PRAYER REQUEST

Tele Moraes is in the hospital for pains in his stomach that he gets after eating. They told him his Gall Bladder was enlarged. He is currently on antibiotics and if that doesn't help then he may have an operation either today or tomorrow. Heather and the baby are at the hospital with Tele.

Please pray for the Moraes family and Tele's speedy recovery.

/EDIT Tele is having the surgery this afternoon.

Tele's surgery went well.
He did have his Gall Bladder removed through lazer surgery. He had a bit of respiration problems afterward but is fine now and is out of the Hospital but still in Recife.

Some of Tele's kids were on their way back to the Alcance Brazil after visiting their father in the hospital when they got into a car accident. A tire came off the vehicle in front of them and hit their car. Everyone is fine and nobody even had a scratch on them. The car had some bad damage in the front but should be fixed. We are thanking God that the accident wasn't bad.

Spotlight: Lagoa de Itaenga

Wow, it has been 13 days since our last post! Please forgive us in our tardiness in delivering ministry news. Time seems to pass at least twice as quickly around here and before we know it we need to update again. The ministry remains as busy as ever! There is a constant stream of new things to do and areas to serve.

Spotlight: Lagoa de Itaenga

Three years ago a group of youth from the Community Church of Guadalajara came to their pastor wanting a place to serve. At the time Guadalajara had an outreach two hours away in the town of Amexias. Every other week, five people piled into Pastor Ricardo’s car and headed for that community. The young people, unable to go to Amexeias, requested permission from Ricardo to work in another community where they saw a need. Three years later Pastor Ricardo and three other volunteers are still traveling 30 minutes away to Lagoa de Itaenga for a street-side Bible study and program for children. Presently they have 30 children and 14 adults attending.

This widely Catholic community has not been easy to reach. This community’s perversion of the Gospel through Mary worship is a chief example of the atmosphere found in many Catholic towns across Brazil. There is profound oppression of the Christian church in this community. Last year Community Church held a special outreach in Lagoa; as soon as the Catholic Church got wind of the event they hired a loud-speaker truck to spread propaganda against the Community Church. They claimed that the church was a cult that preached lies. Ironically this brought more attention and a bigger crowd to the outreach! This past summer the ministry invited healthcare personal from the US to hold medical clinics in the community. This has given a lot of credibility to the ministry there and opened up new doors to serve. Community church has shown that they care about the people in this community and want to invest in their lives.

Pastor Ricardo’s heart is undeniably in Lagoa de Itaenga. He is currently in the process of training up leadership to take over at the Community Church of Guadalajara. He and his wife hope to transition out of Guadalajara slowly so that they can serve full time in Lagoa de Itaenga.

Prayer Requests for Lagoa:

Please pray for a woman in one of the small groups there. Her husband is abusive and has frequently put his family in financial and physical danger. He called to tell her that he will be returning from São Paulo this month. Please pray for her family’s safety and for God to work in this situation.

Emme, the musical group from Word of Life, presented a Gospel message program in Lagoa recently. Please pray for those who made a decision for Christ that they seek discipleship.

Things here in Brazil seem to always be in reverse of things in the US. In the US the first weekend of September marks the last holiday of the summer. Here in Brazil the 7^th of September is the last holiday of the winter. The ministry enjoyed a long weekend of celebrations starting on Thursday, Brazil’s Independence Day.

Thursday there was a Community Church wide soccer tournament. Five churches turned out to compete. Carpina Community Church left with the win. The program began with a presentation by Word of Life Brazil’s Emme group (a musical performance group that travels all around Brazil). It was an exciting time had by all. Families turned out to cheer their pastors and friends on.

Guadalajara playing Timbauba (black)

Guadalajara playing Carpina (blue)

The celebrations didn’t end there. On Monday, the city of Carpina celebrated their founding day. There was an amazing parade that lasted all day. The Guadalajara Community Church sold water to raise money for projects. They were able to raise about R$100!

The ministry was also donated radio equipment this weekend. They were able to completely start up the Radio Station with what was donated.This is the Radio Station we got the equipment from.

The Word of Life Emme group has been doing programs at the Community Churches this week. They were at Guadalajara and Paudalho the last two nights.

We had 22 decisions for Christ at Guadalajara!

We recently interviewed Pastor Assurio on how he feels about being back in Brazil. He disclosed his thoughts on returning from Africa and about his family’s future in both Amexis and Africa.

How does it feel to be back in Brazil?

Feliz. We are happy to be here. It is good to see friends and family again. We want to return to Africa of course, but it is good to see them again. I feel split in two sometimes. I feel like I am here and in Africa.

How are you feeling about moving to Ameixas?

For us to move to Amexias is a big challenge, an exciting challenge though. We know that it is God’s will for us now.

How does your family feel about the move to Ameixas?

My family feels the same. We are excited about moving to Ameixas. We are on the same page with things. We are looking forward to things getting quiet again [Assuiro’s family has been really busy since returning, they have had a lot of appointments and dinners to keep].

What are your hopes for the future of the Community Church of Ameixas?

We have a big opportunity to get close to people. Never before has a pastor moved to Ameixas to minister [pastor’s have generally just traveled there on weekends]. We are not important people, but I feel that the church will grow because God will bring people. We don’t know how long God wants us there; God may want more time. We feel like God will really use us to make a big difference.

What are your hopes for a future in Africa?

We don’t know where God wants us - maybe South Africa, maybe Mozambique, or maybe another country. When return to Africa the first thing we want to do is plant a church. Many ministries may be born after that, but the first priority is to plant a church. There are many big cities with large Portuguese speaking populations. We want to reach to those people. The church will have services in Portuguese and in English. There are many people who are in these cities who want someone to talk to in Portuguese. I was able to mentor an Angolan guy. I helped him to learn the Bible and now he won’t put it down. It made me really encouraged to know that I helped him.

How is your family reacting to traveling and moving so much?

My kids are good kids. After being in Africa for 5 months, they fit right in and made friends. They tell me that they want what God wants. My wife is very understanding. I want to be like my wife, I think sometimes she has the real vision. She tells me all the time “I want to be where you will be. God’s will is good for us, where ever in the world He wants us to be. ” She feels like she can contribute more to the ministry now. She ministered in South Africa to women and children. She hopes to do the same in Ameixas. I know that if we are together in life we will have fewer troubles within our family.