Julio Boldly Shares the Gospel with Teens
July 2, 2024
Dear Friends,
Julio is one of our missionary volunteers who travels with Projeto Vida, our evangelistic travel team. Julio is a quiet man, usually not speaking unless spoken to. This changes, though, when he gets a chance to talk about Jesus. Recently, after our drama team performed some gospel skits in a public school, Julio was talking one-on-one with a teenaged boy. In just a few seconds, a whole group of the boy’s friends circled around to listen to what they were talking about. Julio saw the opportunity and sensed that the Lord was leading him to share with them all what Christ had done for them. He presented the gospel clearly and persuasively for several minutes. When he finished, he asked the whole group if any of them was willing to surrender their life to Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Fourteen teenagers’ hand shot up and they each confessed Christ as Lord right there in the school gymnasium! I am so thankful to have a part in Projeto Vida’s ministry and for young men like Julio for the boldness and spiritual insight to follow the Lord’s leading in presenting the gospel.
Pastor Cledson continues to lead the church in Curitiba in growth and outreach ministries. He has shown tremendous wisdom and awareness of God’s leading through some tough trials. There was an influential young man in his church who attempted to lead several other youth in an erroneous direction doctrinally, but Pastor Cledson was able to exhort the youth group as a whole using the Scriptures to show the fallacy the young man was trying to spread. The young man refused to repent of his error, but thankfully, the error was stopped from spreading on to the group through Cledson’s mature handling of the situation.
Yago and Manoela are still ministering faithfully in Portugal. Manoela still hasn’t received notice about her permanent visa, but they have Bible studies weekly with several believers and share the love of Christ through their daily contacts with the Portuguese people.
Charlene and I will be heading to Brazil in a couple of weeks to minister alongside Projeto Vida with a group of youth and their leaders from Virginia, USA. A couple of our old friends from Brazil, Rodrigo and Carol, have been teaching these young people some pantomime skits that we use in our public-school presentations. They have been practicing for several weeks and, when they arrive in Brazil, they will have the chance to perform these skits before the student body in several schools. Charlene and I will serve as translators, among several other functions, for this fine group. We ask that you pray the Lord will open hearts to turn to Christ.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside on Furlough from Brazil
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: 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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Reflecting on Blessings in 2023
December 15, 2023
Dear Friends,
As this year nears its end, we reflect on just how much the Lord has blessed us and our ministries. We moved to larger facilities in February and that allowed us to continue to grow and hold well-attended evangelistic events. Through those events, we reached dozens of neighbors and visitors and many of them, upon hearing the gospel, surrendered to Christ and have followed Him in believer’s baptism. Pastor Cledson is doing a fantastic job of guiding the church in this, his first, senior pastorate. They are presently putting on a Christmas musical play and we pray and expect to see many more people come to Christ as a result.
Projeto Vida is out on their last evangelistic trip into the public schools this year. Brazil’s academic year follows its below-the-equator seasonal pattern. School will be out for the summer from December to February. Our team will still minister in some public parks and at several end-of-the-year events during this period, but they won’t have the “captive audience” of 300-1500 students at one time that the school rallies provide. They will also take this window of opportunity to do some maintenance on our van and equipment. The Lord truly blessed throughout the year, and we were able to speak in person to over 40,000 people of Christ. Hundreds of those believed the message of God’s grace and surrendered to Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
The young missionary couple that we sent to Portugal, Yago and Manoela, called this week to report that the attendance at their worship and Bible study meetings continues to increase regularly. They are super excited about how the Lord is using and blessing them. Charlene and I plan to visit with them at the end of January for about a week. Portugal is in desperate need of the word of God and the love of Christ lived out before them by those who profess Him as Lord and Savior. May the Lord continue to supply Yago and Manoela’s spiritual and material needs and use them to bring many to salvation.
Charlene and I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside on Furlough from Brazil
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: 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
Projeto Vida Presenting the Gospel in Public Schools & Parks
July 24, 2023
Dear Friends,
Although Charlene and I have begun our US furlough, at the present, we are back in Brazil ministering together with our evangelistic team Projeto Vida. We also had the privilege to worship and serve together with our former church during their 11th anniversary. The new pastor, Cledson, asked me to bring the message and it was an honor and joy to do so. It is clearly evident that the Lord guided me correctly in choosing Cledson as the lead pastor. The church is very united and growing under his leadership.
The missionary couple that we sent to Portugal is doing well. Yago and Manoela recently held a community event to establish friendships and bridges with neighbors to win opportunities for sharing the gospel. They were joined by a couple of other Brazilian Christians and the worked together to share Christ’s love. They had dozens of neighbors show up and doors for future opportunities were opened. Please continue to pray for Yago and Manoela to locate the right home to hold the weekly meetings.
Projeto Vida had an amazing month of activities. The first week had to be spent doing maintenance work on the van and equipment, but the very next week was a whirlwind of ministering in 8 different public schools during 13 gospel presentations. Through evangelistic skits and personal testimonies, they shared the gospel to 1,635 students and staff in just one day. At the end of each presentation our missionaries interacted directly with the students, many of whom would seek them out to ask questions and share how they could identify with the message. Although we can’t ask the students to come forward and profess Christ publicly at the schools, these personal conversations revealed that at least dozens of students understood their need to surrender to Christ and did so at those meetings. We are so thankful to the Lord for this privilege to make Him known to so many that wouldn’t ordinarily step inside the doors of a New Testament church!
Charlene and I still have two more weeks of working together here in Brazil with Projeto Vida in the public schools and parks. We are helping by translating for some groups of American volunteers who are using their last weeks of the summer vacation to share Christ internationally. May the Lord use us for His glory. Thank you for your prayers and faithful support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside on Furlough from Brazil
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: 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
Warm Send Off, Currently Stateside, Gospel Presentations Continue
June 1, 2023
Dear Friends,
Let me start out by announcing that Charlene and I have begun our stateside furlough and will be available to visit and share our ministries with you or your church in the upcoming months. Our contact information is:
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Before leaving Curitiba, Brazil last week, we had a very warm send-off service from our dear church family there. I have left the pastorate in the able hands of Pastor Cledson Xenofonte. He has been my co-pastor and youth pastor for the past five years and the church has grown significantly due to his and his assistants’ dedicated labors. His wife, Fabiane, and he have two children (both teens) who are involved and dedicated in the church ministries as well. I feel confident that God placed Cledson on my heart to succeed me as pastor and I believe the church will continue to grow steadily under his leadership.
Although Charlene and I will reside this year in the USA, we have several mission trips scheduled that will take us back to Brazil a couple of times and at least on one trip to our new church plant in Portugal to assist Yago and Manoela. This couple has shown tremendous wisdom and a great work ethic as they are constantly setting up Bible studies and personal discipleship meetings. They are still seeking the right house to move to near the capital, Lisbon, so that they can reach a greater number of people with less waste of time and money on the highway from their present residence. Our church in Curitiba is contributing as much as they can so that they can afford the higher rent there and Charlene and I give personally as well. But since the currency in Portugal is the Euro and more expensive, they still need about $200 per month more to meet the additional cost of rent in the capitol. If you feel led of the Lord to give toward this investment in reaching the lost in Portugal, you may contribute by labeling your offering: Wacaser – Portugal Mission.
Our traveling evangelistic team, Projeto Vida recently returned from a three-week trip to the northwestern part of the state of Paraná. In the public parks and schools where they ministered, the gospel was presented to 1743 students and adults. Of these, 151 made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. We are so thankful the Lord continues to keep this window of opportunity open to us. We know that this privilege is being lost in more and more locations throughout the world, so we seek to take advantage of it to get the gospel out there.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside on Furlough from Brazil
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: 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
Souls Saved, Lives Changed
November 20, 2021
Dear Friends,
The expression, ‘very eventful,’ that some of us use to describe a busy period can be a little misleading. All periods of time are filled with events, be they noteworthy or not. I mention this because I was going to start this letter by saying that this past month has been ‘very eventful’, when in fact, every month is, for every person. So, what I will say is that this past month has been filled with some events that were quite noteworthy to us, and we hope to you as well.
The newly ordained pastor, Cledson, and his wife and volunteer leaders took about 40 of our teens to camp this past weekend and the Lord blessed in a tremendous way. Many of the youth were deeply impacted through the daily study of God’s word and the teaching they received. There were six teens who were baptized as followers of Christ at the end of this youth camp.
This last month we also had the privilege of working with one of the Projeto Vida (Project Life) teams in street evangelism. Our Agape team has been called upon to head up a citywide ministry to the homeless. There are many people, including entire families, that are homeless in our capital city. The weather here is generally cool almost year-round and when it gets cold these folks suffer for lack of shelter and warm food. I took three American pastors who came to visit our work out to the minister among those folks who came looking for help. The Lord worked powerfully to convict and save many of these dear people. While some of our team were feeding them, giving them haircuts, a bath and supplying some with shoes, clothing and blankets, we shared the gospel with them and the Lord brought repentance and faith to several. The Agape team leader, Mateus, is doing a fantastic job of following up with those who surrender their life to Christ. Some of them were addicted to cocaine and crack and several have, by God’s grace, gotten their lives cleaned up and have begun new lives living responsibly and drug free. I was so thrilled to see the Lord using me as a translator for these American brothers and know that His grace is never limited by language or bad choices in the past.
One of our friends and Brazilian brothers has been instrumental in a new church plant in a small town not far from the capital. He asked us and the visiting pastors to bring the message to the congregation while they were here. Their services are in a public-school auditorium on Saturday evenings. Since they don’t have a building yet, this allows the pastor to continue to minister at his sending church for the time being and there is no cost to rent the location. This setup also puts the new church in the middle of the community where they want to make an impact for Christ.
The larger building that we thought that we would be moving our church into last month didn’t work out. It was a little bit of an emotional letdown, but we know that the Lord is in control of all things and that this was not something that slipped by Him. We will continue to look, but we are also actively working on how to hold two services and two Bible study hours each Sunday to deal with the overflowing attendance. We pray for the Lord to give us wisdom and guidance through this process of growth plans. We are also thankful that this is the kind of problem that we are dealing with.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. Have a great holiday season.
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
Ordinations, Outgrowing Space, & Couples Being Used in Ministry
October 20, 2021
Dear Friends,
I can’t use the word ‘proud’, because it would assume that some credit goes to us, but we are very grateful and thankful to the Lord for our couple’s ministry leaders, Edinei and Debora. The husband, Edinei was an eight-year-old boy when we met him 35 years ago. His dad was an alcoholic and his family had no interest in the things of the Lord. Charlene and I started a children’s Bible club in the garage behind our house and Edinei was one of the first kids from our neighborhood to accept an invitation to come. He started attending weekly and eventually brought several other members of his family. Edinei came to know Jesus as his Savior and Lord and has been faithful in Christian service for all these many years. His wife, Debora, was 11 when we met her. Her father and brother were doing some remodeling work for us on our house. We became friends with their entire family back in 1995 and since then, she, her mother, sister, brother, and several other family members have surrendered to Christ. Both Edinei and Debora volunteer many hours each month in ministering to the married couples in our church and in evangelistic events to married couples. This weekend they are holding a retreat where we will work together to evangelize and teach 30 couples for three days. Charlene and I feel like the two are practically our children, but more than that they are God’s children and our co-laborers in His service. We are thankful for them.
This next Sunday we’ll have the privilege of ordaining two young men to Gospel ministry, Cledson and Adriel. Cledson is our youth minister and has been doing a fantastic job together with his wife, Fabiane. Our youth group has grown from 8 to 35 under their leadership in the last year.
Adriel and his wife, Lorena, are our traveling evangelistic team leaders. That ministry is made up of 12 volunteers who travel by a 15 passenger van throughout Brazil and South America taking the gospel to public schools and parks. Adriel has proven to be a wise leader to his team and a very effective evangelist to students and adults. It will be a joy and blessing to ordain these two men as dedicated servants of the Lord in spreading the gospel and discipling converts.
October 12th is a national holiday in Brazil (a patron saint’s day). Informally it has become “Children’s Day” for more commercial reasons. For whatever reason the day is celebrated, we took advantage of the long weekend to do a special event to attract families with their kids to our ‘Children’s Day’ gospel play. Our drama team worked for many weeks in rehearsals and stage preparations to perform the play in two services. The team did an outstanding job, working with a great attitude and sweet spirit despite the long hours and the personal cost of travel back and forth to practice for several weeks. The Lord blessed and we did have one 11-year-old boy make a public profession of faith in the Lord. The folks who were on the team were also greatly motivated by their participation in the event and the great reviews from those who watched. In fact, someone who saw a video of the presentation who attends a different church has asked our drama team if they would give the presentation at their church as well.
The Children’s Day presentation also helped us to come to a huge decision. We must move to a larger building. For the event we just held, we asked the church members to divide into two groups in order have a smaller congregation at each presentation, allowing the people who would come as guests to have a seat in our crowded auditorium. It helped some, but our last service was stilled packed to the max. This with only half of our regular congregation in each service and more than 30 workers behind the curtains engaged in the presentation. We are presently in the process of signing papers on a larger building. We pray the Lord will guide and provide as we seek to grow this church and as we train leaders to go out to begin new works as well.
We are super excited with all that the Lord is doing through and in us.
Thank you for your prayers and concern 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
Read more
Ministry Continues Amidst COVID-19
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
January 1, 2021
Dear Friends,
Last month I mentioned that a new wave of the COVID-19 virus was passing through our area. Well, it certainly did and Charlene and I were caught by it. To God’s praise, we both have fully recovered, but our youth minister is still in the Intensive Care Unit four weeks after contracting the virus. This is that same youth minister, Cledson, that had gone through several trials unrelated to health before. Our church people are praying earnestly for him and have seen much improvement in his condition.
Our Uber driver ministers continue to report many opportunities for sharing the gospel and praying for their customers. There are 5 or 6 members of our church who earn their income as Uber drivers. As a church we try to teach our people that they are all ambassadors for the Lord wherever they may be. These Uber drivers started out just trying to make a living for their families, but each one discovered that the Lord would open up opportunities for them to share God’s love with their customers. Sometimes it’s just an encouraging word to a fellow Christian, but on many occasions, they have been able to fully share the gospel with a customer and have the customer surrender to Christ right there in their car. It has been very encouraging to hear their testimonies. They all meet once a month to share their experiences, pray for one another and discuss strategies for how to better serve the Lord through this medium.
In a few weeks we are going to be hosting our first Missions Training Seminar of the new year. We are praying that the crest of the COVID wave will have passed by then so that our volunteers who have to travel from out of state will be free to come. We will be prepared to host the seminar online, if necessary, but we hope that we can have the trainees actually come and participate in our evangelistic workshops and outreach events. I will keep you posted on how these plans develop.
I am excited about what the Lord has in store for us to do in 2021! We know that the challenges can be even greater than they were last year, but we also know that the Lord will be with us through them and that He will provide the grace, the strength and the resources to accomplish everything that is His will.
We ask that you remember to pray for us. We daily need His guidance and strength to serve Him faithfully.
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
An Example of Faith & God’s Faithfulness in Trying Times
December 2, 2020
Dear Friends,
You may be experiencing similar circumstances in your area, but I did want to inform you of what is happening here in southern Brazil. A new wave of COVID cases has arrived and several of our members have been infected. Thanks to the Lord, no one has died because of it and most have recovered quite rapidly. Charlene and I have been blessed by not getting it, so far, and we pray that it will stay that way.
Our youth minister went through some tough experiences recently that helped us see that we are truly in a spiritual battle in this world as we seek to serve the Lord in a fallen society. Cledson and his wife, Fabiane, are very dedicated to teaching the youth God’s word and demonstrating its principles in their daily lives. They go the extra mile in showing love and faithfulness to Lord and to the youth under their leadership. There is a young man who had struggles in his home life and they took him into their own home to mentor him, even though he often pushes the limits of their patience. In one three-week time frame, he caused several accidental damages, though his carelessness was the main factor. They already live on a very tight budget and these damages were sorely stretching them. Last week, Cledson and Fabiane were pushed near to the end of their faith. Cledson makes his living as an Uber driver and this young man, without Cledson’s permission, took his car keys, started the engine and accidently popped the transmission into reverse while the car was parked next to the church’s brick wall. The car rammed backward, crushing the rear of the car and crashing through the wall. All together, the cost was more than 3 months of Cledson’s earnings, plus he would have to put his car in the shop for 3 weeks without further income from Uber services. He and his wife broke down crying. They know that “all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord…”, but on the emotional level they were nearly spent. They dried their tears and went before the youth to teach them that God is still in control and that they are trusting in Him.
They had no idea how they were going to pay for their daily needs, much less the repairs to the car and the church property. But the Lord amazingly showed His gracious mercy and love. The church members, though none are wealthy, pitched in together to cover their expenses for the month and the Lord answered a several months’ old prayer request of Cledson and his wife by having a company call him to work where he won’t even need his car. In the midst of their trial, the Lord showed Himself strong and attentive to their needs. They were super encouraged by the apparent turn in events and were strengthened in their faith. Also, the youth under their leadership learned a tremendous lesson on how to live out their faith in a very real and practical way through the example of their leaders. I am very grateful to God for the strong leaders that He has placed over our youth and I trust that we will have a new generation of faithful servants as a result of their teaching and example.
Another couple of amazing volunteers are Emmanuel and Maria. They are both retired from their secular jobs. As they contemplated retirement and what they believed the Lord wanted them to do with their lives, they felt led to be a part of our gospel outreach team. Emmanuel and Maria are just the kind of people that I want to always be and hope to teach and inspire the people under my leadership to be – selfless! As I write, they are together with our outreach team on a trip to a town in the interior of our state where they will share the love of Christ in public squares and parks. They’ll be sleeping on very thin pads and traveling in a crowded van, but they do this joyfully because of their love for the Lord. I am so thankful for them!
I mentioned in my last correspondence that I got an invitation to preach the gospel in English in a neighboring state. Well, that opportunity led to a re-invitation. Charlene and will be returning there in a couple of weeks and we pray that the Lord will use us to get the gospel out to the listeners present and online and that we will be an encouragement to the team who invited us.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support so that we may continue to be useful in the Lord’s service.
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
