Cactus Flower

Byron and I continue to praise the Lord for the young people from Sobradinho that have gone to the Peniel Bible Institute.  Each one has returned well-trained in all aspects of ministry and missions. Adrielly Santos may be the last of the bumper crop that God gave.  We pray for more men and women to be called to study and serve.  And we look forward to Adrielly's return to assist us in the work later this year. This letter is available in PDF format.  If you would like to have a copy for your church bulletin board, send a message or comment on this post.

Well, well.  We've been back from our big furlough for 58 days.  What's been happening in Brazil? First of all we had to buy a new washing machine.  Seems the girls staying in our house must have washed a lot of laundry.   The poor old machine wasn't wishy-washing anymore.  All it wanted to do was spin around and around. It took a while to order the right one.  But it's great. For the first few weeks we were back I felt like I was spinning around and around, too, and getting no where fast.  All of our vehicles needed major repairs and I needed some major dental work.  My teeth all got fixed at my local dentist, the cars are still getting taken care of.  Our "truck," the Mitsubishi Pajero is at a shop.  The Fiat Uno, our spare car, got new gears and a few other new parts.  The newer sandrail had some fractures in the metal tubing that hold it all together and needs a few other repairs.  Byron is working on switching the mot...

  Just another video letter from Gramma Michele in Brazil.  Things have been sort of slow with no kids' Bible clubs these days, but we have been busy nonetheless with interior trips, visitors and washing machine problems.

  Byron and I have been on the field for over 30 years.  I try to give newcomers to my life the benefit of the doubt when they start asking questions.  It seems though that some questions are always the same... Do you speak Portuguese? Do you like Brazil? How long have you lived here? What do you do? Do you ever visit the USA? Those aren't too bad to answer and make lots of sense when you meet a freckled faced lady that doesn't seem to belong in your part of the backlands.  The silly questions that always make me cringe are more from people I know and lately the same ones keep popping up... When are you going to retire? Don't you miss your grandchildren and boys? How long to you plan to keep working in missions? Haven't you been here long enough? When are you going back to the USA? For the public record I thought today I would just answer some of these repetitive questions that people often ask here in Brazil and even in the USA.  First of all, when do we plan t...

  Hold Strong  by Robert Dugoni Wow, this is a historical fiction work about American POW's in the Japanese theater.  It's also a love story about two young people from a small town in the Midwest.  The authors worked hard to document the factual aspects of the book. The Despicable Missionary by Annie Bradley This is a biography of Pakistani Christian who desired to be a voice in the middle of persecution in her country and how to rose above her anger to help others of all religions come to Christ. The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood This is a sad novel with a sad ending, but nonetheless worth the read.  It's about a couple who find love in the midst of the death camps of Hitler. The Undercover Secretary by Ellie Midwood This was another historical fiction work based roughly on facts about the dark Holocaust days during World War II. Fragments of Light by Michele Phoenix I had been wanting to read a book by this former missionary and cu...

Adrielly is the last of our fine crop of Bible school students.  She is starting classes this week for her final year.  We are so proud of her work ethic and good study habits.   We can hardly wait for her to return to our region to assist in ministry.  She has a real heart for God and for missions.