Categoria: News

Yesterday we travelled up the Teixeira mountain to preach at the 58th anniversary service of our Teixeira church. It was a lovely service with a full church. Parallel to this our daughter Sacha took the weekly service at Green Pastures, the Christians in action group took the service at Ipueira and there was also a service at Passagem. In Patos the youth also held an evangelistic service.

On Friday night I held a meeting of all our ministries’ leaders when we discussed ways to improve our fellowship group meetings. It was a productive and profitable meeting.

Yesterday QPR lost yet again! This time they lost 4 x 0 at home to Blackburn. Oh dear! 😖

Liz and I visited our sick sister Socorro Help and it was good to find her more positive and looking somewhat better. She is worried about one of her sons and wanted to talk to us about him.

We had a good meeting with the adolescents’ fellowship leaders and had a good discussion about their work whilst giving them some tips and suggestions.

Liz has been to the women’s fellowship which went off well.

Sadly QPR go from bad to worse and lost yet again at Leeds 1 x 0 on Wednesday. Oh dear! 😕

Last night’s Bible study went well and we finished the book of Hosea.

Yesterday I went to the Papagaio region of São Mamede to give 4 hair sheep, of the Santa Inês breed, as part of the EAB 4-Legs Project. The people were extremely grateful. The families that received them were Conceição, Chaguinha and their 4 children; Eliane, José and their one child; Francinaldo, Damiana and their 3 children; and the single mother Mariana and her 6 children. Thank you for supporting this wonderful project.

This week we have seen two further young people make commitments to Christ in the Patos church. Please pray for these new born ones in the faith.

We had a very good meeting with our co-pastor Rafael. We had a nice time of prayer together and we discussed a variety of topics about the church. We went through the list of candidates for baptism later in the month discussing each one.

Last night I enjoyed the weekly men’s fellowship meeting. There were 11 present and it was led by chief of the police Esaú. 

We are in the process of acquiring some more hair sheep for distribution in the 4-Legs project. 

Our churches on the coast at João Pessoa held a women’s conference at the weekend and a very good number attended. The event was blessed of God and encouraged everyone. Our Conceição church (2 hours west of Patos) held its 74th anniversary service and layed hands on a new elder called Dedé who is a lovely faithful brother. Then there was a youth conference at our Portelo church near Campina Grande as well, so plenty of events were held this weekend.

I led the service and preached at it at Green Pastures on Saturday. We had a problem with the lighting in the hall so we held the service in the open air where we had lighting and it was a lovely service. The Christians in Action group also held their weekly service at Ipueira.

The Sunday services went well in Patos. I led the monthly communion service at night and Pastor Rafael preached from Matthew 15. 

Liz led a jumble sale held at our Patos school on Saturday and it raised 138 pounds for our construction work.

The sad news is that QPR lost again at the weekend. They lost 3 x 1 at home to Coventry and are now 22nd in the Championship which is in the relegation zone. Oh dear! 😠

I led Thursday night’s Bible study and Pastor Rafael gave the study from Hosea 14. Numbers were down to just 16, but it was a good service. Two brethren (Romildo and Dedé) also shared verses of scripture which have recently been a blessing to them.

It is lovely to keep getting reports in from our EAB action schools which are going very well. Our thanks go to all those who sponsor these schools and children.

Our edition number 100 of the EAB magazine InTouch is now with Dave Flowers who does the layout and sends it to the printers. Marian Rashleigh (editor) has just sent all the articles and photos to Dave.

Please pray for Liz’s cousin Russell Dyer who had a cardiac arrest this week whilst teaching at his school. He is now recovering in hospital and we pray that the doctors will discover the cause and rectify it.

We have been given a full page in the nationwide Brazilian evangelical magazine called ‘Ultimato’ so that we can share all about our projects. This is a wonderful opportunity to tell of 85 years of work for God in north-eastern Brazil. I received the news yesterday from the magazine’s owner.

I have just had a meeting regarding the further expansion of our 4-Legs project. We defined 4 more recipient families for hair sheep and will now seek to purchase these animals for donation. This is a project spread over a very wide area which keeps going throughout each year.

Yesterday’s temperatures went from 23 degrees in the night to 38 degrees in the afternoon in Patos.

The town of São Mamede is about a half hour drive north-east of Patos and twice a month the Patos men’s fellowship holds street services there preaching the Gospel. On Tuesday night we went there and about 30 people gathered to attend, and I gave a word from Romans 12. We hold the services in front of Brother José and sister Maricó’s house, but after the service this week another sister asked me if we could hold a service in front of her house in the near future. That is the way the Gospel spreads here. PTL!

I have been talking to Pastor Valdemy at Caroá and he has invited me to preach at their 40th anniversary service on November 25th. It will be a joy to be there once again.

Please pray for us and our projects team as we work on defining the locations for our next well to be drilled and for our next toilet/shower unit construction. The needs are great and the careful selection processes are very important.

I have so far posted the photos of Pastor Robério (Tavares church), Pastors Wostenes and Fabrício (Campina Grande Catolé church) and Pastor Nemias (Flores church) in our ‘meet the pastors’ on EAB’s Facebook page. Please pray for these pastors. I am posting them in the order I took their photos.

As you must have noticed I have just had my hair cut! 👨

Liz went to the Ladies fellowship group meeting last night. She says there were only 7 of them there but it was a nice meeting.

I both led the service and preached on Sunday night in Patos. I preached on ‘ The Pure Way’ from Psalm 119:9-16. It was a good service and the sermon went well. After church the youth sold hot dogs to raise money for the Care Centre construction work. It was good to see a young couple and their son in the service who came to the Lord in the weekly services at our school. The couple will be baptized next month.

The construction work is going well and we are now laying the floor tiles.

At the weekend QPR drew 0 x 0 away to Birmingham. I am sure you were longing to hear about QPR!😉

Please pray for the financial situation of EAB. The cost of living is rising here astronomically and the pound sterling is stuck very low owing to the poor situation of the UK economy. 

As the year goes by the temperatures rise here every year. Today we had a low of 22 degrees centigrade (in the night) and a high of 37 degrees (in the afternoon).

Starting this week I am posting each day on Facebook a photo of our pastors. Please follow this at https://www.facebook.com/eabrazil 

I have just got home from our pastors and leaders conference held at Green Pastures which was really blessed of God. It was a time of good fellowship for the 80 plus pastors and leaders present. Thank you for your prayers.

The pastors arrived during the Friday morning and we all had our first meal together at midday. Then at 3 pm we held the annual meeting to discuss all our projects such as wells, market gardens, toilet/shower units, schools etc. The projects’ team gave their reports and a good discussion ensued with all the pastors and leaders taking part.

On the 2 evenings of the conference (Friday and Saturday) I led the meetings, Gleydice and Fabrício Junior led the praise and worship, we had times of prayer together with a variety of pastors taking part, and Pastor Wostenes, from our 1st Campina Grande church,  taught about church growth, church leadership and the use of small home groups as tools for evangelism. Wostenes’ teaching was rich and really blessed of the Lord. At the end of the conference teaching it was decided to extend the teaching to our regional fellowships over the coming year.

At the conference all our pastors and leaders received study Bibles (Bibles intertwined with commentary) through a donation from the Brazilian Bible Society. 

On the Saturday morning our senior leadership team held a two and a half hour meeting to discuss a complex matter concerning one of our pastors. In the afternoon I had an important meeting with Pastor Iremar who leads two small churches. One is in the village of Juá in the County of Salgado de São Felix and the other is in the borough of Funcionários 3 in João Pessoa. I also had an important meeting with the wife of one of our pastors who wanted to thank me for our help in getting her and her husband through Bible College. I also had a whole host of meetings with various pastors.

Everyone has this morning returned to their respective churches to be ready to take the evening service and preach the Gospel with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.  

We will be holding a baptism at Green Pastures on Sunday, 22nd October at 8 am and thus far we have 16 people to be baptized. There are 3 couples, one mother and son, 4 women and 4 young men. Please pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ. May their baptism be a memorable occasion and unforgettable experience with God. 

Tomorrow sees the start of our annual Pastors and Leaders Conference at Green Pastures so Liz and I will be moving there as from tonight to receive everyone as they arrive in the morning. This means this blog will be off the air till Sunday or Monday. Tomorrow we will have a general assembly meeting about our projects in the afternoon and a time of teaching in the evening. On Saturday it will be a day for fellowship and relaxing together with further teaching in the evening. We value your prayers.

When I get back from the conference I will be preaching on Sunday night on Psalm 119:9-16.

I have had important meetings with 2 pastors. I can’t go into details here.

Our projects team is in the process of selecting a new family which will receive one of our toilet/shower units at Barra de Oitis.

Last night I brought the Biblical reflection from Philippians 1:3-8 to the Patos Men’s Fellowship. It was a good meeting with 11 present.

QPR drew at home to Swansea yesterday to take us up to 7 points in the Championship in 19th place. QPR equalized in the 92nd minute with a goal from the Scot Lyndon Dykes who has more tatoos than normal skin. Pretty dismal stuff! 😞

Liz and I are busy preparing for the Pastors Conference which starts on Friday at Green Pastures. There is always lots to do. Please pray for the conference which is of major importance for the work here.

On Monday night a meeting was held at Manoel and Miriam’s house near Green Pastures and over 40 people turned up to hear the Gospel.

Yesterday was our grandson John David’s 22nd birthday. John lives in João Pessoa where he training to be a doctor.

 EAB/ACEV’s market gardens project continue to flourish. Our projects’ team monitored the latest editions of this project at Macambira dos Lúcios and Maxixeiro communities this week. The Maxixeiro market garden is already selling an average of 400 lettuces a month @ 55 pence each plus 400 bunches of coriander @ 45 pence each. The Macambira dos Lúcios market garden is also selling equally well with a contract to supply local schools with its organic products. This project is therefore an excellent means of increasing income for poor families through helping people to help themselves.

I called in to visit this week’s ‘young at heart’ seniors meeting and was very warmly received. They insisted that I should eat a snack with them and it was very nice. I also visited the nearby building work at the Care Centre which continues to progress well.

Perlânio is one of our sign language interpreters who works as an interpreter at a school in Pernambuco state. Last night he lost control of his motorbike at 11 pm returning from work and fell into a ditch. An ambulance took him to hospital but he seems to be alright and has now been sent home where Liz and I have just visited him. Please pray for Perlânio. 

On Saturday night I led the service at Green Pastures and a group of young people led the praise: Segundo, Michelle, Davi and Michael. Bible college student Ray preached on prayer. I also led the Sunday main service in Patos and Murilo preached very well on Hebrews 10:19-25. 

Sadly on Saturday QPR lost at home to Sunderland 3 x 1. A QPR player was sent off after only 22 minutes when we were leading 1 x 0. These referees have no heart! 😖

Pastor Rafael’s cousin has been killed. I do not know the details but apparently he was killed in a shoot out with police. Please pray for the family.

This week another man was taken to drug rehab from Soledade. Please pray for his deliverance and salvation. 

I have read and studied a draft of our youth’s proposed Sunday School lessons built around ACEV’s declaration of faith. The work was extremely well written by Murilo who graduated from Bible College earlier this year. I approved the work for use.

We have had a meeting with Dilma who is the drama group leader. The meeting was to officially present and discuss the new Christmas play I have written. Now the hard work of choosing the cast and rehearsals begins. 

The Bible study went off well on Thursday night and about 30 people were there.

“The Christmas Star” is the name of the Christmas play I have just finished writing. This is not the first Christmas play I have written and the drama group asked me to write another one this year. There is a limit to what angles you can approach the Christmas story from so this year I have come from the angle of the stars! The play starts with a conversation between three stars. So you can see that one of my multi roles is that of playwriter! Please pray for this play and for our drama group as they will now prepare and memorize their lines ready for the Christmas eve presentation in a little over three months’ time. May the gospel be clearly proclaimed this Christmas.

Our dear Swiss friend and sister in Christ Vroni went to be with the Lord this week at the age of 102. We praise God for her life and that of her sister too. They were faithful supporters of EAB donating to the Christmas hampers project every year. 

Our Jimny jeep is again in the garage this week for repairs and it was interesting how the mechanic pointed out the tracks of Field Mice all over the engine area. He said that many problems are often caused by Field Mice gnawing through car pipes and wires.

The Lord blessed special evangelistic outreach at Fonseca community at the weekend when two decisions were made for Christ. At our Flores church there is blessing too with five new members being received into fellowship.

On Tuesday night the Men’s fellowship held another service in the town of São Mamede. I led the service, Fábio led the praise and Pastor Lucena from Recife preached the Gospel. About 40 people attended the street service.

At our Patos and Princesa Isabel action schools we are developing extra activities working with the adolescents who have already finished their primary school course. We are calling these extra activities ‘workshops’. At our Patos school we are now running 3 workshops. One is football on Wednesdays and Fridays. Another is judo on Mondays and Tuesdays. A third is mathematics on Saturday mornings. At Princesa Isabel we are running football and handicraft workshops. Please pray for the adolescents involved that they might be further helped educationally, socially and spiritually. 

I have been preparing sermons to preach up in the mountains at our Teixeira church and also to preach at the oldest EAB/ACEV church at Princesa Isabel. Last month I also preached at our Sítio Glória church and at our Curral Velho church. I value your prayers for our travels and ministry around the churches which are an important part of our work for the glory of God teaching and preaching God’s Word. Please also pray for our leaders’ conference which I will be coordinating at Green Pastures between the 22nd and the 24th September.

I led the main service of the week in Patos on Sunday and Pastor Lucena from Recife preached the Gospel from Philippians 3. During the service a group of girls presented an excellent choreography. It is good to praise God with physical expression as it is with verbal expression too.

Our assistant pastor Rafael has set the date for his wedding with Rayla for the last Saturday in the year on December 30th. This will be my 5th wedding of the year with Isaque and Marina getting married prior to this on November 4th. 

Thieves tried to break in to the Care Centre which is being completely revamped. They went to the Care Centre in the night and tried to force open the temporary wooden door. However our night watchman soon surprised them from inside and sent them running! I have reported the incident to our deacon Esau who is the chief of Patos police. Please pray for a robbery-free completion of this project. 

Our head-teacher of the Pastor Frank Dyer school, Gerlânia, has had a motorbike accident. She was taken to hospital and had a scan done of her abdomen, as the handlebars of her bike were rammed into her. She has now been sent home as nothing showed up on the scan. She is just badly bruised and shaken up. Please pray for her.

Our youngest daughter Sacha, who is the praise and worship leader in the Patos church, has badly sprained her ankle and is temporarily wearing a recovery boot and using a wheelchair from our wheelchair bank. Sacha’s daughter and our granddaughter Beatriz (aged 13) injured her arm in some sort of game with her boyfriend Luendo and was taken to hospital in great pain! Her arm does not appear to be broken as was at first suspected. 

Last night’s service at Green Pastures went well. I led, Marina led the worship, and Rafael preached from Matthew 9. It was lovely to have Pastor Lucena and his wife Magaly from Recife with us.

 I have just drunk a nice twangy glass of Tamarind juice which originated from the Tamarind trees at Green Pastures. Tamarind trees are indigenous from tropical Africa and are widespread in India and the Middle East, but the trees do well in our semi-arid climate. The fruits are light brown pods about 10 or 12 cm long. To make the drink you soak the insides of the pods (a sticky substance) in water and then add sweetener. You mustn’t consume too much Tamarind as it is a laxative. Tamarind is on the ingredients list of HP sauce!

Yesterday (September 7th) was Brazil’s 201st independence day and for that reason was a public holiday. The main street of Patos always sees festive marches in front of the town hall and the people gather to watch and applaud. This happens all over Brazil. The first independence day that I saw was in 1972. I arrived here on August 3rd and I watched the marches on September 7th in the hot morning sun. I filmed it on my super 8 movie camera. Nowadays the marches take place in the early evening which is much more sensible once the sun has gone down. 

The weekly service at our school in Patos went well on Wednesday night with a good group of older children/adolescents attending. The women’s fellowship supported the service. 

Today is Liz’s birthday and it’s the day on which she catches up with me in age! I praise God for my outstanding wife who is always such a pillar in the work of the Lord. 

Please pray for pastor Rafael who is unwell and has gone to spend a few days with his parents in Soledade. 

A hurricane has hit the extreme south of Brazil this week with very heavy rains and floods killing at least 41 people. Here in the north-east it is terribly dry with increasing heat as the year goes on. 

On Monday night I took part in an online meeting of the Brazilian evangelical 60+ movement organizing a conference in João Pessoa for the month of November at which they have invited me to be one of the speakers. The movement is seeking to motivate the 60+ age bracket, which is rapidly growing in Brazil, to be more active in the work of the Lord.

Last night I spoke at the Men’s Fellowship meeting and it was an excellent meeting. We discussed Philippians 1:1-2. We also talked about how we can get more men to come to the meetings.

I have been doing a considerable amount of work with our senior leaders’ team concerning the leaders’ conference which starts at Green Pastures on the 22nd, on the 60+ conference etc.

On Monday night a service was held at Vilene and João Paulo’s little farmstead in São Mamede County. Rafael led the service and spoke, and he was helped by Chico and deaconess Márcia.

I led the weekly service of the Green Pastures church on Saturday night and a group of adolescents from Patos went there in support. One of our youth leaders, Rayla, was who preached the Gospel from James 5. Paulo Silas, Josué, Dodora, Manoel and the women’s group led by Nega also took part. It was a good service. 

On Saturday morning I was asked to go to the girls’ English school to do a half hour conversation session with one of the classes. I went through something of my life’s story with them and heard about theirs. I gave them a copy of my book ‘From Notting Hill to Brazil’ which I wrote 15 years ago. 

You will be delighted to know that QPR beat Middlesborough 2 x 0 away on Saturday. This takes us up to 17th place (with 6 points) out of the 24 teams in the football Championship. We just need to start winning games at home now! 

Yesterday was ‘Missions Sunday’ for all our churches as it was on September 2nd 1938 that our founders Albert & Daisy Munday first arrived in Brazil. All our churches held a special missions day. In Patos Liz spoke to the Sunday School children about the early days of EAB and showed them photos. At night we had an effective monologue presented by Dilma, Rafael preached on ‘Living the Mission of God’, and I led the service which was also a communion service.

On Thursday afternoon we had a meeting with lawyer Ianne who is a specialist in dealings with government matters. The meeting was to ask her help to formalize EAB/ACEV’s partnership with the Patos town council regarding our Patos school. The school has been in partnership with the council for decades, but this has never been documented or formalized. This is what now we are aiming to remedy. At the meeting, as well as Liz and I, were Gerlania (head teacher of the school), Marah Danielle (social worker) and Hutan (our son-in-law who always helps us with such matters).

I am in the process of writing a Christmas play for the Patos church drama group, which they asked me to write. I have written plays before but now they need a new one. I have written the first two scenes so far. It is quite a challenge.

I went to Green Pastures yesterday and looked at the drainage problem that we have from the dormitories. Large salt deposits have to be removed. The salt accumulates from the brackish well water. Also a tree will need to be removed as its roots are causing a blockage. We are busy preparing for our leaders’ conference which is in 3 weeks time.

On Wednesday at 1 pm I conducted the wedding of Rogaciano (guitar player in the Patos church band) and Monyque. There are two ways of getting married in Brazil. First there is a church service where the pastor officially represents the judge and at which the couple, pastor and witnesses sign the legal and church documentation. Secondly (and this was the case this week) the couple go before the judge himself and later are married before God, and only sign the church documentation in the service. All went off very nicely. About 25 people were served lunch after the short service and ceremony.

Later the same day we had a meeting with the Patos youth leaders Murilo, Rayla and Rafael. We discussed a variety of topics linked to the youth work such as a series of Sunday School lessons for the youth based on ACEV’s declaration of faith, a monthly evangelistic outreach by the youth, and a special youth rally to be held on October 7th. 

On Tuesday the Men’s fellowship was disappointing with only 6 of us turning up. On Wednesday the Women’s fellowship visited one of the ladies (Lola) who became ill during last Sunday night’s service.

Last night the weekly service was held at our school in the borough of Jatobá and at the end two teenagers we have been working with for some time made commitments to Christ. We are overjoyed! Please pray for Arthur and Larissa. 

Our Cedro church celebrated its 54th anniversary at the weekend. Cedro is in the rural area of Princesa Isabel County about a 2 hours’ drive south west of Patos. It is led by Maria José. A very good crowd gathered for the service and Pastor Robério from our Tavares church was the preacher. 

I led the Sunday service in Patos and Philip and I sang a duet. Rafael preached on Mark 10:17f. This was Philip’s final service in Brazil on this trip. He and his family flew out of Recife airport last night and arrived back in England this afternoon.

On Sunday it was our grandson Arthur’s 22nd birthday. Arthur is our daughter Deborah’s younger son. He will graduate as a lawyer at the end of the year. He is a lovely Christian young man and goes out with Bianca who is also a fine Christian girl.

Patos is in the middle of an invasion at the moment of large black ants. Everyone is talking about them and combatting them.

On Saturday morning, as from 8 am, we held another jumble sale. Sometimes we hold them at our school on the south of Patos and sometimes we hold them outside our church in the centre. This time it was at the church and all went well. It was to raise funds for the building work on our Care Centre. Many church volunteers turned up to help with the sale. 

We now have a night watchman sleeping at the Care Centre building site as the electrical wiring has all been done which is a common target of thieves on building sites. The night watchman is extra expense of course, but we have no choice.

QPR sadly lost 2 x 1 away to Southampton yesterday. 😒

Last night I led the service of the Green Pastures’ church, Philip led the praise and worship (we are going to miss him when he returns to England tomorrow), and Murilo preached on Hebrews 4:1-4 and ‘Resting in God’. It was a good service. Parallel to this services were held at our school in Patos and at Passagem and Ipueira.

On Wednesday night I took part in a meeting of our Action Child Schools coordinators who are Sacha, Gerlânia, Jacilene and Pastor João George. It was a very good meeting which discussed the progress in all EAB Action Schools and focused on those schools that have improved and those that need to get better. We were very happy to learn of the big improvement in our Soledade school after the change of pastor there. We learnt also of two schools that need attention, but I can’t mention their names here. Due attention will be given to them and a plan of action was drawn up. The new schools at Barra de Oitis, Água Grande and Vazante will be visited later in the year to see how they are going.

Parallel to this meeting there was the weekly service at our school and the women’s fellowship meeting which 7 people attended.

The Bible study went well on Thursday and there were about 30 present.

I have been doing a lot of administrative work.

On Thursday night we slept at Green Pastures and it was interesting to see the nightly phenomenon of flocks of birds coming to roost there. This attracts owls which come to hunt them and I saw two owls, one of which was an American Barn Owl.

Last night Philip and I travelled to the ex-landless settlement of NS Aparecida II in the County of São Mamede. We went there as part of the Patos men’s fellowship to hold a service in front of Paulo and Dodora’s house. It was a dark night with little moon but 64 people gathered there to hear the Gospel. This is a very good number for a such out of the way place. It was an excellent service.

Philip led the praise with his guitar and others that took part were Dodora, Paulo Silas, Dedé, Manoel, Juliana and Rose. Philip and I sang a duet in English which the people loved. It was ‘Fool’s Wisdom’ which takes you back a bit! Can anyone remember this song from about 60 years ago? It is a Malcolm and Alwyn song.

Chief of the Police Coronel Esau led the service and I preached on Mark 1:9-20 focusing on Jesus’ baptism, temptation and his calling of his first disciples. It went very well. After the service the hosts served everyone with hot dogs and diet coke and everyone stayed chatting till quite late.

Saturday night was a night full of church activities. I went to Green Pastures and led the local church in the service and I preached God’s word from Philippians 1:1-11. Sacha led the praise together with Rogaciano on guitar. The service was outstandingly good and counted on a whole lot of local Christians taking part: Paulo Silas, Josué, Dodora, Fred, Pastor Sal, Julio, Nega and the women’s group and Manoel.

Parallel to this services were held in Passagem, Ipueira and in a central town square in Patos. The latter was led by our youth group and had the impactive participation of the drama group which is very important to get people’s attention in the open air. One young man made a recommitment of his life to Christ at the end of the service.

You will be very sad to know that QPR lost their first home match of the season by 1 x 0 to Ipswich. They are now in 17th place in the 24 team Championship. This coming Saturday QPR will be travelling to Southampton to play the saints. 

Last night’s main service of the week in Patos, which I led, went very well with Philip preaching on 1 Corinthians 13. Sacha led the praise and worship on her birthday.

At the weekend the women of our 3 churches of Vazante, Barra de Oitis and Mata de Oitis joined together for a ‘women’s conference’ to which 44 women went. It was a blessed time for all. 

Our weekly seniors meeting of the ‘young at heart’ group went well yesterday with 10 ladies taking part. The Bible reflection was brought to them by our deaconess Márcia and they all had a good snack together. 

Thursday night’s Bible study went well with about 30 people present.

Another boy is going to drug rehabilitation next week and will be taken there by pastor Rafael. The boy lives in Patos and it is so sad to see such a young lad hooked on drugs. Please pray that all will work out well and that the boy might be delivered from drugs and come to know Christ as his Lord and saviour. 

On Friday afternoon I went on a good 4 km walk with Philip at Green Pastures. Philip took a good few wildlife photos. Especially good were the following birds: Campo Troupial (eating our Guavas!), Pileated Finch and Spot-backed Puffbird.

Last night’s adolescents meeting went well with 18 present. They watched a good film together.

On Tuesday night 10 of us men gathered for the weekly men’s fellowship meeting and it went very well. It was led by chief of the police Coronel Esaú, Philip led the praise and Rafael brought a Bible reflection from Matthew 23. 

I have had an important meeting with Pastor Wostenes about our action schools at Matureia, Patos and Princesa Isabel. I also had a meeting about church finances with our treasurer Pastor Hamilton. 

Liz has had a tooth extracted. Please pray for her.

Please pray for the expanding school work with teenagers linked to our Patos school. Our school is a primary school but we are developing extra activities for teenagers after this so that we can keep in contact with them and lead them to know the Lord as well as helping them educationally.

Please pray for our Green Pastures Nature Reserve which seeks to be a light in our area caring for creation. This caring is intertwined with a local church, school, camps and other pastors and leaders events as a Christian Conference Centre. Next month we will hold our pastors and leaders conference there from September 22nd to 24th. 

Sadly QPR were knocked out in the first round of the Football League Cup last night. Norwich scored the only goal of the match in the 9th minute of time added on. The match was at home at Loftus Road. 

On Sunday it was Father’s Day here and we had a lovely service which I both led and preached at. A special feature of the service, as well as the children’s video and song, was the participation of the Decolagem (Lift Off) band which existed from 1990 to 2004 composed of Philip, Vicente, Jeziel, João and Bruno. This band was resurrected for this special occasion and all went off very well.

Yesterday afternoon I conducted the funeral service of Dona Sílvia who was the mother of our male-nurse Perlânio, who is also a good sign-language interpreter for the deaf. 81-year-old Sílvia died on Sunday morning and Perlânio asked me to conduct the service and graveside committal. After the funeral I took the opportunity to visit the grave of my late in-laws Frank and Ivy Dyer.

We are making preparations for our Pastors and Leaders Conference to be held at Green Pastures next month from the 22nd to 24th of September. Please pray for this very important annual event which involves good teaching and warm fellowship. Anyone able to contribute to the pastors attending from the poorer churches please send designated gifts to the EAB treasurer.

EAB’s new school at Vazante is going well and full-steam ahead. Please pray for this school and for all the EAB schools with a total of over 800 pupils.

Philip spent the day on Friday with his family at Green Pastures and he photographed a pair of Great Antshrikes. The male is black and white and the female is rust coloured and white. They always go hunting together in the nature reserve and have bright red eyes. They are about the size of a UK Blackbird.

Yesterday we travelled 150 km west of Patos to Curral Velho (Old Cow Pen) to preach at the 33rd anniversary service of our church there. We arrived there at about 5 pm and had a lovely meal and fellowship with the couple who are the leaders there, Ramos and Tica. Ramos is an expert cook. We enjoyed the good chat with these leaders and caught up to date with all the news. I preached on Psalm 116 as I had been asked to speak on Psalm 116:12. All went off very well and we drove back home after the service arriving at 11 pm.

On Friday night the adolescents’ fellowship meeting went well and last night the youth went to Green Pastures in support of the weekly meeting there. There was also a service at Ipueira and another at Passagem.

Yesterday the mighty QPR won their international match against Cardiff with a 2 x 1 victory in Cardiff. Thus QPR has risen in the Championship from 24th to 16th place and doubtless the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal are already trembling in their boots as they see the possibility of the Rrrrrs being promoted! 😉

Yesterday we received the donation of 43 food hampers for the poor which were donated to our church by a non-Christian. The donation was made by a man who had to give the hampers to an organization of his choice as the settlement of a legal case. He chose our church as we have a good reputation working with the poor.

Last night the Bible study went well. Philip led the praise and worship and assistant pastor Rafael gave the study in Hosea 11. Parallel to the service the children had a rehearsal for Sunday’s Father’s Day’s special service.

I had a nice 3 km walk with Philip at Green Pastures on Monday afternoon and saw and photographed 2 rust-coloured Savanna Hawks, a Great Egret and a large wild Tortoise. We also saw a Guira Cuckoo and a Caatinga Cacholote. We brought some nice Guavas back with us from one of our trees.

There have been some blessed services at our Juru church and at the weekend there was one decision for Christ and another person reconsecrated their life to God. At our Cidade Verde church on the coast much blessing is reported too. Good news comes from our São Vicente do Seridó church as well.

I have been asked to pray for Rogaciano and Monyque as they get married on the 30th. They will be married before the judge late morning and will have a small reception at Monyque’s family home at 1 pm. Prior to the meal I will pray a solemn prayer and give a blessing (in the place of a full wedding ceremony). Rogaciano is one of our church guitarists. Please pray for this couple.

I have been preparing a sermon for this coming Sunday which will be Father’s Day in Brazil. We will have the special participation in the service of the Decolagem Band which means ‘Lift Off.’ This was a band which started back in 1990 with a group of young lads, which is being resurrected by the group of now Dads: Philip, João Fera, Bruno, Vicente Jr. and Jeziel. We are looking forward to a great service! You can watch it live on Facebook and YouTube. 

Last night I travelled with Philip, Lucas and brothers from the Patos Men’s Fellowship to hold another street service in the town of São Mamede. Chief of the Police Esaú led the service, Philip and Segundo led the praise and worship, I gave a short word on Galatians 2:20, Dodora and Paulo Silas took part, and assistant pastor Rafael brought the final word from Mark 4:35-41. It was an excellent service to which about 30 people gathered to hear the Gospel.

On Saturday we travelled 81 km south-west of Patos to the Sítio Glória (Glory) in Imaculada County up in the mountains. I had been invited to preach on Joshua 1:9 at the 8th anniversary service of the church there, and Philip and Luis had been asked to sing. It was a wonderful service with the church packed out with many left standing outside in the doorway and by the windows. Philip and Luis sang very well and I had great freedom in the Holy Spirit in preaching. One person commented that I had been “on fire”!

Also on Saturday the 2023/2024 football season of the English Championship got underway. Sadly QPR lost away to Watford 4 x 0 and start the season at the bottom of the league. 😞

Last night I led the monthly communion service and Sacha preached very well indeed from 1 Kings 19. It was an excellent service with the church full.

Our grandson Luis, who is on holiday here with us from England, has been in hospital this week with dehydration from vomiting, virus and a heavy cold. He was put on a drip for 24 hours and is now home and much better.

We have had a meeting with sister Dodora and her son Gustavo from the ex-landless community in São Mamede. They wanted to share with us about the internal problems of their community and receive our advice and prayers.

This week’s mid-week Bible study went well. There were a good number present.

The construction work at the Care Centre is going well. The concrete floor has been done as have all the hydraulics.

I am travelling up the Teixeira mountain later today to preach at the anniversary service of our church at the Sítio Glória in the County of Imaculada.

This week we have given Damião and Maria their first Bible. They are new converts at the Fonseca ex-slave community in Manaíra County and are developing well in the faith. Please remember them in your prayers.

The men’s fellowship in Patos on Tuesday night had 10 participants and was blessed by a good word from Philip about not losing your focus. A good discussion ensued after Philip’s word and the meeting didn’t finish until nearly 10 pm.

Since Philip has arrived back here on holiday I have taught him to play chess. He is doing well and we have already had a few good games.

At the weekend the youth of our first Campina Grande church held a special youth event to which 166 young people went and 22 of these made decisions of commitment to Christ. Praise God with us! 🙌

I forgot to mention previously that on Sunday in Patos one young woman called Hislany Lima made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. Please pray for her. She lives near our school and has been attending the weekly services there, as well as coming to the main Sunday services in our church in the town centre.

We have 7 Bible College students in our Patos church alone, which is lovely to see. Please pray for them all: Rayla, Sacha, Romildo, Cláudia, Tiago Medeiros, Bia Conserva and Marina. I will be forming a discussion group with this group and those already graduated in theology.

Sunday night’s meeting was very good. I led, Philip led the praise and worship and Rafael preached from John 4. The church was full.

Rafael is taking a new person to rehab this week in João Pessoa. The person is an alcoholic from the town of Teixeira up in the mountains. Please pray for him.

We have finished another toilet/shower unit in the village of Barra de Oitis in the county of Diamante. It was built at the home of Romário and Raissa who are very pleased to have a toilet at long last for the first time in their lives. We are in the process of building yet another toilet. The need is great.

I had my haircut yesterday. I hope you like it! 👨

At Green Pastures there is a Marmoset monkey that has been rejected by the main group. This monkey always hangs around the kitchen to get food and we have named him Chico. This week a pack of 18 monkeys came after Chico and attacked him violently but Chico was saved by a flock of White-naped Jays who squawked loudly and pecked, driving the monkeys away. Chico was left limping for a day but is now fine again. 

I went on three walks at Green Pastures with Philip this week. Two were of 3 km and one was of 5 km. Philip photographed White-naped Jays, Pileated Finches, Scaled Doves, Iguanas etc. We also observed three species of snakes: Leptodeira annulata, Philodryas nattereri and Oxyrhopus trigeminus. 6 snakes in all were observed. I gave the scientific names in case anyone would like to look them up on Google.

Last night I conducted the wedding of Gerlânia (the head teacher at our Patos school) and Sérgio. All went off very nicely. May the Lord bless them.

On Wednesday the weekly service at the Patos school had a good number of both adults and children present and went very well. On Thursday the Bible study went well too. At Imaculada the youth camp went off very well and a number of young people present made decisions of commitment to Christ. At our Água Grande church they held a special service on ‘Farm workers’ day and had over 10 non-Christian farm workers there to hear the Gospel. Our Flores church has been doing some more work with youth this week revolving around the Bible and Ball. They are doing excellent work.

Last night I travelled with my son Philip (who is here for 6 weeks from the UK) to the town of São Mamede, 25 km north-east of Patos, to hold a street service with the Patos Men’s Fellowship. I led the service, Philip led the praise and worship with a guitar and he preached the Gospel from Mark 1. Paulo Silas, Dodora, Flávio, Rafael, Chico e Dedé also took part in the beautiful service. 42 people attended. 

Our eldest daughter Deborah has just been on another of her long distance bike rides travelling 168 km from Campina Grande to Patos in 7 hours 48 minutes. She left with her friends in the cool of the evening and got home in Patos at 3 am.

Our church up beyond the mountains at Imaculada has just held a camp for their youth which was really blessed of God.

I led the service in Patos on Sunday night and Philip and family were warmly received by the church receiving two gifts in the process. Our 7-year-old grandson Luis sang a lovely solo and Philip preached on the ‘Mission of God’ from Matthew 28:16-20. It was a great service.

Last Friday night was adolescent night with two activities for them which went very well. First of all there were about 30 adolescents at a meeting of our church kids at which I was asked to speak. Then there was a separate gathering of 36 adolescents linked to our Patos school who went out with headteacher Gerlânia, Pastor Rafael and his fiancée Rayla to have fun and eat pizza. We praise God for all the work being done with this age group.

Yesterday I conducted the wedding of João Paulo and Juliana from our Patos church. The wedding was scheduled for 4:30 pm but started at 5:15 pm with a 20-minute series of entry processions by the witnesses, bridegroom, bridesmaids and the bride. I finally started on the ceremony itself at 5:35 pm and all went off smoothly. The ceremony took 40 minutes.

After the wedding Liz and I finally got to see Philip, Gylmara, Lucas and Luis. It’s lovely to have them here with us for about 6 weeks. I will be leading the service shortly and Philip will be preaching.

The Patos Women’s Fellowship meeting on Wednesday night held a special meeting for “friends day” and some non-Christians were present. In all there were about 30 women present and our daughter Sacha gave the Biblical reflection. There were snacks for all at the end of the meeting. Liz says that all went off beautifully.

I have prepared another sermon on Psalm 119. This time it is on the second block of 8 verses from verse 9 to verse 16 which focuses on “how can a young man keep his way pure”.

I have today sorted out some documentation for Pastor Sílvio at our Portelo church and had my signature officially authenticated by a public notary. These sort of activities are always part of my job as chairman.

I have received a very good extensive reply from Grahame Morris MP, of the Easington constituency in County Durham, where Horden is a run-down village. I had written to the MP to complain about Horden’s apparently abandoned state since the pit there was closed. My cousin Philip lives at Horden.

Our son Philip, his wife Gylmara and their sons Lucas and Luis flew from Gatwick to Recife via Lisbon yesterday and landed in Brazil about 9 pm. They are staying in João Pessoa with Gylmara’s family till Saturday when they will all come to Green Pastures. 

The Bible study went off nicely last night. There were about 25 present.

This semester in our Patos school we will be holding two workshops for adolescents. These are youngsters who have finished our normal year 5 but have remained connected to the school, and we pray for them to commit their lives to Christ. We will be holding two three-month long workshops, with one in mathematics, to help them with their more advanced maths at their regular schools. The other workshop will be to teach them judo at a judo centre near to our school. Please pray for these new ventures.

Last night’s Men’s Fellowship meeting went well and there were nine of us present. Claudivan led the meeting, Rafael brought the Biblical reflection from Matthew 23 and Ricardo led our prayers.

The 4th Deaf Conference went very well indeed at the weekend. The closing service was led by deaf pastor Luiz Carlos who also preached. It always is very moving when he leads the service in sign language and it is translated to us hearers through an interpreter. There were around 100 people present for the service including about 30 deaf people of which some made commitments to Christ. As he reminded us in the service Luiz Carlos has been coming to our Patos church since he was a little boy. What a change now to see him as the deaf pastor! There were also 2 small choirs which presented signed songs in the service: the pupils of the current sign language course and the interpreters. Our drama group presented the “light of the world” pantomime at the deaf folks’ request as it is a totally visual presentation. At the end of the service Pastor Luiz Carlos presented Liz and I with a gift in thanks for all our support of the deaf ministry over the years.

On Saturday afternoon we held a jumble sale at our school to raise money for our building work. At night Murilo led the service at Green Pastures and Eduardo led the service at Passagem.

Last night I led the main service of the week in Patos and I preached too. I did an exposition of Psalm 119:1-8. Many people came to me afterwards saying they had been blessed by the word. It was a lovely service.

In the Patos church all the songs we sing in the church worship are first checked and approved by me as regards music and theology. This week I received 10 songs in one go to be checked and I approved 8 of them.

On Thursday afternoon Liz and I had a lovely meeting with Adriana and Segundo who are the leaders of the adolescents ministry in our church. They gave us a lot of very important and useful feedback about the adolescents which I can’t go into here. We noted down that which needs attention and prayed about it together.

On Thursday evening the mid-week Bible study went well with about 30 people present.

Last night’s adolescents fellowship group went so well that the leaders asked the parents to only come and pick them up at 10 pm. This gave them half an hour of extra time. We praise God for how well the work is going with this younger section of our youth.

On Tuesday night I travelled with the Patos Men’s Fellowship to the ex-landless settlement near the town of São Mamede. We held a Gospel service under a tree in front of one of our sisters’ houses and a crowd of at least 40 people gathered. A parallel children’s service was held by Rebeca who went with her husband Caetano. The children loved it. It was a very good evening.

I have written to MP Grahame Morris and Horden Parish Council (northeast England) to express my concern for the town after reading a report on the run down state of the place in the Daily Mirror. Horden has been abandoned by government since the coal pit closed in 1987. Now houses there sell for as little as 5,000 pounds and the place suffers with stabbings and shootings. The government must establish enterprises there, which generate jobs for the young, to revitalize the town. My uncle Wilf Robinson worked in the mine all his life and my cousin Philip Robinson lives in Horden to this day. I will let you know if I receive replies from the MP or Council.

Last night Liz and the women’s fellowship held their meeting at sister Socorro Help’s house. There was a good number there and it went well. Parallel to this the weekly service at our school was held and a couple and another woman came in to hear the Gospel as well as about 10 children.

Up in the mountains at Matureia the EAB/ACEV church, led by Pastor Renilson, held special anniversary services over the weekend. 6 new converts were baptized and 1 woman made her commitment to Christ. She is the mother of one of our action school children. PTL!

On Sunday morning Liz helped the deputy adult class teacher with the lesson as the main teacher could not come. At night I led the main service of the week. I dedicated a 2-year-old little girl called Emanuelly. Her grandmother Verônica is a member of our church and she asked me if I would dedicate her granddaughter. I agreed to do so and she turned up with 6 or 7 family members to witness the occasion. It was a wonderful opportunity for the Gospel. The preacher on the night was Murilo César who recently graduated from Bible College. He preached very well indeed on ‘Set your hearts on things above” from Colossians 3:1-4.

Last night we had a meeting with Sérgio and Gerlania whose wedding I will be conducting on the 29th of this month. Gerlania is the head teacher of our ‘Pastor Frank Dyer School’ in the borough of Jatobá in Patos. Please pray for this couple.

On Friday night we had an excellent meeting with our assistant pastor Rafael. We had a discussion of a wide ranging field of topics, church members that need attention etc. We also had a time of prayer together.

On Friday afternoon we saw a flock of Smooth-billed Anis. There were about 20 of them flying amongst the tree tops. These are a black bird with a long tail. Feedback from the wild cat researchers at Green Pastures is that they are surprised by how many wild cats there are at Green Pastures.

Please pray for the family of José de Lima, of our Princesa Isabel church, who died of a heart attack on Friday. Please pray for the church too.

Last night I was to have led the weekly service at Green Pastures where I was also to have preached. However in the late afternoon it rained which led to a call of ‘rain stopped pray’. It is a pity the service was cancelled, as the people wouldn’t come out in the mud, but we are grateful to God for the rain.

I have prepared two wedding cerimonies for the 22nd (João Paulo & Juliana) and the 29th (Sérgio & Gerlânia).

Philip, Gylmara and the boys are coming over from the UK for five and a half weeks on the 20th. 

Wednesday night’s women’s fellowship meeting was held at sister Hilda’s house as her little boy called Heitor has just got out of hospital having had his adenoids removed. Liz says the meeting went well despite there having been a low turn out.

Our Kombi is in the garage for repairs having presented a loud strange noise. I don’t know what the problem is but I hope they soon fix it with the minimum of expense.

The Care Centre and Mum’s kitchen building work presses ahead in its second week. We are having to install a biodigester to the drainage system which is yet more expense for the job. The biodigester (see it on Google if you don’t know what it is) is being installed at the insistence of the environmental department of Patos. I wouldn’t mind if other people were obliged to have biodigesters, but I think ours will be the only one in the centre of town! 

Last night’s Bible study went well despite a very low turn out of only 17 people. We did have some rain in Patos (not at Green Pastures) yesterday, so maybe that put people off.

Liz has just conducted two important visits. First of all she went to visit a person from the Patos church, together with Deaconess Deborah Maria, who is undergoing treatment for cancer. I can’t give the person’s name for privacy reasons. Please pray for this person. The visit was as good as possible under the circumstances. Liz also visited, this time on her own, a couple who are enduring extreme difficulties whom I can’t name again for privacy reasons. The husband is bedridden and has severe mental problems, and the wife is very low as a result of the stress of caring for her husband non-stop. Please pray for this couple.

Yesterday Liz and I went for a 3 km walk at Green Pastures and saw a White-bellied Nothura which flew off wildly, as they always do, when we disturbed in in the long dry grass.

Last night there were 9 of us in the Men’s Fellowship meeting which was held at Vicente Conserva Junior’s house. It was held there to encourage him as he recently lost his aged mother and is feeling it a lot. Recently graduated from Bible College Murilo César brought an excellent Biblical reflection on faith, focusing on the examples of Noah, Abraham and Moses from Hebrews 11.

I have been checking and monitoring the EAB Action Child and Action Schools’ bi-annual reports as they are sent to our coordinator in the UK Marian Rashleigh. Our daughter Sacha does the translation and compilation of these reports, but I monitor things so as to keep in contact with the progress of this excellent project which blesses over 800 very poor children. I found especially moving the story of a 7-year-old little boy called Moisés at Juru. He and his two little sisters were abandoned by their parents and are being cared for by an aunt. He has asked out teacher there to adopt him saying he “promises to be good!” Please pray for dear Moisés and his sisters.

On Saturday night I went to lead the weekly service at Green Pastures and Pastor Rafael preached. Fred, Júlio and Manoel sang songs, but of special note was the group of 8 women, led by Nega, which sang absolutely beautifully. It is lovely to see the local church developing in this place. In fact Green Pastures is a multi-faceted place of Christian ministry. It is a local church, a Christian Conference Centre and a nature reserve which gives a great example to all in our region of caring for God’s creation. Please pray for and support Francisco and Leca who are the couple who care for the day to day running of Green Pastures’ ministries. In the last 3 days we have had 27 mm (just over an inch) of rain which is most unusual at this time of year and most welcome.

A Boa Constrictor snake caused a great commotion amongst the Cancãos (White-naped Jay) as it was lodged in a tree digesting a large animal, which may have been a wild guinea pig or a giant lizard. The birds kept on crying out greatly distressed by the snake!

On Saturday night the Patos youth had a nice time of fellowship together playing volleyball.

I have been preparing a sermon for ministry at our Glória church in a few weeks time.

Last night I led the service in Patos and the church was full to capacity. The service was good. We heard a lovely testimony from a Veterinary Doctor, who is a member of our church, called Adriana.

I am glad to report 2 decisions for Christ at Fonseca this week. Damião and Lourdes committed their lives to Christ in a service led by its leader Fábio (who many years ago was a sponsored EAB action child) and the regional pastor Francinaldo. Please pray for these new converts.

The building work at our Care Centre, which will now include ‘Mum’s Kitchen’ (in memory of Missionary Ivy Dyer), recommenced this week. The builders first of all cleared out all the supplies of sand etc. which had been stored inside the building, and organized it outside. They then worked on the drainage system.

I have finished reading the book: ‘The Camden Murder’ by Mike Hollow and thoroughly enjoyed it as I have the other 6 books in the Blitz Detective series. Mike now has a competitor in our grandson John David! He is about to publish his first novel called ‘Magic Crystals – O Carrasco’. He has today signed a contract with Pen Dragon Publishers. I suspect that John’s book will not be my cup of tea, but I will read it when it comes out and let you know.

The mid-week service at our school was hampered by an odd shower of rain which fell at a time which stopped people from going out. That evening Liz enjoyed the women’s fellowship meeting with 11 present. On Thursday we had about 20 present for the Bible study.

On Tuesday night I travelled with the Patos Men’s Fellowship to the town of São Mamede where I preached the Gospel to a small crowd of over 30 people, plus people here and there sat out in front of their houses and listening. The service was held in the street in front of brother José and sister Maricó’s house. I preached on Mark 1:1-8 about the mission of John the Baptist preparing the way and pointing to Jesus. This message was particularly appropriate as we have just had St John’s day here which is a strong traditional regional festival. I felt great freedom in the Spirit when preaching. It was a lovely service.

I have had a good discussion with Pastor Maésio up in the mountains at Teixeira. I have agreed to preach at their anniversary service later in the year. I also have had discussions with Pastor Nezinho Abílio who leads the Vazante, Barra de Oitis and Mata de Oitis churches. We especially discussed the launch of the new EAB school at Vazante in this coming month of July. It is wonderful to see what God is doing in his area. 

This week we received the visit of the team of biologists from https://www.wildcatsbrazil.com/ who are carrying out research at Green Pastures into its wildlife. They came and changed the batteries and memory cards in the 9 camera traps they have at Green Pastures and they are alarmed by what they saw. The films and photos show a large number of wild stray dogs drinking at the water troughs we maintain for the wild cats, foxes, racoons and other native wildlife. The wild stray dogs largely come from the local rubbish dump and landfill which is near Green Pastures. The problem is that the wild stray dogs are transmitting diseases to the wildlife. It is a very serious problem which has no simple solution. Please pray.