We praise the Lord that we have now been able to purchase the needed iron for the footers and posts!  Thank you for your continued prayers for the construction of the church’s first building.

Often times, I look out from my house, view the city below and ponder the privilege our family has.  Our family is the first missionary family to start churches in these cities.  As a matter of fact, Ibiuna does not even have a Catholic church in their city, much less a Bible-preaching church.  Our new home is strategically located.  We are very close to both church plants and now have the opportunity to begin a third in our own area this year.  Our city / suburb is quite literally the last main city before you hit the interior.  I am filled with excitement when I think of the possibilities of using Caucia do Alto as a launching point to reach the interior as we train national men to take the Gospel to their own people!

January 20^th was a momentous mark for our family as we celebrated being in Brazil for one year!  It was also a doubly momentous occasion for us as on the same day we began breaking ground for our church plant in Agua Espriada.  We have successfully dug all the foundation  footers and pillar footers.  We are next preparing to purchase the needed iron and cement to pour the footers.  So far, the church has raised R$3,000 of the R$4,000 needed for the foundation.  What is even more exciting about this progress is that it has been funded by the church family itself.  The reason that I point this out is because with this location, we are working with groups of Brazilians which are quite poor, but yet the Lord has been providing what they need each month.  In perspective, the average salary of the church families range from R$600-1,000 per month.  Along with the financing, the members themselves have been investing their blood, sweat, and tears into the construction work itself.  I greatly rejoice to see this work growing as an indigenous, national work.  The long-term fruit will be that they themselves will have a model for starting churches in the future!

Thank you all for your prayers for our Christmas Cantata.  We had a fantastic turnout!  We ran out of seating and people had to stand up the rear stairwell!  (Praise the Lord we are beginning the auditorium expansion.)  At first, we were concerned that we would have problems with a concert which was scheduled to take place at the end of the road.  Basically, they bring in a truck about the size of a semi-trailer made entirely of giant speakers.  By God’s grace it never became a problem for the presentation.  This years cantata was around the theme of “Christ was Born to Die.”  It was such a blessing to be able to bring a group of our other church plant from Agua Espraiada and they sang two beautiful songs for the Cantata.  It is very exciting to see this growth in the lives of these young believers.  Please be in prayer now for the many decisions which were made and for the follow-up with the numerous visitors.

Today we are to tear down the original part of the church building so we can commence building the new auditorium. Thank you all for your prayers. The removal of the debris was going to cost 10,000. Through your prayers, the final price was 3,000!

Thank you all for your diligent prayers for our housing situation.  The Lord has provided a new house for our family.  It is very close to the newest church plant.  We still have a lot of work to do on it, but it is much larger than our current home and is not much more expensive.  Please continue to pray as we now work to begin the moving process again.

Thank you all for your prayers for our families protection. Just last week, three men robbed this bakery right across the street from our house. Thank you all for your faithful prayers for our family.

Our church plant in Agua Espraiada is continuing to grow and experience the hand of God.  Plans are continuing forward with preparations for the first official building for the church.  We have been working to tear down the existing buildings and clear the area for the foundation.  God has laid it on the heart of a gentleman in the area to provide 1,000 cement blocks for the commencement of the construction.  We also have had the providence of a truck-load of rock and sand as well.  We have been having regular visitors for both Sunday and mid-week services.  We are praying that we will be able to begin construction very soon because we have been running out of space for the visitors that have been attending.  We consistently have 30+ people in attendance with about 5-10 children.