Our new challenges

January 19, 2012

Today, we are completing two weeks in Casa Nova, Bahia. You have been praying about this move for months and the Lord gave us a safe, quick, and uneventful trip. The small moving truck made two 1800 kilometer trips to take all our belongings to the rental. Now, we are busy painting and repairing the house and getting settled.

It has been a bit of a culture shock to go from a city of almost 3 million to a little, interior town of about 15,000. Our options have suddenly been considerably limited. One very important one is internet access. Options we thought would be available, are not. Others are too costly. We are still looking. In the meantime, we have been able to tap into someone within wireless distance that gets on from time to time. Would you pray for resolution to this need?

The church here has several small evangelism outreaches going on and at the moment, does not have the leadership to fill each of those. We have been asked to oversee a Bible study preaching point in a city about three hours away. We stay overnight in the rented facilities, make visits on Sunday mornings and have a meeting Sunday afternoon. There are about 13 adults and 8 kids attending regularly. We agreed to fill in until the new Seminary year begins in March, when students will be available to assume the work. We are training a young couple from the church, as they are able to help us. Please pray for our safety on narrow, isolated roads. As the Montanans must vigilantly watch for deer, we must watch for stray donkeys and cows.

Our farewell at Light of the World Baptist took place on January 1. The next week, the church was welcoming the new administrative pastor. This past week, 10 new members were added. We are so pleased to see God’s preparation in moving us on at just the right time.

We have visited one of the preaching points in the interior. We hope to take a month or two just to observe the church members and their activities and begin to pray for laborers to join us in evangelizing beyond the asphalt.

God is at work around the world. It’s encouraging to observe His work in the Casa Nova region. Thank you for your continued prayers.