Encouraging Responses to Outreach, Committed Members
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
April 1, 2019
Dear Friends,
We continue to experience God’s grace pouring down on us and our ministries. All of our Bible study classes and groups grew considerably since our last report. We are getting ready to have a baptismal service for a few candidates who want to follow the Lord in Scriptural baptism.
Besides the steady numerical growth, we have also seen a higher degree of commitment from our members. Several of them volunteer quite a few hours of work during the week to help reach our community with the gospel. Some do this during the week by teaching school subjects, others through music and art. We also have some who help with building projects and cleaning the church facilities. We are grateful to God for all of them and their willingness to give of their time and resources to work in the Lord’s kingdom.
This month we had a successful couples’ outreach event. Our leaders put together an Oriental-themed dinner and fellowship time. We had several couples come who do not profess to know Christ and my message during the event was very clearly a gospel presentation. Two of the couples came to talk to me afterward and told me that they felt like God had used the message to speak to them. They also said that they wanted to start attending our Sunday worship services. We pray that they will come and that they will truly surrender to Christ as their Lord and Savior.
In just a couple of weeks we will be having a special Easter presentation and we are expecting a huge crowd. At our Christmas presentation at the end of last year we got the word out by inviting folks to bring their family, friends and neighbors and the turnout was large. We are expecting even more to this service because we have grown and we have more people doing the inviting. We pray that God will see fit to bless our preaching and sharing of the gospel and that many of our visitors will be saved.
Thank you so much for your prayers and faithful support of our ministries.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
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Haircuts and ESL Classes Open Doors to Share Christ
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
March 1, 2019
Dear Friends,
Charlene and I started our English as a second language (ESL) classes in February and we are thrilled with the number of students who have signed up! These classes are offered for free on weekdays at our church facilities. Besides our English classes, other volunteers from our church give classes in their areas of expertise. These free classes draw students (and their parents) into contact with us which opens doors for sharing the love of Christ and the gospel to neighbors who wouldn’t ordinarily set foot in a Baptist church. Just yesterday, Charlene and I had the opportunity to minister to a young family who had started coming to our church through our English classes. The husband had a motorcycle accident and was taken to a local hospital. The wife didn’t know what hospital he was in and didn’t even know how to start looking for him. His cell phone battery had died and she couldn’t get in contact with him. In her nervous state, she could only think of our church to call on for help. One of our volunteers called around until they located her husband and was able to get them connected. Charlene and I took the wife to visit her husband in the hospital. I visited with him and prayed with him and was also able to visit two other motorcycle accident victims who were in the same room. Only God knows how those English classes might open doors of ministry through this family and others who participate.
One day I was cleaning out some unused material that was starting to accumulate at our church and I had an encounter with a gentleman named, Athanasios. He saw a piece of material that he wanted to use at his home and asked me if he could take it. I was happy to give it to him and that encounter opened a door of conversation about spiritual things. In our conversation I had the opportunity to share my testimony of how Jesus saved me from my sins. He listened to me graciously, told me where he lived and invited me to further conversations. I want to take him up on his invitation and will be praying for him to fully come to know Christ.
Our Projeto Vida teams have been working a little closer to home this past month. In a neighboring town, Sao Jose dos Pinhais, one of the workers was cutting a man’s hair. The man professed a certain knowledge of the Scriptures, but in the course of the conversation it was clear that he had never surrendered to Christ as Lord and Savior. He confessed that he was unhappy and was a guilty sinner. Our worker asked him if he was willing to repent of his sin and confess Jesus as his Lord right there, and the man accepted. He thought he had only gone there for a haircut, but he walked away from that meeting a changed man! We are so thankful that the Lord continues to give us so many opportunities for sharing His love and grace.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
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The Gospel Going forth in Brazil, Paraguay, & Colombia!
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
February 4, 2019
Starting the second week of January we held our first Missions Training Seminar and we were thrilled to have two middle-aged couples among our 20 volunteers! Two married couples who are just shy of retirement have been praying for the Lord’s direction in their life after they leave their secular jobs. After seeing how God used them to touch so many lives in Brazil and Paraguay in just a few short weeks, they feel strongly led to transition from their present jobs to full-time evangelism. We are praying with them and for them to clearly know God’s will about this so important decision. If they are truly led of the Lord to come be a part of our ministry outreach, they will certainly be a welcomed addition. I admire their way of thinking at this stage in their lives. So many middle-aged Christians start thinking about leisure and comfort and here these dear folks are seeking how they may more fully serve the Lord with their available time and resources. May God truly guide them in this process.
A man who trusted Christ in Paraguay
Another man who trusted Christ in Paraguay
Our team who took the gospel message to Paraguay came back rejoicing at how open most of the people were to the gospel. But it became evident that the adversary has his grip on people of all nations. One young man from our team was visiting in a neighborhood and began a conversation with man who became upset and hostile. Despite the man’s rudeness and hostility, our evangelist retained his pleasant attitude and treated the man with respect. He invited the man to come to our evangelistic presentation that would be held in the public square that evening, but the man told him to leave. In parting, the young evangelist felt led to ask the man to take his son, who was standing by his side, to the presentation. That night, lo and behold, the man showed up with his son to the evening meeting! He stayed throughout the entire service of gospel skits, testimonies and preaching and when an invitation was given at the end of the meeting to surrender his life to Christ, the man went immediately to the front of the crowd to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. This turn of events further strengthened our worker’s faith in the power of God to transform lives through the gospel.
While one group was in Paraguay spreading the gospel two of our workers got the opportunity to go on mission to Colombia. Israel and Giovane are both musicians and received an invitation to teach the people how to play wind instruments, which is their strength. Teaching the people to play the instruments was their platform for sharing the gospel with their students. They were assisting a missionary who is attempting to plant a new church there. As they taught how to play the instruments they also shared how God had changed their lives through trusting in Jesus Christ and how their lives could be transformed as well. They both were used of the Lord to win several Colombians to Christ during their three-week stay there. The local missionary is now working to disciple those who surrendered to the Lord.
Next week Charlene and I will resume teaching our English classes along with our volunteer tutors from our church teaching their respective subjects. It looks like we will have quite a few returning students as well as several new ones. We are excited about the privilege sharing the gospel with folks who wouldn’t ordinarily come to church for any other purpose. Please keep us in your prayers throughout this next semester.
Thank you for your concern and loving support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
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Great Things He Has Done; Great Expectations for 2019
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
January 4, 2019
I want to start this letter and this year off with a hearty “Praise the Lord!” for all that He did in and through us this past year! We were blessed way beyond our expectations. The great things that God did emboldened us to have greater expectations for this new year.
During our special Christmas services, we had a huge turnout in attendance and a great response to the gospel presentation. Fifteen individuals surrendered their lives to Christ, six people professed that they wanted to rededicate their lives to the Lord and several visitors told us that they want to know more about the Christian life from what they saw in the way they were treated by our church members. I was thrilled with how hard our members worked in preparation for this event and how well they received our guests. I spoke with all of them after the special service and, although they were exhausted, they were very happy with how the Lord used them to touch the lives of so many people. The next day after our services I contacted all those who had made decisions to encourage them and we will begin discipleship training this month.
Our traveling evangelistic teams are in their summer recess because Brazilian schools are on summer break and that is our main venue for outreach. We will be hosting a missionary training seminar in the middle of this month and we are expecting volunteers from several different states. We give them biblical missions teaching in the classroom for two weeks and then we take them out on short term mission trips into the interior for another two weeks. After these four weeks of training several of these young people usually volunteer to stay on to work with our team for an additional six months or more. We hope that will be the case again this year. God has used this method and these young people tremendously repeatedly.
Charlene and I finished our first semester of giving free classes of English as a second language. We found out that this ministry is truly God-given avenue for sharing the love of Christ to the lost in our community. People who wouldn’t normally come to a church service came to learn English and that gave us the opportunity to share how God has changed our lives as we taught them English. In fact, several of those who accepted Christ as their Savior at our Christmas services were either our students or family members of our students and none of them were attending church before we started teaching them English. We thank the Lord that He gave us the insight to launch this ministry and we hope to use it even more efficiently this year.
We thank you for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry here in southern Brazil. We are hoping to see the Lord do great things in 2019.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
Two Students Trust Christ in Minas Gerais
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
November 29, 2018
Dear Friends,
We followed through with our plans to have a Thanksgiving service with our Brazilian brothers and sisters this month and it was wonderful! That was a first for all of them, but they want it to be annual now. Charlene and I had a great time preparing several of the traditional American Thanksgiving recipes and, by the lack of leftovers, they were appreciated by all. The Lord has greatly blessed us and our ministries this year. We had an increase of 220% in our attendance and we were privileged to have our baptismal pool used again.
The English classes and tutoring that we offer for free continue to bring people from our neighborhood into contact with us during the weekdays and several people come to our Sunday services as a result as well. We are expecting to see quite a few attend our Christmas presentation where we will present the gospel through music, drama and preaching.
Our Project Life evangelistic team was in two states this month: Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. The workers had the opportunity to share the gospel with over 3000 students and their families in the schools and town squares. There were many professions of faith in Christ, so I can’t share them all. I do want to tell you about two students in Minas Gerais, though. As our drama teams were presenting the gospel through a skit, these students were able to identify themselves in the characters of the drama and the Holy Spirit opened their eyes to see their great need of Christ. They saw how much sin had ravished their families and their own lives and they wanted a new life in Christ. They had been living in hopelessness for too long and saw that Jesus bought them salvation and purpose through his blood. One of these was a young lady who had begun to slash her wrists regularly and was constantly depressed. She had been sexually abused by her stepfather and felt like she was worthless. Our evangelist showed her through the Scriptures the Heavenly Father’s love and care for her and she was thrilled to surrender her life to Him. She asked the Lord to forgive her for her hatred and bitterness. The other youth had begun using drugs and alcohol to numb his mind to the sense of despair and lack of purpose. Instead of taking away his depression, it only increased. Another one of our volunteers sat down with him for quite a while to present the gospel of Christ and to point out how meaningful one’s life is when it is surrendered to the Lord. That young man also repented and trusted in Jesus.
We are getting ready for our long-anticipated Christmas presentation in a couple of weeks where we hope to see several people come to know Christ personally. Our church members have been hard at work for a couple of months now practicing dramas and music. We ask that you pray with us that God will bless and save souls through this event. Charlene and I are grateful to you for your prayers, concern and generous support for our ministries here in southern Brazil.
Merry Christmas and may God bless you.
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
The Love of Christ Changes a Whole Family!
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
October 4, 2018
Dear Friends,
Our outreach team just arrived from a 3 week trip ministering in the interior towns of our state, Paraná. Most of these team members are seasoned missionaries with life experiences that have “toughened” them up and prepared them to deal with just about anything. But there were some interactions in a couple of towns that had even the most experienced missionaries overwhelmed with emotion. While receiving a free haircut, one young man began to share his life’s experiences. He had just recently been released from prison, which he fully admitted the guilt of the crime that sent him there. While in prison he had been beaten and tortured many times by other inmates. As he shared this with the worker, he didn’t shed a tear or even appear to be emotional. It was after the haircut that the missionary shared with him how Jesus had taken our punishment for sin upon himself and that the guilt and condemnation that we deserved was paid for because of God’s love for us when Jesus suffered and died on the cross. When the young man, who knew that he was deservedly in prison, realized how great God’s mercy and love for him is, he was overwhelmed with amazement and just broke down crying. After fully explaining to the young man what it means to surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior, the young man immediately did so. From that moment on he was totally different in his disposition and outward appearance.
In another town nearby the team was ministering in a public square. There was a teenage boy who hung around all day, but kept a distance and didn’t seem interested in talking with any of our workers personally. It was almost like the last second in a “do-or-die” situation in our public presentation of the gospel when the boy came over to one of our missionaries. He began to open up and share that he and his whole family were going through some very depressing experiences. All three adult family members in the home had lost their jobs and there was no more money to buy anything. On top of that, a close aunt had recently been stabbed to death before their eyes by her husband. The boy felt that there was no hope for him in the world. The worker started there with his confession of hopelessness and began to show him the great love of Christ. He explained the Scriptures to him and how to become a child of the King of all kings. The boy surrendered to Christ that moment. Afterward he ran home to tell his family and he brought them back to talk to the outreach team also. Through their sharing of the gospel, the whole family trusted in Jesus Christ and made their faith public. The family was so overjoyed with their newfound hope and the love they felt from Christ through the mission team that they couldn’t pull themselves away from them as they prepared to leave town. The team was also overwhelmed with how much love and gratitude they displayed and they couldn’t help breaking down in tears as they said goodbye. We are thankful that the local pastor has opportunity to begin discipling these newborn Christians and he is glad that his church is blessed with new life in it.
At our home church we held a couples’ seminar and there were several unchurched couples who attended. We attempt to put on four of these seminars per year and use them with a two-fold purpose: 1) to provide a venue for our members to invite their unchurched friends and family members and 2) to share the gospel of Jesus with the unsaved through our love and preached message. My wife, Charlene, is so instrumental in putting these events together. She does an amazing job with the details of the event like decorating and providing refreshments, but even more so through her captivating personality inviting friends she develops in her day-to-day living experiences. As I was counting how many visiting couples we had there that were not church members, I noticed that, of those that were present, fifty percent were Charlene’s invitees. I am blessed to have her by my side.
Please keep us in your prayers in the upcoming months. Like many of you, from now until the end of the year we have quite a few special events planned and they will require a lot of energy and resources to pull off with quality.
Thank you so much for your love and concern for us.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
Sharing Christ in Rio Grande do Sul
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
August 30, 2018
Dear Friends,
In Brazil, Father’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in August and not in June, like in the USA. So, this month we had a special service on Father’s Day at our church which went very well. To give the mothers a break, the men and boys of the church were to work together to prepare, either the largest, or the best tasting sandwich that they could come up with. We were surprised by some very delicious sandwich recipes and the 4 feet long sub that one family made. One of the other main goals of this event was to have our members invite friends and family members that do not know Christ or who are not a part of a local church. We did have several unchurched folks attend that Sunday and I preached a simple and direct gospel message. We trust and pray that the Lord used His preached word to accomplish in the hearts of those present just what He purposed to do. We now have about 5 new teens who want to begin discipleship classes since that service. Those classes will be starting this coming Sunday and we hope and pray that those young people are truly saved and that they will follow through with baptism and growth in the knowledge of Christ.
One of Bobby Wacaser’s English classes
Projeto Vida Van heading out to the southernmost state in Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul with 12 volunteers.
Our traveling evangelistic team, Projeto Vida, was ministering in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. They worked specifically in two towns, Flores da Cunha and Igrejinha. It might surprise some to learn that, even though the state of Rio Grande do Sul is one of the most culturally civilized states in Brazil, it is the least evangelized. In fact, demonic worship and witchcraft is much more common there than Christianity. We sent our team to help two new church plants share the gospel in the public schools and parks. Our volunteers shared their testimonies, performed gospel skits and preached to over 2000 people this month and there were dozens of professions of faith in Christ as a result. The pastors of those new works are now following up with personal discipleship of those who made their decision public.
I took a group of 12 on a mountain camping trip recently and everyone really enjoyed it. Especially because of Charlene’s 2 gallons of delicious chicken noodle soup that I took to feed them. We are in the middle of our winter season here and the temperature on those days was around 45 degrees inside the tents. The next day we hiked to the top of the mountain and the Lord blessed with beautiful weather and scenery. I like to use these outings to invite people who wouldn’t normally spend 24 plus hours with a pastor or missionary, but because of the adventure involved, participate. It gives me and my co-laborers several opportunities to live outwardly the presence of Christ in us. We have seen the fruit of these efforts on many occasions and we are still seeing it. Not to mention that the mountain hikes help me to keep in better physical shape.
Charlene and I are extremely grateful to you who pray for us and for your generosity that allows us to minister here in southern Brazil. May the Lord bless you richly.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
Winter in Brazil, but Hearts are Warmed by the Gospel
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
July 4, 2018
Dear Friends,
Here in southern Brazil we’ve just entered into our winter season, but our ministries are hotter than ever! Our traveling evangelistic team returned this week from 3 weeks of outreach into the interior towns of our state. The spiritual needs of the people are so great and God used our teams in some dramatic ways.
Shortly after our gospel presentation in one public school one of our team members went to the restroom. When he went in, there were four teenagers crying because of what they had seen and heard in our presentation. One of the gospel skits that was presented characterized a family that was torn and ravaged because of drugs and alcohol addiction and these teens were living in situations very similar. In the skit, the family found Christ as the answer and solution to their struggles and these youth realized that they too needed Jesus. Our team member used this opportunity to more fully share the gospel with them and all four surrendered their lives to Christ right there in the restroom. Later that night, at an outdoor meeting, they came to the front of the crowd to make their profession of faith in the Lord public.
At another meeting, a young man was impressed with the message that God is a loving “Father,” because, in his personal life, his father was the source of his greatest suffering. Because of his father’s alcoholism, his mother had abandoned the family and his father’s anger was poured out on the young man in frequent violent rages. On one occasion, the young man’s father fractured his son’s cranium by beating on him so violently. In anger and hopelessness, the young man ran away from home and got involved in drugs himself. He got caught by the police and went to jail and felt like no one loved him. He had recently been released from jail when he passed by the park where our team was presenting the gospel. He stopped to watch and listen to our presentations and testimonies. The Lord opened his heart to accept the grace and forgiveness that Christ offers and he surrendered to Him. He came to talk to one team member personally afterward and shared how joyful he was to sense the love and forgiveness of his heavenly Father even though his earthly father showed no care for him.
I gave three of our “preacher boys” an opportunity to preach at our home church this month and all three did very well. For Ruvian, it was his first time preaching publicly and he demonstrated a good grasp of God’s word and an ability to communicate its teaching to the people. I will continue to train all three and plan to give them more opportunities in the near future.
Charlene and I are so grateful to all of you who pray for us and give generously toward our ministry. Thank you so much and may the Lord richly bless you.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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
