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I don’t know of anyone who was watching the USA play Ghana yesterday. But this morning when I got to church Vitor greeted me with, “Ghana! Ghana!” Mind you it was not because he loves Ghana but because he was RUBBING in the US loss in the World Cup play. Vitor is cute but can be very, very irritating. He has been very faithful lately. He loves to hear English spoken and correct Portuguese misspoken. He is fairly new to the church and came because he was invited by a friend. He has a great memory and is very determined. The above paragraphs were written before our evening service. We had the privilege of hearing pastor Sidney from New Life Baptist preach. Vitor was there. Pastor brought a clear Salvation message. We had at least one visitor who we had visited during the week and with whom I had shared the Gospel. As Sidney preached I though, “this is exactly what Rita needs!” However, at the invitation no one moved. It was AFTER that that I was approached by Maicon’s little broth...

Most good Christians would shout a resounding YES!!! While secretly wishing that they could be a home (or with their i-gadget) to watch the game! That was the way it always was with me anyway. I wanted to do right but I wanted to watch the game too. We always blamed the Devil and Hollywood for putting the best stuff on T.V. on Sunday nights. So, last Sunday we decided to help a bunch of young Christians do right. Our services are in the Public School building and we have use of that building from 9:00am to Noon and then from 3:00 to 5:00pm. So, this past Sunday we had Sunday School and then had our service. After which we had a Pot-Luck at our house and returned to the School to watch the 3:30 game with the video projector. With our extra dinner guests the day was a buzz of activity. But as usual everyone loved Aunt Dawn’s good old American home cooking. Joelma and Maria, Alexandre’s mom, helped with some Brazilian rice and all were satisfied. Brazil city life is noisy on a norma...

No it is not the fact that Brazil won their first World Cup game 3-0 against North Korea (I’m guessing at this writing). Today is a historic day for another and even more important reason. This is the day, June 15, 2010 that Igreja Batista da Fé (Faith Baptist Church) of Sorocaba received its CNPJ! CNPJ? What on earth is a CNPJ? A CNPJ is a Certidão Nacional de Pessoa Juritica or in plan English Faith Baptist Church is now officially a church in the eyes of the Brazilian government. We are the first of our churches here in Sorocaba to have this official document in hand! And we are praising the Lord for His help in this often complicated process.

We still don’t have word on the “ FREE ” land deal. We have spoken again with the lady concerned and she seems willing to help us but we are waiting on a meeting with the proper government officials. We are asking continued prayer on this one. The old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is!” holds true in this deal. We do not want to accept something that will compromise our testimony or the Gospel and would appreciate your prayers. While Ann and Gabriel were here during their extended stay Ann discovered that she is with child! This is her and Jackson’s second and will probably be born in the United States. Thus making them a real Brasil vs. United States family. We don’t have any further details on the baby’s sex or due date but will keep you posted. World Cup – Most of the world is tuned in to the World Cup and excited about their country’s possibility of winning the golden challis. It is difficult being an American in Brasil. I want like crazy for the U.S....

I walked into Sunday School Sunday morning and set my bible down to begin setting up chairs. As I looked up I saw a tall skinny kid walk across the platform. He was helping put out the chairs that needed to be set up. My jaw dropped as I realized that it was João . I couldn't believe my eyes! I stood there in shock. As I glanced at Alexandre he smiled and said something that I couldn't hear because of all the chairs scraping the floor. He then walked over and said, " João told his dad that he wanted to come back to church and his dad said, 'Do whatever you want. '" With that interaction between João and his dad came the answer to many our prayers! We were SO disappointed when he was taken from us and now he's back! We're excited. He lead the teens in a flute special this evening and it sounded wonderful. He's on our missions team too (more about that in a second). We're thrilled with God's intervention in his life and we're still pray...

Many of you know that Ann was not able to travel with Gabe on May 31 as she had planned. After the emotions settled and we did some research we discovered that if she and Jackson had written a simple permission slip before he left on May 25 all would have been fine. As it stands now Ann and Gabe are waiting for that slip to come from the States. Jackson had to take a day off work to travel to Atlanta to the Brazilian Consulate to get that piece of paper. When it comes, Ann hopes that it is today, she and Gabe will head to the airport for their flight home. Pray with us for God's timing.

There have been several questions over the last few days that are linked with things that I asked prayer for in the recent past. Here are the answers to date.   Whatever happened to Alex? You might remember the story I shared a few weeks ago about this little lost individual. He is difficult to talk to. By that I mean he is rarely around. I spoke briefly with him on Sunday morning as he trotted by on his way to who know's where. He came to club and Sunday School a few weeks ago but to date that's it. Not much contact has happened since the initial story. Whatever happened to the BIG land deal (remember... pray within the next 24 hours)? We will be talking to the lady this afternoon. We have several fears about such a deal. We don't want a "I helped you now you owe me" mentality so we are praying for God's direction and protection. Whatever happened to João and family? João and his two brothers came to club last week! We are excited because it was a ray of...

Sean Goldman’s story riveted Brazilians to the nightly news for months. It was a story of betrayal and dual nationality. It was the proverbial “helpless little boy” caught in a custody fight between a rich Brazilian lawyer and Sean’s blood-related American father. In the States you may or may not remember Sean’s story. If you aren’t familiar with it you can read a short and somewhat biased account here . Ann and Gabe are NOT in such a situation but their case has been influenced by it. They are stuck in Brazil until a handwritten and Brazilian Consulate notarized permission slip, allowing Gabe to leave with Ann, can be obtained from Jackson. Jackson, Ann and Gabe traveled with Abby to Brazil, arriving on May 17. Jackson returned on the 25th because of work obligations. Ann, Gabe and Abby were to follow on May 31. Gabe came into the country as a Brazilian with his Brazilian father. Ann came in as a foreigner because she is an American. When American Ann tried to leave with Brazili...