18 New Apprentices in Training & Sharing the Gospel
February 2, 2025
Dear Friends,
I was in Brazil the last couple of weeks training a new group of missionary volunteers for this new year. Our traveling evangelism ministry partner, Projeto Vida, tries to put together at least two training seminars per year: one in January and one in July. This past month we had 18 new volunteer apprentices coming from four different states. A couple of other veteran missionaries and I were the speakers/mentors for this conference. We spent one week in the biblical study of missions and evangelism and then the students accompanied our experienced team of missionaries on a 10-hour trip to the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. There in a coastal city called Canoas, they spent the final week in one-on-one evangelism and outreach. The Lord blessed tremendously in at least two predominant ways: Lost listeners heard the gospel message and surrendered their lives to Christ and, also, our new volunteers were overwhelmed with how much the Lord used them to share the love of Jesus to the lost and are excited about getting out there and participating more.
While in Brazil, my former co-pastor, now senior pastor, invited me to speak to my former church. The good folks gave me such a warm reception. It was very encouraging to see how well Cledson has taken up the reins and how well he and his wife, Fabiane, are leading the church. One of the impressive details about Cledson’s leadership is how he guided the church through a very difficult and painful move to other facilities. I know how hard that can be since I’ve done it a couple of times throughout our ministry. It was clear that the Lord was doing the leading, because of the better location and lower costs. The former building was located quite a distance from a major road or street, but their new location is right in front of a main city bus terminal and a neighborhood park. During the course of a week, tens of thousands of residents pass right in front of the new location. The park also offers ample opportunities for evangelistic outreach through social interaction with the visitors and residents. And, as I mentioned, this better location also comes with a better price. God is so good!
I spoke with Yago and Manoela, our missionaries to Portugal this week. They shared the news that Manoela’s pregnancy is going fine. Yago got some good news about his “tent-making” vocational income as well. Microsoft Portugal has handed him a new set of working orders which assure that they will continue to receive a good portion of their financial support for an extended period. He had told me a couple of months ago that they had not received any contract information, and they were concerned that their income might cease. Yago conveyed to me, though, that he and Manoela were certain that the Lord was not finished using them in Portugal yet, so they were prayerfully seeking His leading and sustenance. With this new work order information, they can rejoice now that the Lord has confirmed their presence there for some time. We continue to pray for them to win lost Portuguese people to Christ and to build the church there.
On a personal note: After nearly three months, Charlene and I were able to move out of the hotel back into our home. The repairs after Hurricane Milton are nearly done, lacking only the kitchen cabinet tops and a little bit of electrical work. We still have not had much success getting our insurance companies to pay their due protection, but we will continue to appeal the process and pray that the Lord will lead us to a viable solution.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and kind support. We pray that 2025 will be a year full of ministry opportunities and results.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside ministering to 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
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
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
