The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.

Dear friends and family,

What a wonderful month it has been— yes there are problems that need solutions; yes there are needs that have to be met, but in all, God is so —so AWESOME!

The past two months we had the awesome privilege of doing another wedding. This one, for Barb and I, was somewhat special. This couple has been attending Church from the beginning of this new work. They have two beautiful girls and I had the privilege of baptizing one of these girls several months ago. To cut the story short, behind many hours of discipleship, counseling, and praying -the couple decided to get their life right with the Lord. After years of living together they decided to get MARRIED. How AWESOME is the Lord we serve. This is not an easy decision for most couples here in Brasil. Their wedding was beautiful, and now the rest of the story- they have asked to be baptized. They will need to have much prayer for them as they have chosen to obey the Lord in the two things in their lives. Satan will not be happy and try to destroy their relationship.

Other events that are helping to mark our Churches ministry:

1. The youth prison in our area. They house young men of 13 to 17 years of age. In the past two months we have had 10 more youth accept Christ as their Savior. What a field that is ripe for harvest. Would you like to come and be a part of this ministry, taking the gospel to these young men? On our last visit we were able to take Bibles to each of these young men. They are not allowed to have personal items in their cells but the one thing that they can have is a Bible. And thanks to many of you, we were able to purchase and deliver these Bibles this week. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

2. The Seminary. This ministry is helping to lay good foundations for the Churches that are to come. As a new Church start, we know the need for a good foundation for our Churches. And we know that this foundation is laid with Bible truths, so for the last year we have had two semesters of Seminary training. With this we have seen good results in respect to the spiritual walk of the members of our Church and this is a result of the training in the Seminary. Thanks to Gardenside Baptist Church and Pastor Derick in Lexington, Kentucky, who are sponsoring the Seminary and doing the teaching .

We are ready now to expand. Not only have there been classes in Caraguatatuba, there also were classes in Garca, Sao Paulo and Orlanda, Sao Paulo this year. In the three areas of classes this year we have had around 150 students and more than half are pastors. We see this as a great tool to reach our State and our Country, Brasil for the Lord. So we are expanding our vision of reaching more people for Christ. So maybe your question is “How do we reach more people for Christ?” behind a seminary. The answer is —Training pastors from various regions and sending them back to their Churches to train others.

This coming year we are planning 2 more semesters of seminary in 4 regions of Sao Paulo. The last of April and the first Week of May are the planned months for the first part of the year and then a fall semester hopefully in September. There will be an added city, the city of Sao Paulo, one of the largest cities in the world. It is over 54 miles across. This will add many new students to the Seminary. And these new students will spread the gospel even further and this is our goal for the Seminary.

The two cities outside of our city are both around 8 hours away from Caragua. So this means many hours of travel and much wear and tear on our vehicles. As you have heard in other letters our vehicles are old and giving us much trouble in repair work. But thanks to several Churches there in the States, we are being able to keep our heads above water in the payment of the repairs. Thanks to all who are helping.

We have had to sell our oldest vehicle as it was costing more to keep it running than it was worth. We have managed to purchase a semi-new vehicle with a loan from the States and are hoping to get many years of use out of this one. The bus continues to have problems but that is to be expected because of the age. But we will hold firm as the bus is a large part of our ministry. We bring many children to Church with this bus. So pray for our vehicles as the roads are better than they used to be but they remain the worst enemy.

Through it all, God is AWESOME!! We may have problems but we know that we serve an AWESOME God. With your prayers and financial help we can be successful.

Keep us in your prayers and THANKS one more time for your continued financial help.

We are gearing up for the summer season here and are anxiously awaiting your visit next year. There are many things to do for the Lord here, so come on down and help us. Your bed is made and the light is on on the porch.

In His service,
Aj and Barb

Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com

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