Transforming the Outreach Strategy
Dear Friends,
October 29, 2020
We are finishing up a great month of ministries! Our in-person attendance at our worship services has reached 95% pre-COVID numbers and our youth ministry is actually larger than it was before.
As I mentioned in my last report, our traveling evangelistic team has had to completely transform its strategy of outreach. Our public schools continue to remain closed to in-person classes, which was/is our principal venue for taking the gospel to the unreached. Brazil’s school year begins in February and ends in December, so most likely, there will be no return to classes until next year. We did discover other means and locations to minister, though.
This month we worked in partnership with a ministry that feeds the homeless. Because of the virus quarantine, many people lost their jobs. Some of those were people who were already struggling to make ends meet and, especially, to pay their rent. Many of those were forced to move out of their homes and ended up on the streets or under bypasses. Through the homeless population grapevine, these folks hear of where they can get a hot meal and some shoes, clothing and blankets. We have been going out regularly to some strategic points to meet, speak with and help as many of these people as we can. In every situation, our teams seek to share the love of Christ and the message of the gospel. The Lord has blessed by bringing many to Christ as Lord and Savior. Also, those members of our teams who minister the word are greatly blessed to see God use them and they come away even more grateful for the blessings that the Lord has poured out on them.
For many years we have had teams come from churches in the USA to partner with us in evangelism. In all of these opportunities I have sought to locate local English speakers to assist in translating for these non-Portuguese speaking volunteers. Two former volunteers had moved to the state of São Paulo, about a 6 hours’ drive from our city. They had asked their pastor if he would allow them to begin a worship service in English at their church following their regular Portuguese speaking service. He agreed and they began right around the beginning of the COVID outbreak. They continued the services, but were required to do everything through a live-feed video and not with a congregation present. The two volunteers who had met with and worked with me a few years back contacted me to invite me to go to their town and preach in English for one of their live broadcasts. It has been quite some time since I last preached in English, but I am always open to the opportunity to preach God’s word, whatever the occasion. Charlene and I drove there on a Saturday, spent the night, I preached on Sunday around noon and we immediately returned to our own church in time for the evening service. It was a neat adventure and we heard that that broadcast service reaches an audience of over 1000 people in several different countries. We are thankful to the Lord for this privilege to preach His word and share His love.
We pray that He’ll continue to use us for His glory and to give us wisdom and insight on ways to be faithful despite the strange times we are living in. We thank you for your faithful prayers and support for us.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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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Good News about the Good News!
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
Dear Friends,
Good news about the Good News! I truly love when someone under my leadership calls or writes to share with me that the Lord used them to win a lost friend or relative to Christ. I got that privilege again this week from Priscilla, one of the young ladies from my church. She told me that for several weeks she had been seeking to demonstrate the love of Christ to a coworker of hers who did not know the Lord. She wanted me to know that she had listened to the teaching from the pulpit about letting our light shine to those around us in order to open a door for sharing the message of the gospel. She had been seeking to do that with her friend from work and that friend finally asked what she must do to be saved. Priscilla showed her from the Bible how to surrender her life to Christ as Lord and Savior and her friend did just that. She brought her friend to the very next appointed church meeting and they both were overjoyed by God’s mercy and grace. God’s good news is still good news and He is still transforming lives through it.
Because of the COVID restrictions since early in the year, we had not attempted any of our special yearly church events that involve close proximity one to another. Finally, in September, those restrictions were somewhat lifted and we were able to put on our first married couples’ meetings of the year. It was a wonderful success. Many of our church members were so excited about being able to get involved in planning and executing a special event that they went over and above in the quality of the preparations. As a result, some of our couples were motivated to work on improving their marriage relationships. Some wives shared with Charlene that their husbands took the teachings to heart and made some clear efforts to be more romantic and considerate. I am grateful that we are getting the privilege of being able to meet and fellowship more freely, as well.
Our outreach team, Projeto Vida, has used the pause in public school classes to find other ways of getting the gospel out to people who don’t go to church, even by invitation. We discovered that many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic have also lost their homes. Our homeless population has increased exponentially this year. The majority of them struggle to find enough to eat, so our team prepares hot meals and takes them to strategic locations where many homeless people gather. While serving their food, and afterward, we offer to pray for their needs and to sit down and talk about the issues that they want to share. We know that we can’t “fix” all their problems, but we do share the message of the grace and mercy of Christ and the power of God to change even the direst of situations. Almost all of them accept the food graciously. My hope is that our efforts have a double (or more) impact: 1) That those who receive our gift of a hot meal can see the love of Christ in us and behind our efforts and, 2) That our own members will be touched by the plight of those whose situations are worse than their own and will be grateful for God’s blessings and share them for the increase of His glory.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry here in southern Brazil.
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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
A Testimony to God’s Grace & Power
It is so wonderful to be back to having worship services together with our brothers and sisters in Christ in person. We are glad that we got the opportunity to learn how to use technology to increase our outreach while in quarantine, but nothing replaces the warmth of physical fellowship.
The great majority of our members are attending regularly and we have quite a few new people attending. Or at least I think they are new people. With everyone wearing masks, it is sometimes hard to identify everyone. We are hoping that this safety measure and municipal requirement will soon be removed.
Charlene and I had an opportunity to minister to a young man named Elizeu a couple of weeks ago. Elizeu’s story is such a testimony to God’s grace and power. For several years he suffered from debilitating headaches and seizures. The doctors discovered that he had a tumor on his brain that was causing this and they were able to remove it. Because of Elizeu’s gratitude to God for relief from his suffering, he offered to work as an unpaid volunteer for a social services organization that helps the underprivileged and shares the gospel.
Neither Charlene nor I knew Elizeu or anything about him before, but one of our church members heard that his family was in great need and asked if we would make a visit. It was suggested to us to donate some special medical supplies and nutritional supplements that he needed. I don’t like to just throw money at people’s circumstances without using the opportunity to speak of Christ’s love and grace. That was our intention when we went to visit Elizeu and his family. Instead, God spoke to us through Elizeu. This man had lived years with great suffering. A successful surgery had relieved that, but then he discovered that he had cancer in his stomach and it had to be removed. It would be easy to understand how someone in his circumstances could become bitter or cynical, but not Elizeu. We went to his home to minister to him, to share a word of hope, but it was he who ministered to us. We did deliver the medical and nutritional supplies to him, but God delivered to us a message of courage, faith and joy in suffering that we’ve rarely seen. Most of this man’s life has been one of hardship and pain, but he was so grateful to God for his salvation and for his purpose in life to tell of God’s goodness that we were amazed. Humanly speaking, Elizeu’s life expectancy isn’t very promising, but, WOW!, what a life lived for God’s glory!
Because of COVID-19 and the cancellation of the in-person school year, our traveling outreach team won’t be able to get into public schools until next February. We have been praying for and working on ways to get the gospel message out and we have found some that, we believe, will be used of the Lord. The whole country is tired of being cooped up indoors and we are planning some outdoor presentations of skits and gospel films in public parks where people are gathering. Our volunteers are trained to interact with the spectators at these events and seek opportunities to share the gospel one-on-one. Please pray that the Lord will help us to be successful in these endeavors.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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
God’s Providence in an Unexpected Delay
August 3, 2020
Dear Friends,
Charlene and I got to experience a strange, but not-too-bad situation last month. We traveled to Florida to visit with our children and grandson for an eight-day stay. Well, that was the plan anyway. The COVID-19 surge caused our return flight to be delayed by over three weeks! We didn’t receive any messages from the airline about the cancelled flight, either, until we drove four hours to the departure gate at the airport. We had to return to our son’s house and wait the next 23 days with his family until an airline provided another flight. At first, we were concerned that we would cause ministry problems back in Brazil by our unexpected extended absence, but the Lord knew about this in advance, of course. It so happened that the city’s mayor decreed that churches couldn’t hold in-person services for several weeks and I was able to preach to my church via live Facebook programming.
We have returned to our work and we are thankful to the Lord that we have also been able to return to in-person services. Our members are thrilled to be back together again for fellowship and worship of the Lord as an assembled body of believers.
There was also a surge in COVID cases in our city here in Brazil when we got back. In fact, we still have about 10 people who are sick with the virus. Most of those are from our traveling evangelistic team, Projeto Vida. A couple of them had to go to the ICU at the local hospital, but are showing signs of recuperation. We are extremely thankful to God for this.
We aren’t sure how much longer the public schools will be suspended, so we can’t plan to use that venue for our outreach, but we have been able to minister to some families in need who have suffered financial setbacks due to losing their jobs from the shutdown. We will continue to use the social media outlets that are available to us also, and we see a constant increase in our viewership.
Charlene and I have both been well physically. The Lord is gracious and kind and has blessed us with protection. We hope we don’t contract the virus at all, of course, but we also know that God is greater than any sickness and is able to heal us even if we were to get it.
We are so grateful to you who pray for us and make the sacrifice to contribute toward our ministries. We ask that the Lord would also bless you for your faithfulness and generosity.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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
Brazilian Believers Living Out the Bible
July 3, 2020
Dear Friends,
We are so thankful to the Lord for how He has both guided and blessed during these months of living in challenging times. As I mentioned in my last correspondence, we began posting our services live and recorded on the internet and our outreach has continued to multiply. We now have over a 1000% increase in the number of people reached than we had before COVID-19! God is great! We have also learned how to get more usefulness out of our audio/visual equipment than ever before. Before, we used it as a secondary aspect of our services, but now it is our primary way of preaching, leading in praise, staying in touch with our members and evangelism. Even when we return to having our congregation present, we plan to continue using these tools that the Lord has shown us how to use for greater effectiveness.
Almost 29 years ago, the Lord gave Charlene and me the gift of our little girl, Jessie. When she saw some of my sketches, she asked if I would do one of her with me when she was a child. I was thrilled with the request and this one depicts me taking her on bike rides in a local park near where we live in Curitiba, Brazil.
I have continued to work on developing my sketching skills that I discovered a few months ago. I pray continually that God will show me the best way to use this medium to honor Him. I am very grateful to those of you who have expressed appreciation for the work I have shared.
Charlene and I have been blessed. She struggled with some allergy issues a few weeks ago, but has recovered fantastically, thanks to God. We are both doing well and are enjoying spending a little more time together since we can’t have as much contact out in public as before. At least, I am enjoying being around her more. I’ll have to let her speak for herself. 🙂
We thank you for your faithful prayers and support so that we may continue to minister here in southern Brazil.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & 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
Obstacles Turned to Advantages
June 6, 2020
Dear Friends,
We are so happy to report that we aren’t just “hanging in there” or “staying safe”. The Lord has blessed through and in spite of this COVID-19 pandemic. Many of you have heard news reports on the severity of the virus here in Brazil, but I can declare joyfully that God is greater!
At the outset of this chaotic event I only expected that we would have a few weeks of disrupted ministries. Here we are nearly three months out and literally every aspect of our lives and ministries have been altered. The wonderful news is that God has turned what looked like obstacles into advantages to the way we were doing things. Pre-COVID, we were growing and reaching out, but because of the need do our worship services through live broadcasts, we now are reaching 300 % more people with the gospel weekly. Another benefit is that, pre-COVID, I was very uncomfortable speaking into a camera without a live audience present. Now, due to the providence of God, I have been able to develop an awareness of the invisible audience that is watching virtually. We have been granted legal permission to return to physical presence worship services, but we will continue to do live broadcasts of our services to a greater audience than we had before. God is amazing in how He sovereignly uses what appears to be negative circumstances in our lives to our good and His glory.
A very few times in my life I needed to illustrate an idea or scene but I couldn’t find or couldn’t afford existing artwork that fulfilled my purpose, so I did some simple sketches or drawings. I remembered that I enjoyed doing that, but I never took it beyond those simple attempts. Because of the lockdown of COVID, I found some extra time available to research how to improve and use the art of sketching with pencils. I discovered that I absolutely love doing it and I believe the Lord wants me to use it more fully for kingdom purposes. This may only be a temporary window that has opened or it may be the beginning of a brand-new way to glorify Him. Whichever, I will seek His leadership in how I can best serve Him with the gift that He has revealed to me. If you would, pray for God to guide me in how to use these drawings.
Our Projeto Vida travel team has had to put a hold on their schedule for the time being. Our main venue for going out to interior towns is to minister in the public schools, but with the pandemic, the government has halted all virtual attendance at the schools. Even assemblies in parks and squares have been prohibited, so we are having to focus on ministering to individual families in our local area. We are still seeing God use our volunteers in various ways, but we just aren’t able to reach as many as we do when we work in schools. God knows, so we’ll trust His timing and providential opening of doors.
We are extremely grateful for your prayers and support as we seek to honor the Lord with the opportunities He provides us here in southern Brazil.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & 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
Looking Past the Circumstances
Charlene Wacaser has served the Lord as a church planter in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil alongside her husband Bobby since 1985.
Hello praying friends,
I have to say that I am writing this letter in the oddest moment in my life. Coming to Brazil in my early twenties was a very different experience from what I grew up with. Adopting two children and raising them in two languages and cultures was exciting, but offered its challenges. Standing by my husband, Bobby’s, side as he helped to care for his aging father after his mother’s death and then returning to Brazil was an unexpected turn of events. But, living under quarantine conditions during a Pandemic is certainly the most thought-consuming event that I have ever experienced.
We received travel alerts from the U.S. Embassy in Brazil that we had to make a decision soon about returning to the States because all commercial flights would be stopped and there was no way of knowing for how long the travel ban would last. Both of our children and our only grandchild live in the USA and we don’t know when we’ll be able to visit with them again. But we do know that God has called us to minister here in southern Brazil and that He is using this pandemic to open doors of opportunity to share the gospel that we have never seen before. Besides, we thought to ourselves, what kind of a message of faith and love would we be giving if we packed up and left because of negative circumstances? We are so glad that we have stayed. Bobby has had to learn to “pastor” the congregation through social media only. That is quite a challenge for him because he loves to interact with people on a physical level.
There are three texts of Scripture that comes to my mind that comfort me in the middle of all this: Deuteronomy 32:10-12; Psalm 17:8 and Matthew 23:37. In all three, the image that is conveyed is that of a mother bird using her wings to protect her babies. In that, I picture God in His great love and power caring for and protecting us in all our struggles.
There is the struggle of being bombarded daily with scary news reports about the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In fact, one member of our church’s daughter caught the virus and the member herself is in the group of high risk. She is her late sixties and she has been through chemotherapy. Several of our church members have lost their jobs and others have lost a significant amount of their normal pay. What is exciting and encouraging is to see how our people have stepped up to put into practice the principles of God’s word that we seek to teach and exemplify. Without having to tell them to do so, some have called to let us know that they are willing to buy groceries for anyone needing them. Some have had to continue working because their jobs are considered “essential,” and at the same time they are exposed constantly to the risk of the virus and have to come home to their families.
I am challenged constantly to look past these circumstances and focus on the promises that God has given to use them all for my good and His glory. I know He will continue to care for me, even more than a hen cares for her chicks.
I do ask that you would pray for us to be wise and faithful in ministering in this new “environment”.
Charlene Wacaser
Charlene teaching ESL
Bobby and Charlene
Charlene Wacaser has served the Lord with her husband Bobby as a church planter in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
Charlene serving
Bobby & Charlene
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo 81050-310
Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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
Teenage Girls Surrender to Christ
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
April 2, 2020
Dear Friends,
Fortunately, Charlene and I are doing well. As in most of the nations of the world, Brazil is also going through tremendous turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but no one from our works has been infected, so far.
Just before our schools were closed because of the virus, our evangelism team was ministering in a small town in the interior of our state. There were over 1200 students in the schools that participated in our evangelistic presentations. Of those who attended, 23 made public professions of faith in Christ and another 15 rededicated their lives to the Lord.
After one of our gospel skit presentations, a teen girl talked with one of the volunteers, telling her that she was seeing a psychologist because of depression and thoughts of suicide. The volunteer evangelist shared God’s word with the girl and she surrendered to Christ. Later that night, at a presentation in the town square, the girl and her mother came to talk with the same volunteer about how God had replaced her depression with joy. That same afternoon she had gone to her psychologist’s appointment and, there, she had shared with him how thrilled she was knowing that God loves her and had forgiven her of her sins. She said that even the psychologist got all choked up with the transformation that he saw in her.
On Saturday afternoons our team offers community services such as haircuts, blood pressure checks and family counseling. During these activities, a different teenage girl listened as the worker shared the gospel. She asked to speak privately about what was going on in her life. Both of her parents had died and she and her siblings were living in a children’s home. There, she had to take care of her younger sister and her niece because her older sister was involved in drugs. Although she had heard of Christ before, she had never come to know Him personally. She said that she felt abandoned in this world. The volunteer who was counseling her had a very similar life story and was able to share with her how true God is to receive those who humbly come to Him in faith and surrender. The teen girl did that and confessed that Christ was her Savior and Lord.
Now, with the Coronavirus pandemic disrupting all areas of activities and events, we are having to find creative ways to reach out to people and minister. I have never been too fond of tech stuff, nor appearing before a recording camera, but I am having to get out of my comfort zone and learn how to share the love of Christ through social media. As a pastor, I am also learning how to shepherd my own members through phone calls and social media. Since I am a “hugs and touches” person, this isn’t ideal for me, but I can also see the Lord doing some amazing things through these quarantine measures that wouldn’t have seemed possible just a few weeks ago. The people seem to be much more aware of their mortality and emotional frailty. We are so thankful that we have God’s word to guide us during these times of human uncertainty. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we do know Who holds tomorrow and we are resting in Him.
We have received several alerts from the American Embassy here in Brazil advising us to either get out of the country now or expect that the window of return will be closed for an indefinite period. Charlene and I were expecting to return to the U.S. later this year to give a report to supporting churches and also get to see our kids and grandson. We do not feel, though, that now is the right time to go, so that visit may be put on hold for a little longer than what we expected. We know that God has all this under control and that He will take care of us and those we love. We will seek to be faithful while we wait for His good timing.
We greatly appreciate your faithful prayers and faithful support.
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
