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.

Friends and family,

This month has turned into a wonderful time of ministry in our area.  We have, with the help of our friends from 1st Baptist Centerville Georgia, completed another drywall project in our Church building (this area we will be using as a storage room). What a blessing. We were also able to do a Bible School at our Church and there were 53 kids more or less. We also painted the lower half of the Church building dark blue, and it completely changed its appearance.

We put many months of planning into the projects that were accomplished and when the group arrived we hit the ground running.  Everything turned out wonderful.  After the work here at the Church building, we went to the Indian reservation in Parati to build a playground for the children.  Now this playground area as it turned out was a monster of a project. It took three days of intense, muddy, hard work.

As we were working the children started to work with us. Helping carry logs, set up our tools and building their own things with our scraps. Needless to say the work slows down when children appear on the work site. But it was just AWESOME!!!  Now you might ask,  ‘Why did we build this playground for these children?’ The answer is simple, we want to reach that village for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Chief of this tribe is 95 years old, and on our other visits, he shows up to greet us and receive the presents that we bring him (usually I take a knife or a baseball cap or something personal for him) and he goes back to his home. This time as the construction began to take shape, he climbed up on a rise and began to watch (either the work or the children playing and us interacting with them). I think for the first time he began to see us   differently. This tribe has a missionary working with them and we just work with him in these endeavors.  We and he are allowed to witness to these Indians only in their homes, but this time that was different also.  As we gave them their food baskets (there were 25), we were allowed to pray with them where we were working.  As we were taking the group picture, the Chief disappeared and then returned with the most beautiful bow and arrow. He then presented it to me as the group leader from him and his tribe.

Now that might not seem like much to you.  However we were told later that this is the first time the chief or the tribe has given a present to an outsider.  We are working toward the goal to open this tribe so that the Gospel can be preached there freely.  In the 3-5 years that we have been going there, we only know of 5 people that have accepted the Lord as their Savior. That does not seem like much, but that is 5 that will not go to hell.

It is our prayer that you pray for them and the work that goes on there.  There are around 250-300 people that are in this tribe. They ALL need to know our Lord and Savior as their personal Savior.

It has been just an AWESOME month of work here in Brasil.

On the other side, our truck has just gotten out of the garage getting the motor overhauled and back on the road.  Thanks to Pastor Todd and Church for the financial help.  Our bus got out of the garage last Saturday but went back in on Monday.  As they were removing some parts to do some minor work, the brake drums fell our in their hands.  So we will be without a bus until these repairs can be done. We have had the shocks replaced, broken springs replaced, and the drive shaft support was hanging on by one screw, and now the brakes.  But God has protected us through all this. We could have had a big accident if any one of these things had finished breaking on the road.  But God protected us.  Is He not AWESOME!!!  And through all these expenses, He is supplying our daily needs.

Keep praying for the Church as it is growing each week. Sunday night we had 82 in attendance. There seems to be 5 or more visitors each week. To God be the glory!

Keep in your prayers the seminary in September, the Indian village, the prison ministry, the rehabilitation center and the orphanage and our health.  Thank you in advance for your prayers. And if you want to help with the expenses for the bus you can contribute through Baptist Faith Missions.

This month has also been one of celebration: Barbara and I have had our 48th anniversary and I am having another birthday. Thanks for all the well wishes.

In His service,

Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com

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