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The first part of this letter was written two years ago but I chose not to send
it. I stumbled across it in the cobwebs of my hard drive and was compelled to at last include it.
I trust you survived the holidays. Personally I found them a bit depressing.
Not for the usual reasons of loneliness and the like. In fact in that aspect it was the best in several years.
What I found disconcerting is how much "anti-Christianity" has grown. It existed before we left, but
I guess I kind of forgot. Add to that the latest Clinton scandal and you've got real turmoil. At first I was mad
at the government and President Clinton. Then the finger of blame turned and pointed to the American people, 70+
percent of whom support Clinton. "How could they?", I asked. But as I thought about it, the finger continued
to turn.
Christ said WE are the salt of the earth and its light. These things happen because we, the born again children
of the Holy and All-powerful God, allow them. Oh, we complain all right. We complain about the blatant profanity
that infests the TV programs we watch week after week. Not to mention the latent hedonistic, materialistic, evolutionary,
fornicatious, anti-family philosophy. Sometimes the most dangerous are the "good" programs that blaspheme
God and teach dangerous lies about salvation and the attributes of God and angels. Yet we continue to rent the
videos, pay for cable and buy the products that support even the worst offenders. I know we do, because if we didn't
things would be different.
While driving to Thanksgiving dinner I listened on the radio to excerpts from an early Governor recording the beginning
history of our Puritan ancestors. He told how that as the Word of God and His holiness grabbed their hearts, they
let go of worldly pursuits. And when they turned their backs on the world, the world turned on them. I’m not saying
these entertainments are "sin" and we should go out and shoot our TV’s. Or should we? Could it be that
we have lost focus on our Christian goal, at least in part because we have refocused on something else?
This is supposed to be a prayer letter, not a preaching letter. And it is. We MUST pray for US. How quickly did
England go from mission minded to mission field and Luther’s Germany from "Christian" nation to Aryan
nation. (One of Hitler’s most effective tools was movies.) Missions involvement in the US is plummeting, the moral
base is crumbling yet the number of people being born, living and dying without ever hearing the saving Word of
God is exploding. Let us not just pray. Let us not delay. Let us obey.
Holiday programs at church proved to be less than roaring successes, but an effort to get our name out has proved
to be a blessing. A good number of people were actively involved distributing wall calendars with our church name,
together with a tract and a brochure telling who we are and how to read the Bible in a year. We were well received
almost everywhere. We will start another small baptism class soon and some of the candidates are very promising.
Our best Christmas present was the presence of Michele’s folks who have come down to meet each new grand-baby.
We hope this is the last trip for that purpose. Little Greyson is growing. He is our first crawler and the easiest
yet - a blessing to our sanity. The boys continue to surprise us with their Portuguese and may soon begin to teach
us.
An effort to get a seminary graduate to come help appears to have fallen through and building / buying is on hold
for the holidays as nothing moves in the government during this time. Though I missed a few meals in the process,
I survived the first half of my fill-in at the school. Rising fuel prices don’t add much pleasure to an increasingly
long drive. Fortunately I really enjoy teaching there.
Michele was also on the road a lot for awhile playing ambulance driver for a number
of serious cases in the church. During this time she decided to start a one-women campaign against beer. While
I applaud her goals, her methodology of taking out the delivery man with the truck mirror was not only ineffective,
it was rather expensive, too. Praise the Lord there were no serious injuries, damage or repercussions after she
hit a beer delivery worker. On the plus side, fewer members ask for rides now.
Yours in Him,
Byron, Michele, William, Dalton, and Greyson Atha in Brazil
bwaii@yahoo.com http://users.baydenet.com.br/bwaii
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