Update on Mozambique Church/ Foto Recente da Igreja em Mocambique

The church building is coming along. The roof they are working on is over the classrooms. Soon they will be working on the big roof over the sanctuary.
O predio da igreja esta ficando pronto. O telhado que eles estao colocando esta sobre as salas de aulas. Em breve irao colocar o telhado sobre o santuario.

HE WILL OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN/ ELE ABRIRA AS JANELAS DOS CEUS

God is awesome. God is good. God is amazing. God is wonderful. Today was an awesome day for us. Today God gave us the money to buy a truck in Africa. When I look at what God has been doing for us lately, I don't know how to thank Him for His goodness. Just looking at the support that has been raised. It is amazing how God has just opened the windows of heaven upon the work to be done in Mozambique. It is simply another confirmation to what God is doing and is going to do there. And now today God has blessed us with the funds to buy a truck there. I'm simply thankful for the person that has heard and obeyed God's voice. I am thankful for all those that see God's hand working in Africa and have been led by the Spirit to support the ministry there. I am humbled at what God is doing in our lives and it is such an awesome privilege to be a part of God's work.
Deus eh tremendo. Deus eh bom. Deus eh incrivel. Deus eh maravilhoso. Hoje foi um grande dia para nos. Hoje Deus nos deu o dinheiro para comprarmos uma caminhonete na Africa. Quando eu olho pra tudo que Deus esta fazendo ao nosso redor, nao sei nem como agradece-lo pela sua bondade. Basta olhar para todo patrocinio que jah conseguimos. Eh incrivel como Deus tem aberto as janelas do ceu e derramado bencaos sobre o trabalho que esta por ser feito em Mocambique. Eh apenas outra confirmacao do que Deus esta fazendo e ira fazer lah. E hoje Deus nos abencoou com o dinheiro para comprar uma camionete. Estou muito grato por esta pessoa ter escutado e obedecido a voz de Deus. Estou muito grato por todos aqueles que veem a mao de Deus agindo na Africa e que tem sido guiado pelo Espirito para apoiarem esse ministerio. Me sinto muito honrado pelo que Deus esta fazendo em nossas vidas e eh um grande privilegio fazer parte da obra de Deus

God moments/ Momentos especiais

We just got back from dinner with an awesome family. The relatives of Terry Melancon, Jr. who was killed this past year. It was amazing to hear his story from his family and what a great person he was. They are a family that is in love with Christ and have experienced and seen God through all of what happened. The church building in Mozambique will be dedicated to him. Meeting this family makes me feel so humbled and privileged to be part of such a great work. His testimony will be heard across the Atlantic and I believe it will draw people to Christ. He lived life with a purpose.
Acabamos de voltar de um jantar com uma familia maravilhosa. Os parentes de Terry Melancon Jr., um policial que foi assassinado ano passado. Foi incrivel escutar a historia dele e saber que pessoa maravilhosa ele era. Eles sao uma familia apaixonada por Cristo e tem experimentado e visto Deus atraves de tudo que aconteceu. O predio da igreja em Mocambique sera dedicado a ele. Conhecendo essa familia me fez sentir tao privilegiado em poder fazer parte deste lindo trabalho. O testemunho da vida dele sera escutado atraves do Atlantico e eu creio que levara pessoas a Cristo. Ele viveu a vida dele com um proposito.

My dad is the president of the Amazon Inland Mission. He has been working in the Amazon for over 20 years. God has been doing awesome things through the mission. One of the biggest breakthroughs this year was the purchase of this boat. It is an answer to prayer. This boat will be a great asset to the mission. It will enable my parents to stay in the villages longer, transport more equipment, and get to the villages more efficiently. The boat still needs an engine and we are praying to be able to get it soon. My parents are getting here tomorrow from Brazil. My sister will be having a baby soon so they wanted to be here for that and get back in contact with friends and family. We are looking forward to them being here because our family has not had a Christmas together for quite some time. And I will be able to see them again before we leave to Mozambique.
Meu pai e o presidente da Missao Amazon Inland. Ha 20 anos ele tem trabalhado na Amazonia. Deus tem feito grandes coisas atraves desta missao. Uma das maiores conquistas deste ano foi a compra de um barco. Foi resposta de muita oracao. Este barco sera uma grande bencao pra o trabalho missionario. Ira permitir que meus pais passem mais tempo nas vilas, transportem mais equipamentos, e que cheguem a elas com mais eficiencia. Meus pais chegam amanha do Brasil. Logo minha irma vai ter nenen e eles querem estar aqui para ela, e tambem para estarem em contato com amigos e familia. Estamos muito contentes com a chegada deles, especialmente porque nossa familia nao tem passado Natal juntos por um bom tempo. E poderei reve-los antes de partirmos para Mocambique.

Progress in Mozambique

This building is looking really good. Pretty soon the roof will be on.
Este predio esta ficando muito bom. Brevemente irao colocar o telhado.

Trip to Danville/Viagem para Danville

Earlier this month we made a trip to Danville, California. We had an awesome time there with HPC Danville. It was great getting to know the people there and helping them reach out to their community. After a great weekend with the church, we were blessed to stay another whole week in Danville. We told them we had only been married a few months and they blessed us with a wonderful honeymoon. It was way more than we ever expected. When we first got married we didn't really have a honeymoon, but God blessed us with a whole week in a wonderful place. God is good.

No comeco deste mes, fizemos uma viagem para Danville, California. Tivemos um tempo maravilhoso com a igreja de la. Estamos muitos felizes por ter conhecidos as pessoas da igreja de Danville e tambem por ter os ajudado numa programacao especial para alcancar a sua comunidade. Depois de um final de semana super legal, fomos abencoados para ficar mais uma semana toda la. Contamos pra eles que estavamos casados por apenas alguns meses. Ficaram impressionados e decidiram nos abencoar nos dando nossa lua de mel. Foi muito mais do que a gente esperava, ou mesmo do que tivessemos planejado antes. Na verdade nao tivemos uma lua de mel de verdade quando nos casamos. Mas agora foi o tempo e Deus nos abencoou com uma semana inteira num lugar lindo e maravilhoso. Deus e' bom.

some pictures of HPC Nkobe in Mozambique/ Algumas fotos em Nkobe - Moçambique

Great things happening/ Grandes coisas acontecendo

We've been here in the U.S. for almost a month now. So much has happened since we have came here. God has just been blessing and opening doors. Everything that is going on is over and above what I ever expected to happen. Sometimes when I think of it all, I just look up and smile and thank God for all He's doing. A few days ago I met a very nice man and we started talking about some of my dental needs. He said he would look into it for me. I saw him again last night at Life University and he said that "it's definitely gonna happen." God's been taking care of all our needs.

We are really excited about Mozambique. We should be going to Africa on the third week of January. We are just soaking in what we need to learn before going.

Já faz quase um mês que estamos aqui nos Estados Unidos. Muitas coisas tem acontecido desde que chegamos aqui. Deus tem nos abençoado e aberto muitas portas . Tudo o que está acontecendo é muito além do que eu esperava um dia acontecer. Quando eu penso sobre tudo isso, eu só olho para o céu e agradeço a Deus com um grande sorriso por tudo que Ele está fazendo. Alguns dias atrás conheci um cara muito legal. Conversamos sobre a minha necessidade de assistência dentária, e ele ficou de vericar para mim. Ontem a noite encontrei com ele na igreja e ele disse que com certeza conseguiria para mim. Com certeza, Deus tem cuidado de todas nossas necessidades.
Estamos muito entusiasmados com a viagem para Moçambique. E' bem provável que iremos pra África na terceira semana de janeiro. No momento estamos nos preparando e aprendendo tudo que precisamos saber antes de ir.

In the U.S./ Nos EUA

Lots of big change has been going on lately. We are now in Baton Rouge. The trip up here was great. God did awesome things for us just to get up here. My wife is Brazilian and usually have a hard time at immigration. She has a tourist visa and they usually give only 3 months stay. We did not have to say a thing to the officer and he gave her a 6 months visa. Then when we go to check in at American Airlines the guy says that the bags can only be 50 lbs each. We had four bags at almost 70 lbs each. God is good though and he let us through no charge. God has blessed our stay here. A couple from HPC has let us use their car and we really appreciate the hospitality of everyone.

In a few months, we will be going to Mozambique, Africa. God has directed us there to work as missionaries with a new HPC project there along with Children's Cup and other ministries. We are so priviledged to be a part of such an awesome ministry. We thank God every day for choosing to use us to do His work.

Muitas mudanças tem acontecido em nossas vidas ultimamente. Agora estamos morando em Baton Rouge, Luisiana. Nossa viagem foi ótima, e Deus fez maravilhas para que chegássemos até aqui. Minha esposa é brasileira, o que geralmente dificulta na imigração. Ela tem um visto de turista e normamente eles dão apenas três meses pra ela ficar no país. Nós nem tivemos que falar nada e o oficial de imigração deu um visto de seis meses. Depois, quando fomos fazer o check in na American Airlines o cara nos diz que cada mala só pode pesar 24 kg, e a gente tinha quatro malas com 32kg cada. Mas Deus é bom e o cara nos permitiu passar sem ter que pagar nada. Deus tem abençoado nossa estadia aqui. Um casal da igreja (HPC - Healing Place Church) nos emprestou um carro pra gente usar durante todo tempo que ficarmos aqui. Temos apreciado muito a hospitalidade de todos aqui.
Em alguns meses, estaremos indo para Moçambique, África. Deus tem nos direcionado para irmos e trabalhar como missionários com um projeto novo da igreja juntamente com Children's Cup (uma ONG que trabalha com crianças carentes) e outros ministérios. Nos sentimos privilegiados por fazer parte desse grande ministério. Agradecemos a Deus todos os dias por escolher nos usar para fazer a Sua obra.

It’s been a very long time since I last wrote. It’s been crazy down here. I got married on July 15th and since then it has been a wonderful experience. God has many things in store for us and we are excited about our married life. Sure, it takes getting used to sharing the same tube of tooth paste. She squeezes it in the middle and I squeeze it from the back. But life would be boring if we did everything the same.

We are back in Manaus now living in a little apartment. It’s on the third floor so anything we bring to the apartment is like working out. The other day we bought a small refrigerator. She and I carried it all the way up. By the time I got to the door, I didn’t want a refrigerator anymore. Then we plugged it in and noticed that it was empty. So we went grocery shopping. By the time we got all the bags up to the third floor, I didn’t want to eat anymore.

The church is doing great. We have been working hard these past few weeks on the facilities. We moved to another building so there is lots of work to be done to make it look like a church. I even pretended to be an electrician and ran all the wiring for the place. We needed to put in lights and outlets in the place. We spent about three weeks just moving and getting things ready to hold services. A lot of people came throughout the weeks and helped out with everything. Now we are in the process of building new bathrooms, an office, and a classroom. There is still much work to be done, please pray for us for wisdom and financial help to do these projects.

Later this month we will have an outreach event in the community. We will be bringing dentists and nurses to the church campus to volunteer. We will also be giving free haircuts and many other things.

The youth here are doing great. I’m learning a lot about youth and the difficulties they face every day. It’s tough to be a teenager during these times. The internet has captured their minds, and some have become addicted to it. Most don’t have a computer at home so they go to cyber cafes and spend the little money they have on the internet and computer games. But the youth in the church are slowly catching on and are growing spiritually. I can see how far they’ve come and how much God has done in their lives.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Today Brazil played France in the world cup. In the beginning of the day. The city of Manaus was all excited and pumped about the game. Portugal played England earlier today and the city was excited about Portugal winning also because the coach is Brazilian. Then the Brazil vs. France game started. The city was going crazy with noisy fireworks, loud music, and a lot of partying. The city stopped to watch the game. Then, the worst happened; France made a goal. Not a good thing for Brazil. The city was really quiet when that happened. Brazilian are huge soccer fans. I even heard a lady praying that Brazil would win. To make a long story short, Brazil lost. During the game I was on the road and the streets were empty. The city had stopped to watch the game. And now Brazil is out of the world cup and the country is dissappointed.

Soccer is idolized here. Even the Christians skip church to watch a soccer game. If only we had the same passion for the things of God.

One Year Today

Exactly one year ago today I arrived in Manaus. It has been an amazing time for me. I have enjoyed it to the fullest. There have been rough moments and wild adventures but through it all I have grown and learned so much. Ministry is my life and my life is ministry. I love being a missionary and being on the mission field. I am up to anything God has for me. This year down here has been very special to me because it's the year that changed my life. God has given me a wife. We will be getting married July 15th. I am very excited about it. God's timing in it all is perfect.

wedding

Getting real close to my wedding day. It's all happenin' July 15th. Really looking forward to it. It's been amazing how God has been providing so far for everything. I've come to a huge realization first hand that weddings are not cheap. Even in third world countries. But God sees our needs and has been providing. Sometimes I get nervous because it's so close but then I let God worry about it for me. He'll take care of it. God is good.

Youth

The youth ministry here is not easy. Well, I don't think it's easy anywhere. But sometimes I feel like we're not going forward. Like we're just maintaining what we got and not expanding and reaching new levels. But I was encouraged recently by the youth camp. We had such a great time. I was able to see the youth go to a new level with God. I was encouraged to see them worshipping and surrending to God. Intimacy with God is where it all starts. I also realized that God is the one in charge. He is the only one that can change people. He is the only one that can heal their hurts and the only one that can make them draw closer to Himself. All I need to do is be obedient to what he would have me do. I thank God for the youth here. They have encouraged me without them knowing it.

God is Good

I don't even know how to start. God has just been doing amazing things in my life lately. I've have been blessed with more support. I don't deserve it. I didn't ask for it. God just blessed me with it. Then today I received some great news. I've been praying about going to States and my ticket has been paid for. God is awesome. I can see God's hand in it all. I can see His grace being poured out to me. All I can do is serve Him more and continue to give my life completely to Him.