Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser in Brazil [March 2012]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
March 8, 2012
Dear Friends,
I nearly didn’t get this letter prepared! I have a group of 53 youth and adults coming in from the Tampa, Florida area tomorrow and, with all the preparations involved, I almost forgot to share with you what the Lord has been doing around here this past month. I mentioned last month that we were going to hold a family camp during Brazil’s Carnaval holidays. That camp went really well. We had a very good turnout and we were especially happy to have some families participate with whom we have been sharing the gospel for a while. These families were very receptive to everything we taught from God’s word and have seemed increase their interest in things relating to the Lord.
We had our missions training seminar near the beginning of the month followed up by a practical missions trip to four different towns. The Lord provided us with tremendous opportunities for sharing the gospel through dramatic skits, personal testimonies and Bible preaching. There were over 3500 people present at our meetings during the extended holiday and many listeners professed faith in Jesus Christ. We have begun regular Bible studies with 69 of those and hope to see them baptized and growing in their relationship with Christ soon.
The construction at our new church work continues steadily. All the plumbing should be working by the time you read this report and we have had a steady increase in attendance at our meetings. We are very grateful to you who have contributed to this new church plant. God has used you to do several things that we are aware of, and probably many others that we aren’t. Our own team members have given graciously, but they have been further encouraged by seeing that they are not alone as they economize in their family budgets. Having the joyful news that other brothers and sisters care and also want to see God’s name glorified in spreading the gospel is very motivating as they feel the pinch of tightened resources from their giving toward the new work. Now they are praising God for using you to assist them in making Him known. Thank you very much.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this report, tomorrow a group of 53 is arriving to work with us. We will be taking the gospel to six public schools during the course of a week and reaching out also in public parks and squares. We are especially happy that our daughter, Jessie, will be coming with the group as their translator guide. My team and I will be very, very busy during the course of this week, but we are very excited about the fact that many thousands of people will hear of our Lord Jesus Christ from folks who have made a great effort to come share His love. We pray God will be glorified and many will come to know Him personally.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby, Charlene and Brennen Wacaser
Rua Manoel Valdomiro de Macedo, 2281
81170-150 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
robertmw[at]brturbo.com.br
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Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser in Brazil [February 2012]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
February 8, 2012
Dear Friends,
Charlene isn’t really fond of public attention. She will speak in public if it is for God’s glory. She will stand in front of a class and teach for people to come to know the Lord, or to know him better, but not because she enjoys the limelight. She hates either side of a camera, and a microphone even worse. But recently I was mentally going over nearly all the names and faces of the people we have involved in our new work and I see that these relationships began with contact with Charlene. She is unassuming, but is amazingly captivating. Though she is beautiful, other women don’t feel threatened. Though she is shy, she notices others in their need and gets beyond her comfort zone to reach out to them. This letter will become public soon, and knowing her, she’ll be embarrassed, but because of what I’m about to say, she’ll be glad it was written after all.
You see, Charlene doesn’t start up new friendships because she seeks attention to meet her needs, nor does she make herself available to help others because she feels incomplete herself. Her motivation behind all these acts and attitudes is her love and gratitude to God, who through Jesus Christ, has given her joy, salvation and a purpose for living. With Charlene, I can say, Thank you Lord for calling us into a relationship of love and service for your glory and our happiness.
School started back again this week, so our main venue for taking the gospel to unreached masses has opened again. Projeto Vida started planning and practicing this week to have gospel skits and musical presentations ready to go into the hundreds of cities where there are no evangelical churches. We are also getting the buses/motorhomes ready for highway travel. The first two weeks of February are spent training new volunteers and tweaking programs and preparing equipment. Last year we reached nearly 100,000 people with the gospel through this ministry and we hope to do the same or better this year, with God’s help.
Bro. Wacaser in front of their new work.
The construction on our new work is progressing steadily. We had to install some protective fencing around the property because of the constant threat of theft, so we are now able to install electrical wiring and bathroom fixtures that would otherwise run the risk of being stolen. It would be nice to live in a world where we didn’t need to spend our precious little resources on barricades, but this is part of the reality that we face in a fallen world. We pray, hope and work in such a way that some of those who would today steal from God’s servants, may shortly become his servants. But in the meantime, we need to keep our guard up to safeguard what has been entrusted to us to build a lighthouse in the community.
They have installed some protective fencing around the property because of the constant threat of theft. Now they can install electrical wiring and bathroom fixtures that would otherwise run the risk of being stolen.
We have Brazil’s Carnaval week coming up soon and we are really excited about the opportunities for evangelism that are available. Our mother and daughter churches will be holding an evangelistic camp for the entire family (as opposed to “youth camp”). We are encouraging all our members to invite lost families to participate since this holiday weekend is usually a carnal mess in Brazilian culture (picture Mardi Gras over the whole country, not just in one city). Also, Projeto Vida will be heading to three beach cities to evangelize right out among the throngs of party-goers, being with them, but not like them. We have seen some amazing results in years past through this avenue of outreach and we are praying that this year will be even greater.
We are thrilled to have all these ministry opportunities to make our great God and Savior known. We thank Him also for your partnership with us in this endeavor. May you be blessed for your love, prayers, concern and support of our ministries.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby, Charlene and Brennen Wacaser
Rua Manoel Valdomiro de Macedo, 2281
81170-150 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
robertmw[at]brturbo.com.br
Click here to give.
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