Thank you to all of you who have faithfully supported what God is doing in Brazil for the past TWELVE years! We can’t do it without you!
URGENT NEED-OUR CAR
(watch the video above)
Twelve years ago when we were first in Brazil we were blessed with a single donation that helped us buy our beloved VW Kombi. It served us well in the Amazon region, taking several trips along the Transamazon highway, bringing our family 2,500km across country to João Pessoa and when we arrived here we realized that it wasn’t a suitable city vehicle so we sold it and bought a car.
That car has served us well but it is beginning to show signs of it’s age (cars here age like dogs, faster). We recognize it is time to fundraise for a new to us vehicle-one we hope will last us another 12-15 years.
Cars in Brazil are not cheap to say the least. Our budget to get something with low kilometres and only a few years old is between 30-40,000 Canadian. Seems impossible and like a LOT of money for a car I know! But as I mentioned cars age faster so buying something older could mean problems and that we are looking to replace it sooner.
We are looking to purchase something with a higher clearance (the speed bumps here are like speed mountains!) with good suspension since many places we go the roads are not really roads but piles of broken bricks, stones, mud and garbage.
The video above features footage from some of the road conditions we drive on.
We also need something with good carrying capacity, we are often hauling large items, or extra people.
So a crossover type vehicle would fit the bill.
We have been blessed that one of our supporting churches has raised half of what we need! Amazing!
But we do still need the other half to make this happen.
Our sending charity, Xtreme Mercy Canada, has agreed to waive the admin fee on all funds raised for the car fund! FANTASTIC!
So every dollar sent goes directly to the purchase of a vehicle.
Watch the video above for more info and footage.
You can donate to this urgent need by clicking HERE and then reply to this email with the amount you donated so we can let our admin know.
Thank you in advance!
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The Last Bird
In two weeks I will be boarding a flight with our daughter back to Canada, her last flight out of Brazil, until we don’t know when.
As I mentioned before-this is a different season for us.
Our kids need us in a different way right now. I will stay with Faith for a month while we check out the area around the school where she will study in September, do some practice runs pn the transit system there and in Cambridge and just generally work on some important life skills that she doesn’t have yet.
Although both our kids have more life experience in some ways compared to others the same age-they lack some of the experience of living in Canada without us.
We are grateful that both have managed to get jobs, that they will be living with people who are like family and we are so grateful that we have two amazing kids.
Our family will look and feel different going forward, we will all feel it-we ARE all feeling it already.
For me, (Jen) there have been other shifts in my extended family. At the end of December we said good-bye to my beloved step-Mom, Marion. Marion was the youngest 91 year old I will ever have had to honour of knowing and loving. She loved my Dad for 23 years and loved me even when I was unloveable. She had quick wit and a big heart that loved all 9 of her children and all 34 grands (half of them great-grands). She is missed by all of us.
My sister, who has always been the one left behind as I have lived in different countries over the years, was always there in my home town when I returned. In June she is moving to BC to live with her daughter, son-in-law and new baby, her first grandchild. I am elated for her as it has been a dream for years. But I would be lying if I said it won’t be very strange to not have her close by when we are back in Ontario…
It’s a time of big changes and the ground feels somewhat shaky beneath our feet but we are firm in our faith that God has us securely in His hands.
Prayer Needs:
- A spot in residence for Faith-Prayer ANSWERED-she got in! Praise God!
- Connections and friends in school
- Smooth adaptation to all the new things for both our kids and us!
- Our parental hearts as we navigate parenting our adult children from a distance.
A Testimony From The Streets
About six years ago we met a woman on the street we hadn’t met before. She allowed us to chat and pray for her, but her eyes were almost black. She was guarded as women often are at first.
A few years later as one of our team prayed I closed my eyes and asked God if He had anything he wanted to say or show me.
He showed me flames and pentagram. I asked if she had any involvement with the occult and she admitted that she did.
She said she had a lot of fear. We talked about what affect that could have on her life and that she could repent and pray to rid her life of it-that the name of Jesus has more power than anything else.
The next time we saw her something had shifted, she was lighter-it even showed in her eyes.
Last week we saw her and she said she has no more involvement with the satanic place she used to frequent (they would charge her and threaten to curse if she didn’t pay), and since then she feels much better and has seen a huge improvement in herself and her daughter. She did mention that she still dabbles in tarot cards which we advised was still keeping that door open. She said she would stop those things as well.
Please pray for her she is pregnant and due to have a baby in June.
We will be helping her with a start-up kit that we help all our women with, if that is something you would like to donate to you can do that by clicking the button below.
Prayer Needs-Please pray that she is able to cut off all involvement with the occult and that she will find true freedom. Pray that her new baby will be born without complications.
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Back To The Beginning-Road Trip
In March we had the opportunity to travel back to where it all began, Marabá. This involved a four day road trip (we rented a car since ours couldn’t be trusted) to get there in time for the annual youth retreat, Cristoval held during Carnaval.
The event involves Survivor style competitions, meals together and several opportunities for the youth to hear from different leaders.
I was blessed to be able to share some of my testimony and talk to them about the free gift of salvation, the things we can and can’t control but the we do have control over our choices, like choosing to follow Jesus. I shared that of all the choices I have made in my life, choosing to follow Jesus has been by far the best one.
Twelve kids gave their lives over the course of the two day event, and they were recently baptized in the river on the property.
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Faith surprised us by joining in to the rough and muddy competitions and her team came in second place!
One of the biggest highlights was seeing some of the young adults and youth who were just kids twelve years ago when we arrived who are now leading and discipling the next generation.
It was also a time to reconnect and catch up with some of our dearest friends, Monica and Ivanildo the pastors of the church in Maraba, Rick and Deanna Bergen and Clyde and Berquist who were leaving Brazil not long after we arrived back in 2015.
It was such a sweet and encouraging time to see all that God has done!
Prayer Needs-Pray for the church, the young leaders and those who recently gave their lives
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