In São Paulo for Two Seminary Classes
Posted on 15Oct CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: Baptist Seminary in Brazil, Caraguatatuba Baptist Seminary, mission to Indians, Parati, Pastor Valdival, Ricardo Posca, São Paulo, seminary
October 13, 2018
Dear friends and family,
The last two months have flown by so fast, as though they were only two weeks. I have made two trips to Brasil planning for and doing research for the next seminary classes. I will be returning to São Paulo on October 14 for the next two classes in the Seminary. These classes will be “Survey of the New Testament” and “Pastoral Training”.
What a blessing it is that we have pastors here in the States that are willing to give of their time to help us with the training of Brasilian pastors and church leaders. We would like to give a big THANK YOU to their Churches for allowing them to leave their pulpits to come teach here in Brasil. What an AWESOME God we all serve.
We will be welcoming two new professors to our Brasilian Seminary this Month. They are Dr. Chris Dortch of First Baptist Church of Mt. Sterling, KY, and Dr. Steven Scherer of Central Baptist Church in Paris, KY. Dr. Dortch will be teaching New Testament Survey and this course is designed to provide a basic introduction to each of the New Testament books. There will be special focus on the revelation of Jesus Christ in each book. Also, it will focus on providing keys to understanding each book in the context of the entirety of the scriptures. Pastor Scherer will be teaching Pastoral Ministries. This course is designed to equip the student for Pastoral Ministry by examining the various aspects of ministry required of pastors serving in local churches. It also includes identifying biblical absolutes, priorities and qualifications needed for effective pastoring within the local church.
I am working with some Pastors from Garça, São Paulo, planning our next Seminary classes in 2019. We have asked Pastor Russell Zik of Durbin Baptist Church to be the professor for this class. Also pray for us as we consider the locations for the next classes. Pray for our professors as they leave their comfort zone to help further the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
While I am in São Paulo, I plan to see Pr. Ricardo Posca from our previous class who Barbara and I chose to help support in his endeavors to start a church in São Paulo. At this time, he has 20 members and is starting a Sunday School for the children and there are about 15 children in attendance (photos included). Please keep him and this work in your prayers. Also, one of the other missionaries that we are helping that works with the Indians in Parati, Pr. Valdival, has had a heart attack and has to leave his work for four months for recuperation. Please keep him and his wife in your prayers as they have to leave their home and work to recuperate.
I am planning to be back in the United States by November 1st because of my cancer treatments and my appointments. I have an appointment with the cancer doctor on the 3rd and hopefully I will get a good report. Please pray with me and for me in these days ahead.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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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
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Working on a Communication System for Seminary
Posted on 12Jul CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: Baptist Seminary in Brazil, building a communication system, Caragua Baptist Seminary, church planting in Brazil, seminary in Brazil
July 12, 2018
Friends and family,
As I am writing this letter we are working on our system of communication through the computer for Caragua Baptist Seminary. For example, the students want to know what their grades are from the tests they have taken, the courses that are being offered, the locations where they will be offered and the time frame for the courses. Sounds easy, right? Well, put language difficulties and translation into the mix, add having to go through multiple people, the desire to have the correct spelling, grammar correctness and correct sentence structure……now you can see the problems. We are also hoping that my third language (hillbilly) won’t interfere much with what we are trying to do. SOLUTIONS: We are forming a group of pastors there and here, mixing them with several IT professionals and we are off and running. So here is a BIG prayer request, that we will be able to integrate all these different folks together to jump one more hurdle so that we can have an AWESOME Seminary.
One of our students has put the roof on the building that he and his members are building. They need the doors and the bathrooms to be able to occupy their building. But in the meantime, they are meeting in his home. As we continue to help these church starts we need two things: prayer warriors and financial help. As in any place, they encounter many problems when trying to do something for God. Workers for construction are few and the money for material is even less. So I know all of you are prayer warriors, so please put these Brasilian pastors on your prayer list and if you can spare some financial support, please send it to BFM and mark it “Church Starts in Brasil”. The seminary is helping three pastors who are starting mission works but our ability to help is small. But with many of us giving a little, it amounts to a lot. And we all know that a little is a lot with God in control.
My health issues as of today are good. I have a major appointment the first part of August. I request that you pray for me that I will have improvement in the cancer battle and maybe have a “vacation” from the medication. Over a year and a half ago I was told that the choices that I had were surgery with 38 radiation treatments with follow-up medication or expect 6 to 9 months of life. Well here it is almost 2 years later and I am looking forward to a vacation from meds. How AWESOME is the God we have!!!
Our next Seminary classes are in October. On that date we will be having four classes: two in Orlandia and two in São Paulo city. Our plans had been to have classes in June but the trucker strike in Brasil almost paralyzed the country. In Caraguatatuba they went almost 3 weeks with no deliveries to their town. There was only gas for the emergency vehicles; the grocery stores and the farmers markets had very little stock—and what they had was price hacked. You know what I am talking about, the merchants raised prices because they could. Now the strike is over, but guess what…the food prices have not gone back down. Go figure!!!! So needless to say, Mary and Walmir and all the other Brasilian pastors are struggling to make ends meet. Keep them in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for our endeavors as we continue the work that God has provided for us as we live in the USA for my treatments and work in Brasil as Missionaries representing Jesus Christ because of your support through Baptist Faith Missions.
As we have the Seminary classes, we constantly watch for the men of God who are anxious to work for the Lord. These are the ones whom we will chose to be the next church planters. We cannot forget the Pastors and their churches here in the States. The pastors who give of their time to come to Brasil to teach in the Seminary for FREE and the churches that support them as they come. Without them our dream for a Seminary to help the Brasilian pastors would have never gone as far as it has. Praise God for all those who have a hand in this endeavor.
We are working toward establishing 3 permanent locations to have the Seminary classes. From these locations we can meet the needs of many Brasilian pastors. Please pray that God would lead our search.
Here is one of the Pastors and his family that are planting a church in Brasil. He is a student of Caragua Baptist Seminary.
In His Service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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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
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Two Wonderful Weeks of Seminary Classes
Posted on 18May CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: AJ Hensley, Baptist Seminary in Brazil, Baptist seminary in Sao Paulo, Barbara Hensley, Caragua Baptist Seminary, Ricardo Posca, seminary classes in Brazil
May 16, 2018
Dear friends and family,
These weeks have been some real AWESOME ones. Weeks and months of preparation have come to fruition. We have completed two wonderful weeks of seminary classes. These perhaps have been two of our most fulfilling up to this point.
The first class taught by Dr. Derek Colman of Gardenside Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky, was Systematic Theology. This class started opening the eyes of the students and created an atmosphere of excitement about Biblical learning.
This was our introduction to São Paulo City. I have been somewhat reluctant to go to this city because of its enormity. It is a challenge just to get from point A to point B. You see, the city itself is only 57 miles across. Yes, I said 57 miles. So, the challenges that the students had was not only studying, they had the challenge to get to class and—on time. The students have regular daytime jobs, so they had to face getting to the classes from their job sites, to face the congestion at quitting time, and all the other difficulties that Satan could throw at them. This alone made these students very special. Even facing these challenges their desire to learn has been AWESOME!!! Their questions have been great.
Then came Dr. Edge from 1st Baptist Church in Texas—he taught the Old Testament Survey class and just mesmerized the students.
Let me tell you about some of the students. There was this one very special lady in the class (among many others) and her story caught our attention. She was in her late 60s, still working—she is a medical doctor in São Paulo City. What brought her to our attention was her statement about our Seminary. She told us that she had been praying over 40 years for a Baptist Seminary where she could attend and learn more. Her desire is to know the Scriptures better so that she could be a more effective witness for Him. We all need more of her enthusiasm and dedication for learning more about our Lord and Savior.
Another student said that he was helping in a mission Church and had studied the Old Testament very little but after the class on the Old Testament Survey he was very enthusiastic to learn more and more.
As we were preparing for the class I was praying for 20 to 25 students. We had 23 pre-registered students, but come the night of the first class, we had 44 students. Oh me of little faith! I simply forget what an AWESOME God we serve. Sixteen of these students are Pastors. This fits right in with our desire to train Pastors and church workers to be more effective and better prepared to take the Word to their respective areas.
As we have shared with you in previous letters we are keeping our eye out for that one that God would have us help in their endeavor to start a church. Well I am happy to tell you that we have selected one from this class. He is a young man that is trying to start a mission in a needy area. His Pastor who is also in this class has high regards for this young man. We will be gifting him his books and seminary costs and will help him monthly. This help will be for one year to give him time to build God’s work in this area. He says that he has around 20 in his mission at this time and all are needy. Not only physically (very poor) but also spiritually. His name is Ricardo Posca he is married and has a little girl. Please keep them in your prayers. If you would like to be a part of his ministry, please send donations to BFM marked in his name in care of Aj Hensley.
Continue to pray for the Seminary, the professors and the continuing students and the future students. I will be returning in June or July to look into more sites for the seminary, but when I find them we will need God to send more qualified professors. Please put this on your prayer list.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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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
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Headed to Orlandia, São Paulo for Seminary Classes
Posted on 16Apr CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: AJ Hensley, Baptist Seminary in Brazil, Barb Hensley, Caraguatatuba Baptist Seminary, Orlandia, seminary
Dear friends and family,
What a beautiful day today is and to just to think that three days ago it snowed over one inch. And just to add a little interest it is predicted to snow this coming Monday. I heard someone say the other day—this is the ace I know of where you can experience all four seasons in the same week. Our Lord is AWESOME!!!!!
Going back to Monday, it is supposed to be 32 degrees with snow—and Tuesday Barbara and I are traveling to Brasil. I don’t know how this will affect our departure from Kentucky, so pray for us as we are traveling to Brasil.
This trip is going to be very exciting as we are planning 2 seminary classes in the capital of São Paulo. The classes that will be taught are Systematic Theology and Survey of the Old Testament. They will be taught by Dr. Coleman from Gardenside Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, and Dr. Edge from First Baptist Church in Bastrop, Texas. Both of these Pastors are mission minded and are AWESOME servants of God.
The next classes will be in Orlandia, São Paulo. These classes will be for the master’s program and then we will have two more classes in São Paulo. These will be New Testament Survey and Pastoral Ministries.
I would like to request “special prayers” for our professors who give of their time and their Churches who permit them to leave their pulpits for the time to teach our brothers in Brasil.
Our Professors are:
- Dr. Derek Coleman, Gardenside Baptist Church, Lexington, KY
- Dr. Raymond Edge, First Baptist Church, Bastrop, TX
- Dr. Terry Leap, William Storm Baptist Church, Williamstown, KY
- Dr. Greg Waltermire, Heritage Baptist Church, Lexington, KY
- Dr. Steven Shear, Central Baptist Church, Paris, KY
- Dr. Dustin Coleman, Brainard Ave Baptist Church, Countryside, IL
- David Stokes, Director of Missions for Central KY Network of Baptists
- Russel Zik, Durbin Memorial Baptist Church, Lexington, KY
We have selected four students from the Caragua Baptist Seminary graduates to help as they are planting Churches in Brasil. I am inserting a picture of one of them. In this upcoming class we will be selecting one or more students to sponsor for planting churches.
Our planned seminary classes for 2018 are:
- April- Systematic Theology, Old Testament Survey. These will be in the city of São Paulo.
- June- we are planning an exploratory trip to scout out new locations for the coming classes
- October – Expository Preaching 1 and Apologetics. These will be in Orlandia, São Paulo.
As you can see the Lord is really blessing and to Him all the glory and honor belongs.
As always, we have many prayer requests: our health is the first one and a good prognosis in July with the cancer treatments, the mission work in Caragua, church plants, Indians, the new locations for the Seminary, more professors for the seminary, and Pastor Walmir, Mary, Chelsea and Ashley.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
Like them on Facebook.
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
Training Pastors to Reach Brazil
Posted on 24Feb CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: AJ Hensley, Baptist Seminary in Brazil, Barb Hensley, Barbara Hensley, Caragua Baptist Seminary, Caraguatatuba Baptist Seminary
February 16, 2018
Friends and family,
When I was diagnosed with cancer, I started praying and searching for a way that I could continue to serve my Lord in Brasil because I did not feel that God was finished with me and my service in Brasil, knowing that the main emphasis for Baptist Faith Missions is to open new churches—so I began to think in that area. You know that sometimes the answer to your question is right in front of you and you just have to open your heart and eyes.
For several years now, we have been working with seminary training for local pastors. This Seminary training began in Caragua because we saw the need for the local pastors to have more Bible training. So, we began in our church and invited some of our sister churches to join with us for the first of many seminary classes. Before we knew it, other Pastors were calling us to see if we could do the same in their areas. With Dr. Coleman, myself and Pr. Jason, we organized the Caragua Baptist Seminary. Our first distant classes were in Orlandia, São Paulo, with 35 students. Although our goal was to train Pastors, we also included church workers in the classes. We did a lot of trial and error at first, making the occasional mistakes, but with the Lord’s leadership we have evolved. This year not only is Caragua Baptist Seminary accredited, we have also added a Master’s Program.
Although our objective is to train Pastors, it has grown even beyond our dreams and expectations. Training pastors is an AWESOME way to reach Brasil.
The way God revealed to me that I can continue to serve Him in Brasil is to continue to work with the Seminary training Pastors and sending them out to begin new works all over Brasil. You see, it was right under my nose—it just took God to reveal it to me.
So, I will continue to work in the Seminary, just from a distance. Each year I will go to Brasil 3 or 4 times for the classes to help with them and also to seek out other areas that need our Seminary.
As we teach these Pastors I am keeping my eyes out to see those Pastors who show a desire to begin new works. I meet with them and listen to their hunger to serve the Lord. Then I will encourage them during the time that we spend together to follow God in whatever they do. At this time, we have begun to help three pastors in their endeavors to start new Churches. One is in another country: Paraguay. His church start is in a rural area where there is no electricity. They have around 7 to 9 in attendance. The next two are in the state of São Paulo. The first of these two is having their services in the garage of their home with about 7 adults and 12 children. The other has a foundation dug for the Church building and they are having services in their home. To be able to get started they stepped out on faith and borrowed the money for the land and are building as God provides. How AWESOME! The Pastors we select to help start a church, we will give them an offering for the first year. We also pay for their seminary classes at Caragua Baptist Seminary.
Talking about this calls back memories of how we started our last work. It began on the front porch of a widow’s home. After four years that work now has its building and a Brazilian pastor. What a blessing. AWESOME is the God we serve.
So, this is what God has laid before me as my way to serve Him in Brasil as I live in Lexington, Kentucky. This is so I can be close to the doctors. I have been to the doctor this month and the blood test that they did showed undetectable counts for cancer. Praise Him! The doctor said that if everything continued the same that I might be able to take a vacation from the injection that I am taking every 6 months.
So please pray for the Seminary as we are expanding into other cities and continue to pray for my health to continue to improve. HOW AWESOME IS HE WHO WE SERVE!!!
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
Like them on Facebook.
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
Celebrating Children’s Day and Seminary Graduates
Posted on 13Nov CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: AJ Hensley, Baptist church in Caraguatatuba, Baptist Seminary in Brazil, Barbara Hensley, Caraguatatuba Baptist Seminary, Children's Day
November 9, 2017
Friends and family,
Well I am sitting here in Lexington, Ky, being somewhat cold. It’s just amazing how different the temperature is here and in Caraguatatuba.
While in Caragua we were very busy working on the Church building trying to complete many small projects that needed to be completed. As it is with all buildings, you fix one thing and there are many more that come up.
We arrived there in time to help in the Children’s Day activities. We had around 90 children on Children’s Day and it was AWESOME!!!! There were almost too many children in attendance, but that is an AWESOME problem to have. Children’s Day in Brasil is similar to Christmas Day here in the States. They don’t celebrate Christmas in Brasil like we do in the States. We had sandwiches, pop, and cake for them to eat for breakfast. Then we had games and popcorn and cotton candy. They received beanbag animals and a small bag of candy. Then we sent them home on a sugar high to their parents. These children are all underprivileged children, so whatever they receive is a blessing in their lives. But what they need more than food is love. A smile and a hug does better for them than anything else. So, we spent the day hugging them and playing with them. We are sending some photos so that you can see some of the activities.
Our bus is a very needed part of the children’s ministry there and the last few months there have been various problems with it—leaking oil and water pump problems to name a few. We were able to get the things fixed but the next problem is to pay for the work. Thank you to those who have sent money for the work on the bus—and if you would like to help financially, that would be greatly appreciated. As I said earlier, this bus is a needed part of the children’s ministry, so your precious prayers are needed. The bus is a 24-passenger bus that most of the time carries up to 50 children. And with that many on the bus, we still are making two trips to pick up and to return them home. As you can guess, that brings with it a big gas bill per month. This is also becoming a concern. Prayers please.
Well the Seminary we began in Caragua has just grown beyond belief. Just this year we have had three graduations: Caragua, Nativity da Serra, and Orlandia. All of these locations are in the state of São Paulo, but they are not close together. There are more than 7 hours travel time between them.
The last graduation class was in Orlandia and there were 24 who participated in the graduation process. It is hard to describe the appreciation these pastors and church workers have for the training and instruction the are receiving at Caragua Baptist Seminary. This year there have been 55 people graduated from the seminary.
While in the States, we are working on getting a Masters of Divinity added to our program. What this amounts to is that we are having to jump through a lot of hoops. I never realized the amount of red tape that can be involved in seminary accreditation. Now I have an even greater appreciation for Lexington Baptist College that we had here in Lexington. As
of now all things are going AWESOME!! However, when we get one requirement met there seems to one more and then one more. Please keep Caragua Baptist Seminary in your prayers as we are reaching many Brasillians through the pastors that are attending this Seminary.
Here is just one of the many stories that have come out to these classes: one of the Pastors who has attended the Seminary is also a long-haul trucker and he has begun using his trips to get to know the other drivers. When he empties the trailer, he then puts chairs and a pulpit inside and when he goes back to the truck stops, he opens the back doors of the trailer, sets up the chairs, and invites the other truckers in and preaches to them. This has been a blessing and he is reaching many that would never come to a church. Pray for God to go before him in this labor of love.
Continue to pray for my health that God can continue to use me in Brasil as we continue taking the Seminary to the Brasilian pastors all over Brasil.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Seminary Graduations; Stateside for Doctor’s Visits
Posted on 18Sep CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: AJ Hensley, Baptist Churches in Caraguatatuba, Baptist Seminary in Brazil, Barb Hensley, Caraguatatuba Baptist Seminary, Natividade da Serra, seminary in Brazil
September 15, 2017
Dear friends and family,
This month has been a little different. We came to the States the first week of the month to be able to do the doctor things. We have had a good report from the cancer treatments and the psa is at 0, but that is to be expected as I am still taking the hormone shots–there cannot be a true number until I am off those shots for 6 months.
I also went to a heart doctor as I have been having some chest problems. We are waiting for the results of the tests. As per usual, it is always hurry up and wait. Your continued prayers are appreciated.
I am going back a month to tell you about some me of the great and AWESOME things that are happening in Brasil and the Caraguatatuba Baptist Seminary. In the last two months, we have had the first and second graduation of the seminary.
The first was in Caragua, as this is where the Seminary began. There in Caragua, we graduated 6 with 14 others receiving a certificate of participation with the hope of completion later. We thought it very appropriate to have the first graduation here in Caragua because the dream for a Seminary was founded here. Then the second was in Natividade da Serra where 24 people graduated. This is AWESOME because our purpose for having a Seminary was and is to train pastors to preach the Word.
Caragua Baptist Seminary is starting to make a major difference for the pastors located in the state of São Paulo, Brasil. The dream started 3½ years ago and is exploding into other regions. How AWESOME is the God we serve.
So with these two classes completed, we are looking to the future as we have another class in October that will also have a graduation ceremony. This is about 6 hours from Caraguatatuba.
It seems like we just turn around and the month is gone. I don’t know if it is really true or it has something to do with age. I’m thinking it is the first, what do you think?
We will be in the States for a little over a month and then back to Brasil for that next graduation, so maybe we will see you during that time, but if not, we will try to see you on the return trip.
Continue praying for my health and God’s work here in Brasil.
If you would like to see what God is doing with your Mission offerings to BFM, come on down. The lights are on and the food is on the table. In His service, Aj and Barb
In His service,
Aj and Barb
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Trying Month of Bus Problems; Encouraged with Seminary
Posted on 13May CATEGORIES: AJ & Barbara Hensley [Brazil], Mission Sheets Newsletters Tags:Tags: AJ Hensley, Baptist church in Caraguatatuba, Baptist Seminary in Brazil, Barb Hensley, bus ministry, seminary, seminary in Brazil
May 13, 2017
Friends and family,
This month has been one that has been somewhat trying. Our church bus has had a minor problem with the air brakes. Well, we were told that all we had to do was take off the part and replace it with a new one. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, we were told by the mechanic what part to purchase, so we call the parts store in the next city and ordered the part. We go get the part on Tuesday and bring it to the mechanic (good—this is one day before we will need the bus for Wednesday night). But they call us on Wednesday to say that the part is the wrong one. So, Thursday we make the trip up to the other city to get the new part—which they don’t have—so we order the new part. So, this is the first week that we will not have the bus to pick up the children on Sunday. When we ordered the part on Friday, we were told that there would be a delay in the order because this is a holiday and there would be no mail to get the piece to the parts store. So, we would have to wait 5 days for the part to get to the store. This takes us past Wednesday again. When it arrived and we went to get it, it was for the wrong side. So, they ordered it again.
By this time, I have to go up north for the seminary in Orlandia and the part has not come yet. I was there for a week and upon my arrival, the part had not come yet. Now we are in the third week without a bus for the kids. We were called and told that the new part was at the parts place so Barbara and Edson make a trip up the hill to get it, hoping that this Sunday we will have a bus for the kids. Guess what—this piece did not fit either. Now we discover that someone has worked on the brakes sometime in the past and none of the pieces would have fit so we tell the mechanic to cut the new piece and make it fit the bus.
The blessing in this story is that the bus company that we use when we have big groups has generously loaned us one of their buses on Sunday morning to pick up the kids, but not for the people on Sunday night nor on Wednesday night. But on the last Sunday they could not loan a bus, so we made trips with 2 cars to pick up the kids. We have around 80 to 100 kids that attend Sunday School every week–so you can imagine the amount of kids we had in each car. We were so busy getting the kids to church that no one got pictures.
The bus was functioning on Wednesday night and we are looking forward to a full house on Sunday!!! Sometimes things so simple can become so complicated. Oh well, we are still so blessed that it is unreal. And even in all this mess we have had numerous visitors in the church each week.
Now on to more blessings. At this session of the seminary we had a group of students, 26 in number, 18 of which were pastors and 8 church workers. The classes were taught by Dr. D. Colman from Gardenside Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, and Dr. R. Edge from First Baptist Church in Bastrop, Texas. What a blessing these two men are to the seminary. The seminary now has accreditation given by the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and this has helped us to gain more students. These students are now asking if we can add a Master’s Program to our original classes. You know that with God all things are possible! We are working on this as you read this letter and by God’s grace we will have the Master’s Program included for the classes that start in 2018. How AWESOME is the God we serve.
Pray for our Seminary: Caragua Baptist Seminary as we continue to train Pastors—specifically for us to be able to reach more Pastors to train them to take to gospel to Brasil. In 2018 we will be offering the classes in São Paulo City, Orlandia, São Paulo, probably in Manaus, Amazonas, and maybe in one other location. We are taking these classes to different regions to make them more available to the areas where the pastors reside. That way more pastors can attend and then take the teaching to their areas. This will be an AWESOME blessing to them and their churches.
We always ask for prayer for the Seminary everywhere we go so we now have 70-100 pastors praying for Caragua Baptist Seminary. Won’t you join with them in praying for the seminary also? For the pastors and the workers that participate in the Seminary, for the teachers and for the translators, and the churches that these Pastors return to after they finish the classes. Please include in your prayers Barb and I, our church here in Caraguatatuba, Pastor Walmir and all the works here in Brasil.
To end the letter on a note of a blessing, this month we have had one more soul added to God’s kingdom. Praise His Name.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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