How many people can say that they have paid off and own their house by 30 years old? Not that many that I know personally! God was so good to us on our deputation that we were able to save up enough to finish our home renovations! And even here on the mission field, EVERY time we have needed extra support, God always seems to send us a little additional finance from one of our supporting churches. Thank you so much to our churches for your support! Without any loans or debts, we will finish our home renovations very soon! Of course, we will have the basics: a bed, a stove, a fridge, and a restroom. And it will take a few months for us to fill our house…but the renovations are nearly complete! All that is left is for me to paint the house (which I was employed by a house painter for a time), our contractor lays down our flooring, and our doors and windows are put in place! These seven months of construction have been grueling (as anyone in the midst of renovations will attest), but we are only a couple of weeks away from the finished product! We look forward to hosting church members and visitors alike and having spiritual conversations in our own home.

This month marked many milestones. My Portuguese continues to progress. I was able to give my first full-length lesson for teen church! Something that has become clear to me is just how many English phrases do not translate into Portuguese. I never realized how many phrases I unknowingly say in every conversation! Such as any phrase that includes the word “get.” As in, “I get it,” “I’ve got you,” “Could you get it for me,” “I’ll come get you at six,” or “Could you get the door?” For each of these phrases, the word, “get” is translated into six different words! This aspect of language learning never became more evident to me until I attempted to write a sermon. Ninety percent of the corrections Joneia helped me with were because I phrased the sentences like an American, not a Brazilian. An extensive vocabulary is only half the battle; knowing how to arrange the words to make understandable sentences is almost more challenging.

At the beginning of this month, I put my 20s behind me and am now 30 years old! I have never felt closer to Christ than starting my ministry around the same age He began His! We celebrated with all-you-can-eat pizza, an incredible cultural benefit of living in Brazil! I think I have found the best pizza in the WORLD! I never expected it to be in South America, though…. maybe New York or Italy… but nope…Brazil…

Along with my first sermon, we have had several highlights in our ministry this month. Joneia taught the ladies meeting for this month! She encouraged the ladies with Psalm 37 to do good, and trust the Lord with their lives. There were several ladies present who were thrilled to hear Joneia teaching again. Our numbers of attendance have surprisingly increased for each service this month. Even our Sunday School (which has an average faithful attendance of two) has seen an increase in attendance! We even started to bring an American tradition to our Sunday School hour…Donuts and Coffee! Our members love having breakfast for our morning service. We also celebrated Brazilian Father’s Day! We honored our Heavenly Father and then honored the fathers in attendance. We saw SEVERAL visitors, and all of them heard the gospel. God is doing marvelous things in our church.

Please keep praying for our church that God will grow it and keep bringing more people to hear the gospel. Please keep praying for my Portuguese. It was a fantastic opportunity to preach again after these seven months. I look forward to when I know enough Portuguese (words and phrases) to have a consistent preaching schedule. Keep praying for our home renovations. Joneia and I have been laboring from sunrise to dark this whole month, working on the finishing touches to our house. I really am hoping that I will be writing my next blog and prayer letter from my own home office! It has been a very exciting month, and God has blessed us beyond ANYTHING we ever imagined. Again, thank you SO MUCH to all of our supporting churches for your support during our deputation and on the field. We have almost finished our house and are excited to move on to expanding our ministry, our camp, and investing more into our people! God bless you.