Missionary Update: The Hensleys in Brazil [June 2014]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
Friends and family,
This month has turned into a wonderful time of ministry in our area. We have, with the help of our friends from 1st Baptist Centerville Georgia, completed another drywall project in our Church building (this area we will be using as a storage room). What a blessing. We were also able to do a Bible School at our Church and there were 53 kids more or less. We also painted the lower half of the Church building dark blue, and it completely changed its appearance.
We put many months of planning into the projects that were accomplished and when the group arrived we hit the ground running. Everything turned out wonderful. After the work here at the Church building, we went to the Indian reservation in Parati to build a playground for the children. Now this playground area as it turned out was a monster of a project. It took three days of intense, muddy, hard work.
As we were working the children started to work with us. Helping carry logs, set up our tools and building their own things with our scraps. Needless to say the work slows down when children appear on the work site. But it was just AWESOME!!! Now you might ask, ‘Why did we build this playground for these children?’ The answer is simple, we want to reach that village for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Chief of this tribe is 95 years old, and on our other visits, he shows up to greet us and receive the presents that we bring him (usually I take a knife or a baseball cap or something personal for him) and he goes back to his home. This time as the construction began to take shape, he climbed up on a rise and began to watch (either the work or the children playing and us interacting with them). I think for the first time he began to see us differently. This tribe has a missionary working with them and we just work with him in these endeavors. We and he are allowed to witness to these Indians only in their homes, but this time that was different also. As we gave them their food baskets (there were 25), we were allowed to pray with them where we were working. As we were taking the group picture, the Chief disappeared and then returned with the most beautiful bow and arrow. He then presented it to me as the group leader from him and his tribe.
Now that might not seem like much to you. However we were told later that this is the first time the chief or the tribe has given a present to an outsider. We are working toward the goal to open this tribe so that the Gospel can be preached there freely. In the 3-5 years that we have been going there, we only know of 5 people that have accepted the Lord as their Savior. That does not seem like much, but that is 5 that will not go to hell.
It is our prayer that you pray for them and the work that goes on there. There are around 250-300 people that are in this tribe. They ALL need to know our Lord and Savior as their personal Savior.
It has been just an AWESOME month of work here in Brasil.
On the other side, our truck has just gotten out of the garage getting the motor overhauled and back on the road. Thanks to Pastor Todd and Church for the financial help. Our bus got out of the garage last Saturday but went back in on Monday. As they were removing some parts to do some minor work, the brake drums fell our in their hands. So we will be without a bus until these repairs can be done. We have had the shocks replaced, broken springs replaced, and the drive shaft support was hanging on by one screw, and now the brakes. But God has protected us through all this. We could have had a big accident if any one of these things had finished breaking on the road. But God protected us. Is He not AWESOME!!! And through all these expenses, He is supplying our daily needs.
Keep praying for the Church as it is growing each week. Sunday night we had 82 in attendance. There seems to be 5 or more visitors each week. To God be the glory!
Keep in your prayers the seminary in September, the Indian village, the prison ministry, the rehabilitation center and the orphanage and our health. Thank you in advance for your prayers. And if you want to help with the expenses for the bus you can contribute through Baptist Faith Missions.
This month has also been one of celebration: Barbara and I have had our 48th anniversary and I am having another birthday. Thanks for all the well wishes.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Hensleys in Brazil [May 2014]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
Dear Friends and Family,
Sometimes we don’t realize how fast our lives are going. I came to realize this in this past month. Barb and I went to the States for 3 weeks this month. I had my plans made to visit several Churches and get some needed check-ups done at the doctor’s office while Barbara visited her mom. We had purchased tickets for me to do this traveling so it would be easier for me to get to various Churches.
Well, we all know that our plans sometimes are not God’s plans. This time my plans did not combine with what God had in store for me. We got to the States on Wednesday and on Thursday I got word that my older brother, Big John, had been taken to the hospital. He did not make it to the hospital–the heart attack took him in route. I did not get to say hello nor goodbye to him. All our plans changed; however, one of the beautiful things that I can say is, that as brothers, we had an excellent relationship. Even more AWESOME I can say that he was saved and serving the our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even though I miss him terribly, I know from his life and testimony he is in a much better place.
We are making plans to visit the States in January and February of 2015 and maybe the ticket that I could not use to visit some Churches will still be usable. God is in control and we ask for your prayers.
So allow me to put some more prayer requests in front of you all. As you know streets and roads here are not in the best of conditions so we have lots of suspension and tire problems. Add the fact that our vehicles are getting old (the newest is 2001) and well used. We are now having to overhaul the motor in my truck. I just did this last year and it cost around $5000.00 and now it looks like we will have to do it again. So please pray for our vehicles as they are ESSENTIAL in our ministries. If you are financially able to help us with this expense, THANKS in advance. Since we are on the topic of vehicles, our bus is now ending minor repairs and this preventive maintenance hopefully will prevent major problems.
Easter came and went while we were in the States. The Church held the service on the beach and had a baptism in the ocean. I missed the opportunity to do the first baptism in the ocean. Now that we are back and have done visitation, we are ready to have another baptism and who knows–maybe they will want to have it in the ocean. Isn’t God AWESOME???!!! We are getting ready to have our Mother’s Day service. We are planning for the mothers of the children that come to Sunday School to bring their moms who normally don’t come. The Bible says that ‘a little child shall lead them’, so we are getting ready to present Christ and Him risen to these mothers.
Also while in the States, I had a very thorough check-up. It seems that the only problem that I have now is sugar. (No I am not that sweet.) Hopefully I can avoid taking medication by exercise and adjusting my diet. Sometimes we don’t think about healthy lifestyles util we are too late. To be treated here in Brasil in our area, it would be a problem because our hospitals are not really up to date–and this is an understatement. So pray with me for me to eat right and exercise to get ahead of this problem.
The end of May we will receive a group from Centerville Baptist Church in Georgia. They are coming to work and evangelize. How AWESOME is that when God sense extra hands for the labor! Their project is to help at the Indian village constructing a playground for the children. We will have backyard Bible School for the children while the playground is being constructed. It is really hard sometimes to realize how AWESOME of an impact this has on an area. It is not important where you go–it could be at the Church, an orphanage, or to the Indians, but just the fact that a group comes here is wonderful for our ministry. Our people can hardly believe that someone cares enough for them to pay for their tickets to come here and help them. This shows that God’s love is abundant everywhere.
They took a group of faithful Sunday School kids to the zoo one Saturday on the church bus.
We got back to Brasil on Thursday and on Saturday we took a group of Sunday School kids that had been faithful in coming to Church on an outing to the zoo. There were 17 kids and some adult chaperones. A wonderful time was had by all. Some of these kids had never been to the zoo and had not been on a long trip. We traveled 3 hours on our Church bus and Barbara did not let anyone sleep. She kept watch and who tried to sleep got their face painted with lip stick. The kids were helping her to catch those who went to sleep.
We have, as always, hit the road running when we got back. There were many visits to be made and many lives to be helped by Gods Word. Pray for us–for our health, for our finances, for the ministry, for the plans that we are trying to complete at the Church and for the attacks that Satan is hurling at us.
We would love to have you come and see what God is doing here in Caraguatatuba and for you to be a part of this work. Come on down we will put some more water in the beans and throw some more grains of rice in the pan.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [December 2013]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
Dear Friends and Family,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all from the beautiful country of Brasil. As you know there is some difference between the temperature here and there. Here we are in the 90% humidity and it is on the increase. How AWESOME is the God that we serve! There are many differences in our countries, cities, customs —-but only one Savior.
This month we are doing a lot of physical labor on the home where our Brazilian pastor is living, building closets, painting and whatever else needs to be done. I am being the handi-man for a while. If you have thought there is no physical labor on the mission field think again. Now for an advertisement, I think, and that is dangerous, that every missionary on the field needs a handi-man. So what I am saying is: “We need groups for construction projects.” Sometimes our need to do construction takes us away from the main thing, which is spreading the Gospel here in Caraguatatuba. So could you plan a mission trip with construction in mind? When planning this kind of trip you need to take into consideration that we not only need help with the construction but we need help with the financial part too.
We are working very hard on the things for the month of December. We have 40 or more children that we would like to give Christmas presents to and with your help we will be able to do this. We are asking our members to participate in this effort and we have had great response. If you would like to be a part of this just mark a contribution for children’s Christmas. Any and all help will be appreciated.
Our children are participating in the Christmas story for the Church. They are practicing the songs to sing and we will have a manger with Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus. Pray that the parents will come to see their children and hear the true Christmas story. Hearing their practice each week is putting the feel of Christmas in the air.
We have started two small groups on Friday nights. This is a time for studying the Bible for prayer and discussions about things from your daily life. Both are serving dual purposes as we have two women that are home bound and this also brings Church to their homes. One is in Gloria’s home. Her condition , for those of you who are praying for her, is progressing and I wish I could say the same about her treatment. We have been running from one Doctor to another and from one hospital to another for some months now. We finally got answers this past week. She does have cancer in the uterus and will have to have treatments. She will have to have chemo and radiation therapy starting on the 19th of the month. This will be for 30 days. Then they will do tests to see if she will still need surgery. Continue to pray for her to be strong and continue to rely on the Lord as she has done for so many months. Please pray for Gloria as she still has 3 children under age and one other living in her home. Pray for us as we are bending over backwards to do all we can for her and the family.
Throughout all this we have seen first hand again how the National Health program works. It is not a good thing!!! So, not trying to be political, but there in the States you are in for many issues and major problems with the health care that is being put into place there.
The second place that we are having the group is in the home of Jandira, another widow lady of our Church. She has had an infection in her leg for well over a year. This is the second time in this year that she has been put on total bed rest. The doctors are trying to take care of this problem with meds and rest but I am not seeing any progress. She does not have any children living with her so she is alone in this struggle except for her Church family and one adult son. Please pray for her and her financial needs. Her meds are very expensive and her income is very little.
I know that this sounds like lots of problems. But for our small Church it is a blessing. We are able to help financially, physically, and spiritually. God is AWESOME!!! Continue to pray for our Church and the many works that are being realized through her.
Thank you all for the many gifts and for the prayers that you say every day for us here. Without the help of many we would not be able to reach as many for the Lord. Again THANKS!!
As always, think about coming down and being a part of the work that is going on here in Caragua. We love to have groups come and help. You can see that your mission dollars are being utilized in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.
Just say that you are coming and give us the date and we will put some more water in the beans and turn your bed down.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [July 2012]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
Friends and family,
Well, let me tell you about my grandchildren….. You know it is a little bit heartbreaking when you only get to see your grandchildren once every year or two. But God gave us two down here in Brasil so we could see them with more frequency. Then He moved them 9 hours away too. But this past week Barbara went to spend some time with our daughter in Sales Olivera. The reason for this trip was that Mary’s oldest was having surgery. She had her tonsils and adenoids removed. Well, during that time Papaw had to stay home and house keep and keep our work going. Saying this for you men because you know that house keeping skills—what is that??? Well Miss Chelsea is doing well in recovery and Barb is back at home and rescuing the house.
We have had the Blessing of helping a new missionary to Brasil get established in their new home and their new surroundings. They sold out in the States and moved here with 18 bags and started setting up their new home. They have 3 young children ages 4 years, 2 years and 3 months. How BRAVE they are. Their home was in Georgia. So to get them “Broke in” to Brasil we met them at the air port with our van and our truck. Did I mention 18 bags? Well those were not ordinary bags they were “body bags” in other words “BIG” So the road back to our city is being made bigger and they are blasting so it is closed from 10 to 4. This means that we only have a small window of time to get them at the airport and get back past the closed road. Well needless to say we did not get everything done on time so we had to take a LONG short cut. On this long short cut our van broke down so our 3 hour trip turned into an all day journey. This was their welcome to Brasil greeting. We spent the biggest part of the day in a van on an unknown part of the country with a baby crying, hungry children, tired passengers, no water—and the list goes on.
Along with this couple and their family we have 2 young men from Georgia that is going to spend 6 weeks with us here helping with the work. What an honor it is to be a part of these young men’s lives. Ross is from First Baptist Church in Centerville, Georgia and is going to Seminary and Luke is from Second Baptist Church in Warner Robbins Georgia and has a love for missions.
As we minister here we always have our eyes open for the opportunities God has for us. We have discovered an Indian tribe within 2 hours drive from our home and are looking into the possibilities of doing some Bible Schools there. We have learned that there are many needs in this tribe so we are excited to see what we can do for them. Hopefully we can tell you more in the next newsletter.
Speaking of ministry our church has had many visitors this past 2 weeks. I think it is because of the vacation from school. So we are having a problem here at Church—we are running out of chairs. But I should not be complaining, What a great problem to have!!!How AWESOME is the God we serve.
So as I am looking around at our problem it registers; we are renting this building and we are at 80 to 90% capacity, no more space for Sunday School, no parking and no money– what are we to do—simple, PRAY more.
So with this list of problems we are asking you to pray with us for us and we know that our God is an AWESOME God and He will supply.
The work at the Vocational School is progressing slowly. We are working on laying tile on the floors, the walls and getting the electrical work finished and looking at the color selection for the walls. If you think you heard these same things last month it is because things go a bit slower here than in the States. We have learned to go with the flow.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers, financial support, and encouragement.
Well, you did not let us know if you wanted to come down so the rooms are full and the mints are gone off of the pillows, but there is always next month. So let us hear from you. Come on down!!!
In His service,
Aj and Barb
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [February 2012]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
Dear friends,
Aj and I have been in the States for a while and have traveled to various Churches. We will be here through March so if we have not seen you yet, maybe we will see you in the next month.
During our travels we realized that many people have never heard my testimony. So we thought that this would be a good time to let you hear about Barbara Alaine Hensley. I was born in Owsley County, Kentucky to Hubert and Reba Baker. I grew up in a Christian home. Before we had a car we would pay a taxi to take us to Church, but because we could only afford a taxi once, we would walk back home. That walk was about seven miles. At this time I was small, so my dad would carry me on his shoulders and my mom would lead my sister Ada Marie. It was after this period of my life that my dad was called to be a Pastor. We lived in the Appalachia where almost all of the homes had no indoor pluming and their potties were on the outside. We were no different from those homes. As we grew my dad opened many mission points and we, as a family, helped him in those works. Our week was very busy as we were were in Church 4 times on Sunday and every night of the week except for Monday night. In these times most of the people did not have transportation. We would pick them up and take them to the services. We were blessed with an old panel truck and dad had made benches in the back. That way we could take lots of people.This truck was always full to the brim. Our home was always open to visitors and sister and I were always giving our bed to visitors. Mom could whip up a meal in a little time and she could take the little that we had to make it stretch to fit the numbers.
When I was 9 years dad accepted a Church in Owensboro. It was there that I accepted Christ as my savior.We only stayed there for two years and then moved back to Booneville,Ky. Back in Booneville we continued the work that we had been doing before. I remember on Sundays we did not even have time for lunch as we did a relay getting to each of the mission points. We would have Sunday School at Elk Lick Baptist Church then dad would take mom me and my sister to the first mission where we would have Sunday School and dad would go preach at the other mission then he would come preach at the mission point where we had just done Sunday School and then we would go back to the main Church for night services.
I met Aj when I was in my junior year of high school. We dated for 2 years and married in 1966. It was not til 1996 that Aj surrendered to be a missionary and Baptist Faith Missions sent us to Brazil. Many people ask me when I received my call to become a missionary and I tell them that it was when I was born. Because you see God knew my life and knew each step that I would take and He knew that he had prepared Alex Hensley to be my husband and He knew that Aj would become a missionary. He prepared me from birth with each and every thing that I was doing with my parents because He knew that I would go through all these same things in Brazil.
At one of the Churches that we were visiting these past weeks I had a pastor ask me to forgive him and I said that I would but would he please tell me why. He said that when Aj came before BFM to be sent out he had told someone that we would not last on the field. The reason he gave for his opinion was that I would not make it on the mission field. He did not know of the rigorous training that I had went through to get me where God wanted me to be.
The one thing that I know is that God equips those that He calls. And here we are 16 years later and still going strong in Brazil. To God be the glory.
We would love to have you come down and see what God is doing there in Caraguatatuba, Brazil. Our home is open to visitors and the light is on and the mint is on the pillow. So come on down.
In His service,
Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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