Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The Acacias Community Church celebrated it’s first anniversary Sunday Feb 11. They will also had there first Mission conference that Sunday. Please pray for this new church that they get involved with missions and seek to start another church. There small groups are growing as new people are getting saved and joining

Tele and family is moving into the new house this week. Pray for them as them move and get the house in order. Any one who has moved will know how to pray for the family.

The international school is official. The government of Brazil has given Tele all the paper work to be an official school in Brazil. Praise the Lord this is great a low tax rate and Jeff and Lindsey Turner can start on there Visa. Again pray that the visa will go fast as the Turner’s need to be in Brazil as soon as possible.

There has been a lot of ongoing construction happening around the Alcance to prepare for the school year.The December trip helped build the new playground and the Brazilians have been working on the wall around the playground. Check out a video of the playground at David Moraes's blog.

Then there is the new security fence and booth that have been put in. They also put in cameras.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Summer Trip Meeting

If you are interested in the summer short-term trip please come on February 11 at 3:00pm to 4:30pm to Brookville Road Community Church. For directions call Steven Turner at 317-840-1270.

Monday, January 22, 2007

What are you doing this summer?

Summer is coming! That means it’s time to sign up for the summer Brazil mission trip. The medical team needs volunteers for the trip, June 30th through July 7th, to reach the physical and spiritual needs of people. There will also be an English camp/ construction trip July 11th through July 25th. Come join with others on both or one of the trips this summer. You will be glad you did. Call Steven Turner for more information at (317) 840-1270. The tickets will need to be purchased by April 15. If you have a desire to go and be used by God give us a call as soon as possible.

We’re looking forward to what God will do this summer.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

2007 News

A total of 30 students are currently enrolled in the International School.

Among the 30 students we have:

a catholic nun’s adopted daughter enrolled.

Jaciel’s brother (a very wealthy Cattle owner) is sending his child.

The owner of the local construction store his sending his children.

When people with a Catholic background come to visit the school now and ask about there religious viewpoints, Tele likes to point out that they have a Catholic nun’s adopted daughter enrolled. The nun took her daughter out of the Catholic school to enroll her in the International School.

The city government of Trancuenahem gave the Community Church there really good Land near the city Government building.

The community Church of Paudalho has been having standing room only church services for the last month.

The Baptist Church in southern Brazil that sponsored the Word of Life Emme group to come to the Northeast is now planning a Short-term missions trip in Jan 08 to build a church. The church that they will be building is The Community Church of Ameixas located in the interior of Northeast Brazil.

Please continue to Pray for the Pastors and staff or World Renewal Brazil as God is truly doing a great work in this region.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007


The Lord is at work in Brazil! I want to share with you the ways I saw God at work that you couldn’t get from the other blog spot (if you would like more details on what we did in Brazil on a day to day bases you can go to http://glorybrazil06.blogspot.com/ ) I had 4 main prayer requests when I was preparing for this trip. First was that I could get all of my school work done before I left and that when I got back, I could catch up what I had missed while I was gone. I finished my research paper just before I left, which was one of my main concerns. When I returned from the trip, all of my teachers were extremely helpful and merciful while I attempted to get all of my homework turned in. My finals were in less than a week when I got back, but praise God, I passed all of my classes. The second prayer request I had was that our team would work well together, especially since a lot of us on the team had never meet, and wouldn’t until we arrived in Brazil. Everyone on the team worked so well together. The team couldn’t have been better. We had just the right number of people, with just the right skills needed on the trip. Thirdly, I prayed that God would be able to use me in the way in which he wanted. The first several days I helped Kenny with building the jungle gym. This was an area that I wasn’t expecting to help in, but I was able to be used, and I praise God for that. I then spent my time helping out and participating in the conference. This was the first music conference they have had and it couldn’t have gone better. Not only did I get to see the Lord working through me, but through everyone on the entire team. We had exactly the right number of people with the right skills.

My last prayer request I had for the trip was that God could really reaffirm my call to missions as well as show me the possibilities that would be available to me through playing my saxophone. I got the privilege of playing with the worship team on 2 Sundays, during the 7 times we meet for the conference, before a school play (for background music), at one of the churches for a “special” music, and just jamming with the guys before and after the services. My lip was so tired! But the joy of getting to play with all of them was worth it. During the trip I gave my testimony of struggling with going the Barclay College in Haviland, Kansas to study missions, or going to study music elsewhere. I have chosen to go to Barclay next year knowing that God has called me there and there is no place better to be than where God wants you. After giving my testimony Frank had all of the pastors and those I had played with to pray for me. This was a really powerful moment for me on the trip. It reaffirmed my choice to go to Barclay, to go on the trip, and my call to missions. All of the pastors in Brazil are great leaders and men of God. It was encouraging to get to spend time with and get to know many of the pastors during the conference as well as get to see some of them pastor their church. Tele served as our host and interpreter (for most of the time) during the trip. He is a strong leader and a man of God. It was a great joy to get to know him and his family. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. The trip couldn’t have gone better. I was greatly encouraged by the trip and cannot wait to go back, the Lord willing.

Post by Seth Binford

Monday, December 18, 2006

I'm you're basic homebody. However, God, had different plans for me this December. He sent me on a short term mission trip to Brazil and used the trip to enlarge my world-view. In our first team meeting, we were told that flexibility would be our friend. I went to Carpina Brazil planning to play the piano on a music team and ended up sewing bags with 12-15 beautiful women. Women who love Jesus and are serving Him. As I watched the Brazilian young men and women lead in worship and felt God's presence even though I couldn't understand the language, I was blessed. I was enthralled as I heard Wes Davis and Gary Wright preach and heard Tele interpret. I was blessed and completely overwhelmed (and still continue to be)as I watched about 150 children open bags of Christmas gifts; probably their only Christmas gift. My appreciation grew daily for each team member, their talents and their willingness to serve God. I thank God for my experience, and I know that He put the right team together for the right time and in the right place. I encourage you to think about doing a short-term mission and remind you to pray for those who serve God in Brazil and other fields.

Post by Sue Brawner from Arvada, Colorado

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The worship Conference is over in Brazil and most of the team is heading home. All except Frank Penna. If you missed out on hearing about the exiting things they did, go check out Frank Penna's Blog site.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Worship Conference

Check out Frank Penna's blog site as he is heading up the Worship Conference in Brazil
http://glorybrazil06.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Thanks & Prayer Requests

What a trip! Thank you to all who allowed Tele to come to your church or home. It was a great time of fellowship with each one of you. Tele is safe back home and sends his love to all. December 2-12 a group of Americans will be with Tele to give Christmas gifts to the Living Stones children. Again thanks to all who made this possible. Please pray for the group- that God will use them to reach kids and adults for Christ.

Keep praying for Lindsay & Jeff Turner’s visa to go through, they plan to return to Brazil by mid-January. Lindsay teaches school which starts February 1. Rachel Winzeler plans to return the first week of February for the commencement school year as well. Please remember to pray for her as she travels.

The summer trips will be coming up soon! June 30-July 7 for the medical trip and July 12-26 for the English/Construction trip. If you did not get the information package about the trip and want to go, call or email Steven Turner cell phone 317 840 1270 or steven7000@gmail.com

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Tele is back in Brazil

Thank you Community Churches for all your support and willingness to hear from and have Tele speak at your churches. Tele made it safely back to Brazil with all of his luggage. Jeff and Lindsay are still in Indiana until they can get a new Visa.
Tele was very encouraged by his visit. Thank you again everybody who spent time with Tele!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Tele, Sundar, and Jeff & Lindsay made it safely to Indiana!



We were at Community Church of Southport over the weekend participating in their missions conference. On Saturday they had a "Taste of Brazil" and Sunday we joined them for their worship service. They did an amazing job of decorating and set out samples of traditional Brazilian food! Everything looked and tasted great! The atmosphere was so Brazilian that it really made us feel at home!

Please keep Tele & Sundar in prayer as they travel to Kansas for five days this week.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

It is official the Fall edition of the Brazil Broadcast has gone to the printers. But you get the chance to see it before it is even printed.

Follow the Link here and download the PDF version of the Broadcast.

Also check out Lindsay and Jeff Turner's blog for a preprint look at the World Renewal General Ministries Brochure and the Short-term Missions Brochure.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Busy Times

The time is close. Soon Tele, Jeff, and Lindsay will be in the US. Don't forget to visit them and don't forget the Brazil Reunion .

Lindsay and Jeff Turner are working hard on the Fall Newsletter and various brochures. We don't want to give too much of the Newsletter away. Here are some quick updates.

Lagoa de Itaenga is now and official Church!
This is the outreach that Ricardo Silvia has been involved with since the youth in his Church asked to start witnessing to this town in 2003. (More about this in the Newsletter)

Children's Day
















(David Moraes is writing an article about Children's Day for the Newsletter)


Cafe Impresso gets new tables and chairs!
After a long time with boring chairs and tables from the Bible College, the Cafe Impresso has its own new stone tables with black stylish chairs. The Cafe also now has paid full time staff.
Now, here is the best part! The Cafe is trying to get a franchise such as Laça Burger (real steakburgers) to sell burgers at the Cafe. This would be a great boast to this business and bring in a lot more money for the Ministry. Carpina doesn't currently have any hamburger restarants.

God is good and has continued to bless this Ministry!
Watch for the Fall Brazil Broadcast!!


Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Tele's Surgery

What happened for you to need surgery?

I had migraines every so often and my digestion felt like it was "off." I kept getting worse over the weeks and went to the emergency room in Recife on the 28th of September. When I got there they ran some tests and performed an ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed that my gall bladder was almost as big as my bladder. They decided that they would cut me up the next day.

What did the doctors do?
The doctors performed a laparoscopy on me. They removed my gall bladder and four gallstones, one as big as two marbles put together. I was in the hospital for around 24 hours total. I stayed in Recife for another week to recover more.

Did anything unusual happen?
The doctors were surprised that I didn't have any of the typical symptoms. I didn't have a fever, intense pain, or a high white cell count. They only realized the need for the surgery after they saw my enlarged gall bladder on the ultrasound. Dr. Santos really took good care of me. A former student of his was going to operate on me, but Dr. Santos arraigned for a colleague who went to school with him to work on me instead.

Now?
The Lord really blessed! Now I feel great. I can eat anything and I have no migraines.

I want to thank our friends for their prayers and concern. I am excited to be coming in a few weeks and see many of you personally! I also want to make sure that everybody is invited to the Brazil reunion! ( see post right before this one)

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Brazil Reunion

Tele, Jeff, and Lindsay will be coming to Indiana in November so lets all get together.

When: November 11th
10am-4pm
Where:Steve and Ann Turner's house
9925 E 12th St
Indianapolis, IN 46229
(317)895-8171

Please RSVP!! (so that we know how much food to have.)

Come and find out about, latest happenings are in the Brazil ministry, the 2007 mission trips, and about how you can get involved more in this ministry.

If you would like to spend personal time with Tele or Jeff and Lindsay please call
(317) 840-1270 to set up a time to get together.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Quick Update

Tele is still in Recife recovering and relaxing after his surgery. When he gets back I will have him post about his surgery.

Roberto's Car is in the shop to be fixed and he has been sick this past weekend. He went to the Doctor today and is coming back to work at the print shop this afternoon. So, hopefully things will slowly get back to normal.

Lindsay and I are doing fine, but miss having Tele and Heather around and I am ready for things to become normal again. At least for a little while.

Thank you for all your prayers during this time!!

Post by Jeff Turner

Thursday, September 28, 2006

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.

Monday, September 25, 2006

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.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

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 7th 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!




Monday, September 04, 2006

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.