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With all that went on last week you'll note that this is two blogs. One about the pastoral retreat in Rio and the other about the visitors in my class on Sunday. First the Retreat. Davi, Claudia and boys and Samuel and Joelma LOVED their trip. It was a blessing for all concerned. None of them had ever been to Rio and so it was the trip of a lifetime. I asked David if he had ever been to the ocean before (he's 17), he said that he hadn't. It is only three hours from our house to the ocean! The Robert and Jane Kilkos, missionaries to the Jews and the Nathan and Dawn Patefields, church planters in Rio, were a real blessing to our couples. The hospitality was second to none and from what I heard the meals were lovely. Robert was the tour guide and showed the group many places of interest. Nathan and Dawn shared devotional thoughts on ministry and raising family. All in all it was great. Part Two I had two visitors in my class this morning. Again as the result of VBS. Tatiane ca...

This is another picture that I put together of the people from Hope that participated in the Mini Pan Am Games. This week has been busy with follow-up visits. We actually had four of them visit this week (one Sunday and three on Wednesday). Keep praying.

Our Mini Pan Am Games are history with Argentina winning the Gold! We had 25 kids again with several hands raised for salvation. Pray with me for tomorrow morning. I am hoping that these kids all come to Sunday School. It would be overwhelming but a lot of fun. I also want to visit all of them this coming week. We'll see how that goes.

Our Mini Pan Am Games began today and it was a real hit. We had 19 kids with 45 total present (which included two mothers some small spectators and our workers). Our day began with pouring rain and we had to play upstairs but Praise The Lord we had an upstairs to play in! Calvary began their VBS today too and Jackson had planned all of his games for outside. Marcia is telling the story with help from Mara and Felipe (who are doing puppets). They are telling the true story of a Brazilian soccer player who accepts Christ as his savior. All together it was a fun day and we hope to double our attendance tomorrow. Pray for decisions for Christ. There were many hands raised today but none came forward.

Our former coworkers, Celso and Ângela, celebrated twenty-five years of marriage last Saturday. They had a nice ceremony and reception afterwards. Twenty-five years is rare these days and especially here in Brazil. This couple received Christ when in their thirties, at the Nova Vida work (Ed and Shawn's first). They felt God's call to full time ministry not too many months later. They moved their family south to Curitiba where both completed degrees during four years of hard studies. As God would have it they graduated just days before Dawn and I became a part of the church planting team. Actually they joined the team just before we did. We worked together for a couple of years at Calvary. We were able to work with them in starting Hope (where we still are today). Just two years ago fellow missionaries Terry and Wendy Broyals asked if Celso and Ângela could take their work while they went on Home Assignment. They accepted and have recently moved to the new city to continue work...

This little boy has been through more in his 10 years than I can imagine ever being through. He doesn't know who his father is, his mother, a drug dealer who taught him to steal, died a couple of years ago, he has no living relatives that he knows. Sunday night at the invitation he raised his hand when I asked the question, "if you have doubts about your salvation..." Washington is a sweet little boy, despite all that he has been through. He is one of my Sunday school class students and I want to talk to him about the Savior this week. Would you hold him up to the savior in prayer?

We had a great time on NYE with singing, preaching, games, skits, and food! Though it was raining outside, inside was warm with friendship and fellowship. Ronaldo, Carlinhos, and Carlão, shared their testimonies of salvation and God's blessing. Several others shared their testimonies during the night. The skits were a blast and everyone loved the games. We had a Bar-B-Q upstairs and lots of other goodies. And... we were done by 1:00AM. Not bad. (top photo Amoeba Race left to right: Rodolfo, David, Abigail, Isis, Ariel) (bottom photo Balloon Volleyball : Mara, Zelha (back to camera) Guilherme, Carlinhos, Jordeim)