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June '01, #9

Greetings from Brazil,

We trust you are all sound in body and, more importantly, in spirit. We won't ask about the mind.
We are in transition...as always. School is over so I've been freed up some there, but my duties caring for the facilities are beginning. It was agreed that I would oversee the work, but would not be expected to go in but a couple of times a week. There have been some unexpected challenges but -- that's to be expected.
In our last prayer letter we asked you to pray for rain. Here in Fortaleza we actually had some flooding but the interior is suffering from severe drought. Worse, the river basins that supply electricity are dangerously low leading to energy rationing. At home we are making our "quota", but the "Complex" as we call the combination school/dorm/guest house/offices I now oversee, will be difficult. Black-outs are more than a possibility. This is one of the sacrifices of living in a 3rd world country rather than some place advanced and secure like California.
Our challenge at home will be during the 7 weeks that we will have 3 different young people "short-terming" with us. Pray with us that we will be used of Him to challenge them with missions and that He will use them to further the Gospel while they're here.
We recently had one of our most exciting baptismal services. I nearly lost one and another seemed to change his mind at the last second and refused to go under. It may have been prophetic when my middle boy, Dalton, asked how long I was going to keep them under the water. Later he said that I had "bath-tized" them. That is a firm argument against sprinkling which would be "shower-tizing". It may not be good Greek, but it's mighty good preaching.
We praise the Lord for the success of a Bible reading program started at the beginning of the year. Weekly completion is recorded on the bulletin board anonymously by using numbers instead of names. This encourages faithfulness, and reduces pressure and vanity. Several participated and some are well ahead.
We will have several weeks of VBS and will finally start construction in the next couple of days. There is one year left of the time that we agreed to spend at this church, yet there is much to do. We are still looking for a pastor. Our last candidate vanished.
Also pray for a problem transferring the house we purchased for the parsonage. The scheduled remodeling is done: new gates, roof, wiring and paint. We now use it for SS rooms and the new classes have been an incentive to growth. We also used the house to serve supper to around 250 people for the church anniversary with excellent results.

Please pray for us as the Lord lays it on your hearts.
The Athas in Brazil


	Greetings from Brazil, We trust you are all sound in body and, more importantly, in spirit. We won't ask about the mind. We are in transition...as always. School is over so I've been freed up some there, but my duties caring for the facilities are beginning. It was agreed that I would oversee the work, but would not be expected to go in but a couple of times a week. There have been some unexpected challenges but -- that's to be expected. In our last prayer letter we asked you to pray for rain. Here in Fortaleza we actually had some flooding but the interior is suffering from severe drought. Worse, the river basins that supply electricity are dangerously low leading to energy rationing. At home we are making our "quota", but the "Complex" as we call the combination school/dorm/guest house/offices I now oversee, will be difficult. Black-outs are more than a possibility. This is one of the sacrifices of living in a 3rd world country rather than some place advanced and secure like California. Our challenge at home will be during the 7 weeks that we will have 3 different young people "short-terming" with us. Pray with us that we will be used of Him to challenge them with missions and that He will use them to further the Gospel while they're here. We recently had one of our most exciting baptismal services. I nearly lost one and another seemed to change his mind at the last second and refused to go under. It may have been prophetic when my middle boy, Dalton, asked how long I was going to keep them under the water. Later he said that I had "bath-tized" them. That is a firm argument against sprinkling which would be "shower-tizing". It may not be good Greek, but it's mighty good preaching. We praise the Lord for the success of a Bible reading program started at the beginning of the year. Weekly completion is recorded on the bulletin board anonymously by using numbers instead of names. This encourages faithfulness, and reduces pressure and vanity. Several participated and some are well ahead. We will have several weeks of VBS and will finally start construction in the next couple of days. There is one year left of the time that we agreed to spend at this church, yet there is much to do. We are still looking for a pastor. Our last candidate vanished. Also pray for a problem transferring the house we purchased for the parsonage. The scheduled remodeling is done: new gates, roof, wiring and paint. We now use it for SS rooms and the new classes have been an incentive to growth. We also used the house to serve supper to around 250 people for the church anniversary with excellent results. Please pray for us as the Lord lays it on your hearts. The Athas in Brazil