Tampa Teens Share the Gospel, English Classes Resuming
August 9, 2022
Dear Friends,
Our church’s anniversary is on July 22nd. In celebration of its anniversary, each Sunday of that month, a different aged Bible study group gave a chorale presentation and culminated with a chorale formed with the church leaders. The church rejoiced in how God has blessed in so many ways. We have experienced phenomenal growth, by His grace.
During the month of July, we had the privilege to host a team from the Tampa, Florida area. The group consisted of 8 members who ministered with our Projeto Vida evangelistic team in 3 public schools, two drug rehab centers and in a homeless shelter. The group was very enthusiastic and helpful in each outreach effort. The Lord used them and there were many professions of faith in Christ through their sharing of the gospel. Half of the group were teenage girls who were very courageous in giving their testimonies in front of hundreds of students in middle school and high school auditoriums. I didn’t think about it at the time, but in retrospect, I’m sad that no young men/boys decided to come be a part of that group and share the gospel. In fact, we have noticed that more and more, visiting groups consist of mostly girls. Come on down, young men! Be valiant servants of the Lord! A big shout out to you young ladies who heed the call to share your faith despite the fears you face.
Our traveling evangelistic team leaves tomorrow for another two-week trip to the northwest corner of our state and then on to the Federal District where they have been invited to minister in several schools. We have the van fueled up and the team of 11 members is excited about the privilege of sharing the gospel to school staff and students. Please remember them in your prayers as they present the gospel in a variety of ways and venues. We do not take this privilege for granted because we know that it may not last long, just as it has been taken away in almost every other country in the world, including the USA. What we seek is to take advantage of it as long as it is open to us and seek to honor the Lord through the sharing of His word and love.
Because of COVID-19 the government shut down our in-person English classes back in 2020. This week Charlene is restarting one of those classes and she already has about 15 students signed up for it. The classes are offered free of charge to our community for the purpose of providing an opportunity to meet new people and share Christ’s love and gain an open door for evangelism. We have already had several conversions, baptisms, and church growth through this ministry effort in the past and we pray that this will be the result again. Please pray for Charlene as she teaches these students in the weeks and months to come.
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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Celebrating the Church’s 90th Birthday in New Building with New Professions of Faith!
June 18, 2019
Dear Brethren,
For a long time, we have known that we needed to expand our facilities if we wanted to continue to absorb growth. To that end we built a new steel building over the top of our old building. That was the easy part. Getting up the gumption to tear down the old building and rebuild was the hard part. It had to be done though, so on January 13th we held our last service in the old building. From there on out we held services on the third floor of the annex.
On January 18th we started the demolition. The goal was to move back in by the church’s birthday on May the 12th. Those four months were intense, to say the least. I only made three mission trips during that period. For the whole time I worked 10 to 18-hour days. Naturally, I caught a lot of grief from my wife (not so much because of the long hours), but because from time to time I was 30 feet above the ground in the rafters. The Lord protected us all and there were no serious accidents or injuries.
On May the 10th we held a three-day meeting to celebrate the church’s 90th birthday. Brother Joe Brandon organized the church with 13 members on May 12, 1929. Today the church has well over 1600 members including those who are in our 9 chapels here in town. Pastor David Hatcher was our guest speaker. On Saturday we had our annual pastors and missionaries meeting with over 100 workers present.
Our former seating capacity was 830. The goal was to double that with the new building. We put every available bench, pew and chair in there. We still had room for another 200 seats. We filled the building every night. The guys who take care of stats for me counted over 1400 on Sunday night. The best thing though was that during the meeting there were 24 professions of faith.
A few months ago, I designed the new pews for our new building. We managed to get 8 of those finished for the church to see in time for the anniversary services. We will be building over 100 of these to be able to fill those extra spaces and replace some of the older pews. I am telling this mostly for the following reason: I told the church that once we got moved back in, I was going to take off a month and rest. So just before I left Cruzeiro do Sul, I stretched out on one of the new pews to begin my rest!
Bev and I have been in the States for almost a month. We will be returning to Brazil on June 20. I still have most of the finish work on the building awaiting me besides 3 other building projects, not to mention all the other regular jobs that I must keep up with. So, pray and rejoice with us about all the great things that are happening in Cruzeiro do Sul.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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