Vila America progress

 The Vila America congregation is looking forward to the day they can have worship services in their own building.   They have met in members´ homes for almost three years and are rejoicing that the work has begun!  Here are a few pictures we took at the end of March.  This is really the fellowship hall, but it will be used as the sanctuary for now.  We hope to build three Sunday School rooms on the 2nd floor.  After the church has grown and has more financial resources we intend to build a worship center beside this building. 

In the street in front of the church looking to the right…and on the other side of that white truck….

two long rows of houses like these!   There is such a need in this area for a Bible preaching church!

Dave went out there last week to help pass up concrete to the workers.  Here are the latest pictures of the church…

Please continue to keep this church in your prayers!  Thank you so much!

Birthday weekend!

Dave got to do one of his favorite things on our birthday weekend  – preach the Word of God!  He preached the 27th anniversary services of Moriah Baptist Church on Friday night, Saturday night, and both Sunday services.   This picture was taken on Sunday, his birthday night…

The kids wanted another ten layer cake for our birthday celebration like we made last year.  Because I am getting old, I forgot how much work that was, so I said okay!   

Christine and I spent all day Saturday making it, thinking we were going to eat it on Sunday afternoon.  However, that night we were all hungry for it, so we decided not to wait!

 

Here is a picture of Christine working on the cake. 

Actually, it would have been a ten layer cake, but we messed up on one of the cakes, so it ended up being an 8 layer cake!   (We baked 5 cakes to cut them in half lengthwise to make 10 layers, but one of the cakes did not come out of the pan right.)

Here is a picture of my piece of cake (one of them anyway).  We alternated chocolate and yellow cakes.  In between the layers of cake is a super delicious coconut filling!  Each piece has to be cut in thin slices, because it is tall, and it will fill you up fast! 

We enjoyed three full days of eating cake for dessert after every meal!   (Last year we invited friends over to share it with, but this year there just wasn’t time since we were busy with the church.)

Oh, and here is Sammy eating one of the many s’mores he made with the marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey’s candy bars from a care package that arrived the day before my birthday.  (Thanks, Sis and fam!) 

We had a great birthday, and we are truly thankful for all the blessings God has bestowed upon us!

Minas Gerais Part 2

The last part of this trip to northern Minas Gerais was spent in the town of Mamonas.    We continued to be involved in door to door visits, children’s ministry, and social action ministry.   Dave also got to preach in the evening services, on the radio, and at the open market.    

For the most part, I walked around sharing the gospel door to door and inviting people to evening services.   Here is a group of young people my partner and I stopped to chat with, as we took a break from the heat. 

A group of girls who came to the children’s ministry programs…

After Sammy got over his initial shyness, he had lots of fun with boys his age.  His friends here were sons of the other pastors that were in the group. 

Here is a view looking backward down the street that my partner and I had visited door to door.  We were blessed to have been able to pray with 5 people to receive Christ as Savior – an older couple, a man and his sister, and a teen-ager (one of them in the first picture). 

The road we were on ended in a dirt road going out toward the country-side.  We made a few more visits in this area as well, but most houses were empty, as they were in the process of building.

Our kids really enjoyed the time on this mission trip.  They gained confidence in sharing their faith and were blessed to see people place their trust in Christ as well.  Here they are with some of their friends.

Evening services in Mamonas were held at the local school. 

Special music during the service…

The last evening was a wonderful service of seeing people come forward to make decisions. 

We rejoice for the 377 people who made decisions for Christ during the 8 days of ministry in northern Minas Gerais!!  However, there is still much work to be done to start a church and disciple these believers. 

We are praying for God to raise up a pastor to the city of Gameleiras, Catuti, and Breijo das Mártires.  Thankfully, a pastor on the trip, Pastor Ivan, is already planning on moving to Mamonas to start a church here!

To God be the glory!!

Minas Gerais Trip – Part I

Here are some pictures of our trip to Minas Gerais!  About 100 people participated in this mission, Projeto Campo Norte, from our state (Bahia), Minas Gerais, and São Paulo.   It was an action-packed 8 days, as we helped share the gospel in 4 different towns.

For the first half of the trip we stayed in a school in the town of Gameleiras (population of about 5,000 people).   We ministered in this town, and we also took day trips to the neighboring towns of Catuti and Breijo dos Mártires

This is a picture of the countryside from Gameleiras to Catuti - very beautiful area!

We spent our first morning of ministry in Catuti.  The door to door team visited homes, and the children’s ministry team had a program for children in the town square.   Here, the children are lined up patiently to get a snack after hearing the Bible story. 

A paint talk was given by one of the ministers on the trip…

IN GAMELEIRAS:

While we were in Catuti, the social ministry team began their work in Gameleiras.  They provided blood pressure checks, hair styling for women, hair cuts for boys, and an art class.    The plan of salvation was shared with everyone who came. 

Our group returned to Gameleiras for lunch, and afterwards, the 18 streets of this town were divided up between the door to door team members.   My partner and I were assigned a street and went off on our visits, the kids stayed at the school to help out with the social action ministry, and Dave went to the radio station to give a message.

The next day we continued to do ministry in Gameleiras.  Here is Emelia, one of the Thompson Seminary students, telling the children a Bible story about Jesus. 

The children enjoyed the games…

and art…

For two of the evenings in Gameleiras we had church services in the town center.   Dave was asked to preach these services.  It was very moving to see people come forward to make decisions for Christ.   

Here is Dave preaching with Alfeu, who translated for him.  (The Pastors in charge, Pastor Marcelo and Pastor Carlos, wanted Dave to preach in English because they said people like the English language.)  Alfeu’s sister, Loide, also translated for services and for the radio messages that Dave shared. 

The children who participated in the children’s ministry were invited to return at night to sing in the evening service.  Janni, wife of Pastor Carlos, led them in music.  

Some of the girls from our mission team…

IN BREIJO DOS MARTIRES:  We also took a day long trip to another neighboring town, Breijo dos Mártires…

The group involved in children’s ministry marched around the town singing songs and inviting children to the activities in the local school.  

Liz enjoyed playing sports with children.

We also had an evening service in this town, with a Brazilian pastor preaching.   God continued to touch people’s lives with the truth of the gospel.

We enjoyed our time in Gameleiras, and we praise God for all those who heard the gospel for the first time and responded in faith.  We continue to pray that the seeds that were planted in these towns will bear fruit.

Estiva!

Finally – pictures from the first church service in Estiva!   Someone from our family forgot to take the camera, and for sure it wasn’t Dave who was busy packing up the car with the speaker system, the keyboard, and other necessary items. 

Our family got there early so that we could help get things set up.  Pastor Adriano had already had the chairs and benches set up.  We got the sound system and the keyboard set up, and then practiced our music.  As people from the community passed by, we invited them to come. 

It was a nice, cool, night, and people began to arrive.  The neighboring church of Lagoa de Timoteo arrived.  About 20 church members from our city came as well.  It was exciting to see people come from the Estiva community who had never been to church before.

It was a beautiful night to worship God.  We sang  some old familiar hymns and some praise choruses.  

Missionary David Thompson preached a message about the invitation of eternal life through Jesus Christ, and God moved in people’s hearts.  A good number of people came forward to receive Him as Savior and Lord!

We praise God for all He is doing in the hearts of people in Estiva, but our work has only begun!  Please continue to pray as we disciple new believers and as we continue to share the life-changing message from the Word of God!

Catching up!

We are back in Vitória da Conquista after a short 3 month furlough in the US!   Since returning on October 23rd, we’ve been busy with school, church, and preparing to minister in Estiva – the rural area that is awaiting its first evangelical church, hopefully to be started before the end of the year. 

So many things to share, but we will stick with highlights!!

Right now, Dave is in Montes Claros, a city in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais.  He will be preaching at special services Friday night through Sunday night.   We pray that God stirs believers to a deeper hunger for Him, and that the lost would be saved. 

SPECIAL NEWS!!!!  Our home church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, gave us a special offering while we were on furlough, and last week we were able to buy a car!!  As we minister around the city and especially in rural areas, we now have the means to get around (besides the bus), thanks to this special group of people, and another couple who gave extra support for a car.   We also used some of the offering to help finish the church in Estiva. 

Since it has been 7 months since we updated the blog, here are a few briefs of the previous months…

JUNE:  In the beginning of June, a mission team from First Baptist Church of Waukon, Iowa came to Vitória da Conquista, to share God’s love through music, testimony, drama, and puppets.    The team was a big blessing to the churches here, the children of the public schools, and to our family as well.  

Mission team performing "Creation" drama

On June 28, Robert Thompson, co-founder of the Brazil Inland Mission was working on his farm, his earthly home, when God called him to his eternal home.   He and his wife, Alice, served as misisonaries in Brazil for 43 years.    His legacy in Brazil continues on in the lives of people he touched, in the work of the Thompson Seminary, and through his son, David, who has been a missionary here for 25 years along with his wife, Debbie.    Mr. Thompson was a true soldier of Christ, serving the Lord faithfully to the end, as a Pastor of a rural church in Minnesota, and along with his wife,  as a “Missionary At Large” with the BIM.  

JULY:  After much prayer about our home-schooling situation, we decided that Shane should return to the US to finish high school there.  It was not an easy decision to make, but we felt this would help Shane further his goals.  At the end of July we travelled home.

Shane's last church service in Brazil. Pastor Pereira prays for him.

AUGUST – OCTOBER  (furlough)

During our short furlough which allowed us to get Shane settled and adjusted in school, we enjoyed visits with family and friends, supporters, and 11 different churches.  We also had fun doing things we missed, including roasting marshmallows, hunting (Joe), family fish fries, bowling, and a lot more.  For Sammy, playing in Papaw’s backyard complete with clubhouse and a bag swing hanging from the tree was his favorite thing to do. 

Our family with J.C. and Charlotte Spraggin, two very special people to us - Ebenezer Baptist Church.

As we reflect back over the last 6 months, we can see God’s hand in our lives, encouraging us and continuing to fit us for the work He has for us.  Our time in the US was a great time of blessing and refreshing, and we were overwhelmed by the love that was shown to us by friends, family, and churches. 

We have been praying much for opportunities to reach the lost with the gospel, and we are certain that God has great things in store for our city and the surrounding areas.

Thank you all for the part you have in reaching the lost in Vitória da Conquista, Brazil!

We love you all,

Tina and Dave

Family fun in May

The last post was about the ministry we have been involved in and some of the results of sharing the gospel.  This post is just a collection of family pictures for the month of May.   

The picture above was taken on the beach in Ilheus while we were at the retreat (also mentioned in the previous post).   It was gorgeous!

While we were in Ilheus we celebrated Liz’s 14th birthday by taking a group of teens to eat ice cream.  Mmmm good!

We all had fun in the pool as well as at the beach…

 You know they couldn’t pass up a game of soccer…

Christine burying herself in the sand…

Here’s Sammy enjoying the swing, especially as he hadn’t been able to swing since we first got here!

Joe’s favorite pastime is skating.  He also celebrated his 12th birthday this month, on May 17, and got a new skateboard. 

These pictures were taken last Saturday night at the Uribis I church as they had a big “Return to your childhood” event.   

There’s Liz returning to her childhood, building blocks.  No, she never wore her hair up then, but ain’t she cute?

Shane and some friends at the same event… 

And finally, a great way to end the month with goodies from home…all our favorites, and my all time favorite – OREO COOKIES!! Yummy!  (Oops, I just noticed they are missing from the picture.   I must have separated them to be sure they don’t get attacked so soon.)  Thanks Papaw and Mamaw!  (Shane was busy fixing the new game.)

 

Well, that was our family fun in May!    We are looking forward to all the ways June will be a great middle of the year month,  ministry-wise and family-wise.

Sharing the gospel with results

Last night, Dave and Joe caught the 9:30 pm bus to the city of Montes Claros in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais.  They should have arrived there at 4 this morning.   If you look at the map above, you can see the capital city of our state, Salvador, on the eastern coast of Brazil about halfway down the page.  A little inland you can see our city, Vitória da Conquista, then further west is Montes Claros.   From there, Dave and Joe will be catching another bus to the city of Januária, which is not on the map but it is still further inland to the northwest. 

It is a great blessing that Dave has been able to travel to share the gospel.  He will be travelling once a month to Januaria to help the church there as they are without a pastor.  Last month was his first time there.  The church, with the help of the Montes Claros congregation, went out in the neighborhood to invite people to the Sunday evening service, and there were about twenty visitors that night!  After the invitation was given, seven people came forward to receive Christ as Savior!  Here is a picture of members before the service on Sunday morning, with the overflow crowd outside the house where the church is meeting in right now.

Please pray for Dave as he preaches there on Saturday and Sunday. 

Our family also went on a retreat in the beginning of May to the city of Ilheus.  Dave and David Thompson preached wonderful sermons on the theme, “A Life with Purpose”.   One young man gave his life to Christ on the last night, and it was a special joy as we were specifically praying for him.

Service at the retreat: 

Also, a couple of Sundays ago, our family rented a big van, loaded up 18 people, and went out to the rural area of Lagoa de Timóteo to spend the day there.  Pastor Adriano goes out there twice a month, but his car was still being repaired from an accident that happened on the retreat, so we decided to rent a van.  We got the biggest van possible to load our family, Adriano’s family, the youth praise team for our church and the seminary students who are from Lagoa de Timóteo.

We all had a great time as we worshipped together with the church in Lagoa de Timóteo in the morning, ate at members’ homes after the service, played soccer in the afternoon, then returned to the evening service.  Dave and Adriano made a few visits in Estiva, the nearby community I mentioned in the previous post where Dave will be helping Adriano start the first evangelical church.   They visited a couple who had gone on the retreat, and both the husband and wife prayed to receive Christ!  Praise the Lord! 

Here is a picture of the children in the evening service singing a song for their mothers as they celebrated Mother’s Day this night.

Next week, we are looking forward to the arrival of the mission team from First Baptist Church, Waukon, Iowa!  The Pastor of the church is Duane Smith, the Chairman of the Board for the Brazil Inland Mission; and his wife Cristina  is the sister of missionary David Thompson.  They are bringing a group of teens here and we ask for prayers for their safe travel on Monday, June 2, and as they share the gospel in public schools and churches.

We are so excited about the opportunities we’ve had recently to share the gospel, and especially as we are seeing people respond in faith to the offer of eternal life through our Savior, Jesus Christ!

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, TO HIM BE GLORY…”   Ephesians 3:20-21

Blessings, Birthdays, and other Blurbs

It’s been pretty hectic since school started but I thought I’d better post an update to share our latest happenings and to ask for prayer for various things…

First, please continue in prayer for Dave as he begins ministry to the rural area of Estiva.  Pastor Adriano  ministers in the nearby rural community of Lagoa de Timoteo, and had previously led about sixteen people to the Lord in Estiva through personal visitation.  Thanks to generous giving by our supporters (along with the Brazil Inland Mission and other Brazilian churches who collected special offerings), we were able to purchase land in Estiva for a new church plant.  There is already a small house on the lot that will be renovated so that we can begin services there very soon, with the hopes of building a bigger church as the church grows.  The new believers there are very excited about their first church – the first church in this community.

While it is hard for us to imagine a town of nearly 2,000 people without a church, unfortunately it is way too common throughout the rural areas of East-Central Brazil.  Please pray that God would prepare hearts to receive the Word of God, and that many more people will come to know Him as Lord and Savior.  Continue to ask the Lord for His blessing on our work, as we plan, preach, evangelize, and train students to carry the Gospel to the cities, villages, and rural areas in which we minister. 

Many who live out in this rural area are manioc farmers.  We stopped to watch this family cutting away the outer layer of the manioc, so they can process it to make a flour called farinha.   (I am not exactly sure of all the ways manioc can be used, but I do know that we love this farinha mixed in with beans.)    Please pray for the farmers in this area, as there has been little rain for their crops. 

For now, Dave has begun going out there every other weekend when Adriano goes to preach at Lagoa de Timoteo.    Dave has picked out and has begun payments on a motorcycle to begin travelling to different areas to do ministry, and especially to start going out to Estiva on a weekly basis.   In order to keep the costs down of such a high interest rate here, Dave is paying for it through a consortium, which is similar to a lay-a-way plan, with a monthly drawing which allows someone to take their motorcycle home while continuing to pay for it.   Please join us in prayer that he gets selected in the early months.  (I will post a picture when he brings it home!)

BIRTHDAYS!

Dave and I celebrated our 40-something birthdays in the end of March, and invited some friends over to share our ten layer birthday cake, that Christine, Joe and Liz all helped make.

Blowing out our candles!

Here is Joe’s piece (minus the bottom layers if anyone is counting).   It was sooo yummy, filled with coconut filling (a Brazilian way of making cakes) and chocolate frosting in between the layers. 

BRAZILIAN BLESSINGS…

Pastor Adriano has done so much for us here, and one night he told me that he and his family were going to come over for “cafezinho“, which means coffee (adding the diminutive “-zinho” to cafe makes it a “little” coffee, or a small cup of cofee).   He said not to make anything, and since many Brazilians eat bread and coffee for supper (their large meal being at lunch), I wasn’t sure what to expect.  When he and his family came, this is what they brought for “cafezinho”:

That was undoubtedly the biggest pan of lasagna I had ever seen, and even with 7 Bostian family members who love lasagna, hardly a dent was made in it with all the other food that they brought as well – potato salad, fruit salad (not shown, but it was also the biggest bowl of fruit salad I ever saw), fried manioc (another way we like to eat it), TWO roasted chickens, and rice.  Everything was so delicious, and we even got a whole day off of cooking the next day to continue feasting! 

Please pray for Pastor Adriano and his family as he ministers in three different churches, will begin the work with Dave at Estiva, and has a secular job as well.  Pray for protection for him for all his travels, and that God will continue to use him to lead many more people to Him. 

BLESSINGS FROM OUR SUPPORTERS

I surely can’t end this without thanking you all for continuing to be a blessing to us.  We can’t thank you enough for your prayers, your encouragement through emails and letters, and your financial support.    We pray for you all as well during our family prayer times.  If you have any special prayer requests, please be sure to email us. 

We especially pray during this Easter that our Lord’s resurrection would give you hope that in spite of whatever circumstances you may be going through, you will rest secure in the fact that He is ALIVE today, and He is working in your life and in this world to bring out His perfect plan! 

We praise Him for purchasing our redemption on the cross.  We pray we never take for granted His great sacrifice.   OH, WHAT A SAVIOR! 

BLESSINGS UPON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY THIS EASTER!  WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Great way to end the Summer!

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET…

GO!!!

We had a great time at an overnight retreat recently with the families of the church.  The retreat was held because it was Carnaval time in Brazil (similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans) and all of Brazil pretty much closes down to celebrate.   Christians don’t have reasons to participate in it, so churches will often plan retreats during this time.   I’ve been told that in Brazil the new year really starts after Carnaval, since it is summer time here, and after Christmas many people (at least all the children) are on “ferias” or vacation until after Carnaval.  Some of the private schools started a couple weeks before Carnaval, and the Bostians did as well, but we considered this an end of summer bash anyway.

Unfortunately, my memory of the first night of our retreat was a blur, except for all the mistakes I made in playing the keyboard for the worship service because of the headache I had.  I attempted to sleep after the service, but that didn’t stop anyone else from having fun.  As I was just getting comfortable and about to fall asleep in the partitioned-off part of the main buildling where the girls were assigned, I could hear instructions given for some kind of activity (sometimes my Portuguese isn’t so great), and the next thing I knew, there was a mad rush of people swarming all around me.  I sat up and asked them what in the world they were doing and I was told they were needing sheets to make costumes for biblical skits.   They only had ten minutes to prepare, so for the first five minutes they were rummaging through the beds, then they were preparing their skits.  

See?  There I am in the middle of it all, wondering what in the world is going on??? (And you can see Sammy’s head poking out from under the covers.)

It was lots of fun, judging by all the laughter I could hear, as I never was able to sleep to try to get rid of my headache.  I tried to peek through the partition to watch a little, but couldn’t see much.  Sammy finally got out of bed and went around to watch all the excitement.  There were other games the rest of the night, and sadly, I could only listen in. 

Below is Christine on the altar (chair) being the ram that was caught in the bushes after Abraham was stopped from sacrificing Isaac. 

Liz and Joe’s team acted out Noah and the ark, and Liz was an animal, as you can plainly see by the sock on the foot she is putting out in front of her.  No telling what Joe is.

The next day I was feeling better and participated in all the other activities.   We had a worship service on Sunday morning, more games and activities, an evening service, and then it was time to go home.  Below, the children are doing an activity after their Sunday morning Sunday School class.  

Too bad I didn’t have my camera for the ride home.  (I got all the other pictures from other people as I didn’t even bring my mine.)  Only one person in the church has a car, so the church rented a “combi” (whatever that means I don’t know, but it is a nine passenger van), and after the van returned for another load of people, I thought it would have to take two more trips to get the rest of us back.  But no, we managed to squish 15 people in it, including the driver and his wife, not to mention 13 pillows and backpacks, my keyboard, and Liz’s and Marcia’s guitars!  Did I mention we were squished???

We all had a great time at the retreat, and we are looking forward to the next retreat in May, when our whole city will be involved in its own version of Carnaval.

Dave and Shane could not go to the retreat after all, because sadly, we received news the day of the retreat that Shane’s best friend’s mother passed away that morning, who was living in another city.   Shane and Dave travelled there to be with Shane’s friend (who had recently moved from our city back to where his mother lived), and to minister to the family.  Dave anticipated the possibility of speaking at the service, so he was prepared when he was asked to give a little message. 

We have had a busy month, and summer is now over for us.  Sammy is officially in Kindergarten! Shane and Elizabeth are in the 9th grade, Joe is in the 6th, and Christine is in the 4th grade!   We appreciate your prayers as we attempt to juggle the demands of homeschooling and ministry on the mission field.