Missionary Conference

Every January missionaries from all over Brazil get together for a week of praise, Bible study and fellowship. This year, as well as last year, the conference was in Canela, a small city an hour and a half north of Porto Alegre. John Willis from Abilene was our keynote speaker. We are looking forward to the missionaries in Itu hosting the conference next year!

Out-Of-School

This picture was taken at our out-of-school gathering. Here, the first semester of school is between March and July and the second semester is between August and December. The summer break begins the third week in December and goes through early March.

Graduating Seniors

This year we had four seniors graduate from the youth ministry. Each teen said what they were thankful for over the years then each set of parents said a few words about their teen, then we prayed over them. The teens from the left: Lucas, Guilherme, Felipe, and Marcio. Please be in prayer for these four guys as they move to a new chapter in their lives. Guilherme and Felipe will be taking our equivilant of the SAT beginning on Sunday. One big difference is that their test, called the vestibular, takes four days (four hours each day) to complete!

One Year!

On December 9th Ana and I celebrated our one year Brazil anniversary. We spent a couple of days at an ecological reserve spread out over 10 hectares. Thanks to those who are continually praying for us, our marriage, and our ministry.

Potato Salad Anyone?

Here we are at Ana's home for the Christmas feast. We eat at midnight and then enjoy some fireworks. We have a somewhat similar menu, such as turkey and giblet stuffing. We don't serve bread with the meal. What?!? No bread?!? The potato salad has potato, apple, peas, corn, pineapple, cream of milk, mayo, and raisins. Hands down the worst potato salad I've ever eaten! Do you want some?

Teen Retreat

Here is a picture from our teen retreat the last weekend in October. We went to the National Forrest in São Francisco de Paula. Several of our teens were unable to make the trip this year for various reasons, but God still poured out his blessings on us. Praise Him!

Teen Devo

This is a picture of our teen devo in October. It was at the house of one of our dearest familes (the Salgado family- in English this translates into "Salty") who have just moved to a new house. They overcame many obstacles and made many sacrifices to get the house, but even still they consider it an answer to much prayer and give God the glory. They desire very much to host events in their home, including the teens.