is quite big and it felt even bigger with the smaller group meeting in it each week. We thank God that He provided us with the means and the funds to have a multifunctional hall where we can gather together in the afternoon in a place more suited to our size. We have been there a short time and any change takes time to get used to. We are still ironing out creases but we thank God that we have this building that we can use for our gathering and also other events. We do, however, pray that we will grow too big for the building. Keep praying! We also have our Portuguese Sunday School led by Richard and a group of helpers. Although it is small in number, the children really appreciate the teaching from God s Word each week. The beginning of the Christmas season began with our annual Bethlehem Village and it was such a joy to see so many people come onto the grounds as we told the Christmas story in drama form. Everyone that came in left with a gift bag which included a New Testament. We also celebrated our Christmas dinner for the Portuguese community and we had over 70 people at it. It was a great time of fellowship, food and time of reflection about Christmas and the true reason for the season. On a personal note, I am so thankful for the time I spent in Northern Ireland in November with the mission and the oportunities I had in sharing about the work in Portugal. It was so good to be able to meet face to face with those who have been praying for us and the work here with the Portuguese. I was so overwhelmed with the love and care shown towards me during my time there and it will always be a special memory. As always we are grateful for your support and especially your prayers for us. They mean so much and as I have always said that you are as much a part of the work as we are. We have many plans for the year ahead including taking some of our Portuguese friends to Santo Andre for a weekend of fellowship with Aroldo and Emmanuelle Areas and Jeffrey Ferguson. We look forward to times of fellowship and blessing. Page 5
Reaching out in Vale Judeu Glen Bowden writes Thank you yet again for all your prayers and support. It s through your prayers we are continuing to see our awesome God at work here in the Algarve. The Bethlehem Village Outreach in December was a complete success with hundreds of people attending this year. The Sunday night was a real blessing with people queued up all the way to the front entrance of the church site. We even had the Portuguese television cameras here on site filming the whole event and it was on national television! We have so much to be thankful for with so many answers to prayer over the Christmas period. Our Christmas Eve service was packed out with so many people who would never attend church during the year and we value continued prayer for all the seeds planted in lives that it would bear fruit. The youth work is all going so well with over 20 young people coming each week. We are really starting to see a fantastic community grow one with another and most importantly it is such a blessing to see so many grow in their faith. We have some outreach events planned this year to enable our youth to invite their friends along. Please remember the youth of Vale Judeu in your prayers, that they will grow deeper in their relationship with God and they would be open to be used by God in their schools, families and friendship groups. A special prayer request for this year s Camp Sonshine would be for leaders for all three weeks of the camps. Pray that we would get God centred young people who will come and serve this summer. Please remember by twin sister, Joanne, who is in need of a liver transplant. She s now on the waiting list and we pray that everything will fall into place. Continue to remember my mum, Myrtle, who has been finding life a bit lonely at this time. Thank you for your kindness and support. Page 6
Dr Bill Woods Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil Please continue to pray for Bill in his duties in the hospital each morning. Pray for the patients that he has opportunity to witness to. Thank you for remembering his ongoing health issues. He has some surgery on his jaw in the Autumn and awaits further surgery this year. Pray for safety in Rio Branco as there have been many murders in the town over the past few weeks. Diary Dates 2018 Acre Weekend Magherabuoy House Hotel Portrush: 11th 13th May, 2018 Acre BBQ Faith Mission Centre, Portadown Saturday, 30th June, 2018 Teams for 2018 Calling all young People! And older ones too Why not join us on an outreach team this year Acre Annual Dinner Lisburn Congregational Church Hall Saturday, 6th October, 2018 Killyhevlin Autumn Break Monday, 19th to Thursday, 22nd November, 2018 Acre Christmas Praise Night Portadown Saturday, 1st December, 2018 Fatima Outreach Team: 7th-14th May Amazon Adventure, Brazil: 2nd-16th July Lanzarote Children s Camp: 26th July - 9th August Fatima Outreach Team: 8th - 15th October Camp Sonshine are also looking leaders for July for three weeks of camp. For further details please contact the office on 028 9756 3200 or by email acregospelmission@hotmail.co.uk Page 7
By All Means To Save Some Jeffrey Ferguson, Santo Andre, Portugal It is said that the world is becoming a very small place, and indeed we have some evidence of that even here in the small town of Santo André. In our church we have several countries represented, including Brazil, England, Mozambique, France, Northern Ireland, Germany, and Angola. Occasionally others drop in during the holiday period when many folk pass this way on road trips along the Portuguese coastline. And of course we have the native Portuguese who regularly attend the church also. I mentioned above that we have had some Angolan folk coming to the church. There are a lot of Angolan young people moving to this area to study here, in order that they might get a job in the rapidly expanding Sea Port at Sines and its associated industries. The Port is the main port on the Atlantic seaboard of Portugal, and is the main point of entry for Portugal's energy supplies, such as coal, oil and other necessary supplies. It is believed that this port will be considered of great economic importance in supplying wider Europe with goods in the years to come. And so, many young folk are availing of this opportunity and coming here to seek employment. At the church, we have had regular contact with four of the Angolan young folk. They started attending the church at the end of October, and in discussion with them they indicated that they had a desire to learn English. So, we quickly set about to set up classes for them to attend weekly, and I, being the native English speaker in the church have had the job of teaching them. This has been a great opportunity to reach into this community. We understand that not all of them are believers, and we are so encouraged to see them coming to church and wanting to be a part of things here at the church. We decided at Christmas that we would take a trip to the Algarve Church to visit the Bethlehem Village outreach organised by the team there. We were very happy that the four students came with us, plus four other friends. They really enjoyed the trip and asked many questions about what they saw there. At our last class before the Christmas holidays we were able to give the students a little gift bag each containing an English Bible and some Portuguese gospel literature, which they were very glad to receive. Unfortunately, we learned just before Christmas that the course the students are taking is being moved to a college near Lisbon. This means they will most likely be moving away in the coming days. However, we believe that God has given us this short time together in order to be a blessing to these young folk, and that we might share with them the message of the gospel. However long or short a time period we have with people we must seize that opportunity and use the time to minister into the lives of those who pass our way. Pauls tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:22: Page 8
I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Whilst we have been reaching out to the Angolan folk in the community, we are also continuing to reach out to the local Portuguese people also. One event which we have been running now on a monthly basis is the coffee morning which coincides with the monthly market in the town. What we simply do is open the church, offer free coffee and cake to the folk who pass by, and offer them some gospel literature and an invite from the church. The people here are typically sceptical of any kind of outreach; they are wary of what is required of them, and what we want from them. What we want to do here is to break down some barriers, to help people see that we are not out to recruit people, but simply to show love and kindness to them, and to offer them the gospel, allowing them to make the decision for themselves. It is a slow process, but we are praying that through time people will see we care for them and want to share with them this good news that we have. Like many other countries and cities, there are many problems here, many marriage breakdowns, many young people despondent about the future, and many people disillusioned from past experiences in other religious establishments. We want to offer them a different way, a Saviour who can take them from the broad way onto the narrow way leading to Heaven and a life lived for Christ. Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we work here, and again we thank you for your continued support for our work here. Keith & Karen Lindsay s new CD Its About The Cross Available from the office at 12 including package and posting. All profits are going to the work of Acre. A Light For Your Way New devotional book by Victor Maxwell Available from the office 12.99 including package and posting or from all Christian bookshops. MEDITATIONS ON GOD S WORD AND REFLECTIONS OF GOD S WORK Victor Maxwell Page 9
Opportunities to Sow the Seed Mark and Judith Loney, Algarve, Portugal 2018 is presenting itself as an exciting year of opportunity for us here in the International Church. With our renovated stables now complete and the building functional, this gives us plenty of scope for new activities which create opportunities to bring the Word of God to men, women, boys and girls. This month we are beginning a new venture and that is to offer light lunches every Thursday. Thursday is a good day for this sort of thing a we have our weekly Bible study in the morning and there is a group who play boules in the afternoon. We hope that those who attend these two things will either stay on after Bible study or come early before Boule. What we would like to see is people coming on site and using the fellowship areas not just on Sundays. We also feel that the combination of the Bible Garden and coffee shop is a great potential for outreach. For now we will begin with Thursday lunches to see how it goes and if there is interest and the manpower to run it we will open it other days of the week. This month the job of landscaping the Bible Garden begins in earnest as Matt McCartney helps me with the mini digger to create a winding walkway from the lower car park up to the church s courtyard area. We will be building rock walls and special features along the way that is all conductive with telling the story of the Bible visually through the use of plants, rocks and water features. Please pray that this garden will be something that God will use to encourage and teach Christians about God s Word and also be a stepping stone into the Kingdom for many who don t yet know the Lord. Pray for wisdom and vision as to how we can best make use of all the new physical modifications to the property. We are also grateful to God for what He has done for us here and look forward to seeing what opportunities lie ahead to sow the seed of God s Word in the hearts of many people. Thank you for your love and prayerful support of the work God has called us to do.our girls are getting older (too quickly for our liking) and have settled well into the high school in Loule. Klara is 17 and Laura just turned 16 on 4th January. They have many friends in school who they invite to things like youth group and special events that Glenn organises. It has been a joy to see many of their friends coming to these events and even to Sunday services. Please pray for them as they seek God for their futures. Page 10
Overflowing with Joy and Praise Pastor Fabiomar and Marilene, Labre, Amazonas, Brazil Dear Brothers and Sisters in Northern Ireland, Our hearts overflow with joy and praise as we think back on our visit in November and the opportunity that we had of meeting so many people who pray for us and for the work here in Labrea. We could never thank you enough for the love, hospitality and kindness shown to us, not only in many homes, but also in so many churches as we shared about the work here in Brazil. Since we came back we have not stopped working! At Christmas we had wonderful services with more than 400 people attending and a programme involving our children s choir, adult choir and our son Fabiann also sharing in song. In the last week of December we distributed 40 food baskets to families along the river on our outreach programme. Our end of the year service was marked with a very real sense of the Lord when around 350 people attended, many sharing special testimonies in gratitude to God for the year that was past. We have many plans for the coming year and for the outreach to our town. We request prayer for: v v v v The annual service and repairs to our boat for the river outreach. The construction of the pastoral house. The Camp in the month of February. The 62nd anniversary of the church on March 17 when Pastor Herberth of the Hebron Church in Manaus will be speaking. Please also pray for the radio programme we do from 7.00am to 8.00am each day and Sunday night service at 7.20pm. This is also available on the internet - www.radiocidadefmlabrea.com. I want to thank you for your prayers on our behalf. Keep interceding for us! Page 11
God Knows and Works in Hearts Pastor Ricardo & Sandra, Lanzarote We are so thankful for the many openings and opportunities given to us to share the Gospel during the Christmas season here on the Island of Lanzarote. We have been visiting the old people s homes for many years and this time especially we felt the need to pray very specifically that the old people would understand their need for Jesus to be their personal Saviour. For so many of them it is the first time they have heard the true message of the Gospel sadly for some, it will be the last time they will hear it! The choir from our church sang Christmas carols and gave each resident a Gospel tract and The Good Seed calendar. It s true that only God knows and works in their hearts but we believe by faith that some have accepted this good news and have trusted the Lord personally. Please keep praying for the old people s homes in Tinajo, Tías, Arrecife and Haría. Pray for Antonio Y and his wife Teresa, Albertina, Francisca, Lolita Plata, Juan, José Luis Gonzáles, Graciliano, Remedios, Dolores, Manuel Poyato, Isabel, Rosario, Nina. These are just a few people who we have befriended from the homes and who now know us. We have had some struggles lately in the prison. One of the Guards has given us a difficult time. At Christmas there were fewer prisoners who attended the service, yet we were able to hold the Christmas service there. Pray for Blessing, Abel, Rosadelia and Sandra. It is quite possible that several of the prisoners have already been set free in Christ. We also had the Christmas service in the General Hospital. We would ask you to pray for a 33-year-old woman in the hospital named María José. She has said that the services have given her peace and she recognizes that Jesus Christ can save her. There is another man named Oswaldo Viera. He is a patient who seems to have mental problems. When we asked him if he would like us to pray for him and told him about Jesus, salvation and repentance, he said that he understood and said that accepted Christ as his Saviour. The following day he was transferred to a special hospital due to his illness. Moreover, we would like to praise the Lord for Ashok Ramandani, (Antonio), from India. He has been coming to our church for over two years. He started to come when his girlfriend, who had been recently saved, invited him. Recently she left to live in Germany and broke up with him. Recently, after the service he decided to trust the Lord. Although he has lots of questions, he knows that only God can give peace and guidance to his life. Please pray for Antonio so he can stay firm and loyal and continue to grow spiritually. We also would like to thank the Lord for Keith and Aroldo s visit recently. They came to help us design and buy a new kitchen for the church. We are thankful to some friends in Northern Ireland who have provided the finances for this. It is desperately needed as the old kitchen was falling apart. Norman McCready and a team from Northern Ireland are coming to fit the kitchen in February and we are very thankful to them for their help in this. During Keith s visit we were also able to make plans for the forthcoming summer mission team coming over and the Children s Camp to be held at the end of July. There are still some places left on the team. If you would be interested in joining the Lanzarote Team, please contact Keith at the Acre office. Thank you for all of your faithful prayers and support for the ministry here and please call and visit us if you are on holiday on the Island!! Page 12
School Ministry in Manaus In all these things, however, we are more than conquerors, through him who loved us. - Romans 8:37 We praise God for another year of opportunities to teach the Word of God in the schools in Manaus. We thank you for your your prayers. It was not an easy year, but with God we are more than conquerors. At Amine Daou College, where I teach the Bible on Tuesday mornings and afternoons, only three teachers allowed me to teach 20 minutes in their classes. In the Benicio Leão school, I had more difficulty as the school Director and some teachers had changed. I go to this college on Wednesday mornings and afternoons. I showed the material to some new teachers and they liked it very much. Some stayed in the classroom to hear the lessons, prayer, and Bible verse. On the last day of school, they asked me to return next year. Just before Christmas one of my sisters died, she was not saved, but I spoke to her several times about God's Word. Pray for my health as well, because in January I will have disc surgery. The doctor will only operate if the cardiologist authorizes, because it is high risk surgery. Thank you for your precious prayers. Eliana During the months of July to December we have been working in the schools Joaquim Gonzaga and Isabel Angarita. Unfortunately this year it was not possible to teach the Bible in the Nathália Uchôa School. We pray for an opening again in 2018. The Joaquim Gonzaga School have only allowed us to teach in 2 out of the 10 classes. We do not know the reason why! We pray the Lord will touch the heart of the teachers and allow the teaching of His Word. God answered in November when I asked if we could go on Wednesdays. The school Director said yes and that day she hugged me and told me to go to the rooms that we wanted. We were able to share the Gospel in four rooms that day. At the end of the school year we were thanked for our willingness to bring the Word of God to the children and teachers. Again they have asked us to return in 2018 after the January/ February holidays. We ask for prayer for the life of Elcilene and Erenilza, two of the teachers. Thank you for remembering Jonas, Jorge and myself as we reach these children for Christ. Altina IBEE Schools Manaus It was such a blessing to be in Northern Ireland in November and be able to share about the work of the IBEE Schools in Manaus with you. I was humbled and so encouraged to speak to many people who assured us of their prayers. The work continues each day with great opportunities of sowing the good seed of the Word of God into the lives of over 300 plus young people. We are thankful for those who have come to know the Lord and pray that God will also speak to the families of these children and bring household salvation. We look to the Lord for blessing as we commence a new year. The children are on holiday in January. Pray also for the unsaved teachers that work in our schools. Pray that they will also come to know the Saviour. The De Souza Family Page 13
NEWS from Rio Grande de Norte North East, Brazil Pastor Iran & Socorro: Campo Redondo The work in Campo Redondo continues to be a blessing. We were discouraged that there were no conversions for a while but God answered prayer in the salvation of Francisca, Socorro s aunt. We also have had a recent baptismal service. In the church we have a Men s Bible study and this is proving to be of great encouragement to those who attend. We also celebrated 43 years of the work here with a series of special meetings not only in the church in Campo Redondo but also in Sitio Serra Do Doutor and Lajes Pintadas. Please continue to remember our outreaches into the various areas and the radio ministry each day. Pastor Diego & Suzane: São Paulo Do Potengi The church here has now been established for 14 years and we thank the Lord for His blessing and salvation to many over those years. How we long that God would move in many hearts. Many unsaved attend the services and we are encouraged with the attendance at the Bible studies. We have around 20 in the youth group. Pray that they will grow up to serve the Lord. I had great opportunity to share the Gospel with 54 prisoners recently and tell them that there is only one person who can release them from the prison of sin that they are in! They all received the Good Seed Calendar. Pray that God will visit these men in this forgotten place. Pastor Francisco & Célia: Lajes Pintadas This past year has been a year of up s and down s at the church here. Sadly many of the young people have moved away for employment. During the year there had been three decisions for Christ but all of these people have not come back to the church for a while. The work amongst the children had been hindered greatly by the Roman Catholic Church. The women s work has also had many trials. Please remember Francisco and Célia as they now retire from the church. Pray that God will call someone else to take their place in this very needy place. Pastor Luiz & Aldeneide: Passa é Fica There are two different pieces of ground available to purchase in the town to build a church on. Please pray that God will supply the need for this. There have been difficulties in this new church plant over the past year but God is proving faithful! We ask prayer for Braz & Jerusa. She has shown interest in the Gospel but he hasn t. Dona Francisca has also been attending the services very often. The church is now well known in the town. The children s work has around 18 children attending each Saturday afternoon inspite of the Roman Catholic Church doing sports to attract the children away. Thank you for your continued prayers for us. Pastor Junior & Cristina: Nísia Floresta After many years of working in this town we being encouraged with spiritual fruit for the Glory of God. The children s ministry continues to be a blessing each week and the women s work also brings in the unsaved. Many of the women have unsaved husbands. Pray for their salvation. Recently another family have joined the church. Please pray for Lourdes and her husband. The work in Pau Brazil is lead by Pastor Edmilson and his wife who are a great blessing to us. We have now acquired a piece of ground 40 x 40 metres to construct a new church building on. Page 14
Pastor Neto & Layze: João Câmara It was a blessing to graduate recently from the Seminary in Natal. On 23rd December Layze and I got married in Assu. Things here in the church have not been easy recently with numbers decreasing. During our conference we had 26 attending. We have many plans for the year ahead of us in outreach to the town. The children s ministry has now commenced again. Please pray for a move of God in our town and district. Pastor Adriano & Maria: Várzea Four years of study in the seminary finished with my Graduation in December. A number of our mission co-workers came along to the graduation which was a blessing. The work continues in the church and we are thanking the Lord for our recent baptismal service when five went through the waters of baptism. Please pray for them and for others who have come to Christ recently. Our youth work has a steady 15 young people attending and the work with the children also proves to be a great opening into their families. Pastor Jose Soares & Philomena: Santa Cruz Every day at 6.25 we have the Voice of the Gospel radio ministry. Around 65 attend our Bible school each Sunday and our Sunday night meeting has an average attendance of 130 each week. Each Tuesday and Wednesday we have around 40 attending the meetings. Each Saturday we have a youth programme. In addition to these meetings I am also involved in the church in Maracujá each Thursday and São Bento and Colonel Ezekiel. Page 15
A Little Child Shall Lead Them Tom and Lucimar Geddis, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil We were encouraged last week when we received news from Maria de Jesus. She is one of the faithful ladies who worked with us in the schools and is still active among the children and adolescents as well as the ladies in the town. She told how Vera, a young lady, had given testimony in her church as to how he had come to know the Lord. As a rebellious teenager of only 13 years old, she had a son, John Victor. When he started school he came home regularly telling her what he had learned from the Bible with the Bible Team and singing the choruses. As he grew older he was reading Christian literature which he had been given in school and said that he had asked Jesus to be his Saviour and began to attend the same church as Maria de Jesus. His mother was impressed and at his invitation she began to accompany him to church and there she too trusted the Lord. She was rejoicing in being saved and also in seeing her son, now a teenager, being baptised and active in the church. We praise the Lord for what he has done and is dong - so let us keep on praying for those who continue the work in the schools. We return to Brazil on 25th February for three months. We value prayer for Lucimar s family as we have just received word that her grandmother, who is nearly 108 years old, went home to be with the Lord. She trusted the Lord when she was nearly 100 years old. In Coffee Inc Coffee Shop Haslems Lane, Lisburn Page 16 3rd March - Testimony Night Stephen Brownlee 5th May - Pastor Victor Maxwell 29th June - Summer Social 1st September - Come Dine With Acre 3rd November - Mr Trevor Matthews M Y R E S P O N S E I would like to receive your monthly prayer letter/magazine I would like a gift aid form I have enclosed a gift of... to help present the Gospel Message to the millions of people in Brazil, Portugal, Lanzarote and Northern Ireland. Name... Address......... Postcode... Email... Please send to: Acre International, 30 Carnglave Manor, Spa, Ballynahinch, BT24 8XE