Categoria: News

We are without water in our house in Patos as the Waterboard has some sort of defect in their system. Water is now rationed in Patos in the rainy season and we will be days without water! How do you cook food or wash your hands without water? Our water storage tank had a defect in the ball valve which we only discovered when it was dry!

I have finished reading another book called ‘Brazilian Adventure’ by Peter Fleming. It tells the true story of an expedition from the UK to central Brazil in the 1930s to look for the lost explorer, Colonel Fawcett, in which Peter took part. Somebody gave me the book many years ago, but I only got round to reading it now.

Yesterday the Patos Men’s Fellowship went to hold a service in the town of São Mamede which is a 25 minute drive north-east of Patos. We baptized 3 from São Mamede at the Carnival Camp so we now have 5 Christians attending regularly in this town.

I have been having further discussions with our senior leadership team regarding the General Conference to be held towards the end of May. Of special note have been the talks with Pastor Matheus (João Pessoa) and Pastor Wostenes (Campina Grande).

This week we have held a trouble-shooting meeting with a person from one of our churches whom I can’t name. Thankfully the meeting went well and the problem was apparently resolved.

Our projects team has started the process of selection for another well which EAB/ACEV plans to dig or drill later this year. Gersé, Lindon Carlos and Marah Danielle went and had a meeting with the leaders of the Guaribas community in the County of Princesa Isabel and explained to them our well project’s rules and conditions and discussed them with them.

On Saturday afternoon Liz went to a party for a girl from our church called Talita who is to marry Ryury later this year. I am not sure what you call this in English but it is like a final party as a single girl. Only women go to these parties. This couple are one of four couples in our Patos church expected to get married this year. Also engaged are Marina and Isaac, Rogaciano and Monique and Rafael and Rayla. 

Saturday night’s service at Green Pastures was very low in numbers because rain was impending which kept people at home. It rained 20 mm (nearly an inch) which was most welcome.

I took a photo of Liz whilst walking at Green Pastures near the lake and have posted it on Facebook and Instagram. In the photo Liz is standing beside a Catingueira tree (Cenostigma pyramidale) in flower. Its flowers are yellow.

I led the Sunday night service in Patos, the children sang a lovely song, the church was full and assistant pastor Rafael preached the Gospel. It was a blessed and lovely service.

EAB/ACEV holds its General Conference every May. This year it will be held on May 26th-27th at our first Campina Grande church in the borough of Catolé where Wostenes is the senior pastor. I am in the process of drawing up the agenda for this event together with our senior leadership team.

The building materials for our next two toilet/shower units were delivered to Barra de Oitis this week by a lorry from Itaporanga. Marilene, Edicledia and families were overjoyed at the sight as they start to see evidence of their dreams of a toilet come true.

Friday night is the night when our Patos church members have the opportunity to learn sign language for the deaf. Our assistant pastor Luis Carlos (who is deaf) is the teacher and a new group is starting now. The basic course usually lasts between one and two years. please pray for this new group and our church’s ministry with the deaf.

Typing these words to the sound of the song of the Southern Wren is beautiful. The species is often singing in our garden. Another nice aspect of nature at our house in Patos is a Humming bird which has made a nest on a plant on our veranda. The bird sometimes flies inside our house. 

We return to ask you to please pray for rain for us in the interior of north-east Brazil. The first months of the year constitute our rainy season. If we don’t get rain now then only next year. So far this year we have had 241 mm (10 inches) of rain and our aim in a good year is 40 inches. This means we need another 30 inches between now and May.

I have returned to playing chess with our eldest grandson Felipe who is an architect. We play one evening a week. It has been years since I last played. So far I have surprised Felipe and am winning 3 games to 0. 

Please pray for our deacon Ricardo who is ill with the virus transmitted by mosquitoes called Chikungunya. He has been sent home from hospital but is still most unwell. Chikungunya starts with a high fever and causes lots of pain in the joints and muscles. 

This week’s men’s fellowship meeting went well and I enjoyed it. Ray Santana brought a very good little word about being “clothed with Christ” from Galatians 3:26-29. There were 11 present. 

Liz and I had a nice walk at Green Pastures yesterday afternoon. We try to keep this up twice a week. It is sad to see the lake so low in water. Everything is green, but there has not been enough rain to affect the lake. 

I had a good meeting with Pastor Maésio from Teixeira up in the mountains. It was good to talk over the work there and to know that God is blessing and that things are going well.

This week we held a meeting of the EAB/ACEV Action Child School teachers to talk over how things are going in 2023 and to discuss future plans and strategies. We praise God for how well our little schools are going.

Liz enjoyed the women’s fellowship meeting this week. There were 40 present. This was a higher number than average as it coincided with International Women’s Day so there was a special meeting with refreshments. 

I have been having discussions with our project coordinators Pastor Lindon Carlos (Imaculada) and Social Worker Marah Danielle (Patos) to define the selection process for the next stage of the EAB/ACEV Toilet/Shower project. Our clear aim is to help the poorest of the poor and the decisions are not easy to take as clearly everyone without a toilet/shower at their house needs one! After much prayer, discussion and deliberation, based on the project team’s visits to the homes at Barra de Oitis village in Diamante County, the following families were selected.

The first family selected for a toilet/shower unit at the back of their house complete with double cess-pit drainage system, overhead water tank and external sink for washing up and washing clothes is that of Marilene Tomaz de Alquino. Marilene is a 40-year-old single mother of three children aged 20, 14 and 9. They live off a government benefit of about 100 pounds a month and occasionally manage to get some work cleaning someone’s house or washing someone’s clothes. This work is unfortunately hard to get as most people at Barra de Oitis are very poor indeed. Please pray for Marilene and family who were sadly abandoned by their husband/father. The family, which lives in a mud and sticks house, is not committed to Christ but is being evangelized by local pastor Nezinho Abílio and others from the local EAB/ACEV church.

The second family selected for a toilet/shower unit is that of Edicledia Pereira da Silva who is 33 years old, is a single mother of 5 children aged 11, 9, 6, 5 and 6 months old from a variety of partners. Edicledia has been going to our church at Barra de Oitis for quite a long time and has made a committment to Christ since the birth of her last child. They live in a mud and sticks house off a 100 pounds a month government benefit just like Marilene does. Please pray that Edicledia will stand firm in the faith, grow in Christ and that all her children will follow the Lord.

The building materials for these two toilet/shower units will be purchased this week and delivered to the houses at Barra de Oitis from Itaporanga which is the nearest largish town.

This week Liz and I spent time visiting folk from the Patos church and giving them copies of my book about the history of EAB/ACEV from 1938 to 2018. First of all we visited Maria Prata and family. Maria has recently been in intensive care in hospital. We then visited the church cleaner Linda followed by two deaconesses Beatriz and Josinete.

Pastor Wostenes in Campina Grande has contacted us to ask us to send a resumé of the life of the late EAB missionary Frank Dyer (1916-1987). This is to be sent to the city council because there is a new street near our church which does not have a name yet. Pastor Wostenes and church will propose that the street be named in honour of Frank Dyer which would be very nice.

I have just finished reading a book called “Call the Bee Man!” by Keith W. Dyer, who is Liz’s cousin in the New Forest. This interesting and enjoyable book tells the story of Keith’s business as a keeper of bees for many years. The book is also a clear testimony to Keith’s Christian faith.

Yesterday we held another Jumble Sale at our Patos school. For us a jumble sale achieves two things. It raises money for the church’s building project with the revamp of the Care Centre, and it also helps us help the poor with dignity by selling them clothes etc. rather than giving them them. The church folk donate things for the sale in good condition and poor people can pick, choose and buy really cheap.   

We have held an evaluation meeting with the leaders of the Carnival Camp: Liz, myself, Marah Danielle, Sacha, Ray and Pastor Rafael. The idea was to get feedback from everyone whilst it is fresh in the mind. The feedback was really positive with all agreeing it had been an excellent camp. We noted what can be improved next year. It was a good meeting.

We also held a meeting with our youth leaders Rayla, Ray and Rafael to go over their plans for the rest of 2023. It was another very positive meeting.

I have already started working on the agenda for our General Conference which is always held in May. This year it will be held at Campina Grande. I have already started asking for suggestions for the agenda from our senior leadership team.

We have interesting and encouraging news from the Jatobá indigenous community where we have just inaugurated our latest well. We are told that people are now coming to get water from neighbouring indigenous communities so the well is now helping over 50 families. 

On Saturday we had the great joy of inaugurating a new well at the Jatobá Community in Carnaubeira da Penha County in the State of Pernambuco. This is the State which is immediately south of the State of Paraíba where we are based. The inauguration and thanksgiving service went off very well. This Jatobá Community is an indigenous indian community with 38 families. How they survived off the filthy water previously available to them I will never know. The community is overjoyed with the well and very grateful indeed. The thanksgiving service was lovely and the Gospel was proclaimed loud and clear.

Our church at Juru is about an hour and a half hour’s drive south west of Patos where the pastor is Ezekiel de Oliveira. They have just held an evangelistic camp there for youth and report over 20 decisions for Christ! Praise God with us and please pray for the follow up to this camp.

Our Carnival Camp has really left our Patos youth ablaze for God and there were nearly 30 present in their Bible study group at the weekend. The youth have their own prayer meeting too tonight and it was lovely to see our granddaughter Alice eager not to miss it!

Our Sunday service went very well. The church was crammed to capacity. We received 5 new members into fellowship.

We are hearing and reading lots of very positive testimonies as feedback from the Carnival Camp. WhatsApp has been full of people telling how they were blessed by different messages and so forth. It is very encouraging when you see how people have been helped and encouraged in the faith. PTL! Thank you for your prayers and support.

Liz and I have been backwards and forwards from Green Pastures this week with the clearing up after the Camp. People always leave things behind. Somebody left their spectacles with a bag of crochet! We also have things to return to people who loaned us things. We had to return the hired digital projector. Our own projector finally bit the dust. We discovered this on the eve of the camp so there was no time to buy a new one.

In my earlier camp reports I forgot to mention the work we do with children. The children have a parallel programme of games, fun, swimming and Bible stories so that the Mums and Dads can focus on their services and the children can enjoy things at their level. The children followed the same camp theme as the adults, but obviously at their level.

Since the Camp we have had some rain at Green Pastures. It first rained another 35 mm (nearly an inch an a half). So this is progress! Then last night it rained 52 mm (just over 2 inches). So praise God! Please keep praying.

We have just got back from the Carnival Camp held at Green Pastures. Thank you for your prayers and support.

The Sunday night service went off very well with Pastor Wostenes preaching on “Christians caring for the family”. His sermon was really blessed. The number present was increased by quite a few people who just came for the service from Patos. All the local Green Pastures Church people were there too. During the service a light shower of rain fell which lowered the temperature. It became quite chilly if you were sat near a fan! 

Every day at our camps starts with breakfast at 7 am. This is followed by a time for individual or small group Bible meditation and prayer at 8 am. Then comes the first service of the day at 9 am which goes till about 10:30ish. Lunch is served at noon and the afternoon is free for sport, walking, chatting, siesta etc. Sometimes there are extra optional activities in the afternoons. The evening meal is at 6 pm, the evening service at 7:30 pm (till about 9:15pmish) and silence for sleep is at 11 pm. The “silence” doesn’t always work easily but this year it was pretty good.

On Monday the speaker was Pastor Gersé from Princesa Isabel both morning and night. In the morning he spoke on “Christians caring through social action” and at night he spoke on “Christians caring through evangelism/sharing the Gospel. He spoke very well.

On Tuesday afternoon we held a baptism in the swimming pool and baptized 7. 3 were from Patos, 3 were from São Mamede and 1 from Passagem. It was a very happy baptism with everyone crammed round the pool praising the Lord.

The main services on the Tuesday heard the ministry of Pastor Lindon Carlos. He was excellent. In the morning he continued the theme of “care” speaking on “It is time to care for the Church”. At night he brought the final message of the camp speaking on “It is time to care for your spiritual life”.

We had three power cuts on the Tuesday but we called in the electricians who tracked the problem down to some trees which needed pruning as they were short-circuiting the system rubbing against some electric cables. 

Yesterday saw an excellent start to the EAB Carnival Camp at Green Pastures. Pastor and psychologist Otoniel Cabral from Santa Luzia brought a very good message about Christians taking care of the emotional side of their lives and of helping others do the same. He emphasized the need for Christians to genuinely get to know their fellow church members in a non-superficial way. All this “is part of mutual pastoral care at different levels”, he said. As well as the message there was some lovely worship led by our praise and worship team.

This Sunday morning the speaker was Pastor Wostenes Santos who is the pastor of our largest church at Campina Grande. He also brought an excellent message about Christians taking care of themselves in the physical realm. First of all he focused on the Christian being the temple of the Holy Spirit and all that that entails from 1 Corinthians 6. He then went on to speak about the practical ways we need to care for our bodies, such as physical exercise etc. (Wostenes has a degree in physical education as well as theology) Tonight he will be speaking again but the topic will be “taking care of the family”.

Please pray for the continuation of the Carnival Camp. Tomorrow the speaker will be Pastor Gersé from Princesa Isabel and on Tuesday the speaker will be Pastor Lindon Carlos from Imaculada.

Last night we had a big thunder and lightening storm and this knocked out the electricity partially at Green Pastures. The praise and worship group were able to practice but the freezer with the meat in was cut off from power. We spent hours calling the electricity board to fix the problem. We finally found the fault ourselves at 9:30 this morning so we are relieved! 35 mm of rain fell which is about one and a half inches of rain.

Many people have already arrived at Green Pastures this morning. The initial meal was supposed to be at 6 pm with the opening service at 7.30 pm but we will manage!

The theme of the teaching at this year’s carnival camp is “It’s time to care” and the opening speaker tonight will be Pastor Otoniel Cabral from Santa Luzia. He is both a pastor and psychologist. He will focus on the need to care for the emotional. Please pray for this young pastor.

Yesterday afternoon Liz and I took another Kombi load of supplies to Green Pastures ready for the Carnival Camp which starts there tomorrow. All the food and sound equipment is now in place and the praise and worship group will have a practice there tonight.

EAB is to construct another 2 toilet/shower units at the Barra de Oitiz slave-descendent community in Diamante County. This week our projects team has been visiting many mud and sticks houses as part of the selection process. The needs are great, but we can’t do it all, so we always make sure that the neediest of the needy are given priority. Please pray for God’s guidance in this important project.

Colonel Esaú, his wife Gisani and their two children Guila and Ian are members of our church in Patos. Esaú is a deacon and leader of our Men’s Fellowship which meets together every Tuesday evening. Esaú is also the Patos Chief of Police and is doing a great job. As you can imagine it is a great challenge and responsibility policing a town the size of Patos with a population of 120,000. Please do pray for him, his family, his work as chief of Police and for his church responsibilities as deacon and men’s leader.

Please pray for our Pastor Ângelo at Soledade. He was pastor of our church there until last year when he resigned as things weren’t working out any longer. He is a good preacher and certainly not someone we would want to lose, so we have been praying for God to open a door for him as there are no suitable ACEV churches with vacancies. Pastor Ângelo has a degree as a Portuguese teacher as well as one in Theology so we are very pleased to report that he now has a post as a Portuguese teacher in Soledade which will provide for his family whilst leaving him available for ministry around our churches on Sundays. Hence we value your prayers for Pastor Ângelo, family and ministry.

I have finished reading the book ‘Jesus and John Wayne’ by Kristin Kobes du Mez. This is a fascinating book which traces at least half a century of the history of white evangelicals move to the hard right in the USA. The book is well researched and explains a lot, including similar tendencies in Brazil.

We are concluding a new well which will be inaugurated on February 25th. It is a deep bore well of 50 metres in depth that was drilled at a Brazilian Indian community called Jatobá in the County of Carnaubeira da Penha in the State of Pernambuco. The people are overjoyed as it is a location of extremely difficult access. Three companies turned down the contract to drill the well, but the fourth agreed to try and it worked out well. PTL!

The official inauguration and thanksgiving service on the 25th will be the result of months of work at the community. Having been shortlisted as a place that a well was badly needed we started visiting the community and analyzing the place. Once it was given the all clear a series of community meetings were held with our projects team leading. Such meetings make all the rules clear regarding the project and get the community’s agreement to everything which is then drawn up into a formal registered document.

Please pray for the thanksgiving service and inauguration on February 25th. Please pray for all the community as it hears the Gospel on that day. Please also pray that the on-going blessing of the well will open people’s hearts to the truth of Jesus’ love.

We are extra busy this week preparing for the Carnival Camp, getting all the food shopping done and transporting it to Green Pastures. Liz is especially busy with all this. Please pray for the Camp which will start on February 18th.

Yesterday’s Sunday service at 6:30 pm went very well. The church was packed to capacity. It was nice for me to sit with Liz in the congregation so as to have a rest. Also sitting in the congregation gives you a different view of the people and a different feeling of the worship from the midst of the people.

After church yesterday it rained in Patos, but sadly it didn’t rain at Green Pastures. Please pray for the rain at Green Pastures. Things are very dry and this is the rainy season so if we don’t get it now we don’t get it till next year.

I have been catching up with administrative work today.

The last service in Patos this week will be on Wednesday with the ladies fellowship and the school service. On the Tuesday the Men’s Fellowship will be leading a service in São Mamede. From Thursday onwards everything will be focused on the Carnival Camp at Green Pastures.

 We have had a further visit from the Maranhão Wild Cat Researchers at Green Pastures. They changed the memory cards and batteries in their eight automatic cameras spread around the Reserve. They will send us the photographs and films.

We are very busy preparing for the Carnival Camp which will start at Green Pastures this coming weekend. Please pray. Pray for the pastors who will be doing the teaching. They will be Pastor Wostenes, Cabral, Gersé, and Lindon Carlos. Pray too for all those involved in leading the Camp and administering it.

Liz and I returned from the doctor’s trip to João Pessoa and now await results. We continue to value your prayers.

 I took part in the Green Pastures service on Saturday. It was very good. The Christians in Action group were responsible for the service and Eduardo from our Passagem church preached the Gospel. I found the heat almost overpowering.

Sunday night’s service in Patos went well. Sacha led the worship and assistant pastor Rafael preached. It was a good service with one decision for Christ at the end.

Tomorrow we are travelling to João Pessoa which should take about 5 hours. I am going to see a doctor as they continue to try and discover the cause of my ill health. I am not sure when we shall return. Your prayers are valued.

The 10-day special outreach was held at Juazeirinho this year. Juazeirinho is about half way between Patos and Campina Grande. 110 mainly young people gathered for the annual event of personal, door to door and street evangelism. The event was greatly blessed and had a great impact on the town.

The team distributed 2,347 items of Gospel literature and 6 Bibles were given to people who showed special interest in the Gospel. 458 houses were visited by the team and the Gospel was shared with all through Bible studies.

180 children were creatively evangelized by a lively youth team. 122 young people were personally evangelized. 466 middle aged people were likewise evangelized and 168 senior citizens were also personally evangelized.

A total of 936 people were evangelized on a door by door system. An average of 238 children attended each of the 8 evangelistic services for children. The average attendance at adult street services was 248. 109 of these people actually requested visits in their homes. This work is being done by a follow-up team.

3 people made firm commitments to Christ during the outreach and one person returned to the ways of the Lord. There is now a lot of follow up work being done.

Thank you for all your prayers on behalf of this special outreach. Please continue to pray for the follow up.

Yesterday was my birthday and loads of people from the church came to our house to do a serenade at about 9 pm. They sang lovely Christion songs and were a great encouragement. They brought me to tears. A number of people brought short testimonies of how God has blessed their lives through my ministry. The folk prayed for me and sang and danced “Happy Birthday”! It was a lovely evening. They gave me two shirts. After the serenade I was able to have a nice talk to our assistant pastor Rafael about the ongoing work whilst I am not as well as I would like to be.

In the afternoon the family made a cake for a little family gathering as is our family tradition.

On Saturday another EAB Board meeting was held and all went well. We praise God for the committee members who faithfully  serve the Lord in this way.

 I continue to value your prayers for my health. I have been in 2 hospitals trying to correct my low sodium and potassium levels. One hospital was in Patos and the other on the coast in João Pessoa. My sodium and potassium levels are improving and I am now at home. I am continuing to deal with the different aspects of the work from my office.

Last night’s service at Green Pastures went very well. The service was led by Dedé and the Christians in Action group and supported by the Patos youth group.

The preacher in Patos tonight will be assistant pastor Rafael. Liz will also be giving a short word.

Please continue to pray for me. I am improving but I am not feeling as I would like to.

All the people taking part in 10-day special outreach at Juazeirinho arrived their yesterday and are all installed in a school which has been kindly loaned. Everyone is sleeping on the floor of classrooms on mattresses which everyone took with them. This Saturday morning there is an intensive training and refresher course in personal evangelism and this afternoon they all get into action.

I am most unwell and on a drip. Both my sodium and potassium levels are very low and I feel awful. I value your prayers.

Please also pray for our annual 10-day evangelistic outreach which starts tomorrow. It will be held at Juazeirinho. The team this year will have over 50 in it.

Saturday night’s final service of 2022 went very well. I both led the service and preached. Prior to my sermon we enjoyed the participation of a wide range of church members. It started with the youth group singing and this was followed by a quartet. Liz then did a resumé of the church’s year giving thanks to one and all for their cooperation in the Gospel. This was followed by a duet and two words of greetings from different brothers. The variety of the programme was added to by ballet in praise of God by our granddaughter Alice, her friend Millena and a little 5 year old Eloisa who did very well. We heard 4 more words of greetings from brothers including our deaf pastor Luis Carlos and then there was a final duet. Everything was a lovely way to end the year with much praise to God for all those that came to make commitments to Christ.

On Sunday night (January 1st) I conducted the communion service and Rafael preached. We received two new sisters into fellowship – Maria and Salete. It was a good start to the New Year.

Yesterday newly elected President Lula was sworn into office. Thankfully all went off peacefully under a very strong police vigilance. The defeated ex-president Bolsonaro left the country prior to the ceremony!

We have received the sad news that our dear sister in Christ Pat White went to be with the Lord today. Our prayers and thoughts are with her children Peter and Sarah and all the family. Pat was an EAB trustee for many years serving as EAB treasurer. Her late husband Ken was chairman of the EAB Board of trustees and their son Peter was also an EAB trustee and editor of our InTouch magazine for many years. EAB remembers the White family with much gratitude.

Last night Liz went to the Women’s Fellowship end of year get-together. They all went for a meal at a restaurant. Liz says it was a lovely time of fellowship with a good number present.

I have finished reading a book called ‘The plausibility problem’ (the church and same-sex attraction) by Ed Shaw. It is a good book written by a pastor in Bristol who is a celibate homosexual.

I went for a walk with Liz at Green Pastures and saw a pair of Burrowing Owls. One quickly hid in its burrow whilst the other just watched us perched on a fence post. Later we saw a pair of foxes ahead of us on the trail. They just stared at us before disappearing into the bush.

I have been preparing my sermon for Saturday evening which is New Year’s Eve. The service will have various participations singing and testimonies. On New Year’s Eve we do things differently.

We always dream of a wet Christmas in view of the lack of rain and high temperatures in December. This year it didn’t rain on Christmas Day but it did rain on Christmas Eve and the day before that. Hence we were thrilled to receive 64 mm of rain which is just over 2 and a half inches! PTL!

I preached at our Christmas Eve service and our youth group produced a wonderful cantata. It was an excellent service.

After church we had all the family to our house for the traditional Brazilian Christmas Eve supper which went off beautifully. On Christmas Day we had the traditional British Christmas lunch complete with stuffing and Christmas pudding which we had brought from England.

At night we had our Christmas Day service with the children doing their own Cantata which was lovely. Assistant pastor Rafael preached the Word. Then all the children received their presents round the Christmas tree.

 I have just got home after conducting dear Sandra’s funeral. There were just 30 present. Sacha missed her visit to the hairdressers to be able to do the singing and Mailson played an acoustic guitar. Liz opened in prayer and then we had a song. After this I read the Word and brought a brief message. This was followed by a second song (“Because He lives I can face tomorrow”) then my assistant pastor Rafael brought another brief message. This was followed by a third song prior to me closing in prayer. The family were very grateful for the service and the Gospel was preached to those present.

 We received the sad news early this morning that Sandra Raquel (Down’s syndrome) died in the night. Sandra was a member of our Patos church and had been steadily deteriorating in health in recent years. She was 48 years old although she looked much younger. We thank Danbury Mission for having helped her for many years. I will be conducting the funeral this afternoon.

Last night Liz and I took part in the Pastor Frank Dyer School’s end of year Christmas service. We blocked off the street in front of the school and filled it with pupils, parents and staff. It was a lovely service. Especially nice was the singing by the children and a short play also performed by the children. At the end all the children and the staff received gifts and there were broad smiles all round.

We had a walk at Green Pastures and saw 3 Turkey Vultures up close. We also saw 2 Black Vultures by the lake.

 Every year we hold a camp at Green Pastures during the Brazilian carnival period which usually is in the month of February. The dates for the camp in 2023 are from the 18th to the 22nd of that month. We had a meeting with the church about the camp earlier this month and last night we held an excellent meeting of the camp leadership team. We defined the theme for the 7 services as “It is time to care”. It is time to care for yourself emotionally and physically – care for the family – care for your neighbour in social action and with evangelism – care for the church and care for your spiritual life. Please pray for the camp and for all the preparations between now and then. Any contributions to help the poor go to the camp will be most welcome.

The World Cup final ended the tournament in great style. What a match! It ended with Argentina winning as I had forecast. 

On Sunday night we had a really good service in Patos which I led together with Rafael and I preached on the first Psalm. The service at Green Pastures on Saturday night went very well too.

Liz spent quite some time this week counselling people. One session with 2 ladies lasted 2 hours. All went well and was blessed of God.

I will be preaching tomorrow in Patos and will be leading the Green Pastures service tonight.

Deborah and I walked at Green Pastures yesterday and heard and saw many birds. We saw Guira Cuckoos, Cactus Parakeet, Black Anis, and Pigmy Owls.

So the World Cup final will be between Argentina and France. My guess is that Argentina will win. 

 Saturday night saw us holding 3 services at Green Pastures, Ipueira and Passagem. I took the service at Green Pastures, the Christians in Action team took the service at Ipueira and the youth took the service at Passgem including Pastor Rafael who dedicated 2 babies. All the services went well and were blessed of God.

Yesterday was “Bible Day” in Brazil and Sacha brought an excellent message from God’s Word. I led the service. That was at night. In the morning we had our annual church business meeting which went off very well.

On Saturday afternoon I sadly watched England get beaten 2 x 1 by France in the World Cup and thus get eliminated. I thought England played fairly well but of course not well enough. Harry Kane’s penalty miss was fatal.

I today watched the sad spectacle of Brazil being knocked out of the World Cup by 4 x 2 on penalties after 1 x 1 in extra time. Croatia were the winners. Croatia played best in the first half as did Brazil in the second half and during extra time. However instead of defending deep in extra time after they had scored they carried on attacking flamboyantly and paid the price with Croatia’s late equalizer.

Yesterday we visited an elderly sister from our church who is not attending the services. We had a long chat with Sister Socorro and a nice time of prayer.

Last night we had an excellent meeting with Pastor Rafael who is our assistant pastor. We had a wide ranging discussion about the church. 

I have read the A Rocha’s (Christian environmental agency) annual review and it is very good. Our Green Pastures Nature Reserve is officially linked to A Rocha as a “friend” of A Rocha.

I have prepared a sermon from the Psalms. It will be an exposition of the first Psalm.

Our eldest grandson has just managed to get himself a job. He is to be an architect’s assistant with the Guedes Shopping Centre and Supermarket group. Felipe has a degree in architecture. We are very pleased for Felipe and thank God for answering our prayers.

I watched Brazil beat South Korea 4 x 1 in the World Cup. The first 36 minutes were scintillating stuff with Brazil 4 goals up. They took their foot off the throttle in the second half and just avoided injuries and yellow cards. It was great to see the players dancing after every goal. Especially good was the Pigeon dance after goal number 3 by Richarlisson in which even the manager joined in. Richarlisson’s nick-name is pigeon!

Yesterday afternoon we had a nice walk at Green Pastures and observed (seeing or hearing) a number of birds. We heard a lot of Scarlet-throated Tanagers, Spot-backed Puffbird and saw a Chalk-browed Mockingbird, a Shiny Cowbird and a Southern Lapwing. If you put these names of birds in Google you can see photos of them.  

Liz and I have had another longish session of counselling. This time it was with a couple who I shan’t name. Please pray for this couple who need to get nearer to God.

On Saturday night I led the Green Pastures church service and Bible College student and journalist Ray spoke on Isaiah 9:1-7. Fred, Manoel and a group of women sang. It was a good service. At Ipueira in Rio Grande do Norte state a service was also held and led by brother Dedé of the Christians in Action group. A group from Patos also went to Juazeirinho for their anniversary service. I led the service in Patos last night and assistant pastor Rafael preached.

Prior to the Sunday service I watched the England x Senegal match in the World Cup which England won 3 x 0. England played very well and in the second half scored 3 goals and just didn’t let Senegal play. I don’t think Senegal got a shot in during the second half. So now England will play France in the quarter-finals which will be quite a match!

We had another 14 mm of rain (over half an inch) at the end of November bringing the total rainfall in the month to 110 mm (4 and a half inches). To get rain in November here is extremely rare so we are very happy! This means we have had 1,210 mm of rain this year (50 inches) which is a record high.

Liz and I have had two good counselling sessions with different people. I can’t give their names. Both sessions were really fruitful with one especially including a request for forgiveness which was beautiful. It is also lovely to see a young family back in church after a long time away. Praise God!

I watched England beat Wales 3 x 0 in the World Cup and Brazil loose to Cameroons 1 x 0. I thought England played quite well. Brazil played with their reserves.

After the Brazil match I had my haircut. I had it cut nice and short which is how I like it. It was far too long up till yesterday as I hadn’t had it cut since I was in the UK. 

I went to my ophthalmologist (eye doctor) this morning as my eyes are somewhat inflamed owing to an allergy the doctor says. I have been put on antibiotic eye drops 4 times a day for 2 weeks.

Yesterday evening Sacha had a minor accident in a car when she accidentally turned the wrong way up a one-way street in Patos. The street has recently been made one-way. She collided with a young woman on a motorbike. Thankfully the woman was not hurt and damage was small.

I watched Brazil beat Switzerland 1 x 0 in the World Cup yesterday. Switzerland made Brazil work very hard for their victory. The win means Brazil are qualified for the knock-out stages and will be able to rest some of their key players for their last group match and give the reserves a turn.

Sunday night’s service went well. I led it and Pastor Ângelo from Soledade preached an excellent sermon on Jeremiah 31:1-14. Last night’s prayer meeting saw 10 people present.  

Last night I led the service at Green Pastures and Bible College student Ray Santana preached the Word from Matthew 4. He did very well. We also heard a word of greeting from Ana Beatriz and Isabela read the Bible and Manuel sang a solo. Also the Green Pastures women’s fellowship sang a beautiful song. They did exceptionally well.

A bird which is busy nesting at Green Pastures is the Long-billed Wren. It insists every nesting season to make a nest in the kitchen doorway which is quite a handful!

Please pray for a number of people in the Patos church who have gone down with Covid. Ricardo and his 2 children Ricardinho and Raysa all have Covid and Ricardo’s wife has the symptoms and will be tested tomorrow. Our fireman Romildo also has Covid.

I watched the England versus USA match in the World Cup and found it terribly boring. I hope their next match against Wales will be more interesting.

On Thursday night the numbers were down for the Bible study owing to all the ill health in the church. On Friday night the “Christians in Action” team went to Picotes village and held a lovely little open-air service.

We are awaiting the output test on our latest well drilling in the State of Pernambuco. We are pretty sure we have hit a strong water vein but one can never be sure before the test.

Our seniors ‘Young at Heart’ group made Christmas Decorations this week. They did very well.

I am watching the World Cup matches which involve England and Brazil. Both England and Brazil played well in their opening games. I have just finished watching Brazil beat Serbia 2 x 0. It was a tight match and Brazil played very well to win. They won well.

Last night I led and preached at the Fera School thanksgiving service for the students who are leaving school this year with their A levels. I preached a clear straight Gospel message on Jesus being the way, the truth and life (John 14:6). Someone afterwards sent me a message thanking me for the sermon which had really blessed them.

Yesterday Liz and I travelled three hours east of Patos to Campina Grande for the funeral of 13-year-old David who had committed suicide. We went to support pastor Wostenes and his wife Gleydice. Pastor Wostenes led the very difficult service very well. I mean: what do you say under such terrible circumstances? The funeral service was at night so we only got to bed after midnight. Please pray for this family.

In the light of these extraordinary circumstances, with pastor Wostenes due to do the teaching, we decided to postpone the leadership conference which was due to start this week. I am not sure when we will be able to reschedule it for but we shall see. 

 Elizabeth and I are utterly shocked to the core by the tragic news that Pastor Wostenes’s 13 year old nephew David has committed suicide. It was Pastor Wostenes that found David hanging in the bathroom. Please pray for the bereaved family.

We have just got back from another walk at Green Pastures where the gorgeous smell from the Pereiro trees is intoxicating. This native tree of our caatinga region has burst into bloom after the rain we had earlier in the month. We have 4 large trees near the meeting hall so the whole area is perfumed strongly. 

I have prepared a sermon for next Wednesday when there will be a special service at our Patos church for graduating senior High School students. I will preach on John 14:6.

Our ACEV/EAB leaders Conference is scheduled for next Friday to Sunday at Green Pastures. We value your prayers. In light of the shocking suicide we are thinking of postponing the event.

 On the 15th it was our 53rd wedding anniversary. We went for a nice walk at Green Pastures. 4 deer are regularly seen there as are 3 foxes. After the rain earlier in the month the wild life has come alive mating and nesting. The armadillos are very active.

On Tuesday night the men’s fellowship held a service at Nega’s Farmstead not far from Green Pastures. It was good to see Tarcisio in the service. Please pray for him.

Today I started doing Pilates physical exercises together with Liz, Deborah and Lynn. The one hour session twice a week is run by a physiotherapist. 

Luiz, who leads the Pinheiro church in the County of Manaira, has had a mild heart attack. He has since been catheterized. They unblocked one artery in his heart, but there are two more blocked which will need stents. Please pray for Luiz. 

Please also pray for Suzana who is the treasurer at our Princesa Isabel church. She has breast cancer and is far from well. 

On Saturday Liz and I travelled 4 hours south-west of Patos to the EAB/ACEV Caroá church to speak at their 39th anniversary service. We had a lovely time of fellowship with the local pastor Valdemy and his wife Marlene. The service went well after an initial false start when a brief shower of rain sent us all running inside the church. The plan had been to hold the service outside the church.

We drove back to Patos on Sunday morning in good time for the evening service which I led. It was a tiring weekend with the travelling, but it was blessed and enjoyable. 

On Friday Liz went to the seniors’ young at heart gathering and spoke to them. It was very much appreciated.

On Thursday our assistant pastor Rafael’s grandmother died at Soledade so he went to the funeral the next day. Please pray for his family at this time.

I have been for a walk at Green Pastures where I saw a Burrowing Owl, many Guira Cuckoos, some Black Anis, 2 Southern-Lapwings, a pair of Narrow-billed Woodcreepers, a Rufescent Tiger Heron, a Great Egret, 3 Blue-Black Grassquits and some Picui Ground-Doves.

This week we travelled just over 4 hours east to João Pessoa so that I could have check-ups with 2 excellent doctors. I will now do a series of blood tests and a scan and value your prayers.

On Tuesday night the Men’s Fellowship held a street service in the town of São Mamede which is half an hour’s journey north-east of Patos. A nice little crowd gathered to hear the Word of God.

Last night another little service was held at our Pastor Frank Dyer School which is south of the River Espinharas. A small group gathered for the service which was led by assistant pastor Rafael.

On Saturday I travelled three and a half hours south-west of Patos to inaugurate our latest little church at Travessia village in the County of Manaíra. It was a lovely service which started at 5:30 pm. People gathered there from Caroá, Pinheira, and Manaíra. I spoke on Psalm 73:28 – “It is good to be near God”. This little church is led by Brother Fábio who used to be an EAB sponsored child many years ago. He now has a degree in theology. The church is under the responsibility of Pastor Francinaldo. Please pray for this young church that it will grow in numbers from the 4 members it now has and grow in the grace of the Lord.

On Sunday I led the service in the Patos church and Pastor Rafael preached. Liz and I brought short words of greetings to the church. It was a good service.

It does not normally rain here in the month of November but we have had four nights of rain here with a total of 96 mm (4 inches). May this continue!

We arrived in Patos at 8 pm this Thursday (3rd) having got up the previous day at 4 am. It was a long tiring journey. The flight from Gatwick to Lisbon was half an hour late and the longer flight from Lisbon to Recife was an hour late, but apart from these delays all went off well. There was one big incident near to landing in Recife when a baby apparently was taken suddenly ill which caused a tremendous commotion on the plane. Such was the uproar that both Liz and I thought it was something terrorist related.

I arrived in Patos to find my book nicely printed about the history of ACEV from 1938-2018. All our leaders will receive copies at our leadership conference on November 25-27. Other copies will be distributed to Bible Colleges around Brazil.

This afternoon I went out to Green Pastures to see how things were after our two month absence. I saw the place where 6 of our chickens were devoured by foxes and wild cats. The rest of them have been put into a secure pen. A nature reserve inevitably has plenty of foxes and wild cats! A fox was seen attending a service at Green Pastures recently! It rained 32 mm (One and a third inches) last night!

The Coletas Community well has proved to have a lot less water than we thought. We did the test today. We will be drilling a new well at Carnaubeira da Penha community next week.

Our market garden project has taken 19 participants for an exchange visit to similar market gardens in Pernambuco state. There was a rich exchange of experiences and lots of mutual learning. 

Yesterday we ministered at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Thamesmead. It was a lovely service. Marian kindly took us. We all had a wonderful lunch with Pastor Vic and Lona.

On Saturday we visited Lepe Beach in the New Forest with Philip. This was the beach where Liz and I had our first kiss 56 years ago! From Lepe we went to visit Hythe Pier where we located the plank with Liz’s Father’s name on it.

We return to Brazil the day after tomorrow. We will fly out of Gatwick airport at 10:20 am. We will leave Basingstoke at 5:30 am. We will sleep in Recife before travelling on to Patos on the 3rd.

Today we went to Winchester Cathedral for Evensong which was absolutely beautiful. When we got back to the car park we found it locked! Philip managed to phone somebody to let us out.

Yesterday we went to Windsor Castle. We went into St George’s Chapel and visited the Queen’s tomb.

This Sunday will be our last Sunday in England on this trip. We will be ministering at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Thamesmead, Kent.

Yesterday we had a lovely working lunch in Basingstoke with the chairman of the EAB Board of Trustees Roy Dyer. To the taste of couscous, bread rolls, cheese and ham we had an extensive discussion which was very good. We learnt that Roy will be running the London Marathon next April!

This meeting was followed by an online meeting with the Christian environmental agency ‘A Rocha’. I was representing Brazil together with representatives of Burundi, Costa Rica, Panamá, Spain, Germany, Nepal, Croatia, Singapore and Spain. The meeting was chaired by Júlio Reis who is the international operations networks coordinator of A Rocha International.

This was followed by a lovely chat with my sister Jean together with a delicious evening meal.

We return to Brazil next week on November 2nd and will reach Patos on the 3rd. I will be inaugurating the new church building at Travessia (3 hours south west of Patos) on the 5th. I will be preaching at Caroá on November 12th. I have also agreed to preach at the special 10-Day outreach at Juazeirinho on January 14th. Please pray.