What are the horrors of missions in Brazil? Number one: The Spiritism. I had spent three months in Brazil in the past and had yet to see anyone performing rituals and sacrifices at intersections. Within the first week, we witnessed two of them with people wearing red capes, lighting candles, and beheading a chicken…creepy. Number two: The Government Paperwork. We first went to the Federal Police just to be told to go to City Hall, just to be told to go to the Licensing Department, just to be told to go two hours south to the American Consulate, just to realize that we needed to go back to the Federal Police. Number three: The Wildlife. After being warned about the snakes and spiders of Brazil (which we were assured were primarily a threat in the Amazon Jungle) my father-in-law came within inches of a venomous pit viper called a Jararaca! I also narrowly escaped putting my pants on with a poisonous spider making its home in my pant leg! It’s been a blast!

All of this to say, our time in Brazil has already been incredibly productive, eventful, and a truly exciting time in our lives.

We have been blessed with the opportunity to get plugged right into the ministry here I Caxias do Sul. Not every missionary has the opportunity we have to work alongside an established work. To help with language learning, I have been song leading for every service! Sometimes that means I mumble a long word and let the people sing out until I can figure out the next word, but it has been a blessing to serve where I can. The most frustrating part to me so far has been language learning. I am so grateful for the training I have had from my wife, and I am diligently studying Portuguese. There are good days where I understand everything, and bad days where I understand absolutely nothing. I embarrass myself with poor grammar and incorrect phrases, but everyone has been so gracious to help correct me when I am wrong. Please pray as I study the language that I will be fluent in a very short amount of time.

Our sending church blessed us with funds to build new fence around our property to help protect against animals and thieves. So far, about three quarters of the fence has been completed. Please pray that our neighbor will be willing to negotiate since they have several trees that are sitting on or over the property line. We were grateful that so much of the fence was able to be completed before camp! THAT’S RIGHT! The second week of February was the annual youth camp. For the first half of February we were working hard at preparing the property and the buildings for our two-day teen camp. It was a huge success with twenty-four teens in attendance. The theme was “The Power of Your Decisions”, and we saw good growth and strong focus on God.

After camp, we really focused on getting my paperwork and residency finalized. My visa said I needed to register with the Federal Police. They misunderstood and thought that I needed to start the process of residency at City Hall. City Hall told us we needed a bunch of paperwork from the American Consulate two hours away and from the Licensing Department before I could get my residency. But all of the papers they asked us for had already been completed at the Consulate in Houston. We went back to the Federal Police, and we explained to them what happened. The police chief then realized that I had already finished the application, and just needed to register for the final phase of my residency. The Lord gave us abundant favor with the police chief. Now, as of March first, I am an official resident of Brazil! Praise the Lord it ended up being a very simple process (once we knew where we needed to go).

This next month we are really focusing on our home renovations. We have met with the contractor and are excited about what we are going to be able to do to make our home. Be praying that we can have it finished quickly, and that we will have the funds to be able to finish the process within this year. Be praying that we will have opportunities to witness, and that people’s hearts will be softened to the gospel. Joneia was able to witness to a young lady at Youth Meeting last month, so please be praying for Natalie that she will get saved.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us! It is working!