Sharing the Gospel with Disillusioned & Depressed Partygoers
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
March 4, 2020
Dear Friends,
Having finished our two-week missions training seminar, we now have four new fulltime volunteers working with our traveling evangelism team. The team went to work immediately after the seminar during Carnaval week here in Brazil. I’m sure you have heard of, or seen on TV, a taste of that awful “lust-fest.” Fortunately, our team was able to interact with many of the festival-goers, without having to be involved in their immoral practices. They shared the gospel with dozens and several people repented and surrendered to Christ. Our team formed groups of three volunteers to mingle with the people at large gatherings on the beach to pray and look for individuals who might give them a hearing. Contrary to appearances, quite a few of the party-goers were depressed or disillusioned with life and were open to discuss God’s plan for their lives. We train our missionaries on how to approach people outside of the walls of the church building with the gospel and, thankfully, the Lord saw fit to use them to bring several to Christ for salvation.
The Brazilian school year has begun again and so our traveling team will begin to go into the public schools where they were invited to share the gospel through skits and testimonies. Our newest volunteers haven’t had that opportunity yet, and they are excited about it. It is one thing to mingle in a crowd sharing the gospel one-on-one, but quite another to stand before groups of 300-500 people performing a skit or sharing your personal testimony. Please pray for all 15 of our traveling team members.
Charlene and I have started back our English as a second language classes. Between the two of us, we have 44 students between the ages of 8-17. All but five of these students come from the community around our church and are not church members. She and I give the English course free of charge so that we may have the opportunity to get to know them and their families and to share the gospel with them. We have been doing this for a couple of years, now, and we have people in our church who came as a result of this means of outreach. We are looking forward to being used to reach those that the Lord has sent to us this year as well.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support so that we might continue to share God’s love in our corner of His field of service.
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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Hopelessness Prepares Hearts for Eternal Hope
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
January 30, 2020
Dear Friends,
We just completed our first Missions Training Seminar of the year with 30 participants. Seventeen of those were from other regions of Brazil. The first week was spent in biblical studies and evangelical missions’ theory here in Curitiba. The next week the group traveled to Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, a 20-hour drive from our base.
You may have heard or seen on the news one year ago about the rupture of a mining dam in the town of Brumadinho. In that industrial disaster, there were 270 people who were killed. Though it has been one year since the disaster, the whole town is still badly traumatized. What adds to the townspeople’s sense of fear is that there are over 300 similar dams encircling the area and it is the rainy season there. Many people moved away, of course, but most do not have enough money to uproot, move and begin life somewhere else.
Our mission team found quite a wide spectrum of attitudes among the citizens of Brumadinho as they sought to share the gospel. On the one hand, there were many who are very angry; angry at the mining company that allowed the disaster to happen, angry at their loved ones for leaving them alone and even angry, blaming God for letting the disaster happen. On the other hand, the sense of loss and hopelessness helped to prepare the hearts of several to listen to God’s word of eternal hope and salvation. Our volunteers rejoiced to have a part in leading many to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. They themselves were moved emotionally by the sight of such devastation, but more so by the joy that God used them to bring hope and salvation where only sorrow dwelt before.
Hilda, their neighbor who recently passed away.
When Charlene and I moved to our neighborhood a few years ago, we thought that it would be helpful in getting to know our neighbors if we visited each home and introduced ourselves. When we visited, we would ask if there was something that they needed that we could pray about for them. No one was outright rude with us, but there were a few who evidently weren’t interested in spiritual things. One elderly lady, though, was very cordial to us and invited us in for a cup of coffee. She not only asked us to pray for her then, but invited us to return as often as we liked. Through that one lady, we met many members of her extended family and often prayed for her and them. During the recent Christmas holidays, we were out of town and received a message from one of her daughters that she had been admitted into the hospital with lung cancer and that she was gravely ill. We wouldn’t be arriving home for a few days, but her family told us that she really wanted to see us before she died. After we returned home, the very next morning, Charlene and I went to the hospital to visit her. She seemed to be unconscious, or in a coma, but still Charlene and I bent near her ear and reminded her of our Savior’s love for her. There was no evident sign that she heard or took in anything that we said then, but in less than a half hour after we left, we got a message from her granddaughter that she had passed away almost immediately after we left the room. I don’t pretend to know all, or even much, of what the Lord is doing in the unseen realm of this world, but I am certain that He was orchestrating the details of this dear lady’s life and death for His glory. As a result of that lady’s love for Charlene and me, her oldest son asked me to speak at her funeral service. During our years of visiting with her we had shared the gospel and she had assured us that she knew she was a sinner and in need of Jesus as her only Savior. She told me that she trusted Him and Him alone to save her. I shared that news with nearly 100 people from her family and friends and let them know that they too could have the certainty of their own salvation if they surrendered to Christ. By the Lord allowing that dear lady to “hang on” for just a few more days and minutes, a door of opportunity arose for us to share the gospel with her family.
We can see that God is at work all around us in huge citywide events, as well as small individual circumstances for us to make His love known to those who are lost. We want to be attentive to His guidance to step in and share the message of 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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Two Profess Christ at Christmas Presentation
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
January 3, 2020
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! We were blessed by the Lord so much last year, but we are already excited about the new opportunities and blessings in store in 2020. We know that there is always the possibility that trials and loss may be awaiting us, but we also know that God will be with us in any struggle and that He has already promised that He is working all things together for our good because we love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Our Christmas presentation at our church was very well attended and at least two individuals professed Christ as Lord of their lives at the invitation given at the end of the message. At least 30 of our church members were involved in the presentation in one capacity or another and they were very faithful for 3 months going to practices and putting together the stage and sound and lighting system. We are thankful that the Lord has blessed us with such dedicated servants.
Our traveling evangelistic team is taking a short break because Brazilian schools are on their summer break. Around the second week of January we will start our first missionary training seminar of the year. We will teach Missions strategy and theology for the first two weeks and follow that up with practical evangelism, both to crowds and one-on-one. We are expecting about 20 new students from four different states. At least two of these students will stay on to work with our teams for six months after the seminar and, possibly, for a year or more if God so leads them to do so.
Charlene and I have also given a break to our English students until the end of January since there are no regular school classes going on and most families travel on vacation anyway. We will start back up again in February and we are looking forward to how the Lord will use this ministry this year.
Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to carry the gospel to as many people as the Lord places before 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
Two Teens Turn from Hopelessness to Christ
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
December 2, 2019
Dear Friends,
At our English as a Second Language classes I got a wonderful opportunity to share my testimony with the students. One of them asked what brought us to Brazil and that question opened the door for me to share with the class how God had called us to come to Brazil to share the gospel of Jesus Christ which had transformed our lives. The students were emotionally moved by my testimony and I pray that the Lord will use it to bring them to salvation.
Our last couples’ meeting of the year exceeded our expectations quite a bit. We had about 20% more people turn out than we had been having at previous meetings. I just love this kind of a surprise. I brought a message from God’s word that I pray He will use to help the married Christian couples grow in their love and respect for one another. It is also our intended purpose through these couples’ events to attract families that don’t know the Lord so that they can hear of God’s love for them and be saved. At all four meetings this year we had several unchurched couples present and we saw most of them return to church to our regularly scheduled services.
Last month I reported how that our traveling evangelistic team met with strong resistance from the administrators in the public schools in Rio de Janeiro. The exact opposite was the case this month in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The team was given total liberty to share whatever message God had for the people. There were over 5000 people they were able to share the gospel with, between students and staff. More than 300 indicated that they were surrendering their lives to Christ. At the end of the hour-long presentation, the audience was invited to come and speak personally with our volunteer evangelists. One teenager had come to school that day with a pocket knife in his backpack and was planning to end his life at school because he felt that he was unloved and unlovable. After hearing of God’s love for him and how Jesus had given his life to save him, that young man gave the guidance counselor his pocket knife and said that he wouldn’t be needing it anymore because he knows he is loved by God and has trusted in Jesus. A different teen had been cutting himself and several of his friends told our team about him and how worried they were that he would take his life soon. His friends led a volunteer to talk to him about Christ’s love and forgiveness. The young man was so touched by how God showed His love to him through his friends, and even a stranger, that he believed on the Lord and handed them the razor that he was carrying to cut himself. He confessed that that very day, he intended to cut an artery and bleed to death because of how hopeless he felt.
I am so thrilled that the Lord has provided us with this amazing strategy for sharing the gospel where so many unreached people are starving for the lack of God’s word.
Our next major evangelistic thrust will be during our annual Christmas presentation. We have a team who has been planning and practicing a drama presentation for a couple of months already. We will be doing a two-day presentation at our church building the weekend before Christmas. Last year at our presentation we had the largest attendance to date in our building and this year we expect even more. There were also 15 professions of faith at the conclusion of that event and we pray and hope for even more this year. Pray with us that God will use us and our efforts to make His gospel clear and persuasive to the lost who will be in attendance at these presentations.
Charlene and I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed New Year of 2020.
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
The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
November 3, 2019
Dear Friends,
Let me tell you about the good, the bad and the ugly. We are so blessed of the Lord in more ways than I can fully share, but one of them is that almost all of our evangelistic efforts in the public venues are very well received by civic leaders. This past month we were ministering in several neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro. All of the schools received our team with open arms, except one. They did allow us to come in and to talk in front of the student body about avoiding illegal drugs, about suicide and depression, etc., but they warned us not to teach “religion” or to mention Jesus while using the microphone. That was the bad, but we were allowed to do our dramatic skits, which are done in mime, where Jesus was clearly portrayed as coming from the Father and giving his life as a sacrifice for man’s sin and resurrecting again. So, we still got to “preach” the gospel publicly and after the presentation ended, we were able to speak one-on-one with those who came to us privately to know more about what was presented in the dramas. That situation also helped to remind us that we are truly ministering in a world that is hostile to the Lord, but ultimately under His command. On the human level it is always a little disheartening to confront this type of resistance, but the Lord strengthened our faith by touching hearts even where our enemy sought to close the doors.
Two weeks ago, we launched a Jiu-Jitsu class at our church facilities on two days of the week. We have a very dedicated church member who is a black-belt instructor of Jiu-Jitsu and he has been asking me if we could provide these classes as a way to draw people from the neighborhood to the classes where the martial art is taught, but also to share Christ with the students. I thought it would be a great opportunity and we have 16 students already participating. We begin the classes with a time of devotional teaching and prayer, and we end with a reminder of the lesson taught. I joined the class myself, hoping to stay better fit and also to encourage others to participate.
Charlene is working with several of our volunteer ladies getting ready for our final couples’ event of the year. She always works hard and does a great job of preparing the environment for a meeting where the couples can enjoy themselves, relax and focus on listening to biblical marriage counseling and an evangelistic message. We are expecting a good crowd this month and we hope to leave the couples with a strong desire to be better mates and better fitted for serving the Lord as families.
Thank you for praying for us and for your faithful support. We know that God’s blessings will rest on you who seek to serve Him. Please know that He is using you beyond your own sphere of influence.
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
PalavraFest, Sharing in Schools & Parks, Headed to Rio
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
October 1, 2019
Dear Friends,
You may remember that I wrote how Charlene and I teach English as a second language in order to gain an opportunity to reach people who wouldn’t ordinarily come to a church service. We continue to do that and we are truly getting those opportunities. She and I teach different age levels and we both have English students who now come to our church services as a result. One of my students, a twelve-year-old girl, has also started bringing her entire family of six to church on Sundays. Our art teacher has also been able to draw several of her students to our worship services. This ministry is time consuming and requires effort, but the results that we are seeing make it worthwhile.
In our discipleship efforts at our base church we engaged in what we call, “PalavraFest,” translated, “WordFest.” This three week long event is pretty challenging for anyone, but especially for new believers. To complete the challenge, each person must read the Bible books of 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, 2nd Kings and 2nd Chronicles completely. Also, they must memorize the 4th and 5th chapters of James and, additionally, they must study and fill out a prepared Bible study guide that requires approximately 30 minutes of study per day. We are in the middle of our third week of “WordFest” right now and I am very thrilled that around 60 percent of the congregation has kept up with all the challenge’s requirements. One of the greatest joys to me is to see how excited everyone is at our meetings as each one recites the verses they memorized to one another and discuss the details of the Bible texts that they read during the week! Our aim, above all, is to encourage our church members to study and practice God’s word so that they will be better equipped to love and serve Him.
Bobby Wacaser shared his testimony in a public school in Tatuí, São Paulo.
This past week I traveled to the interior of the state of São Paulo to meet together and minister with our team of evangelists. We shared the gospel in several public schools as well as in two city parks. I can’t think of any activity in life that gives me a greater joy than to share the gospel in a venue like a public school or park. In the town of Tatuí, I spoke to a group of around 300 high school students and shared my testimony of how I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. As I spoke, I looked around the crowd and could see many who were crying as God used me to communicate His love and mercy. I believe that several of those who heard the gospel also surrendered their hearts to Christ. In the schools, we aren’t permitted to ask the students to come forward to proclaim publicly their faith, but very often, some of the students come to talk to us individually to share how they felt God speaking to them through us. Like I said, I can’t think of any greater joy than that!
Bobby Wacaser shared his testimony in a public school in Tatuí, São Paulo.
In a week, our team will be packing up to head out again to 2 different states of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. Both locations offer some daunting challenges. In Rio de Janeiro, the drug use and crime rate are very high and our team is at constant risk. We are confident that God is sending them and that He will protect and use them. In Rio Grande do Sul, there is a very high percentage of demon worship and ritualistic sacrifices of animals, grains and alcoholic beverages in nearly every public square. It is sad to see how blind the people in this state are to the grace of God. They are desperately in need of the gospel and we are praying that the Lord will use our efforts there for the salvation of many. Please remember to pray for our ministries.
Thank you for your faithful prayer and 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
Read more
God is Changing Lives through the Power of His Word
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
September 2, 2019
Dear Friends,
The winter break from public schools ended in August and our evangelism team was invited to minister in several schools in 4 different towns. The sheer number, alone, of people who were able to hear the gospel personally through our volunteers is amazing (over 5000 in one month). Most of these people have never set foot in any evangelical church. In the town of Prudentópolis over 300 people professed Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
I want to share three testimonies from among those who surrendered to Christ so that you may praise God together with us for His love and grace.
Projeto Vida preaching the Gospel in a public school!
Projeto Vida sharing the Gospel in an elementary school.
One teenage girl lives in a home where there is constant fighting and she herself is constantly abused emotionally. She had attempted suicide and even her own sister had tried to kill her. She was experiencing a deep sense of depression and hopelessness. When our group shared the gospel through a skit about family life without Christ and then followed that skit up with a message from God’s word, that girl sensed God speaking to her heart about her need for Jesus as Lord and Savior. When one of the volunteers was speaking to her personally after the presentation, she publicly called upon Jesus to forgive her for her bitterness and hatred of her family and accepted the forgiveness and mercy He gave her. She rejoiced immediately with what she knew was salvation by God.
In another situation, a lady sought out one of our female volunteers to share her deep sense of worthlessness. She had been betrayed and abandoned by her husband. When she was a girl, she had also experienced abandonment by her father. When he left, her mother had resorted to prostitution and became addicted to drugs. In her heart she harbored a powerful sense of resentment and hurt. After hearing the message of the gospel, she understood God’s love and forgiveness and was able to forgive those who had hurt her. She understands that Christ is now her defender and that she no longer needs to get back at those who have abandoned and abused her.
This last testimony reveals how powerful God’s word is.
When we go into a town to minister publicly, we park our van in a centrally located park or square. There we offer free haircuts, blood pressure checks, family counseling and activities for children. These services attract quite a few passersby and those who have heard from others about what we are offering. In the town of Paranavai, a woman kept hanging around our booths, but wouldn’t enter into any of them. This went on for most of the day. Anytime a volunteer would try to get close to talk to her she would shy off and not let them engage in a conversation. At the very end, when our team was getting ready to close up the tents, she finally came to the counseling tent and asked for a Bible. She still didn’t want to talk, so she just took the Bible and left. Later that night, our team returned to the same square to perform gospel skits, share testimonies and preach the Word. Not only did that woman show up, but she came with her husband. She had taken the Bible home and had let him read it. At the end of the gospel presentation, he came to the front to share the news that he had surrendered to Christ as His Savior. He said that he had only heard about Jesus by word of mouth from others, but that he had never read the Bible until that day. He also said that God had stirred in him a tremendous hunger to know His word more. Oh, how amazingly does our God work!
Please continue to pray for us and for God’s blessings on 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
Read more
God is Still Showing His Love & Power
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
July 30, 2019
Dear Friends,
The month of July is a wonderful month for us here in southern Brazil. One of the highlights is our church’s anniversary. What makes it a little extra special is that it falls during the winter season when the climate and culture lend themselves to a festive sentiment which makes it ideal for inviting folks to our services. We had a record crowd a couple of weekends ago which also led to our highest regular service attendance the following week. We are excited and thankful for the new opportunities to minister to those whom the Lord brings our way.
Our traveling mission team, Projeto Vida, was up on the state line that separates our state, Paraná from the next state north, São Paulo. Where they were ministering there is an extensive river valley called Vale do Ribeira. Along this valley are a number of towns and communities in great need of the gospel and our team was used of the Lord to preach and share there for two weeks. The public schools are our usual venue for presenting the Word, but they were on winter break and the team presented in the public squares instead. Still there were many who surrendered to Christ as their Lord and Savior.
School has already started back up now and the team will be traveling again this week to other interior towns to minister.
We are still rejoicing from the wonderful grace the Lord showed this past week among our youth! Four teenagers made public professions of faith in Jesus at their most recent meeting. One young lady, Maria, has been attending with her boyfriend, Eric for several months, and, finally, she surrendered her life to Christ. Two others were attending for the first time, but the Lord graciously opened their hearts to understand and receive the gospel also. I didn’t get the personal information on the fourth person, a girl, that also trusted in Christ. I will be meeting soon with their leader who will begin a personal discipleship program for each of these new converts. We are so grateful that God is still showing His love and power at work even when society, in general, seems to be more and more decadent.
Thank for your faithful prayers and 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
Read more
