Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser in Brazil [March 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
March 6, 2015
Dear Friends,
I got one of those horrible painful calls this week. My youngest sister called to tell me that my 80 year old mother has been diagnosed with Leukemia. She also said that it is in a very advanced stage and that she doesn’t have much time on earth. My mother knows Jesus and she is ready to go home to him, but I ask that you would pray for her to have the strength and grace to honor him in her final days in her pain and suffering. My dad has failing health also and the news about his bride of 64 years having a terminal illness has left him nearly without a will to live, himself. My wife, Charlene, and I will be taking a furlough to the US for some months to help my brothers and sisters out during this trying time for us all. All of our ministries here in Brazil are in the good hands of leaders and helpers we’ve prepared for just such a time as this.
Despite these weighty circumstances, we will continue our ministry partnerships with our Brazilian church, Projeto Vida and our young missionary to a Muslim country to the degree that it is possible. In fact, we have a group of 48 teenagers arriving in just a few hours to spend a week evangelizing in the local schools and public parks.
We will have the thrill of baptizing on this coming Sunday one of our first translator volunteers who recently surrendered his life to Christ. His name is Milton and he is 65 years old. When we met Milton 14 years ago he claimed to be an atheist. He loved to help us translate the gospel message every year when this group of youth comes, but just this winter, Milton sensed the Spirit of God speaking to him to repent and accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He did that and now he wants to be baptized and let everyone know that he is now a follower of Christ. We are so thrilled and thankful to God for His mercy and persistence to extend salvation, even when we first reject His love. Milton is my new brother!
Before we leave Brazil next week, I am planning to seek out 3 of my close friends who have come to church on many occasions and, with whom I have shared the gospel several times, to seriously consider surrendering their lives to Christ. We never know how long we have in this world or what events may take place affecting future opportunities to share Christ’s message of salvation, so I don’t want to leave these friends without making an extra effort to persuade them to trust Christ. I pray that their hearts will be receptive to His grace.
Charlene and I are so thankful to all of you who pray for us faithfully and give so that we may serve the Lord through Baptist Faith Missions. We trust that He will bless you both now and eternally for your faithfulness.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)481-7007
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser [February 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
February 8, 2015
Dear Friends,
When I went to renew my Brazilian driver’s license recently, I got an unpleasant surprise. Before I could renew it, I would have to go through a 30 hour defensive driving course. This punishment was the fruit of a good deed to a needy friend. I had loaned my old spare pickup truck to the husband of one of my church members. He had recently arrived from Germany and didn’t have a job and needed transportation to get out looking for work. He wasn’t aware that our city has speed radars scattered about and in just a few weeks he had accumulated enough violations to have his driver’s license suspended. Except it wasn’t his that got suspended, it was mine. Usually the driver is responsible for these fines and the ensuing points against one’s driving record, but in our case, the fines were sent to my old address and the time frame allowed to transfer those points to his license had already expired before we even knew that he’d gotten them. So, off I went to defensive driver’s classes. Apparently a bad thing, but not with God. My time spent in lock up, I mean, defensive driving class, put me in contact with some people that the Lord wanted me to share Gospel with that I would not ordinarily come into contact with. Through the class interaction and discussion, several opportunities arose that allowed me to share my testimony of coming to know Christ and also to present the Gospel to our teacher and other classmates. Without even asking them to come, the teacher and one other fellow inmate asked me for our church’s address and the times of services. I hope and pray that they go, but I already thank God for the opportunity to share His word and love.
I had a meeting this week with Alysson, the young man who will be going to _____________ on a two-month missionary journey this spring. He is in intensive training for how to evangelize in a Muslim nation. I will have to leave the name of his destination blank for security purposes. I may have already said too much in the past, but I pray for his safe journey and prosperous efforts to share the Gospel there. He is extremely bold and courageous and trusts the Lord completely. Please keep him in your prayers as he seeks to honor the Lord where He is not preached.
Projeto Vida is starting its public school outreach ministries again next week. That is, if public schools start back up. Between state and national politics and misappropriation of funds, the public school teachers and administration haven’t been paid for months and are threatening to strike if they don’t get paid soon and with raises. Most private schools will start on schedule, but our main venue is in the public school system and it’s also where we reach many more people. We know that the Lord is in control of this situation and we’ll be praying that He’ll open the doors when He sees fit.
Keep us in your prayers.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)481-7007
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser in Brazil [December 2014]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
December 8, 2014
Dear Friends,
We had to get out the baptismal pool again last week. We are thankful that Ella Mari surrendered her life to the Lord a few weeks after her friend invited her to our services. We have been witnessing to her and teaching her the Scriptures and she came to me after a Sunday evening service a few weeks ago to tell me that she wanted to be a follower of Jesus. We thank God that He is still transforming lives.
Projeto Vida in a public school
One of our Projeto Vida teams will be returning today from a 5 day trip into the interior of our state. There were 15 volunteers participating, sharing the gospel through drama skits, choreographed music, testimonies and preaching. They had the chance to present the message to over 400 people during these days. The town where they were working does not have a single New Testament church in it. It is just one of the thousands in our region of Brazil that is without a gospel witness. I am meeting with my team leaders to pray for the Lord’s direction on how we might best begin to plant churches in these cities. It breaks my heart to see entire regions where the Name of Jesus is not known or praised. We are seeking to change this situation with God’s help and direction. Pray together with us.
One thing that we do know from Scriptures about how to reach these folks with the gospel is to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers. We believe that the young men and women that are coming to our services and participating in our ministries are the next generation of missionaries to these locations. We are teaching them the Word of God and training them from our experience how to get the message of salvation to the lost who are without Christ. We train as many as possible and pray that God will place an unquenchable burden on their hearts to take the gospel to these folks. We don’t know which ones will be the “goers”, so we prepare them as if they all are going and let God work out the specific calling details.
Another year is ending in which the Lord met our every need and blessed us with much fruit in our ministries. We want to take this opportunity to thank you who prayed and/or gave so that we might be in this part of God’s mission field in 2014. May the Lord bless you in 2015 and may His Name be further glorified as we seek together to share His love.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)481-7007
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser in Brazil [November 2014]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
November 6, 2014
Dear Friends,
With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up we are more vividly reminded to be thankful for all that the Lord is doing for and through us. We are thankful for the health to work and the faithful support you give us through your prayers and generous giving. We are thankful that our children love and live for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our young missionary, Alysson, who had spent a couple of months evangelizing in the Amazon jungle is now preparing to go to _________ on a two year mission project. He will be working together with a group that specializes in youth evangelism on college campuses. Although the culture will be a major contrast to what he experienced in the jungle, he knows the basic need of humanity in any culture is to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will give you periodic updates as Alysson’s mission preparations develop.
Later this month we will be ordaining to the ministry my co-leader, Alek Rossi. He has proved himself to be solid in the word of God, full of integrity and character and gifted in teaching and leadership. He is married and his wife, Livia, exhibits all the biblical traits of a godly woman and she is supportive of his leadership at home and in ministry. In just over one year Alek and Livia have led our youth group to grow from 5 to over 30. Not only has the group grown numerically, but these youth study the Scriptures daily and we can see them living out the teachings of God’s word. It is wonderful to have a co-laborer who can handle the Scriptures faithfully and we are certain that his ordination is a step in the right direction, for his life and for the church.
In Brazil, the school year ends around the first week of December. Since our main venue for our Projeto Vida teams is in the public schools, our traveling teams will work hard until the break and then we’ll suspend most of their activities until the early part of February when school starts back up. Only one team will remain active throughout this period working to help local churches with Vacation Bible Schools and various evangelistic outreach projects. The Lord allowed us to overcome some serious obstacles during 2014. We were able to get all our bus/motorhomes back operating after some expensive repairs were needed and accomplished. We are thankful.
Thank you who gave and prayed faithfully toward this.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)481-7007
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [October 2014]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
October 3, 2014
Dear Friends,
I missed giving you a report last month on what’s going on, so I’ll try to get you caught up without making this letter too long.
In my last report, I mentioned that we were sending one of our young evangelists out into the jungle region where Brazil and French Guyana share a border. Alysson, our volunteer has now returned from that trip and has shared the experiences and results that he had while working there. In the course of one month the group went to several villages of Indian tribes and a few towns of small population. They were able to share the gospel in hospitals, public schools, public squares and in 67 homes. In all, they spoke to over 3390 persons and, of these, 750 made a profession of faith in Jesus. Alysson was so encouraged that now he wants to prepare to go to other regions as a missionary.
Our motorhomes are all running again and we have 3 teams out sharing the gospel as I write. During the last two months we took two of our teams to some neighboring towns to evangelize in the public schools and parks, as well as assisting some local churches with their missions training. Projeto Vida has gone through some very trying times, both financially and some health issues. Our leader of this ministry, Paulo Novaes, received a doctor’s report that he has cirrhosis of the liver. He, of course, is concerned and is having to change his diet, his exercise program and was advised that he’d have to stop stressing. It is this last item that is the most difficult. There are over 50 volunteers involved in this ministry and their well-being is a constant concern. Also, there are all the issues involved in maintaining 4 motorhomes equipped, fueled and running properly. Add to that, the relational issues between 12 people per motorhome living together in a small space for 3 weeks per month, 9 months per year. These are stress-generating issues, to say the least. Please pray for Paulo that he may know how to fully surrender these issues to the Lord and not let them destroy his health.
We just went through a rough period with the death of my co-pastor’s aunt. Glenda fought with breast cancer for nearly one year. She maintained a strong testimony to God’s grace and love throughout the ordeal, but the Lord saw fit to take her home last Sunday. Many of you have had to suffer a similar battle, either from having cancer yourself, or accompanying a loved one who had it. You know how hard this battle can be. My co-pastor’s family was strengthened by God’s grace as a result of this battle and we have seen in many ways how trials truly serve for our growth and spiritual well-being. We rejoice that Glenda no longer suffers the pain and uncertainty of how to please the Lord in sickness, but we are saddened by the family’s loss of their loved one.
Our church is experiencing encouraging growth, especially among our youth and children’s ministries. I am amazed every week while I’m preaching to look out upon the congregation and see so many new faces of folks that I’ve never met. Even more exciting than this is that they return week after week and several have come seeking to be baptized as followers of Christ. Next week we will be scheduling a baptismal service for 6-7 converts. We are so thankful to the Lord for using us and blessing us with these signs of His power at work around us.
Thank you for your continued prayer and faithful giving so that we may continue to serve the Lord here in southern Brazil.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)481-7007
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [June 2014]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
June 6, 2014
Dear Friends,
I’m a happy man! Nothing makes me happier than seeing God get glory through my life and the life of my family. I get my greatest joy from seeing my family happily engaged in spreading the good news of Jesus’ love to others, and I’m getting a double dose of that right now.
My wife, Charlene, has been such an instrument in touching the lives of the families of her aerobics classmates. For years she has faithfully been an example of kindness and love among them and lately her effectiveness has only increased. So much so that these ladies have spoken with their kids at home about Charlene and, now, these kids want to hang out with her and join with her as she interacts in the public schools and parks sharing the gospel. Now I know that part of the attraction to her is that she is beautiful inside and out, and another is that she is a source for them to train English as a second language, but I also am certain that her winsome personality is ultimately what leads them to decide that they want to spend huge blocks of time with her. Charlene would blush to hear any of this said and would immediately start pointing out her shortcomings as an individual, but that just shows that Christ is truly present in her life and is making Himself known through her.
The second dose of my happiness comes through our daughter, Jessie. She lives in Tampa, Florida and works assisting in various ministries at a large Baptist church there. Today I will get the privilege of having her arrive to coordinate a group of translators who will minister with us as we host a youth group from a Baptist church in Phoenix, AZ. Jessie has such a passion for sharing God’s word and love and she uses her dual language ability and network of friends to put together a wonderful team of volunteers to help us. I could not be happier… well, unless our son, Brennen, could be here too. But then again, only Heaven reserves the perfect life. We’ll be missing you something fiercely, little Buddy. He just finished the 10th grade in the USA.
We have one of our Projeto Vida motorhomes repaired and back in operation and have begun the body work repairs on the Alpha motorhome. The Lord saw fit to raise up the funds to pay for these expenses and we are extremely thankful. During the month of May we were able to take the gospel message into 9 public schools and spoke to over 4000 students. We know many were touched by the Word and several shared with us that they had surrendered their lives to Christ. This week, with the arrival of the youth group from Phoenix, AZ we will be taking the gospel into 6 more schools and also presenting gospel skits in three public parks. We are praying and expecting the Lord to make Himself known through these efforts.
We just received a container full of gospel booklets to distribute during the World Cup Soccer games that begin this coming Thursday here in Brazil. Most of you know how much Brazil is enthused about soccer, so you also can imagine what a door of opportunity is open for us to share these booklets among the crowds that will be showing up at the stadiums and sporting venues. We will be leading our church members to seek to pleasantly offer these gospel booklets at these events and be willing to take a personal moment to answer any questions or more fully explain the Word of Christ.
Charlene and I are very grateful for your prayers on our behalf. We are also thankful to God for using your sacrificial offerings so that we may continue to carry on our outreach ministries here in southern Brazil.
Thank you,
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [May 2014]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
May 9, 2014
Dear Friends,
I am constantly encouraged to invest in the lives of people around us by the way the Lord keeps raising up new kingdom warriors. Toni, a recent high school graduate shared with a couple of weeks ago that she’s certain the Lord wants her to dedicate next year to evangelism through our outreach ministry, Projeto Vida. I have been observing Toni’s spiritual growth for about 4 years and she truly has a servant’s heart and a passion for the Lord’s glory. She also demonstrates the love of Christ to everyone around her.
Projeto Vida has had a series of struggles with mechanical breakdowns recently. My friend and church member, Antonio, has offered to rebuild the engine of one of our motorhomes for practically nothing. We are also still trying to put together the resources to repair the damage on our Alpha motorhome that was sustained in a serious accident late last year. I don’t have a church member who does body work, so we’ll have to find an honest and reasonable repairman for that task. Even with two of the motorhomes out of commission, we were able to get into several cities with our evangelistic teams this past month. Many people heard the gospel and several surrendered their life to Christ.
An interesting thing happened a couple of weeks ago as we were getting prepared to put on a gospel presentation for our Easter service. Elias is an old hippie one of our friends introduced to us a few years ago. Elias likes to set up lighting and sound systems for parties and presentations. While visiting our church with a neighbor he heard that we were going to have a theatrical presentation and he offered to loan us his very expensive equipment and help us set it up. It came in very handy and opened a door for us to interact with him and his wife beyond the church’s scheduled services. We have gone out with them on a couple of friendly outings and have used the opportunities to share our relationship with Christ with them.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [April 2014]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
April 3, 2014
Dear Friends,
A gospel skit performed in a public school
I have to make a correction to my letter from last month, but it’s a positive correction. I mentioned that we would be sharing the gospel in public schools where we’d have contact with about 4000 students and teachers. It turned out that we were able to speak with over 6000! Each year for the past nine years, the youth group from the Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Florida has come to interact with us in sharing the gospel through our translators and partners in ministry, Projeto Vida. Every year has been a blessing and this year was no exception. In the public school presentations, where we use skits, testimonies, and a gospel message preached by one of the leaders, several hundred students at a time get a chance to hear a biblical presentation of the gospel. In these large school events, we can’t persuade those who hear and believe to make their decision known publicly. Many do surrender their lives to Christ at these events, but to know whom, we have to encourage them to seek us out privately after school hours. This setup makes it difficult for us to know just how many conversions occur during these public school events. Although we can’t always follow up every conversion with personal discipleship, we realize that those who truly come to Christ as Lord and Savior are saved eternally. In many cases we are only able to plant a seed, but we trust the Lord to see that someone else may water it, or even that we ourselves may be able to meet with them again and be instruments in their growth in Christ. This has happened on numerous occasions. No matter what, we know that a large number of people who had not heard the truth of God’s grace have now.
A gospel message shared in a public school
Charlene has been teaching English as a second language for several years. She is an amazing teacher because most of her students have become very fluent speakers. Her English classes have become one of our main avenues of having intimate contact with people on a continuing basis. Because she has classes with these students for several years, we become personal friends to almost all of the students. These friendships open doors of opportunity to share Christ with those who don’t know Him and for us to offer biblical counsel with those who accept Christ as Savior. Quite a few of her students have been saved and have become members of our churches through the years. Ana Paula is one of her most recent students to surrender to Christ. She was baptized a few months ago and has grown tremendously in her faith and obedience. Before, Ana Paula had a tendency to date really “rough” guys, who were not followers of Christ. She seemed to have a need to connect with guys that would distract her from living for Christ and who would play on her desire to help them with their emotional needs. Through her participation as a translator in our recent week of working with the youth group from Florida, she saw what a joy it was for those youth to boldly share the gospel and she heard many testimonies from girls who had thrown away too many years being hooked up with guys who didn’t seek Christ first in their lives. Ana Paula messaged me recently sharing how thrilled she was now because she is finding Jesus to be her source of joy and purpose and doesn’t need to derive her sense of self-worth from some co-dependent guy. She isn’t dating anyone right now and she said that she feels completely happy being that way because the Lord is giving her a joy that she never experienced before.
The youth group from Brandon, Florida with translators and Projeto Vida in the public park
The Lord is continually blessing our church in many ways. Last week our team who handles organizing the auditorium for services got a little nervous because we were running out of chairs for seating everyone. One of the most encouraging things about this was that we were not holding any special event. Of course, every time we meet to praise the Lord and study His word is special, but we had not made any special program to draw in a larger crowd. What the Lord is using to draw larger crowds is the excitement and joy displayed in the lives of those folks who are being transformed by the power of Christ in them. We praise the Lord and thank Him for the privilege of being His instruments of this grace!
Thank you for your prayers and support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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