Autor: eabrazil

 On Tuesday night I travelled with the men’s fellowship team (together with 2 wives and 2 children) to the town of Sao Mamede half an hour’s drive north-east of Patos. We held an excellent street meeting where about 40 people gathered to hear the Gospel and which I led. Fabio led the praise and worship with the help of a playback and 2 children also sang. We had short words from Rebeca, Marcio, Dede and Claudivan and the main message was brought by Rafael. It was a lovely service.

Members of the men’s fellowship are all chipping in to buy plastic chairs for the growing little work at Sao Mamede. Each chair costs 5 pounds 29 pence. 

I have just completed the preparation of a new sermon on Luke 15 building on what I have previously preached on this excellent chapter.

Please pray for ex-drug addict Marcos Valerio who has not gone back to drugs but has gone away from God. Please pray that he might come back to the Lord.

Last night Liz went to the women’s fellowship meeting. She says it was a good meeting but just too long. There were 11 there.

On Sunday morning we held a Patos church business meeting and elected 2 new deacons (Dede and Eduardo) and 1 new deaconess (Cleide). Dede leads the work at Ipueira in the State of Rio Grande do Norte and Eduardo and Cleide lead the work at Passagem. 

Our Flores church is doing an excellent work with youth in sport. We have just received an excellent report from their pastor Nemias.

I have had some important discussions with Pastor Oseias at our Itaporanga church.

I led Sunday night’s main service of the week in Patos and Pastor Rafael preached. We had a special prayer of consecration for the new deacons and deaconess.

Please pray for a young person from our Patos church who has backslidden. 

Last night Liz went to a prayer meeting and there were 16 present, with another 6 young people in a separate youth prayer meeting. So 22 praying on a Monday night I think is pretty good. Praise God! 🙌

I have conducted many weddings over the years (just last year there were 5) but it was a first this week to conduct one on a Friday morning at 10 am! (It actually started at 10:30) It was the wedding of Thalyta and Ryury who are in their twenties but who first met some years back going to school together. Everything went off lovely with a nice reception after the service.

I went for my usual Friday afternoon walk at Green Pastures and saw 3 baby wild Guinea Pigs (the same colour as wild rabbits in the UK) scurrying off into a clump of Aloe Vera plants. (there are many of these plants at Green Pastures) I also saw the following birds: a black Shiny Cowbird, a Red-cowled Cardinal, many Picui Ground Doves, many Chalk-browed Mockingbirds and a bright yellow Great Kiskadee.

I have been having extensive discussions with our senior leadership team and have defined our social worker Marah Danielle to represent us at two events in September. First she will go to the 60+ evangelical movement’s meeting in Sao Paulo and then on the way back she will go to the National evangelical Network’s conference for churches involved in social action (RENAS) at Aracaju in the north-eastern state of Sergipe, which is 600 km south of Patos. 

I took the service last night at Green Pastures. There were parallel services held at Passagem and Ipueira.  

The ‘sponsored toddle’ organized by the ‘Tiny Church’ of Great Lumley Evangelical Church raised enough money to purchase 5 hair sheep for EAB’s 4-Legs Project. This truly is wonderful and just shows what can be done! The initial aim of the toddle had been to raise enough money for one sheep so they did very well. The sponsored toddle also raised the profile of the church in their community. 5 very poor families will be very pleased with their sheep.

On Tuesday evening we held a good meeting with Pastor Rafael, his wife Rayla and youth leader Murilo. The couple will now lead the married couples fellowship and Murilo will teach the adult class in our Sunday school.

On Wednesday night Liz and I took part in a special service at the ex-landless settlement in Sao Mamede County to which about 100 people gathered. After the service the hosts, Dodora and Paulo, served hot dogs, cake and pop-drink to everyone. It was a lovely evening.

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study last night and it was a lovely service.

The warmest time in the year in the UK coincides with the coolest time in north-east Brazil. Today we had a low of 20 degrees in the night and a high of 32 degrees in the afternoon. Yesterday we even had a shower of 6 mm of rain which was the first shower since the 19th of May.

Our Kombi people-carrying vehicle, which carries 9 people including the driver, has gone into the garage for a service. It has a loud knocking noise underneath with something loose or warn. Also it is difficult to get into second gear when reducing from 3rd. We want to get the Kombi all ship-shape for the 20th when we will be receiving the visit of Pastor David Fiddy, his wife Margaret and their children Beth and Nathaniel from the Rock Community Church at Devizes in Wiltshire. The Fiddys will be with us for a fortnight until August 4th. Please pray for this trip.

On Monday night we held a meeting with all the leaders of the various ministries in the Patos church and had a good discussion about the progress of the work of the Lord.

I am very sorry to have just received the news that Bernard Hedgecock died on June 20th, aged 78, and will be cremated in Watford on July 16th. Bernard was a fellow member of Peniel Chapel in Notting Hill where we both spent our youth. We used to play football together on the Little Scrubs. He was a very good player doing sliding tackles and diving headers. These things remain strongly in my memory of Bernard who was a lovely person. I watched Tottenham win the European Cup Winners Cup at Bernard’s house in 1963 when Jimmy Greaves scored two goals!

A further 8 new converts were baptized last Sunday at our Campina Grande church in the borough of Catole led by pastor Wostenes. This church is our largest church and is progressing very well. Praise God!

On Saturday night Liz and I went in different directions to cover 2 engagements. Liz stayed in Patos to speak at sister Socorro Help’s 80th birthday thanksgiving service at her home. I travelled up the mountain to Matureia taking a group of the youth with me in the Kombi. It took us an hour and a quarter’s drive to get there and a bit longer to get back as you have to take it very slowly coming down the mountain with many incredibly steep sharp bends. It was our Matureia’s church’s anniversary service and I gave a short word there. The main speaker was Pastor Hamilton from our second church in Campina Grande and he spoke very well. I had important meetings after the service with the different pastors who were present. I also talked to the Mayor of Matureia who also was present together with 7 town councillors. 

Last night I both led and preached at the main service of the week in Patos. It was the monthly communion service and the church was filled to full capacity. I preached on ‘In the beginning… God!’ It was an overview of the first 3 chapters of Genesis covering: 1. The creation of heaven and earth. 2. The creation of Adam and Eve. 3. The spiritual battle between good and evil. 4. The fall. 5. The prophetic pointer to Christ in Genesis 3:15. The service was really blessed. 

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study which went off very well despite numbers being down.

I saw the exit poll from the UK election before going to church, as 10 pm in the UK is 6 pm here, so I knew that Labour had won. I see that all the north-eastern constituencies have returned to Labour (including Bishop Auckland where my mother was born) and even Basingstoke (where our son Philip and his wife Gylmara voted) has gone from blue to red with the new MP having the Irish sounding name of Luke Murphy. I also noticed with interest that the Scottish Nationalists were nearly annihilated and that the Lib. Dems did exceptionally well. I watched the count on the BBC when I came home from church and watched it till nearly midnight. So congratulations to Sir Keir Starmer on becoming the new UK prime minister! I see he studied law at Leeds University where I studied for my Master’s Degree in theology.

I go twice a week to the gym to keep up my exercises on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I enjoy this plus my walks at Green Pastures for my regular weekly exercise. On yesterday afternoon’s walk I saw a Rufescent Tiger-Heron and a Red-cowled Cardinal, as well as a wild guinea pig.   

On Tuesday night I preached in the fortnightly street service (in front of Jose and Marico’s house) in the town of Sao Mamede travelling the half hour journey there with the Patos men’s fellowship. I preached, from Luke 15 on the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son… Lost on the farm (1% lost), Lost in the house (10% lost) and Lost in the family (50% lost). The message stressed the importance of repentance and the joy attached to it. Straight after the message Fabio sang a beautiful song about the prodigal son. It was a lovely service. Whilst I was preaching Rebeca worked with the children inside the house which was very good.

Liz and I went out to Green Pastures yesterday afternoon and nature lovers will be pleased to hear that we saw the following birds: White-naped Jay, flocks of Eared Dove, bright orange Campo Troupial (you can hardly miss these!), flock of Cactus Parakeet, Chalk-browed Mockingbird and Black Vulture.

I led the service in Patos on Sunday night despite being tired after the long journey back from Manaira. It was a good service with a full church. My assistant pastor Rafael preached from Luke 7. Our daughter Sacha led the worship together with Fabio and Erica. Rogerio was on keyboard, Rogaciano was on guitar and Ricardinho on bass guitar.

How great it was to see 98-year-old David Attenborough walking in to Wimbledon to a standing ovation yesterday! 👏

Last night Liz and Deaconess Deborah Maria interviewed 48-year-old nurse Ursula with a view to her becoming a church member in Patos. They had a very good chat and Ursula will be received into fellowship this coming Sunday.

I enjoyed my customary Friday afternoon walk at Green Pastures walking with Francisco who takes care of the place on a day-to-day basis. Whilst there I observed a Neotropic Cormorant, a Great Egret and a Southern Lapwing at the lake. I also saw a Grey-necked Wood-Rail which ran across the trail in front of us. It is rarely seen. I also saw a bright rust coloured Caatinga Cacholote and a beautiful orange Campo Troupial.

On Thursday night I stayed up late to watch the Biden/Trump USA presidential debate and was very sorry to see how embarassingly frail and at times incoherent was President Biden. Trump was his usual arrogant self, but I hate to admit that he won the debate.

We have just got back on a 3-hour drive from Manaira in the extreme west of Paraiba State where I preached at a special thanksgiving of our church there. The service was to thank God for the church’s revamp which is beautiful and attracting many non-Christians to come and hear the Gospel. We drove there yesterday afternoon and had a meal with the pastor Francinaldo and his wife Carla before the service. We stayed with them last night. The church was packed out last night and there is a lovely spirit among all the church folk.

Liz has been to Joao Pessoa this week to see an eye specialist and the result is that she will be returning to wearing glasses. I rather like this as when I first met her 58 years ago she was wearing glasses! 😘

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study. It was a blessing.

On Wednesday Great Lumley Evangelical Church held their sponsored toddle with their Tiny Church in the local park and it was a real success! They had lovely Brazilian warm weather for the event which has raised 150 pounds so far for sheep in the EAB 4-Legs project. Congratulations to the church team for their initiative!

I enjoyed taking part in the Men’s Fellowship last night. We had a good discussion on the Lord’s prayer which was really blessed.

Yesterday afternoon I went for a good walk at Green Pastures. I took with me a lovely cactus plant and planted it in Marian Rashleigh’s rockery. The round cactus plant is about 30 cm in diameter and 30 to 40 cm high. Gardiner Orlando noticed it being thrown out by a well-off family so got it for us! I also took a roll of plastic pipe for watering purposes as we’re in the dry season now, and I took the Cockatoo to our little aviary there as we couldn’t find its owner.

Whilst walking at Green Pastures I saw/heard the following birds: Red-legged Seriema, Striated Heron, Campo Troupial, Greater Ani, White-tipped Dove and Picui Ground-Dove.

I am glad to tell you that it was in fact 4 teenagers who made commitments to Christ during the Youth Camp and not 3 as I had said in an earlier post. One was a young man whom we paid his way to go (money well spent!) and the other 3 were from our Patos school. PTL!

Our under-15 boys football team of our Juru church youth project has reached the final of the Paraiba Cup! This is the third year in a row that they have reached the final, having won it in 2022 and been runners-up last year. Local pastor Esequias (Ezekiel) does a great job sharing the Gospel with the lads and keeping them off the streets with healthy sport. The final is in two legs with the first at home in Juru and the second away at Agua Branca. Watch this space!

I am reading a book by C. S. Lewis called ‘God in the Dock: essays on theology and ethics.’ I am reading it in Portuguese.

The Youth Camp at Green Pastures is finishing today and has been very blessed. On Saturday Betania from Campina Grande preached and yesterday our daughter Sacha preached. There were 3 decisions for Christ at the camp.

Yesterday one young man was baptized at our Itaporanga church.

This morning a very tame Cockatoo (not a wild native bird here) appeared in our back garden looking very thirsty. It probably was scared by last night’s fireworks and somehow left its home. We are protecting it from cats whilst we try and find its owner. We also had a tree frog inside our water filter this morning. Liz has set it free and washed the filter.

I have made the bed two days running and am utterly exhausted! 😫

Last night I led the main service of the week and our daughter Sacha preached very well from Matthew 11:28-30. Numbers were down as many were away at the youth camp and others were at family gatherings celebrating St. John’s Day.

On the first night (of 5) of the late night (all night!) St. John’s festival over 100 mobile phones were stolen by a gang amongst the enormous crowd. Our grandson John David was one of those robbed. He was surrounded by men who forced him to hand over his phone.

On Thursday night we had a special youth service with participations from Leticia, Julia, Leo, Bianca, Davi and Murilo. It was a nice service.

A youth camp started yesterday at Green Pastures and will run until Monday afternoon. I preached at it last night in the opening service on Colossians 1:15-16. There are 80 young people taking part in the camp. 17 are teenagers from our Patos school which is lovely to see. One youth there is from Ibiara, another from Teixeira and 2 others are from Campina Grande. The rest are from the Patos church. It was a lovely opening service to the camp and after the service they all played bingo!  

Another snake was seen at Green Pastures yesterday as well as the Rattlesnake last Friday. This time it was a non-venomous Coral snake (Oxyrhopus trigeminus). It was right alongside the meeting hall.

Liz and I have been to visit a family whose father recently came back to the Lord. He was out but his wife was at home. We had a nice chat, caught up with all the family news and read the Bible and prayed with her. We learnt that the husband is firm in the faith and going on with God.

On Tuesday night I travelled with two vehicle loads of folk from the Patos Men’s Fellowship to the town of Sao Mamede where I led the street service. Many gathered to hear the Gospel and those who took part were Fabio, Rafael, Paulo Silas, Josue, Dodora, Rebeca and Dede. It was a lovely service. 

Please pray for our deacon and chief of the police Colonel Esau who has the great responsibility this week to police the St. John’s Festival with an estimated participation of between 70,000 and 80,000 people. Each night the festival starts about 11 pm and goes through the night till dawn with the enormous crowd crammed into a confined area called the ‘terreiro do forro’.

Our Sunday services went well. In the morning is Sunday School for all ages and much less go to this than in the evening when we had a church full to capacity. In the UK I notice that it is the opposite with many more in the morning services than at night. I led the evening service and associate pastor Rafael preached from Acts 9. A lovely moment in the service was when all the children came to the front to sing, with 4 of them doing the song in sign language for the deaf. Then they gave us pastors (me, associate pastor Rafael and deaf pastor Luiz Carlos) a little present (a pen with our name on it) commemorating Pastors’ Day.

Yesterday I spent time dealing with a number of issues with different pastors. I also prepared a new sermon with an overview of Genesis 1-3 called ‘In the beginning… God’. It will cover 5 points: God created heaven and earth, God created man and woman, the Satanic deception, the fall, and pointers to hope in Genesis 3:15.

I went for a lovely walk at Green Pastures and saw and photographed for the first time a lethal Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus)! It was a wonderful experience. It crossed the track Francisco and I were walking on and then stopped by a large rock where I managed to photograph it with my mobile phone. The ‘rattle’ on its tail is unmissable. I also saw large flocks of Eared Doves near the lake and a flock of Smooth-billed Anis. A group of the youth were at Green Pastures whilst I was there preparing things for the youth camp which starts on the 21st.

Our Pastor Joao George (Imaculada) is out of hospital and is much better. He thanks all those who prayed for him. 

Last night I led the weekly service at Green Pastures and our daughter Sacha preached the Gospel from Isaiah 43. She also led the worship accompanied by Rogerio on keyboard. Locals Nega and Manoel also took part. It was a good meeting. Whilst I was there Liz went out with the 6 grandchildren (who are in Brazil) for an ice cream. It’s alright for some! 😁

On Wednesday afternoon Liz and I visited a 74-year-old widow from the church called Espedita who spent the day in hospital the day before until she discharged herself at night! Her son Ismael tried to get her to obey the doctors but she wouldn’t listen.

Liz led and spoke at the women’s fellowship on Wednesday evening. She spoke on ‘sharing’ from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.

I have finished reading the book called ‘Seven things I wish Christians knew about the Bible’ by Michael F. Bird. I found it a good, helpful and interesting book.

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and it went off very well, with lovely participations from Dede, Romildo, Mada, Deborah Maria and Carol. 

The month of June in north-east Brazil is the month of great festivities, focused on St. Anthony’s Day on the 13th (the equivalent of St. Valentine’s Day in the UK), St. John’s Day on the 24th (this is the biggest festival), and St. Peter’s Day on the 29th. This is the harvest month of beans and maize and lots of maize based dishes are eaten. It is also the cooler time of the year with temperatures only reaching 33 degrees.

I have had my hair cut today. I hope you like it! I had it cut at 7 am. 👦😇

I have been preparing my sermon for our youth camp to be held at Green Pastures from June 21st to 24th. I will be preaching on ‘It all starts with Jesus’ from Colossians 1:15-16. Please pray for this camp.

Our grand-daughter Louisa and her husband Tiago are now safely settling in at Basingstoke and our grandson Arthur is back in Patos after his Afro-European tour.

I have been having important discussions with Pastor Manoel Severo of our Mata Redonda church, between Joao Pessoa and Recife. These have been linked to discussions with our senior leadership team too.

Last night Liz and I took part in an excellent meeting of our school teachers.

Joao George is the assistant pastor of our Imaculada church up in the mountains. He was operated on recently and is now back in hospital with post-op complications. Please pray for him. I am in daily contact with his wife Jacilene about the situation. 

Our grand-daughter Louisa and her husband Tiago travelled to the UK yesterday where they will stay until the end of July. It will be the first such an experience for Tiago so that will be nice. They will of course be staying at Basingstoke with Louisa’s parents and brothers.

On Saturday our grand-daughter Beatriz (Bia) won the State of Paraiba’s silver medal for girls table tennis losing in the final by 3 sets to 1. Paraiba is a state nearly 3 times the size of the country of Wales so she did very well. Bia and the gold medal winner now go on to compete in the Brazilian national table tennis championship in Recife later in the year.

On Saturday night I travelled to the town of Passagem to conduct the communion service and it went very well. The local leader Eduardo brought the message from Genesis 41 and was very good.

I led the service last night in Patos and preached on the promises of God from Psalm 119:49-56, continuing my series in Psalm 119. It was a good service. I do one block of 8 verses at a time so this was the 7th sermon in the series.

EAB has had people doing sponsored marathons, runs and walks, but I had never even heard of a sponsored toddle! Well this is what the Great Lumley evangelical church is organizing for June 26th when the children from their ‘Tiny Church’ will be doing a sponsored toddle round the football pitch in the local park. Their aim is to raise funds to buy a hair sheep for a poor family through the EAB 4-Legs project. The idea was inspired by an article in the latest edition of EAB InTouch magazine. Great Lumley is a lovely village in the northeast of England.

Yesterday morning I went for another nice 3 km walk at Green Pastures and saw lots of wildlife such as a Large Teiu Lizard and a Wild Tortoise. I saw and heard the following birds: Great Antshrike, Picazuro Pigeon, Greater Ani, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Roadside Hawk, Southern Lapwing, Common Gallinule, Chalk-browed Mockingbird & Pale Baywing. There was also on show a beautiful display of wild native flowers. Such walks are envigorating, good exercise and inspiring.

Yesterday afternoon I took part online in the EAB Board of Trustees meeting held at West Wellow in England. It was a very good and productive meeting which confirmed the next EAB AGM for Saturday, October 19th at 6 pm (fellowship tea) and 7 pm (celebration service) at Lighthouse Community Church, Hardley, Southampton.

I enjoyed preaching the Gospel on Tuesday evening in a street meeting in the town of Sao Mamede. 35 people listened attentively with another 15 listening on the doorsteps a bit farther away. It was a lovely meeting led by school teacher Claudivan.

Yesterday was world environment day and I led fifty six 4th year school children around the nature trails of Green Pastures including grand-daughter Amanda and taught them about caring for God’s creation. It was a lovely morning with plenty of good exercise. 

Yesterday we had Pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice with us for lunch. Then we had an excellent meeting of our schools coordinators with 18 present. What an important work the EAB Action Schools do seeking to lift very poor children out of poverty and pointing them to Jesus at the same time. 

Our grandson Arthur leaves Africa today flying to Rome on the final leg of his Afro-European tour. He rode a camel in Morocco, dressed as an Arab and slept (not much!) a night in the Sahara desert in a tent!

Our globe trotting 22-year-old grandson Arthur is now in Morroco where he plans to sleep for a night in a tent in the Sahara Desert and where he aims to ride a camel! He returns to Brazil a week today.

I led Sunday night’s main service of the week which was a communion service with a very full church. It was lovely to see Zaqueu there who doesn’t enjoy good health but who made the effort to be there for our monthly communion service. It was also good to see Gilmarco there who had been away for a long time at Maceio in the northeastern state of Alagoas. 

Yesterday afternoon Liz went with Deaconess Deborah Maria and some other sisters to visit 88-year-old Deaconess Beatriz who was operated on for cataracts last week and is doing fine. They gave her communion whilst there. 

There were six in the youth prayer meeting last night. It blesses my socks off seeing youngsters making the effort to meet for prayer on a Monday evening!

On Friday afternoon I enjoyed a lovely walk through the wilds of Green Pastures taking special note of the many young trees that we have planted over the years. We planted over a hundred Umbu trees (Brazilian green plum) and it is wonderful to see them slowly growing. One of them is outgrowing all the others and is quite magnificent. Other trees that I observed were Angico, Aroeira, Pinhao Bravo, Juca, Jurema etc. All these trees are native trees from our region which manage to survive our annual hot droughts. There are no translations for the names of these trees.

Intense rain on the coast at Joao Pessoa on Friday caused bad flash flooding in the lower lying areas of the city disrupting traffic, inundating houses and partially submerging vehicles. 

Our Patos school needs some repairs done to its roof as it leaked a lot during the rainy season. The budgeted cost of the repairs is 566 pounds.

Last night I led the service at the Green Pastures church and a very good number came along to a lovely communion service. Marina led the worship, Bible College graduate Murilo preached from John 20 and Paulo Silas, Nega, Julio and Manoel also took part.

Our rainy season is now over as we are now in the month of June. Our rainy season this year was good with a total of 837 mm of rain. Our target for an excellent year is 1,000 mm. We will now have no rain until December or next year (apart from the odd shower), and it will get steadily hotter as the year goes on.

On Wednesday afternoon Liz and I went to visit sister Raquel on her 77th birthday. Raquel is bed-ridden owing to knee and hip problems. She is very grateful to the EAB wheelchair bank which has loaned her a wheelchair for a year now. If Raquel was in the UK she would have had hip & knee replacements.

Another person who is being benefitted by the EAB wheelchair bank is Edmilson in the town of Ipueira in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. He has had one of our chairs for about a year and a half now as he broke his leg, but the bone has never healed. Please pray for him.

As the floods receed in the south of Brazil there are still 48,000 people in temporary shelter in schools and gymnasiums. 630,000 people are out of their homes and 114,000 are without electricity. The problems there are gigantic.

Our grandson Arthur has now travelled from Heathrow to Barcelona where he is at the Primavera Sound Music Festival. He is travelling without baggage (just a rucksack on his back) and he flies dressed in 2 pairs of trousers and 5 shirts to avoid baggage! 😂 I asked him the other day if he was going from London to Basingstoke by train and he answered: “No way! It costs 20 pounds! I am going by coach which only costs 5.70 pounds!” 😀He is staying in Barcelona in a youth hostel sleeping on a top bunk with 7 other young men in the room.

Last night I led the Bible study about the integral mission of God and it went very well. There were 10 of us men there in the lovely men’s fellowship meeting.

Yesterday we had a rest day in Joao Pessoa where we still are after the Pastors & Leaders Conference. We will be travelling back to Patos later today. The service was led back in Patos by our associate pastor Rafael and our Bible College graduate Murilo preached the Word.

Our globe trotting grandson Arthur is still in Basingstoke with Philip, Gylmara and family. Tomorrow he flies to Barcelona for a music festival. Today they have gone to Brighton for the day.

Liz has gone to the beach now with Lynn, Amanda and Hutan. I don’t like the beach so I have stayed typing this! 😎

In the floods in the extreme south of Brazil the death toll has risen to 169 with 56 people still missing. 581,000 are still homeless though the situation is improving, but the recovery is a massive task.

Liz and I are in Joao Pessoa since Friday. We got up at 5 am on Friday and arrived at our church in Joao Pessoa at 11 am ready for the opening Pastors’ Conference fellowship lunch at 12 noon. Straight after lunch we held a senior leaders’ meeting and interviewed a candidate for probationary ministerial status and after this the first general assembly started at 2 pm.

The Pastors’ Conference went off extremely well and we got through a great deal of business in a harmonious productive spirit with rich participation from the pastors and other leaders. We gave ministerial status to Vera who leads the Ibiara church together with her husband Naldinho. We also ordained Naldinho, Matheus and Hortencia. The 11-person senior leadership team was elected for 2024 to 2028 with me chairman, Pastor Wostenes deputy chairman. The Leaders’ Conference in September at Green Pastures it was decided will have the theme of “the challenges for church growth” and will be coordinated by Gleydice. 

At the conference we learnt of new small churches having been started at the Sitio California where there are 5 believers, and at Lagoa da Ricarda where there are 2 believers. We heard the report from our Bible College in Campina Grande and from the radio programmes at Flores and Imaculada. We learnt too that our Matureia church is going to expand the church building to cope with its growing numbers. Our Flores church has grown and was given the recognition of the status as a large church. Now we have 25 larger churches, 27 medium size churches and 29 small churches making a total of 81 churches. We have a new market garden project at Large da Onca. 

The Pastors’ Conference ended with a lively and blessed celebration with 3 ordinations and I preached on church unity from Psalm 133. It was a lovely close to a lovely conference. Thank you for your prayers.

This week we will be travelling to Joao Pessoa early on Friday morning for our annual pastors and leaders general conference which I will be leading, and I will be preaching at the celebration service on Saturday night when 3 new ministers will be ordained. We value your prayers as we prepare for this important event.

Our granddaughter Beatriz (known as Bia pronounced Beeah) became the female table tennis champion of all the schools in our region this week, winning the final in straight sets. Well done Bia! Bia will now play in the State championship in Joao Pessoa.

Our grandson John David’s book called ‘Magic Crystals’ is in the build-up for its official launch in July and people can now pre-order the book. As a good grandfather I have ordered my copy though I hardly think the book will be my cup of tea! 😉

I have had discussions with the Patos Education Secretary as we need the Council to clean up the piece of land we have rented next to our Patos school which will be used as a play and sports area. The Council has been dragging its feet about doing this work but after my intervention it would seem the work will be done ths week.

The floods in the south of Brazil are finally receeding with the death toll at 161, 806 injured and 85 still missing.

EAB’s little magazine InTouch #101 is now available online on the EAB website at http://eabrazil.org/2024/05/21/intouch-101/

On Pentecost Sunday at 8 am I baptized 10 new converts from our Patos church at Green Pastures, followed by a church fellowship breakfast. It was a wonderful morning!

Our globetrotting grandson Arther flew from London to Iceland on Sunday where he will be until tomorrow. He hoped to see the erupting volcano there, but I think it is out of bounds this week owing to its dangerous state.

I am getting positive feedback on EAB’s magazine #InTouch 101 which should have reached you by now via snailmail. 

In the month of May we always especially focus on the combatting of child abuse in our schools and this time a case of attempted abuse has been uncovered. Please pray as we handle this very delicate situation. I can give no more details than this.

On Sunday I led the main service of the week at night and my associate pastor Rafael preached from Luke 24. We received 13 people into fellowship. It was a lovely service.

The death toll in the floods in the south of Brazil has risen to 157 and there are still 88 people unaccounted for. Over 600,000 people have been displaced by the floods. Please pray. 

On Friday night Liz and I travelled to a town called Passagem which is 37 km east of Patos. I preached the Gospel at our little church there which is lead by Eduardo and Cleide, helped by their son Davi who plays the guitar well. It was a lovely service.

On Friday we received a surprise visit from sister Felismina. She is a dentist who used to be a member of our church in Patos and now lives with her husband Pedro in Portugal. Pedro is Portuguese. She told us how badly they missed our church after their move abroad.

The ‘young at heart’ group of seniors met at sister Socorro Help’s house this week instead of their usual venue of the care centre. The meeting was really blessed as they encouraged Socorro Help who is far from well.

The 2022 census shows that there are 11.4 million illiterate people of 15-years-old and over in Brazil. EAB’s action schools are but a drop in the ocean, but we are contributing towards the solution of this problem as we make sure that over 800 children learn to read and write well.

Last night I took the service at Green Pastures which was good despite low numbers. Yesterday at our Flores church Pastor Nemias (Nehemiah) baptized 3 new converts. PTL!

Yesterday afternoon Liz and I went to visit two sisters from our Patos church: Toinha (aged 87) and Lourdes (aged 68). They live in a new small housing estate of 40 houses/chalets (1 bedroom + toilet/shower + living room with kitchen area) built by the state government for seniors and called Cidade Madura (Mature City). We had a lovely time of fellowship with our sisters in Christ and read the Bible and prayed with them.

Our grandson Arthur left by coach on Wednesday for Recife, from where he flew to Sao Paulo, Madrid & London. He will stay in London till Sunday when he will fly to Iceland. 

My one-hour TV interview about my life and ministry is having very positive repercussions and I am receiving many messages from people. I was invited to do the interview by the TV station. The interview has also gone out on state-wide radio. You can see the interview on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWD4Etk97wA . I know most won’t understand the Portuguese, but after the initial adverts you will at least be able to see me in action! We praise God for all the doors He opens to the Gospel.

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study to which we had 25 present. It was a good service. 

The disastrous floods in the south of Brazil continue to bring chaos. The latest statistics show 149 dead, 112 missing and 806 injured. A member of our church in Patos has a brother and sister in the middle of the turmoil and the sister has lost everything in her submerged house. Please pray.

Liz and I have visited Francieuda who is a member of the Patos church and is undergoing treatment for cancer. We were pleasantly surprised to see how well she looks. Please pray for Francieuda. 

I have given two further coach loads of children and teenagers nature lessons at Green Pastures which includes a 3 km walk through dense vegetation every time. These are wonderful opportunities for God.

Yesterday I did a one hour TV interview about my life and ministry and it went very well. It flowed like it should.

Liz went to our head teacher Gerlania’s house for a nice time of fellowship together with a few other sisters from the church. I went to the Men’s Fellowship meeting which only had 6 present this week.

Our 22-year-old grandson Arthur is an amazing young man. This week he will be setting out on his 4th international trip. He first went to Chile and then he made 2 trips to Europe including England, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Now he is going to Europe again to England, Spain (to a music festival), Iceland (to see an erupting volcano!) and Italy. He will also be going to Africa to Marocco to sleep for a night in a tent in the desert! He will be taking no cases (to economize!) and just have his onboard bag with a few items of spare clothing. Please pray for Arthur’s trip between May 15th and June 10th. All Arthur’s flights are cheap flights which he obtains via the internet. He entirely funds his own trips with no help from his parents or anyone else.

I have taken part in a 2-hour meeting of the deaf run by our deaf pastor Luiz Carlos and with the participation of Chief of Police Esau (deacon in our Patos church) and 2 other traffic police. 40 deaf people were present in the meeting about ‘Traffic and Citizenship’. Lots of excellent advice was given such as how to cope when you are stopped by the police but you can’t hear or speak. The meeting revealed that there are 30 deaf people in Patos that have motorbikes but who do not have driving licenses because they can’t pass their driving test owing to their deafness. We have decided to fight the deafs’ cause on this matter.

On Saturday I took another service at Green Pastures and Fred, Paulo Silas, Dodora, Nega and Manoel took part. On Sunday (Mother’s Day in Brazil and most places in the world) I preached on the Magnificat from Lucas 1:46-55. It was a lovely service with the children taking a special part for their mums.

I have been to Green Pastures to be the guide for another coach load of school students teaching them to care for creation. I took them on a 3 km walk along a variety of trails and all went off very well.

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study. The praise was led by Erika with Rogerio on keyboard and Vasti also sang a solo. Marcio, Romildo, Adriana and Carol brought verses of scripture and Pastor Rafael brought the study from Amos 3. It was a good participative meeting.

Liz is doing a lot of work with our senior sister Socorro Help who is far from well. Liz is on call, from her grandddaughter who looks after her, 24×7. Liz never switches off her phone. Liz is at her house now trying to calm her down and Sacha has gone there to sing her some hymns. Please pray for Socorro Help. 

I brought back 11 ripe custard apples from Green Pastures. I also saw 3 White-bellied Nothura, a Burrowing Owl, lots of Red-cowled Cardinals, a number of Guira Cuckoos and a Smooth-billed Ani.

I love God’s word and God’s work like the British like roast beef and roast potatoes with yorkshire pudding! 😃

On Tuesday night I travelled with the Patos men’s fellowship to take a service in the town of Sao Mamede which was very good. It was a street service in front of the house of Jose and Marico. Marcio, Claudivan, Fabio & Paulo Silas took part in a service led by the chief of police Esau. Pastor Rafael preached the Gospel.

The death toll in the floods in south Brazil has risen to 95 and there are still more than 130 people missing. There is water everywhere but drinking water is in very short supply as 5 of the 6 water pumping systems have been knocked out of action in the flooded main city of Porto Alegre. Please pray.

An 85 year old elder called Walter, at our 3rd Joao Pessoa church in the borough of Boa Esperança, has had a nasty fall which caused an exposed fracture of his wrist. He has been operated on twice. Please pray for Walter. 

On Sunday morning 5 were baptized at our Sao Vicente do Serido church which is led by our sister Nenem Guimaraes. She is doing an excellent job.

The leader of our little church at Umburana is sister Leonarda and we have just received word that she is pregnant. Please remember these women leaders in your prayers.

Our Sunday services in Patos went well. Liz says the Sunday school in the morning was down in numbers but was blessed. I led the main service of the week at night which was our monthly communion service. The church was packed out to capacity. Of special note was the solo sang by Fabio which was beautiful.

The floods in the south of Brazil have brought utter chaos with thousands of houses having water up to their roofs and many lives lost. Sadly some people are exploiting the tragedy, as we have been told by a friend who managed to escape, that people with boats are charging R$500 (83 pounds) to rescue people from their roof tops!

Floods in south Brazil have killed over 70 with over 100 people reported missing. A dam has burst and others look that they might burst. It is a terrible climatic tragedy in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Please pray.

I have had a good meeting with Pastor Wostenes about the Action Child schools.

Yesterday was the last match of the season in the English Football Championship and QPR won again, this time beating Coventry 2 x 1 away. This means we ended up in 18th position on 56 points, which was 4 places and 6 points clear of the drop. Well done QPR! I don’t expect to say much about QPR for the next 3 months, unless they decide to sign me up, in which case I would let you know! 😉

Last night I led the weekly service of the Green Pastures church and Rayla preached from John 17. Rayla is a young lawyer and Bible college student. Fred, Nega, Manoel, Joao Filho and Lucas Conserva also took part. This week it was the monthly communion service.

Amanda is one of our 9 grandchildren. She is the daughter of Lynn and her husband Hutan. Amanda was 9 years old yesterday. Hence at night we all had a pizza party to celebrate and lots of Amanda’s friends from church and school came along. It was a lovely evening.

I went to the gym yesterday as I do every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I enjoy going and it does me good of course.

The rainy season continues here and we had 796 mm (33 inches) between December and April. Now in May the rains normally start to dwindle, but on the 1st of May we had 20 mm at Green Pastures. Thank you for praying.

Dengue fever has passed 4 million cases in Brazil this year with about 2 thousand deaths. Dengue fever gives heavy flu-like symptoms, a rash, and the killer version gives haemorrhaging.

In the first quarter of this year the police in the city of Sao Paulo killed 179 people! This is a rise of 138% from the previous quarter when they only killed 75!

Yesterday Liz and I did some difficult counselling with another couple. We also had an important meeting with some Action School leaders mainly about the Patos school. Whilst we were in the meeting a man from our church left us a bag of custard apples. It was a very nice and tasty surprise at the end of the meeting!

A couple called Diego and Talyta have asked to join our church so this is nice. Please pray for them.

I am reading a book called ‘Seven things I wished Christians knew about the Bible’ by Michael F. Bird.

Last night I took the Bible study in the men’s fellowship meeting. It was a lovely time around God’s Word in Matthew 7:13-14.

Today was a bank holiday and so the married couples fellowship organized a wonderful day outing at Green Pastures to which 23 couples went. Everything went off excellently. Some couples went there to sleep on Tuesday night too. There was a lovely spirit about the whole day. The husbands did a barbecue to which each couple contributed 5 pounds and took food. The event started at 7:30 am and ended at night. In the afternoon I gave a meditation on 1 Corinthians 13 which went very well.

This Saturday night was busy. I went to Green Pastures to hold the weekly service there and I took Fabio (for the singing) and Murilo (preaching) with me. The service was good with a good number present and happy participations from Fred, Paulo Silas, Nega, Dodora and Julio. Parallel to this service another was held at our school in Patos where our deaf pastor Luiz Carlos preached the Gospel with Geralda interpreting.

Meanwhile in England the Cadnam Methodist Church held their annual concert in support of EAB for which they sold 75 tickets and the event went off very well.

Last night in Patos I led the main service of the week in the evening and our youngest daughter Sacha preached on repentance from Revelation 2:1-5. She was excellent. Sacha preached on Saturday evening too at our Itaporanga church which is an hour and 20 minutes’ drive west of Patos.

This morning I took a group of students from a Patos school on a 3 km nature trail at Green Pastures. Then after this Liz and I went to the doctor’s for our bi-annual check-up which we passed with flying colours. PTL!

I went to Green Pastures and saw a nest of the Greater Ani which is a dark blue bird with white eyes which measures 46 cms. I saw the parents and 3 young in the nest who are quite large already and should soon be flying. This species comes to us every year in the rainy season. I also heard the Scaled Dove cooing and saw a number of small flocks of Red-cowled Cardinals.

Yesterday afternoon I received the visit in my office of the leader of an evangelical mission in Joao Pessoa called Juvep. The leader’s name is Sergio Ribeiro. He was coming through Patos and so contacted me asking to set up a meeting. We had a very good discussion about the work of the Lord in northeast Brazil which was most worthwhile.

Yesterday QPR beat Leeds 4 x 0 at home and therefore guaranteed their permanence in the Championship with one game still to play. I watched the second half on TV as I had been in a meeting so missed the first half. It was an outstanding performance against a top side.

Liz and I went to the Patos General Hospital to visit our worker Fabio who was injured in a motorbike accident. His hand/arm is broken and in plaster and his knee is heavily bandaged having been ripped open in the accident. The 2 girls that were also on the bike were fortunate to be unscathed as they didn’t even have crash helmets on!

We have received news from Peter & Marion Miles of the death of Pastor Ray Westbook, aged 88 years, who was the pastor at our old church Peniel Chapel for many years. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our dear brother.

On Tuesday night I travelled with the Patos Men’s Fellowship to the town of Sao Mamede where I preached the Gospel from 1 Peter 1:1-9 in a street service which gathered between 40 and 50 people. It was a good service.

On Wednesday afternoon Liz and I had an excellent meeting with our social worker Marah Danielle about the Action Schools project and the ‘young at heart’ encounters. It was a really productive meeting in which we defined problems and sought solutions.

Liz went to the Wednesday evening women’s fellowship meeting and it went well with 10 present. Liz also had a difficult counselling session with a woman but I can’t give her name.

Fabio is one of our young leaders who leads the Travessia and Fonseca little churches. When he was a child he was one of the EAB sponsored children. Well, he has been injured in a motorbike accident when he was taking his sister and her friend on his bike! The excesses of youth! 3 on a motorbike is a bit much! Fabio was sent to the general hospital in Patos where he is being treat for a fractured hand and badly damaged knee. Please pray for Fabio.

On Sunday night I led the service in Patos and Rafael preached on Mark 9. It was a good service.

Liz and I have renewed our Brazilian drivers licenses this week.

I so enjoy my friendships with the little children in church. Last night little Samuel (his Dad is our keyboard player) came up to me after the service and gave me one of his sweets! Samuel “helps” me in the Bible studies by writing on the flip chart to give me a hand! Little Moses (whose Dad drills wells) came up to me after church last night (as he always does) and extended his hand to me greeting me with the grace and peace of the Lord! The lovely little girl identical twins (whose Dad is a policeman) both gave me enormous hugs after church last night! And so it goes on… “of such is the kingdom of heaven”.

Liz has just been visiting an 80-year-old lady called Graça with Deaconess Deborah Maria. The lady was very lonely and thoroughly enjoyed the visit which was really blessed.

I went for a walk at Green Pastures and saw and heard a variety of birds: Many Picui Ground Doves, Caatinga Cacholotes, Burrowing Owl, Red-cowled Cardinals, Striped Cuckoos, Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, Smooth-billed Anis.

I have proof read EAB’s InTouch magazine #101 and it looks very good. Our thanks to Dave Flowers and Marian Rashleigh for all their good work. In this edition topics include: 60+ Movement, Pink & Blue, Tavares Outreach, Baptismal, Carnival Camp, Bathroom project, Ministry to the Deaf, Donkeys and Sheep. You should receive this magazine in early May. Please read it and then pass it on to someone who might enjoy it.

Our pastor Gerse at our first Princesa Isabel church has had the blow of his car catching fire. Please pray for him. The car is a mess, probably a write-off and it wasn’t insured.

I have just driven back a little over two and a half hours after having preached at our Princesa Isabel church in the borough of Baixa last night. This is our second church in that town which celebrated its 19th anniversary. I preached on the faithfulness of God from Psalm 89. It was a lovely service. We slept the night at Princesa Isabel in a “hotel” which was pretty basic to put it mildly!

QPR beat Preston 1 x 0 at home yesterday which was excellent! However we are still not guaranteed survival in the Championship. 

Liz has been at the Women’s Fellowship meeting which she says went well. Deborah Maria led and Rebeca spoke. They also had a good time of prayer together.

Liz and I have been involved in a good counselling session with a couple who I will not name. 

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study last night and the praise was led by Marina and Rogerio on keyboard. Rafael brought the study from Amos 2. It was a good service.

Liz has been involved in some counselling of a young person with relationship issues. I can’t mention the name or go into details.

I have been doing sermon preparation for the annual general pastors’ conference next month. Your prayers are valued.

Liz and I had our bi-annual blood tests today so I’ve been walking round all day with an empty arm! We get our results online and everything that has come through to date is fine. 😊

I went to the Men’s Fellowship meeting last night which was led by school teacher Claudivan with Rafael coordinating the reflection in God’s Word. Only 7 went but it was a nice time of fellowship around God’s Word.

The difficult selection process for three more toilet/shower units to be built at Barra de Oitis has been completed and the building materials have been delivered this week. 81-year-old Maria de Lourdes is finally going to get her very first bathroom and she is thrilled! There are no less than 21 people living in her 4-room house, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so the loo will be well used! The second toilet/shower unit will be shared by the 3 families of Maria Jose, Camila and Francisco benefitting a total of 17 people. The third will go to Maria Luciene and family benefitting 6 more people.

Saturday was a youth day at Green Pastures with a time of sport and leisure for our youth. They stayed for the evening service there at which one of them, Ray, was the speaker.

The young at heart group enjoyed their morning on Friday of ocupational therapy and fellowship. We have received various messages of thanks from them.

QPR lost at Hull 3 x 0 on Saturday and are now 3 points and 3 places above the delegation zone with 3 matches to go to the end of the season.

Liz has just made me an avocado pear smoothy. Absolutely delicious!

Liz and I have been to a tragic wake of a young man aged 35 who was murdered last night by a policeman. The deceased’s mother Salete is a member of our church. The murder took place as part of a dispute over a girlfriend. The wake was very emotion charged. Please pray for Salete.

I led last night’s service and Bible College graduate Murilo preached on ‘being holy’ from 1 Peter 1. He was excellent

Jose Joel and Rafael with their 2 little sons were thrilled to receive a sheep last week as part of EAB’s 4-Legs project. They live in the Sitio Genipapo in Santana de Mangueira County. As well as being a farm labourer Jose is a marathon runner like EAB chairman Roy Dyer. Perhaps we could set up a race between ACEV’s Jose and EAB’s Roy?! 😉

The time is fast approaching for the annual Cadnam Methodist Church Concert in the New Forest in aid of EAB. It will be held on the last Saturday of the month (April 27th) at 7 pm. Tickets cost 10 pounds. Phone 01794 323279 for reservations and details. The concert will have a fine musical programme with some very good musicians. Our son Philip will be taking part. Our thanks go to Howard & Hillary Babey for all their work put into organizing this event.

On Thursday Liz and I held an excellent two and a half hour meeting with Pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice. Pastor Wostenes is the deputy chair of ACEV. We had a wide ranging discussion in preparation for next month’s general conference of all our pastors and leaders. I will be preaching at the Conference. Please pray.