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I hate planting seeds. I want to see plants with foliage, flowers, or fruit. Waiting for something to grow is time consuming and boaring. But Paul reminds us that someone has got to plant and someone has to water (see 1 Cor. 3.1-8) and in the end it is God that gives the increase (or really makes things happen!) Last week a short sentence by one of our coworkers set off a series of events that allowed for some serious seed planting. The sentence was this one, "There was a terrible bus accident early this morning and a Canadian family was killed. Only their baby was saved. I think that we have an opportunity here." Fellow missionary, Jan Santos, alerted our mission family, who had gathered in Avaré, SP for our annual family conference, to a tragedy and an opportunity. Earlier that morning Jan's father-in-law, Reg Santos, had suffered a stroke and had been taken to the clinic in town. Jan's husband, Dave (Reg's son) had accompanied his dad and in relating Reg's ...

Pastor Moreno always says that “Every Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday”, (meaning that, as servants of God Almighty, it is the highlight of our week in the proclamation of the Gospel and the Name of our Great God. Sunday is rarely a “travel day”. However, this last Sunday was one of those rare exceptions. I left at 9:15 AM from Calvary to take two families to Curitiba to begin their Bible college experience. I've written about these families before and so this is more of an update than a testimony about how they came to this juncture of their lives. Ronaldo and Adailza and their three sons: Mateus, Lucas, and Tiago, will spend the next two to three years studying for the ministry. Sandro, Gislene, and their sons:Juan and Josue will spend the next five years in that pursuit. As I mentioned in my previous note on these two couples their move is a huge step of faith in God. They will prove His faithfulness in the coming months as they train to serve Him. On the trip down (Ronaldo and Sandr...

Do you remember that famous line from one of the Three Stooges sketches? I realize that most of my audience is above the Three Stooges but I get a kick out of watching them from time to time. Anyway, as the sketch goes a famous lion hunter is about to tell his story, “And there I was...” when SMACK he gets a pie in the face. He begins again, “And there I was...” SMACK another pie and on it goes. It was kind of like that on Saturday night as we began the evening service at our annual Carnaval retreat (this year there were 65 teens who participated). During the week I had put some ideas for my message on paper and had worked out an outline which I printed out to take with me. The retreat theme this year was Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. The messages and devotionals were to revolve around our spiritual walk using these theme elements. My message was on Wind (I guess that someone thinks that I´m an expert on that subject). I meditated on a comparison of the Holy Spirit and Air. My point wa...