Dear Friends, 

As many of you know, the seasons in southern Brazil are at the opposite times of year as those in the northern hemisphere. Because of this, our school calendars are also just the opposite. The months of December to February are their summer break. Due to the pandemic last year, the students had mostly virtual classes. This year looked bright for returning to the classroom for all of two weeks! But then there was an increase in the number of COVID cases in our state and the governor issued a shutdown of all public buildings. We aren’t sure if this will truly be just two weeks or if it will be extended like it was last year, but it does drastically affect our ministry outreach strategies.

Each year we are invited into public and private schools to share the message of hope and salvation through gospel skits, testimonies and the preached word to tens of thousands of students and staff. The longer these doors stay closed, the less people we are able to reach. Rather than accept defeat, though, we have sought the Lord for other open doors of opportunity and He has blessed. Our traveling team has had to stay within the metropolitan area of our city, but they have found several avenues through which they can connect with people who are lost and desperate. The homeless population of a town our size is considerably large, in the thousands. We have found locations where these folks assemble for food or clothing.

 

We have asked our churches to donate what they can toward this outreach effort and encouraged the members to accompany the outreach teams in their effort to show the love of Christ through gifts of physical and spiritual food. Since our teams have not been able to get into the public schools, they are free to return regularly to meet with and minister to this homeless population. Each visit gives our workers the chance to get to know the people they are ministering to a little better and we have seen barriers of defense come down. We are finding that, yes, most of these folks are there due to repetitively bad choices, but we also find folks who are hurting and suffering and have never heard a word of grace and love and forgiveness. In the last few months, we have been instrumental in leading 16 former drug addicts to Christ and they are now voluntarily in Christian drug rehab centers seeking to become productive servants of the Lord. We thank God for these open doors and for the open hearts of our workers to reach out to those who are on the outside.

 

Manuel and Maria are a couple who retired from their secular jobs in order to minister fulltime in missions and evangelism. Their retirement income is caught up in a bureaucratic mess and the pandemic has only served to increase that mess, but they are still joyfully giving themselves to share God’s love through practical and spiritual means, day in and day out with these homeless folks. I thank the Lord for putting examples like them in my church and in my life to challenge me to keep my first love for the Lord

aflame. I hope that this testimony of their service will encourage you to do the same. 

In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser