Missionary Update: The Wacasers Stateside from Brazil [October 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
October 4, 2015
Dear Friends,
Charlene and I just returned from a two week trip to Brazil. We had to count on family members to cover for us taking turns caring for my ailing father. While in Brazil we were able to have a meeting with our evangelism ministry, Projeto Vida, and make plans for the next few months of outreach efforts.
My young replacement at my former church, Alek Rossi, has been doing a great job. Everyone we talked to about how the church was doing gave excellent reports on how well he is pastoring the flock and teaching. We saw several new families attending and the church is still baptizing new members. Alek asked me to preach on the Sunday that we were present. It was a welcome privilege to be in my former pulpit teaching God’s word and seeking to make Him known to the lost. It was clearly evident that the members have truly embraced Alek and his wife as their leaders. It was also clear that the members have embraced the responsibilities of caring for their facilities. Actually, I got a little ironic laugh out of seeing how well they have done that. For 4 years I sought to transfer to the members the importance of attending to the small details of cleanliness and upkeep of the grounds while they also gave loving attention to the other members and visitors. As soon as we drove onto the property we saw that loving care had gone into the upkeep of every little detail. I want to think that my constant example and drilling the members finally took hold, but it would have been nice if they had shown that while I was still there. I love them anyway!
While I was meeting with the Projeto Vida leaders they shared how the Lord has been blessing this year. They still have two more months to work in the public schools this year, but already they have been in 6 states, taking the gospel to over 30,000 students and teachers. We also made preparation for hosting and training missionary volunteers in the upcoming months. There will be two international volunteers arriving early next year who will work and travel with the teams in active training. Also, we will coordinate the partnership with a group of nearly 50 youth who will share the gospel in some public schools and parks.
It has been many years since we have been able to participate in the Missions Conference on behalf of Baptist Faith Missions in Dearborn Heights, MI. We are really excited about being there again in early November. We hope to see many of our old friends there and are looking forward to making new friendships as well.
Thank you for your prayers and support,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers Stateside from Brazil [September 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
August 27, 2015
Dear Friends,
I am still learning how to live IN the world and not be OF the world, as Jesus taught His disciples. With all the recent news reports on the atrocities of Islamists around the world, I found myself developing a strong resentment and near-hatred for unknown people of Arabic origin. I know in my heart that Jesus came into the world redeem lost people from every nation and tribe, but the brutality of this particular ethnic group I had a hard time even desiring for them to come to salvation. That was until, this month, I had the opportunity provided by God to get to know a young Muslim man about the same age as my son. His name is Houcine and he is from Tunisia, Tunis in northern Africa. He came as an exchange student to the USA and was placed in a host home close to the church where my family and I are serving. He is a very pleasant person who is easy to be around and is extremely respectful and is always offering to help in any project. As I thought about his being here, I realized that the Lord was teaching me to love the way He loves. I would think of the Muslim people as a group, but not as individuals in need of a Savior. Now that I am in constant contact with Houcine, I am able to relate to him as a fellow sinner who is loved by Christ and who needs to be saved. I pray that my behavior and attitudes toward him serve to point him to the Lord and that, in due time, he may come to a saving knowledge of Christ and would take the Gospel back to his own family and nation.
Our church in Brazil recently celebrated their 4th anniversary. They were happy to see several new faces attending and are still growing firmly in our absence. I will be with them near the end of September for couple of services and training. Alek and his wife are doing a great job in the leadership of the church there.
Our evangelistic outreach teams from Projeto Vida had a unique opportunity this month in the capital city of Curitiba. They were invited to participate in a drama fair where the teams portrayed the gospel in skits and dramatic plays on a public stage. The theme was the horrors of the Holocaust, but our teams were able to adapt their scripts to convey the message of Christ in a public setting beyond the usual realm of evangelism. We are very thankful for the opportunities that the Lord provides for our ministry. We have seen that, as we seek Him and are bold to make Him known, He blesses and opens doors that we couldn’t even imagine possible.
Charlene and I leave in a couple of weeks to go back to Brazil to renew our permanent visas and to help in training leaders. You may have noticed in the world news that there is great unrest in Brazil. There are major rallies crying for the impeachment of the president for corruption and there is great unrest throughout the country. Please pray for us as we travel and that the Lord may prosper our journey.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser [August 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
August 3, 2015
Helping to take care of my father has been quite a different experience from my mission routine of the last 30 years, to say the least. First, I can say that it is a privilege and, in an ironic way, a joy to do it. I’m sad that he has lost so much of the independence and strength that he always displayed, but I truly am thankful for the opportunity to spend large blocks of time in close conversation about the really important matters of life. He has shared with me his testimony of his conversion to Christ and the thoughts and conversations that he and our mother had about how to raise me and my 7 siblings. His strength continues to decline, but his spirit is at peace with God’s will for his remaining time on earth.
Charlene and will be making another trip back to Brazil in September to renew our permanent visas because they will expire before the end of the year. We are scheduling our trip in such a way as to be of the most help to our ministry partners there. I will be teaching at the mission training school of Projeto Vida and will also do some intensive training at our former church. We are looking forward to seeing our Brazilian family for a couple of weeks during that visit.
Projeto Vida had a very busy month of ministry. The Alpha bus, though not quite 100% complete, was back on the highways and took a team of missionaries two states away to aid the ministries of several local churches. The team was very helpful in teaching and encouraging the youth of those churches to heed the call to go to the lost with the gospel. The team taught some innovative ideas for gaining a hearing among one’s own peers and age group. Their own experiences were helpful for these young people to see that evangelism and outreach doesn’t have to be rote, canned or outdated. They stick to the Scriptures in their message, but use creative means to gain a hearing from folks their own age and beyond.
The Logos team was busy in the public schools both near Curitiba and in the state of Minas Gerais, about 15 hours away. This group had the privilege of being instrumental in bringing over 500 people to make a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. One of the missionaries had the privilege to lead an older couple who had been Catholics all their lives to a personal relationship with Christ. They knew a lot about Jesus, but they had never known how to KNOW Jesus. After hearing the gospel clearly both the man and his wife surrendered their lives to the Lord and were immediately overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness.
There was another man who seemed irreligious who was angry at God because he blamed Him for his son having walked away from the family. The missionary from the Logos team shared the story of the Prodigal Son and explained to the man that all we have behaved like that prodigal son by walking away from God, but that God, like the caring father in the parable patiently and lovingly waits for his lost children to come home. The man understood and embraced the message and surrendered his life to Christ also and was full of gratitude to the missionary for sharing God’s word with him. We are so thankful for our faithful mission teams and to God for guiding and sustaining them. We also thank you for your faithful prayers and support so that we may continue this outreach.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [July 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
June 30, 2015
Dear Friends,
Charlene and I made a two week trip to Brazil this month. The trip was a tremendous encouragement and the Lord’s hand was clearly with us at every moment. We had the privilege to ordain two young men to the Gospel ministry and they will be taking the oversight of two of our outreach teams. Marcos, one of the young men, had recently returned from a year and a half of evangelism and church planting in India. The Lord blessed him greatly there and it is clear that he is called to be a minister of the Word. The other young man, Victor, has lead one of our Projeto Vida outreach teams on trips to the interior of Brazil where he and his wife, Fabiana, are highly respected and loved by their team members.
Alysson, our missionary to the Muslims in the Middle East has returned from his first trip there and reports that the Lord truly opened doors for sharing the Gospel. Despite what we see on the news channels, the majority of the common citizens are hungry for truth and love. We know that they have been fed lies all their lives and that makes it difficult for them to have open minds to Christ, but God is glorifying Himself greatly by bringing many of them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Alysson will be returning to that field again soon, so we ask that you pray God’s blessings on him.
Alek Rossi is doing a great job pastoring my former church in Curitiba, Brazil. We visited the services and we heard many great reports on his leadership from basically everyone who attends. The church continues to grow and we sensed real unity among the members.
Charlene and I have offered to help a local Baptist Church here in the Tampa, FL area as we also seek to help with the health needs of my father. We rotate with my siblings on a 24/7 schedule. I am thankful for this privilege. Thank you for your prayers and support.
In Christ’s love,
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser on Furlough from Brazil [May 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
May 8, 2015
Our young missionary to the Muslim culture was greatly shaken upon his arrival to the field in more ways than one! Shortly after he arrived at the airport in Nepal, a major earthquake occurred. There was chaos everywhere, as most of you already know from news reports. Alysson was there and he and many others were stranded in the airport for four days without any way to continue on their travels. Soon the food in the airport ran out and his only intake was water and some candy for a couple of days. We are very thankful, though, that he was not injured, or worse, and now he has moved on to his field of ministry.
Although the earthquake itself was not a good thing, we can already see how the Lord used it for His good purposes. Because of the disaster and despair that followed, the people are now much more open to outsiders coming in with whatever help they bring. The people are open to have their more important spiritual needs addressed also. Alysson is struggling to communicate the love of Christ to a people who have never heard of Jesus Christ amidst many physical and spiritual challenges. We are praying for him and supplying him with whatever physical needs that we can.
During the last month our Projeto Vida buses were working together with the group of youth that comes each year from Brandon, Florida to spend a week evangelizing in the city parks and public schools. This year there were 48 people in the group and the Lord used them greatly. They spent one day ministering to a group of over 200 adults of street dwellers, homeless folks who meet at a city park each week to receive a hot meal, are loved on, receive counseling and hear the gospel preached. The youth group performed skits which clearly communicated the love of Christ and several of those folks surrendered to Christ. As an extra blessing, the young people who ministered were also touched by the Lord as they learned just how greatly the Lord could use them when they are willing to step outside of their comfort zones.
Since my mother’s passing away, I have been trying to help my family in the care of my aging father. Our return was unexpected, so my family and I are attempting to adjust to some challenges here in the US. My son’s schooling situation is one of our greatest difficulties because of all the red tape involved, but I think we are finally getting somewhere.
Charlene and I had the wonderful privilege of attending the annual Baptist Faith Missions Conference sponsored by the Thompson Road Baptist Church this past month. We were so well received and taken care of by the good people of the church and it was a joy to be able to fellowship with so many of our missionary brothers and sisters who were in attendance. We also had the privilege of renewing old acquaintances and making new friends with pastors and members from other supportive churches. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
Thank you for your continued prayer and support.
In Christ’s love,
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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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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