Categoria: News

Saturday night brought us the sort of rain we were waiting for! Heavy, intense and prolonged. At Green Pastures it rained 2 inches and the river dam overflowed and the lake took in quite a lot of water. PTL! In Patos it rained twice as much and up in the mountains at Teixeira 3 times as much. We rejoice with all this of course. We are now up to a total of 23 and a half inches of rain for this year at Green Pastures with 40 inches being our target. We pray for a few more rains like Saturday’s during April because in May the rains always start dwindling.


This Saturday night’s evangelism by the youth in the area of town where our school is was different! The door to door evangelism went normally in the afternoon and then the team debated whether to set the sound equipment and chair outdoors or not as it might rain? The base player Mailson, who is a bit of an amateur weather forecaster, decided the matter telling the team they could set up in the street as no way it was going to rain! They had just started putting things into position when… bang… down came torrential rain! So everything was set up inside the school and still a few people came to the indoor service from the borough joining our team and supporters. The Lord blessed and the work was done for God’s glory. So rain did not stop pray!


Sunday I preached on John 14 and that went well though there were less in church for fear of more rain which didn’t fall.


Yesterday Liz and I had a good meeting with the new pastor who will be inducted at the Teixeira church this Saturday. This morning we are visiting a couple who have just had the arrival of a little baby boy. Tonight we have another meeting… and so it goes on.


On top of all this I have constant meetings with leaders via WhatsApp audios. This is a great help as we are able to have good discussions and sort lots of things out without travelling miles. Hence yesterday I had long discussions with various leaders concerning stage 2 of our Recife church plant which was launched on Sunday. Please pray. I also had discussions regarding difficulties at our Conceição church and further varied discussions with the general leadership team.

Thankfully the rains have continued this week, and with the further inch last night we have now passed the 21 inch mark, which means we are just over half way to our target of 40 inches. The problem still remains that we are not accumulating rain in the reservoirs and lakes as the rains are all night fine rains and what we now need are some big fast heavy downpours. We pray on. 


Yesterday we visited our very faithful veteran couple of leaders: Elder Pedro Guedes (aged 87) and his wife and Deaconess Beatriz (aged 82). They have just lost a grandson who commited suicide and are naturally devastated. He was a Christian who was a member of an AOG church and had a history of depression and the likes. Please pray for this family.


I gave the Bible study on Thursday in the latter part of Philipians 3, and into 4, and it went well with 20 present.


I did all my routine blood tests this week and my cholesterol is perfect, glucose under control etc. so well pleased. 


In the general oversight of EAB/ACEV’s 86 churches the work is busy and Pastor Maésio and family moved to Teixeira from Conceição yesterday and their induction service is next Saturday. Please pray for these churches in times of transition which is never easy. 


Tomorrow, Sunday, I’ll be preaching in Patos again so must get on with my preparation. We value your prayers always.

Thankfully the rains have continued this week, and with the further inch last night we have now passed the 21 inch mark, which means we are just over half way to our target of 40 inches. The problem still remains that we are not accumulating rain in the reservoirs and lakes as the rains are all night fine rains and what we now need are some big fast heavy downpours. We pray on. 


Yesterday we visited our very faithful veteran couple of leaders: Elder Pedro Guedes (aged 87) and his wife and Deaconess Beatriz (aged 82). They have just lost a grandson who commited suicide and are naturally devastated. He was a Christian who was a member of an AOG church and had a history of depression and the likes. Please pray for this family.


I gave the Bible study on Thursday in the latter part of Philipians 3, and into 4, and it went well with 20 present.


I did all my routine blood tests this week and my cholesterol is perfect, glucose under control etc. so well pleased. 


In the general oversight of EAB/ACEV’s 86 churches the work is busy and Pastor Maésio and family moved to Teixeira from Conceição yesterday and their induction service is next Saturday. Please pray for these churches in times of transition which is never easy. 


Tomorrow, Sunday, I’ll be preaching in Patos again so must get on with my preparation. We value your prayers always.

After a long period with little rain we had a good rain at Green Pastures last night of around 2 inches, taking us up to 18 inches overall this year out of the 40 inches needed in the rainy season to see us through to 2020. We hope and pray that it will continue in the coming days and weeks.


Last night’s service in Patos was lovely. It really was a blessing.


On the Saturday we travelled to Juazeirinho to induct the new pastor there and the service went very well. Please pray for this young pastor Rafael.


There have been lots of time consuming challenges around the churches in recent weeks. Please pray. Slowly we are dealing with one thing after another. We have started investing in a church plant in Recife in a bigger way so there has been a lot of sorting to do with this. We had made a timid start but now we have rented a house in a good location in the borough of Cordeiro in Recife and have 3 families in the city. Please pray. Our strategic plan has long been to establish churches in the capital of Pernambuco State, which is Recife, to be able from there to expand inland in this the neighbouring state to the south of our headquarters State of Paraíba – and to then establish a church in Natal which is the capital of Rio Grande do Norte State to the north, and expand from there inland. The latter is yet to start. Please pray for all this. May God provide the resources and open doors of service and ministry.

After a long period with little rain we had a good rain at Green Pastures last night of around 2 inches, taking us up to 18 inches overall this year out of the 40 inches needed in the rainy season to see us through to 2020. We hope and pray that it will continue in the coming days and weeks.


Last night’s service in Patos was lovely. It really was a blessing.


On the Saturday we travelled to Juazeirinho to induct the new pastor there and the service went very well. Please pray for this young pastor Rafael.


There have been lots of time consuming challenges around the churches in recent weeks. Please pray. Slowly we are dealing with one thing after another. We have started investing in a church plant in Recife in a bigger way so there has been a lot of sorting to do with this. We had made a timid start but now we have rented a house in a good location in the borough of Cordeiro in Recife and have 3 families in the city. Please pray. Our strategic plan has long been to establish churches in the capital of Pernambuco State, which is Recife, to be able from there to expand inland in this the neighbouring state to the south of our headquarters State of Paraíba – and to then establish a church in Natal which is the capital of Rio Grande do Norte State to the north, and expand from there inland. The latter is yet to start. Please pray for all this. May God provide the resources and open doors of service and ministry.

This Sunday’s evangelistic “bring a friend” service was fantastic. To start with the church members brought lots of friends which nearly had the church at bursting point. The service was electric, the praise and worship beautiful, and Philip’s sermon was superb. It was the straightest frankest evangelistic sermon I’ve heard in a long time full of Scripture, very clear on sin and then wonderfully presenting Jesus as the solution to it. There were 12 decisions for Christ at the end.


The well inauguration last Thursday was wonderful too. I think all the community showed up and it was great to preach the Gospel to them. The road there was rough and in the area they had rain the night before and all around the well location during the service. We got away as soon as possible after the inauguration because we knew we had a river to cross which could be complicated with rain falling up river. And so it was! When we reached the river we met a lot of school buses stopped and unable to cross but I just switched in to 4-wheel drive and went for it and I’m here to tell the story!


I have a radio interview on Friday to do and then induct the new pastor at Juazerinho on Saturday and preach on Sunday in Patos. Your prayers and support are valued.

This Sunday’s evangelistic “bring a friend” service was fantastic. To start with the church members brought lots of friends which nearly had the church at bursting point. The service was electric, the praise and worship beautiful, and Philip’s sermon was superb. It was the straightest frankest evangelistic sermon I’ve heard in a long time full of Scripture, very clear on sin and then wonderfully presenting Jesus as the solution to it. There were 12 decisions for Christ at the end.


The well inauguration last Thursday was wonderful too. I think all the community showed up and it was great to preach the Gospel to them. The road there was rough and in the area they had rain the night before and all around the well location during the service. We got away as soon as possible after the inauguration because we knew we had a river to cross which could be complicated with rain falling up river. And so it was! When we reached the river we met a lot of school buses stopped and unable to cross but I just switched in to 4-wheel drive and went for it and I’m here to tell the story!


I have a radio interview on Friday to do and then induct the new pastor at Juazerinho on Saturday and preach on Sunday in Patos. Your prayers and support are valued.

I will be leaving in an hour’s time going to inaugurate a new well in Manaíra County. We will hold the normal thanksgiving service around the well or near it. It is always a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with the community. Please pray.


I gave a lecture at a university last night on sustainable development. Another great opportunity to share Biblical principals and show a church which cares about God’s creation.

I will be leaving in an hour’s time going to inaugurate a new well in Manaíra County. We will hold the normal thanksgiving service around the well or near it. It is always a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with the community. Please pray.


I gave a lecture at a university last night on sustainable development. Another great opportunity to share Biblical principals and show a church which cares about God’s creation.

I will be leaving in an hour’s time going to inaugurate a new well in Manaíra County. We will hold the normal thanksgiving service around the well or near it. It is always a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with the community. Please pray.


I gave a lecture at a university last night on sustainable development. Another great opportunity to share Biblical principals and show a church which cares about God’s creation.

I have been spending hours every week for a long time now, trying to sort out some leadership issues. The challenges are very complex involving a permanent leader for the new church at Juazeirinho plus leaders for Teixeira and Conceição. It’s the domino effect of moving one pastor somewhere else and then who fills his place etc. Please pray. 


These are the nitty gritty time consuming challenges of being in the leadership of 86 churches of all shapes and sizes but who all need the Gospel and pastoral care and teaching. We have a leadership team of 10 but I need to discuss with one and then with the other potential leaders to be switched and all that, and then take it all to the leadership team for discussion and approval or not. There is also the challenge of supporting different leaders as some churches stand on their own feet but some not yet. 


I dispatched the EAB monthly Diary Update yesterday which is an email copy of this blog’s texts. All is set for the Communion service later too. I am also working on In Touch photos and EAB UK groups to visit the work here in the last quarter of 2019. We value your prayers and support in all this. 

I have been spending hours every week for a long time now, trying to sort out some leadership issues. The challenges are very complex involving a permanent leader for the new church at Juazeirinho plus leaders for Teixeira and Conceição. It’s the domino effect of moving one pastor somewhere else and then who fills his place etc. Please pray. 


These are the nitty gritty time consuming challenges of being in the leadership of 86 churches of all shapes and sizes but who all need the Gospel and pastoral care and teaching. We have a leadership team of 10 but I need to discuss with one and then with the other potential leaders to be switched and all that, and then take it all to the leadership team for discussion and approval or not. There is also the challenge of supporting different leaders as some churches stand on their own feet but some not yet. 


I dispatched the EAB monthly Diary Update yesterday which is an email copy of this blog’s texts. All is set for the Communion service later too. I am also working on In Touch photos and EAB UK groups to visit the work here in the last quarter of 2019. We value your prayers and support in all this. 

EAB’s 40th Carnival Camp was outstanding. As Getiane Mota, our Matureia Church pastor’s wife posted on my Facebook page: “The Green Pastures Camps are always marvellous… but this one was unexplainable… amazing”! It truly was a blessed time together in God’s presence and went extremely well for the 220 participants.


The theme was “Connected to Christ”, based on John 15, and sought to work through, in the 7 services and sermons, what makes us in this day and age disconnect from Christ and what helps us connect. Thus on the opening Saturday night (March 2nd) young pastor Rafael from Teixeira spoke on ‘desconnecting so that you can connect’. He focussed on the dangers of thinking being hyper active in church can replace one’s devotional life; becoming accustomed to sin and being egoistical in church life.


In the build up to this Camp I felt the Lord guiding me to bring in young people to minister and this I feel was the key to the Camp’s extraordainary success. Thus in the preparatory meetings which I organized I asked the youth leaders what they felt disconnected the youth from Christ and they said ‘Digital Media’ by which they meant not just social media but also series on Netflix which I had never heard of etc.


So I took the plunge and handed the Sunday over to the youth and two young men, Ray (journalist) and Mailson (Radio sound operator), spoke in the morning, and two young women who are both law students, Louisa (our granddaughter) and Rayla, in the evening. Oh boy – it was fantastic! Mind blowing. Ray did the positive side of how digital media can be used for good and for God. Then the others launched into very tough stuff like Satanist and witchcraft series on Netflix and the lasses launched into the sending of nude photos, cheating on one’s wife or husband virtually, gossip, pornography & bullying. They combatted all this with Scripture and it was all an education for most of the older generation and a graphic insight into the world in which our youth is involved. We certainly all need to be connected to Christ and full of His Spirit!


On the Monday a pastor, woman bank worker and woman social worker presented the vitamins B & P as the only solutions for all heard the previous day. B (Bible) + P (Prayer) were shown to be essential for spiritual survival in this evil world. The devotional life with Christ was a major focus point of the whole camp.


Then on the Tuesday (March 5th) morning I spoke on being connected to Christ in our relationships and covered such subjects as feminism, male chauvanism, homosexuality, marriage, courtship etc. At night Philip preached on being connected to Christ in Mission which was really good too.


I should also mention and praise God for the tremendous visit of the Holy Spirit in a beautiful way in the worship time on the Tuesday morning. It was quite extraordainary. 


So …

EAB’s 40th Carnival Camp was outstanding. As Getiane Mota, our Matureia Church pastor’s wife posted on my Facebook page: “The Green Pastures Camps are always marvellous… but this one was unexplainable… amazing”! It truly was a blessed time together in God’s presence and went extremely well for the 220 participants.


The theme was “Connected to Christ”, based on John 15, and sought to work through, in the 7 services and sermons, what makes us in this day and age disconnect from Christ and what helps us connect. Thus on the opening Saturday night (March 2nd) young pastor Rafael from Teixeira spoke on ‘desconnecting so that you can connect’. He focussed on the dangers of thinking being hyper active in church can replace one’s devotional life; becoming accustomed to sin and being egoistical in church life.


In the build up to this Camp I felt the Lord guiding me to bring in young people to minister and this I feel was the key to the Camp’s extraordainary success. Thus in the preparatory meetings which I organized I asked the youth leaders what they felt disconnected the youth from Christ and they said ‘Digital Media’ by which they meant not just social media but also series on Netflix which I had never heard of etc.


So I took the plunge and handed the Sunday over to the youth and two young men, Ray (journalist) and Mailson (Radio sound operator), spoke in the morning, and two young women who are both law students, Louisa (our granddaughter) and Rayla, in the evening. Oh boy – it was fantastic! Mind blowing. Ray did the positive side of how digital media can be used for good and for God. Then the others launched into very tough stuff like Satanist and witchcraft series on Netflix and the lasses launched into the sending of nude photos, cheating on one’s wife or husband virtually, gossip, pornography & bullying. They combatted all this with Scripture and it was all an education for most of the older generation and a graphic insight into the world in which our youth is involved. We certainly all need to be connected to Christ and full of His Spirit!


On the Monday a pastor, woman bank worker and woman social worker presented the vitamins B & P as the only solutions for all heard the previous day. B (Bible) + P (Prayer) were shown to be essential for spiritual survival in this evil world. The devotional life with Christ was a major focus point of the whole camp.


Then on the Tuesday (March 5th) morning I spoke on being connected to Christ in our relationships and covered such subjects as feminism, male chauvanism, homosexuality, marriage, courtship etc. At night Philip preached on being connected to Christ in Mission which was really good too.


I should also mention and praise God for the tremendous visit of the Holy Spirit in a beautiful way in the worship time on the Tuesday morning. It was quite extraordainary. 


So …

EAB’s 40th Carnival Camp was outstanding. As Getiane Mota, our Matureia Church pastor’s wife posted on my Facebook page: “The Green Pastures Camps are always marvellous… but this one was unexplainable… amazing”! It truly was a blessed time together in God’s presence and went extremely well for the 220 participants.


The theme was “Connected to Christ”, based on John 15, and sought to work through, in the 7 services and sermons, what makes us in this day and age disconnect from Christ and what helps us connect. Thus on the opening Saturday night (March 2nd) young pastor Rafael from Teixeira spoke on ‘desconnecting so that you can connect’. He focussed on the dangers of thinking being hyper active in church can replace one’s devotional life; becoming accustomed to sin and being egoistical in church life.


In the build up to this Camp I felt the Lord guiding me to bring in young people to minister and this I feel was the key to the Camp’s extraordainary success. Thus in the preparatory meetings which I organized I asked the youth leaders what they felt disconnected the youth from Christ and they said ‘Digital Media’ by which they meant not just social media but also series on Netflix which I had never heard of etc.


So I took the plunge and handed the Sunday over to the youth and two young men, Ray (journalist) and Mailson (Radio sound operator), spoke in the morning, and two young women who are both law students, Louisa (our granddaughter) and Rayla, in the evening. Oh boy – it was fantastic! Mind blowing. Ray did the positive side of how digital media can be used for good and for God. Then the others launched into very tough stuff like Satanist and witchcraft series on Netflix and the lasses launched into the sending of nude photos, cheating on one’s wife or husband virtually, gossip, pornography & bullying. They combatted all this with Scripture and it was all an education for most of the older generation and a graphic insight into the world in which our youth is involved. We certainly all need to be connected to Christ and full of His Spirit!


On the Monday a pastor, woman bank worker and woman social worker presented the vitamins B & P as the only solutions for all heard the previous day. B (Bible) + P (Prayer) were shown to be essential for spiritual survival in this evil world. The devotional life with Christ was a major focus point of the whole camp.


Then on the Tuesday (March 5th) morning I spoke on being connected to Christ in our relationships and covered such subjects as feminism, male chauvanism, homosexuality, marriage, courtship etc. At night Philip preached on being connected to Christ in Mission which was really good too.


I should also mention and praise God for the tremendous visit of the Holy Spirit in a beautiful way in the worship time on the Tuesday morning. It was quite extraordainary. 


So …

Kira Taylor is to run the Southampton Half Marathon in May for EAB! This is wonderful news in difficult days for EAB financially with giving and the pound down. Please do support her with a contribution. Everything helps. Please do so at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eab-taylor 

Kira Taylor is to run the Southampton Half Marathon in May for EAB! This is wonderful news in difficult days for EAB financially with giving and the pound down. Please do support her with a contribution. Everything helps. Please do so at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eab-taylor 

Last week I spent hours talking to one leader and then talking to another to try and sort out some leadership changes that need to be made. It became a real headache basically because one of our pastors dug his heels in in an unreasonable fashion and by Friday I was despairing with no clear way forward. I prayed a lot that day and asked God to show us His way forward as it was beyond me. However, early on Saturday the brother in question contacted me, asked forgiveness, had completely changed his position and now we can see a way to sorting it all out. PTL! Tears came to my eyes when he contacted me on the Saturday. When there is no way forward God makes a way!


Sunday night’s main service of the week was excellent with a packed house again. The worship and sermon went very well. I preached on John 12:12-36. We even had a nun there who is doing post-graduate research and asked me if she could come to our church to do it by coming to the services. Of course I agreed. 


We’ve had some more rain and have now passed the 14 inch mark at Green Pastures on our way to our 40 inch goal. What we need now are one or two big all night rains as it’s these that fill up the lake and the river.


We continue very busy indeed preparing for the Carnival Camp which starts on Saturday, March 2nd and ends on the 6th. Please pray.


Liz has had a heavy cold but is much better today. PTL!


I have done quite a bit of work with Marian Rashleigh for the next edition of the EAB magazine In Touch – edition 91. The new edition should be out in April.

Last week I spent hours talking to one leader and then talking to another to try and sort out some leadership changes that need to be made. It became a real headache basically because one of our pastors dug his heels in in an unreasonable fashion and by Friday I was despairing with no clear way forward. I prayed a lot that day and asked God to show us His way forward as it was beyond me. However, early on Saturday the brother in question contacted me, asked forgiveness, had completely changed his position and now we can see a way to sorting it all out. PTL! Tears came to my eyes when he contacted me on the Saturday. When there is no way forward God makes a way!


Sunday night’s main service of the week was excellent with a packed house again. The worship and sermon went very well. I preached on John 12:12-36. We even had a nun there who is doing post-graduate research and asked me if she could come to our church to do it by coming to the services. Of course I agreed. 


We’ve had some more rain and have now passed the 14 inch mark at Green Pastures on our way to our 40 inch goal. What we need now are one or two big all night rains as it’s these that fill up the lake and the river.


We continue very busy indeed preparing for the Carnival Camp which starts on Saturday, March 2nd and ends on the 6th. Please pray.


Liz has had a heavy cold but is much better today. PTL!


I have done quite a bit of work with Marian Rashleigh for the next edition of the EAB magazine In Touch – edition 91. The new edition should be out in April.

We had a good weekend with a lovely service last night despite numbers down a bit. 


I conducted a 5.5 km guided walk round Green Pastures at the weekend with 46 people coming from 4 counties in 2 States. It really was good. A great opportunity to get people to care about God’s creation and look after it.


We are flat out preparing for the Carnival Camp. I am also busy trying to figure out how to make some changes around the churches with some leaders because this is necessary. We value your prayers.


Rain was good over the weekend and we are up to 13 inches of rain at Green Pastures for the year so 27 inches to go to reach the ideal target quantity for the year. This will essentially need to fall by the end of May as only dribs and drabs come in June and then that’s it till the following year with increasing temperatures and evaporation as the year goes by. Please praise and pray with us. 


The grandmother of our grandsons Felipe and Arthur died yesterday of a heart attack. We were in the wake till late last night. These are our eldest daughter Deborah’s sons from her marriage to Cleytson which ended some years ago. Please pray for all the family. Cleytson’s mother was 69 and headteacher of a school.

We had a good weekend with a lovely service last night despite numbers down a bit. 


I conducted a 5.5 km guided walk round Green Pastures at the weekend with 46 people coming from 4 counties in 2 States. It really was good. A great opportunity to get people to care about God’s creation and look after it.


We are flat out preparing for the Carnival Camp. I am also busy trying to figure out how to make some changes around the churches with some leaders because this is necessary. We value your prayers.


Rain was good over the weekend and we are up to 13 inches of rain at Green Pastures for the year so 27 inches to go to reach the ideal target quantity for the year. This will essentially need to fall by the end of May as only dribs and drabs come in June and then that’s it till the following year with increasing temperatures and evaporation as the year goes by. Please praise and pray with us. 


The grandmother of our grandsons Felipe and Arthur died yesterday of a heart attack. We were in the wake till late last night. These are our eldest daughter Deborah’s sons from her marriage to Cleytson which ended some years ago. Please pray for all the family. Cleytson’s mother was 69 and headteacher of a school.

We had a good weekend with a lovely service last night despite numbers down a bit. 


I conducted a 5.5 km guided walk round Green Pastures at the weekend with 46 people coming from 4 counties in 2 States. It really was good. A great opportunity to get people to care about God’s creation and look after it.


We are flat out preparing for the Carnival Camp. I am also busy trying to figure out how to make some changes around the churches with some leaders because this is necessary. We value your prayers.


Rain was good over the weekend and we are up to 13 inches of rain at Green Pastures for the year so 27 inches to go to reach the ideal target quantity for the year. This will essentially need to fall by the end of May as only dribs and drabs come in June and then that’s it till the following year with increasing temperatures and evaporation as the year goes by. Please praise and pray with us. 


The grandmother of our grandsons Felipe and Arthur died yesterday of a heart attack. We were in the wake till late last night. These are our eldest daughter Deborah’s sons from her marriage to Cleytson which ended some years ago. Please pray for all the family. Cleytson’s mother was 69 and headteacher of a school.

Thursday night’s Bible study saw Philip continuing his very good series in Romans and advanced in chapter 5. There were 21 present and it was good to see many asking questions in a very participative and blessed evening.


I went for a walk at Green Pastures this morning and sorted out a number of matters in the build up to the Carnival Camp just 2 weeks away. One interesting thing is that we are being given a 52,000 litre rain water harvester by a Roman Catholic NGO which is quite a turn up for the books and most welcome. The harvester is a water cistern to which water from the roofs of two dormitories is channelled so as to guarantee good quality drinking water during long periods of drought.


I am in the process of sorting out with the senior general churches leadership team a number of crunch issues, so value your prayers. My sermon for Sunday on Philippians 2:1-11 is ready to roll too.

Thursday night’s Bible study saw Philip continuing his very good series in Romans and advanced in chapter 5. There were 21 present and it was good to see many asking questions in a very participative and blessed evening.


I went for a walk at Green Pastures this morning and sorted out a number of matters in the build up to the Carnival Camp just 2 weeks away. One interesting thing is that we are being given a 52,000 litre rain water harvester by a Roman Catholic NGO which is quite a turn up for the books and most welcome. The harvester is a water cistern to which water from the roofs of two dormitories is channelled so as to guarantee good quality drinking water during long periods of drought.


I am in the process of sorting out with the senior general churches leadership team a number of crunch issues, so value your prayers. My sermon for Sunday on Philippians 2:1-11 is ready to roll too.

We are happy because we had another inch of rain yesterday taking us up to not far off 10 inches for this year. Our goal always is 40 inches or there abouts. As we always say this needs to fall in the first 5 or 6 months of the year as it doesn’t rain here in the second half of the year. Thank you for praying.


Once again this week the men’s fellowship group on the Tuesday and the women’s on the Wednesday both went really well. PTL! Tonight it’s Philip who gives the Bible study and he presses on in Romans.

We are happy because we had another inch of rain yesterday taking us up to not far off 10 inches for this year. Our goal always is 40 inches or there abouts. As we always say this needs to fall in the first 5 or 6 months of the year as it doesn’t rain here in the second half of the year. Thank you for praying.


Once again this week the men’s fellowship group on the Tuesday and the women’s on the Wednesday both went really well. PTL! Tonight it’s Philip who gives the Bible study and he presses on in Romans.

We are happy because we had another inch of rain yesterday taking us up to not far off 10 inches for this year. Our goal always is 40 inches or there abouts. As we always say this needs to fall in the first 5 or 6 months of the year as it doesn’t rain here in the second half of the year. Thank you for praying.


Once again this week the men’s fellowship group on the Tuesday and the women’s on the Wednesday both went really well. PTL! Tonight it’s Philip who gives the Bible study and he presses on in Romans.

The 10-day Special Evangelistic Outreach was held at Curral Velho last month with a 100+ team but now is the time for the long follow up being carried out by the local team. There are 15 who made decisions for Christ to be cared for plus 3 who came back to God. There are also quite a number of people who asked for home Bible studies expressing interest in the Gospel.


This week 4 women in the latter category had a home Bible study with great interest, under the leadership of local leaders Tica and Ramos. We praise God that one of them commited her life to Christ.


Please pray for the massive amount of work to be done in the vital follow up over the coming weeks and months.

The 10-day Special Evangelistic Outreach was held at Curral Velho last month with a 100+ team but now is the time for the long follow up being carried out by the local team. There are 15 who made decisions for Christ to be cared for plus 3 who came back to God. There are also quite a number of people who asked for home Bible studies expressing interest in the Gospel.


This week 4 women in the latter category had a home Bible study with great interest, under the leadership of local leaders Tica and Ramos. We praise God that one of them commited her life to Christ.


Please pray for the massive amount of work to be done in the vital follow up over the coming weeks and months.

The service went well yesterday with pastor Lucena, retired Congregational pastor who joined us last year, preaching and me leading. He worked alongside me at the Patos Bible College for 18 years and we always got on well together – so he is a blessing and a help. He could be more expositional but he does alright. He’s a lovely brother.


On the coast at João Pessoa at the weekend 12 were baptized. PTL! 5 were from the number one church (of 3 in the capital that we have) and 7 were from the Mata Redonda church plant 25 miles south of João Pessoa on the way to Recife. Please pray for the EAB churches in that area.

The service went well yesterday with pastor Lucena, retired Congregational pastor who joined us last year, preaching and me leading. He worked alongside me at the Patos Bible College for 18 years and we always got on well together – so he is a blessing and a help. He could be more expositional but he does alright. He’s a lovely brother.


On the coast at João Pessoa at the weekend 12 were baptized. PTL! 5 were from the number one church (of 3 in the capital that we have) and 7 were from the Mata Redonda church plant 25 miles south of João Pessoa on the way to Recife. Please pray for the EAB churches in that area.

As usual it’s been a busy week. I had my periodical eye test on Monday and ordered a reserve pair of glasses as one pair disintegrated whilst I was in England. 


We’ve handled quite a few church problems this week – that is people with all sorts of problems. These things seem to come in waves in church work. One person is not walking straight and giving us a lot of headaches. Please pray.


Then there have been various issues to sort out with the leadership at general level but we thank God for a good team. 


I had a good meeting with pastor Luis Carlos, the deaf pastor. He is such a lovely brother. We had good discussions about this year’s deaf conference which brings in the deaf from all over the State of Paraíba and will be held at Green Pastures this year. 


We had building problems at the Patos school as the rains brought a bit of the ceiling down but that has been fixed. We had a problem with a cracked wall at the church projects centre but that too has been repaired.


The Bible study last night had 25 present which is an improvement for mid week. We’ve been working in preparation for the Carnival Camp too.


Please keep praying for rain for our region. We’ve had just over 8½ inches to date in 2019 so have started well but we need this to keep going over the next 3 months to reach somewhere around the 40 inches mark in the rainy season of the first 5 months of the year. 


Please pray too for our girls’ English school which is their means of income and which gives work to others from the church. Please pray for Philip too as he takes some important decisions regarding his work, life and ministry.

As usual it’s been a busy week. I had my periodical eye test on Monday and ordered a reserve pair of glasses as one pair disintegrated whilst I was in England. 


We’ve handled quite a few church problems this week – that is people with all sorts of problems. These things seem to come in waves in church work. One person is not walking straight and giving us a lot of headaches. Please pray.


Then there have been various issues to sort out with the leadership at general level but we thank God for a good team. 


I had a good meeting with pastor Luis Carlos, the deaf pastor. He is such a lovely brother. We had good discussions about this year’s deaf conference which brings in the deaf from all over the State of Paraíba and will be held at Green Pastures this year. 


We had building problems at the Patos school as the rains brought a bit of the ceiling down but that has been fixed. We had a problem with a cracked wall at the church projects centre but that too has been repaired.


The Bible study last night had 25 present which is an improvement for mid week. We’ve been working in preparation for the Carnival Camp too.


Please keep praying for rain for our region. We’ve had just over 8½ inches to date in 2019 so have started well but we need this to keep going over the next 3 months to reach somewhere around the 40 inches mark in the rainy season of the first 5 months of the year. 


Please pray too for our girls’ English school which is their means of income and which gives work to others from the church. Please pray for Philip too as he takes some important decisions regarding his work, life and ministry.

As usual it’s been a busy week. I had my periodical eye test on Monday and ordered a reserve pair of glasses as one pair disintegrated whilst I was in England. 


We’ve handled quite a few church problems this week – that is people with all sorts of problems. These things seem to come in waves in church work. One person is not walking straight and giving us a lot of headaches. Please pray.


Then there have been various issues to sort out with the leadership at general level but we thank God for a good team. 


I had a good meeting with pastor Luis Carlos, the deaf pastor. He is such a lovely brother. We had good discussions about this year’s deaf conference which brings in the deaf from all over the State of Paraíba and will be held at Green Pastures this year. 


We had building problems at the Patos school as the rains brought a bit of the ceiling down but that has been fixed. We had a problem with a cracked wall at the church projects centre but that too has been repaired.


The Bible study last night had 25 present which is an improvement for mid week. We’ve been working in preparation for the Carnival Camp too.


Please keep praying for rain for our region. We’ve had just over 8½ inches to date in 2019 so have started well but we need this to keep going over the next 3 months to reach somewhere around the 40 inches mark in the rainy season of the first 5 months of the year. 


Please pray too for our girls’ English school which is their means of income and which gives work to others from the church. Please pray for Philip too as he takes some important decisions regarding his work, life and ministry.

Last night’s Communion service was lovely. I preached on Isaiah 53 digging out the interpretation of “By his stripes we are healed” from the context of the book of Isaiah as from chapter 1 onwards and not taking the phrase out of context in a vacuum as some do. Hence clearly Isaiah is referring to spiritually healing and not physical and this is above all the great need of our era. This does not mean that physical healing is not to be prayed for as Jesus did it all the time! However it is not what Isaiah 53:5 is referring to. Such an intepretation avoids the absurd aberations of prosperity theology guaranteeing in the atonement physical healing for everyone always, which, if it were true, would mean nobody who adheres to such an idea would ever die! One such theologian said he hadn’t had a headache for 45 years! I myself read this! He is now dead by the way.


Thus yesterday the Lord really blessed as we focused on the wonderful truth of the possibilty in Christ of spiritual healing from the wounds and scars of sin. Praise Jesus for this!


The service also was taken over by the church at one point to celebrate my birthday, give me presents, say generous things and then everyone eat cake! It was a lovely time of celebration and fellowship. God is good!

Last night’s Communion service was lovely. I preached on Isaiah 53 digging out the interpretation of “By his stripes we are healed” from the context of the book of Isaiah as from chapter 1 onwards and not taking the phrase out of context in a vacuum as some do. Hence clearly Isaiah is referring to spiritually healing and not physical and this is above all the great need of our era. This does not mean that physical healing is not to be prayed for as Jesus did it all the time! However it is not what Isaiah 53:5 is referring to. Such an intepretation avoids the absurd aberations of prosperity theology guaranteeing in the atonement physical healing for everyone always, which, if it were true, would mean nobody who adheres to such an idea would ever die! One such theologian said he hadn’t had a headache for 45 years! I myself read this! He is now dead by the way.


Thus yesterday the Lord really blessed as we focused on the wonderful truth of the possibilty in Christ of spiritual healing from the wounds and scars of sin. Praise Jesus for this!


The service also was taken over by the church at one point to celebrate my birthday, give me presents, say generous things and then everyone eat cake! It was a lovely time of celebration and fellowship. God is good!

We had a wonderful planning meeting yesterday for the 2019 Carnival Camp which will start exactly in a month’s time. 12 gathered on a Saturday evening for a meeting which lasted a bit over 2 hours. By the end we had worked out a complete schedule for the camp and divided responsibilities between different people/groups.


The theme this year will be “Connected to Christ”, based on John 15:4-5, seeking to emphasize the need for living out true christianity in everyday life and not just in church!


Pastor Rafael (Teixeira) will bring the opening general introductory message in the opening service on the Saturday night (March 2nd). 


On the Sunday the youth (Louisa, Rayla, Brenda, Ray & Mailson) will take the day discussing how to remain connected to Christ in a world of Digital Media (Netflix, TV, Music, Books, Social Media).


On the Monday Pastor Rafael, Andreia & Marah Danielle will lead the day talking about the importance of the Bible and Prayer, so as to remain connected to Christ.


On the Tuesday Philip will speak on remaining connected to Christ whilst evangelizing your own family and in the other service I will speak on relationships, male chauvinism, feminism and the likes and remaining connected to Christ amidst all this.


Liz will as usual coordinate the logistics of the whole event, expected to attract hundreds, and I will lead the overall spiritual and sporting programme. Please pray.


If anyone can contribute to helping poorer families not miss the camp it would be appreciated. To feed people and maintain everything clean, and other running costs, people pay 30 pounds, for the 4-day camp, which is pretty cheap – but many don’t have this money. Please send duly earmarked donations to the EAB treasurer and let us know you have sent please so that we can allow for this help coming. Thank you. 

We had a wonderful planning meeting yesterday for the 2019 Carnival Camp which will start exactly in a month’s time. 12 gathered on a Saturday evening for a meeting which lasted a bit over 2 hours. By the end we had worked out a complete schedule for the camp and divided responsibilities between different people/groups.


The theme this year will be “Connected to Christ”, based on John 15:4-5, seeking to emphasize the need for living out true christianity in everyday life and not just in church!


Pastor Rafael (Teixeira) will bring the opening general introductory message in the opening service on the Saturday night (March 2nd). 


On the Sunday the youth (Louisa, Rayla, Brenda, Ray & Mailson) will take the day discussing how to remain connected to Christ in a world of Digital Media (Netflix, TV, Music, Books, Social Media).


On the Monday Pastor Rafael, Andreia & Marah Danielle will lead the day talking about the importance of the Bible and Prayer, so as to remain connected to Christ.


On the Tuesday Philip will speak on remaining connected to Christ whilst evangelizing your own family and in the other service I will speak on relationships, male chauvinism, feminism and the likes and remaining connected to Christ amidst all this.


Liz will as usual coordinate the logistics of the whole event, expected to attract hundreds, and I will lead the overall spiritual and sporting programme. Please pray.


If anyone can contribute to helping poorer families not miss the camp it would be appreciated. To feed people and maintain everything clean, and other running costs, people pay 30 pounds, for the 4-day camp, which is pretty cheap – but many don’t have this money. Please send duly earmarked donations to the EAB treasurer and let us know you have sent please so that we can allow for this help coming. Thank you. 

Thank you for praying for the rain. Please keep praying. In January we had 183 mm (7.625 inches) at Green Pastures so it was a good start to the year and to our rainy season. We need 40 inches of rain to be a good year as the second half of the year doesn’t rain and the rising heat as the year goes on causes massive evaporation of water reserves. 


I walked 68.34 km in January – up from 60.72 km in December – so my daily rate was up from 1.95 to 2.20 km. Physical exercise is such an important thing to everything so I always endeavour to make time for it. The important thing is to find some form of exercise you enjoy. I tell everyone this. My eldest daughter Deborah likes cycling and cycles for miles doing her the world of good physically and psychologically. I like walking at Green Pastures. It is excellent to shake off the stress involved in the work of EAB at times. I walked 5.7 km today.


I have prepared my sermon for Sunday on “By his stripes we are healed”. It is the monthly communion service. 


I have done a lot of work with the leaders all week. There are times when problems in the local church arise and in the wider work too. There is a lot to work on, think on and pray on at the moment. We value your prayers. The WhatsApp means of communication is such a help for us in the work though. Quite wonderful. I have had discussions at length with so many this week. I’ve lost count with so many leaders around the more than 80 churches. It’s a lot of work and responsibility. We always value your prayers and support.


Yesterday we had a lovely chicken curry (my choice) with all the family at our house celebrating my birthday. It was a really nice relaxed time together. I got a new shirt and jeans out of it too! In the evening Liz and I went and relaxed and slept at Green Pastures and were up before 5 am today for walking. Thanks to all who sent me e-cards, real cards etc.


Tomorrow we have a leaders meeting in Patos in preparation for the Carnival Camp which starts on March 1st. 

Thank you for praying for the rain. Please keep praying. In January we had 183 mm (7.625 inches) at Green Pastures so it was a good start to the year and to our rainy season. We need 40 inches of rain to be a good year as the second half of the year doesn’t rain and the rising heat as the year goes on causes massive evaporation of water reserves. 


I walked 68.34 km in January – up from 60.72 km in December – so my daily rate was up from 1.95 to 2.20 km. Physical exercise is such an important thing to everything so I always endeavour to make time for it. The important thing is to find some form of exercise you enjoy. I tell everyone this. My eldest daughter Deborah likes cycling and cycles for miles doing her the world of good physically and psychologically. I like walking at Green Pastures. It is excellent to shake off the stress involved in the work of EAB at times. I walked 5.7 km today.


I have prepared my sermon for Sunday on “By his stripes we are healed”. It is the monthly communion service. 


I have done a lot of work with the leaders all week. There are times when problems in the local church arise and in the wider work too. There is a lot to work on, think on and pray on at the moment. We value your prayers. The WhatsApp means of communication is such a help for us in the work though. Quite wonderful. I have had discussions at length with so many this week. I’ve lost count with so many leaders around the more than 80 churches. It’s a lot of work and responsibility. We always value your prayers and support.


Yesterday we had a lovely chicken curry (my choice) with all the family at our house celebrating my birthday. It was a really nice relaxed time together. I got a new shirt and jeans out of it too! In the evening Liz and I went and relaxed and slept at Green Pastures and were up before 5 am today for walking. Thanks to all who sent me e-cards, real cards etc.


Tomorrow we have a leaders meeting in Patos in preparation for the Carnival Camp which starts on March 1st. 

Thank you for praying for the rain. Please keep praying. In January we had 183 mm (7.625 inches) at Green Pastures so it was a good start to the year and to our rainy season. We need 40 inches of rain to be a good year as the second half of the year doesn’t rain and the rising heat as the year goes on causes massive evaporation of water reserves. 


I walked 68.34 km in January – up from 60.72 km in December – so my daily rate was up from 1.95 to 2.20 km. Physical exercise is such an important thing to everything so I always endeavour to make time for it. The important thing is to find some form of exercise you enjoy. I tell everyone this. My eldest daughter Deborah likes cycling and cycles for miles doing her the world of good physically and psychologically. I like walking at Green Pastures. It is excellent to shake off the stress involved in the work of EAB at times. I walked 5.7 km today.


I have prepared my sermon for Sunday on “By his stripes we are healed”. It is the monthly communion service. 


I have done a lot of work with the leaders all week. There are times when problems in the local church arise and in the wider work too. There is a lot to work on, think on and pray on at the moment. We value your prayers. The WhatsApp means of communication is such a help for us in the work though. Quite wonderful. I have had discussions at length with so many this week. I’ve lost count with so many leaders around the more than 80 churches. It’s a lot of work and responsibility. We always value your prayers and support.


Yesterday we had a lovely chicken curry (my choice) with all the family at our house celebrating my birthday. It was a really nice relaxed time together. I got a new shirt and jeans out of it too! In the evening Liz and I went and relaxed and slept at Green Pastures and were up before 5 am today for walking. Thanks to all who sent me e-cards, real cards etc.


Tomorrow we have a leaders meeting in Patos in preparation for the Carnival Camp which starts on March 1st. 

You can access the new short 2-minute EAB video, made by Philip Medcraft, about the recent 10-day Evangelistic Outreach via the link below. May we suggest that you show it in your church and/or your church house fellowship.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZRe8PBIdzPOQwdqq9n2nK9yPK000KJRq

You can access the new short 2-minute EAB video, made by Philip Medcraft, about the recent 10-day Evangelistic Outreach via the link below. May we suggest that you show it in your church and/or your church house fellowship.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZRe8PBIdzPOQwdqq9n2nK9yPK000KJRq

You can access the new short 2-minute EAB video, made by Philip Medcraft, about the recent 10-day Evangelistic Outreach via the link below. May we suggest that you show it in your church and/or your church house fellowship.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZRe8PBIdzPOQwdqq9n2nK9yPK000KJRq

My sermon for tomorrow night’s final rally in the 10-day Evangelistic Outreach is ready to roll at Curral Velho as is my sermon ready for Patos on the Sunday. There have been a good few decisions at the Outreach and I will get the full picture there tomorrow.


I have had quite a bit of counselling to do as well this week together with meetings with various pastors and some trouble shooting in the Patos church. Easy life!


We had an inch of rain at Green Pastures yesterday so that’s good, taking us up to 5 inches with 35 to go. It’s rained again tonight in the area but will find out tomorrow if it rained at Green Pastures.

My sermon for tomorrow night’s final rally in the 10-day Evangelistic Outreach is ready to roll at Curral Velho as is my sermon ready for Patos on the Sunday. There have been a good few decisions at the Outreach and I will get the full picture there tomorrow.


I have had quite a bit of counselling to do as well this week together with meetings with various pastors and some trouble shooting in the Patos church. Easy life!


We had an inch of rain at Green Pastures yesterday so that’s good, taking us up to 5 inches with 35 to go. It’s rained again tonight in the area but will find out tomorrow if it rained at Green Pastures.