Training Church Leaders, Fruit of A&O
Posted on 20Jan CATEGORIES: General, Letters, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: A&O, A&O Home, Alpha & Omega Home, fruit of children's home ministry, Kathy Barros, mayor, Odali Barros0
January 20, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We pray and hope that all you are doing well. We are doing well thanks to our wonderful Lord. I have been ill with cold symptoms but thank God I’m feeling better.
The virus problems seem to be increasing some so we are having the care we need to have. But we still are having services.
On Sunday we are doing training for church leaders and for music and children’s classes. We are having services in homes since everyone lives far away from church and many people do not have a car. So, we want to prepare more leaders to be able to have services in more places.
We had a wonderful time in Garça at the Alpha and Omega Home. There are several who were from the home who are married and live there. The fellowship was fantastic and a blessing. We also went and visited one of the young men that lived in the home and today he is a mayor of the city he came from.
One of the things that we need is to get a van that can carry more people than our truck and safer and that can go into the villages easier than our bus.
We want to thank each of you for your prayers and support! God bless each one of you!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Reaching Other Communities, Need Van
Posted on 15Dec CATEGORIES: General, Letters, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: Alpha & Omega Home, Alpha and Omega, communities, community, Garca, home services, Kathy Barros, Odali Barros, Serra Baixa, services in homes, soup, van0
December 15, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope and pray that all are doing well. We have been praying for those where the tornados hit. May the Lord be with each one through this difficult moment.
We are doing well. God has blessed the services that we have started in the homes. This has opened doors in homes of people that don’t go to church. In the village of Serra Baixa we are giving soup on Wednesday nights. The number has grown. We were doing this in the open. Now we have been able to use a small auditorium that belongs to the community. This way we can have a service.
What has been really great, and was our plan, was to get more people from the church involved. One of the families that we first started at, we went to pick up to bring to church. The first time there were 3. The last time there were 12.
We plan to go into other communities. As you drive along the highway you see many exits of dirt roads. As you drive, you come into many small communities. Many of the people that live in these places don’t have cars, so it’s hard for them to go to a church. So, the best way to reach them is going and having services in their homes. We are praying for God to provide us a van. It is hard to bring so many in a pickup truck and it is not safe.
Kathy and I, our son Jonas and his wife, and the teen who lives with us are going to spend Christmas in Garça where we had the children’s home. Several who were from the home will spend Christmas with us.
God bless each of you. Pray that all of you have a great holiday season. Thanks for your prayers, love and support!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Teens in Ubim Service in a Home Serving Soup Serving Soup
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
God at Work in Friday Night Home Services
Posted on 21Nov CATEGORIES: General, Letters, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: fishers of men, fishing evangelism, Friday Night, Friday Night church service, home church, home services, Kathy Barros, living water, motorcycles, Odali Barros0
November 21, 2021
Greetings to all dear brothers and sisters!
What a wonderful month we have had. God has been working in so many wonderful ways. Can you imagine what goes through someone’s mind when they call you to please pick them up because they want to go to church to be saved, and before it was time to pick her up, she felt bad and was taken to the hospital. The enemy thought he could get in the way. This lady lives about one hour away. It was her daughter who got saved when we had a service in their home. As she reflected on what was preached, the Holy Spirit touched her heart and she wanted to be saved. Pray for this family!
Every Friday night we are having service in different homes and different communities. God has opened so many doors. We are working with the members of the church to get them more involved. Many have shown an interest and are being a blessing. We have had two meetings in the home of a Japanese family. They have a son with serious problem as lightning hit him through his computer. His name is Nelson.
The lady in the middle is the one who wanted to accept Jesus Gathered at the home of the Japanese Family
Every Sunday when we are starting our service in the morning, there are many motorcycles that drive by in front of the church really speeding and loud. So, we decided that we were going to have contact with them by giving them free water. Along with the water we are giving a pamphlet with a verse about God being living water and the church information.
Another special situation is an American Jew that has come to visit us. He loves fishing. He has fished here with us 2 times. He said to me once, that he wants to understand about Jesus. This time he has been really moved by the people we are working with, especially one that is 14 that calls us his parents. He asked if he could call us dad and mom. Well, this man said today, “Next time I come I’m going to go to church with you boys even though I’m not a church person.” Pray for him. His name is Mike.
God bless each of you. Thanks for your prayers and support!
In Christ,
Odali and Kathy Barros
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Children’s Day Celebration
Posted on 20Oct CATEGORIES: General, Letters, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: Children's Day, Kathy Barros, Odali Barros, Pedras Vivas, pirarara, Ubim, Village of Ubim0
October 20, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We hope and pray that all are doing well and being blessed. We are doing great, and God has blessed us and kept us safe.
This month has been really wonderful. After all the problems with the pandemic and not being able to have special programs, it was great to celebrate the special day we have for the children. Here in Brazil, October 12th is Children’s Day. The church I pastor, Pedras Vivas, had a special day and we brought kids in from the communities near us and also from Ubim. From the Village of Ubim, there were 87 that came. Since there are lots of small children, the mothers came with them. It was really great to see the members of our church getting involved in the activities and others in serving the food. The kids had lots of fun.
I have challenged our church to make this end of the year different. So many times, churches slow down the end of the year doing less things and sometimes having financial problems. We have planned a meeting with the men and women of the church to challenge them to visit and reach out to more people in the community. Pray that God would touch their hearts to see the need to tell people about God’s love.
How would you like to catch one of these? It’s called a pirarara. Come and visit us. One of the things we do to reach out to people by friendship is fishing. The last few weeks we have been able to go fishing and have taken some people with us. This young teenager in the photo is living with us. On one of my road trips with him he accepted Christ as Savior. God has blessed us. We are thankful to each of you that pray for us and give to the ministry. May God continue to bless you and give us wisdom to do His will!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy Barros
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Using Friend’s Boat for River Mission Trips
Posted on 23Sep CATEGORIES: General, Letters, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: boat, boat missions, Children's Day, Gapoaçu, Kathy Barros, Odali Barros, river missions, riverboat mission trips0
September 23, 2021
Greetings to all of you who have been a blessing in our lives and ministry! We thank each one of you for your prayers and support! May God continue to bless each of you!
We are doing well, and God has blessed us with health and protection from any harm. In the area that we live, there have been some problems with 25 prisoners who had escaped from prison. They were attacking cars and also stealing in homes, but things have calmed down. Praise the Lord!
The services at the church and the missions are back to normal, and more of the people are coming back.
We are excited that next month we are going to have a special day like we used to have four or five times per year before the virus appeared. October has a day that is called Children’s Day. We are going to take advantage of the date and have a special event. We will be bringing kids and families from around the area and mission points. We will have a special service for the kids with puppets.
We have a friend that has a boat that he has offered to be used for missions on the river. This coming weekend he has invited me to go with his church on a mission trip of 3 days to the Village of Gapoaçu. Looking forward to this trip and it will be exciting to plan others. There are many villages that can only be accessed by boat.
We are finishing the baptistery at the church. We always had baptism on the riverside, but it is somewhat of a problem getting everyone there. So, we decided to finish it. Soon we will be having baptisms there. There have been several saved. Praise the Lord!
God bless each of you!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy Barros
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
God’s Hand in the Amazon Jungle
Posted on 28Aug CATEGORIES: General, Letters, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: Alpha & Omega Home, Alpha and Omega, children at Ubim, David, Kathy Barros, Odali Barros, Project Life, teen, Ubim0
August 28, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings from the Amazon jungle! We hope and pray that each of you are doing well and being blessed. Thank God we are doing well and blessed! We know that so many families have been affected through this virus that is in the world. We pray that God will comfort and strengthen each one.
Things here around where we live and work have been pretty calm. Thank God the ministries we do are almost all back to normal. The services we have in homes are back and going to the homes that want us to come. We had service last week in a home of a brother of one of our church members. He had a motorcycle wreck over a year ago and was having problems with his broken leg, but through all these problems he accepted Christ as Savior. He can’t wait to be able to come to church to be baptized.
We also are still working with some men from the “Project Life” which have had problems with addictions. Pray that we can help them continue to be encouraged to not go back to their addiction and keep God as their focus.
On Sunday morning we have been having Christian growth studies and music classes. Now we are going to have a class to train those who want to serve in the ministry, preaching, visiting and reaching out to the communities. Pray that God will touch the hearts of those in the church who can help in these areas.
This young man grew up at Alpha & Omega Home in Garca.
He now helps in Ubim’s ministry.Teens helping with the kids in Ubim
The work in Ubim continues doing well. Pray with us that God prepare someone who could take that ministry full time. There is so much that can be done there. There are lots of young people there and there is nothing for teens to do there. Like everywhere else, there are drugs.
We are involving some of the teenagers that have been coming since they were kids. It is so great to see them helping!
The difficulty in these areas is that people don’t all live close and many don’t have transportation, so there is a need to go where the people are. Pray that God will touch the hearts of more people so we can reach more people.
We have been working with 2 teenagers in our home. One was through the church and the other one is from a place where I went to catch fish. The teen would help me catch them and I brought him to our house a couple of times. Later he asked if he could come and stay a few days. Where he lives is the street of the drugs. Well, he came for a few days! And he is still here! Now he calls Kathy and I mom and dad. He says he doesn’t want to go back home because he doesn’t want to go into drugs. Praise the Lord. But the interesting thing is that after the 2 teens met each other, they found out they were cousins!! Pray for them that they can grow and reach their families!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Father’s Day. The tallest is their son Jonas. The others have adopted Odali & Kathy as parents…and they have taken them in as their children! Service at the home of David, the man with a broken leg.
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
God is Still Changing Lives!
Posted on 31Jul CATEGORIES: General, Letters, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: addiction, Cacau, drug addict, home church, home services, Kathy Barros, Odali Barros, relationships restored0
July 21, 2021
Greetings to all of our supporters and prayer partners! We hope and pray that each of you are doing great and are blessed! Thank God we are doing great. Things here are doing well and are more and more getting back to normal.
The church activities are getting back, too. More and more people are coming. There is a project near the church I pastor that works with men with addictions. Since the church isn’t using the bus, we have we have let the project use the bus. They bring around 40 men on Sunday night. Several have made professions of faith. Also, we have had other visitors and several of them have accepted Christ as Savior also. What a blessing!
We have 4 men working with us who finished the treatment and the project. Pray that they will continue to be encouraged to stay firm and have strength. One of them has two daughters. He got so deep into the drugs that he lived on the streets and lost his family. He is now working on his father-daughter relationship. We let him bring his daughters here to spend some time with him. It was a great time.
Also the services we had in homes on Friday night are back. We want to expand the areas where we have the services to reach more people. There are so many little communities in the area. Also so many of the people do not have transportation, so having these services is a great way to reach more people.
The water in the area where it was flooded is going down—almost down to where getting around is easier.
If you are looking for a specific project, we have small and large projects—from buying a lot to build a church in a new subdivision with no church, to a well for portable water in these communities!
We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. May God bless each of you!
In Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Returning to Normal Amidst Flooding
Posted on 28May CATEGORIES: Conferences, General, Letters, Missionary Support Partnership, Odali & Kathy Barros [Brazil] Tags:Tags: Cacao, flooding, Kathy Barros, Odali Barros, Pedras Vivas, t-shirts, tees, Ubim0
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We pray and hope that all of you are doing well. We thank God for each of you for your prayers and support. Our ministry is greatly blessed through your encouragement.
Things here are getting back to normal but at this moment they are giving alerts of new cases of the virus, so we do our ministry being careful and taking the care necessary.
One problem that we are having in some places is flooding. The Amazon and the Negro River have risen higher than it has for over 50 years. The community of Cacao where we have a church, the water has reached part of the building. At the village of Ubim, the water has not reached the church, but to get to the church we have to walk over a temporary bridge made to get into the village. The water still is coming up. Many places are really flooded.
Kathy wants to thank those who gave donations for the t-shirts for the kids of Ubim. The t-shirts are ready. The kids will be happy to get new ones.
The ministry at the mother church, Pedras Vivas Baptist church is back to normal. We have started back the music classes on Sunday morning. We plan on starting back the Friday night services in homes soon. Kathy and I are doing visitation to see people that might want services in their homes. One thing that we did in our church was to sing only songs from the hymnal song book. Seems like everyone has enjoyed the month. We also mentioned about some of the authors.
I have been working this month on encouraging the church and showing them the mission God gave each of us: to tell people about God’s love and what He did for man to be saved. Telling them the importance of evangelism. It is easy to get caught up in our busy life and forget to tell others about God’s Love.
May God bless each of you!
Love in Christ our Savior,
Odali and Kathy
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more