First Update

We have had a great couple of days in Porto Seguro, Brazil. Yesterday afternoon we toured the worksite for the first time. The construction guys are working on a site that used to be the trash dump for the city. They will be building a community center - the first community center of its kind in the community of Ubaldinao. The community center will also house a new work of the Calvary Baptist Church here in Porto Seguro.

Last night, we worshiped with Calvary Baptist Church in Porto Seguro. The service lasted for 2 1/2 hours and was definitely an uplifting experience. Our Redeemer team did a great job as they performed the drama for the church.

This morning was filled with preparing for our ministries. Each ministry took time to set up their rooms and prepare for the people. But even in the midst of preparation, Bill Laarz and Barabara Forbis were able to share the Gospel with some children on the street. A few of those children accepted Christ for the first time.

This afternoon, our people began to work for the first time in the ministries. It was exciting for me to see people working in our ministries. I saw people from our church giving out shoes, helping people with glasses, brushing teeth, and entertaining children with drama and songs.

I saw Jake Gaines, Josh Harris, Emily Chambers, Sydney Forbis, and Megan Buttrey singing "God is so good" in both English and Portugese (as well as the Hokey Pokey). I witnessed McCall Decker cleaning a child's teeth and telling her about Jesus. The eyeglass team worked tirelessly sharing Christ and giving glasses. And I was able to see our Happy Feet team put shoes and smiles on the faces of kids from the community.

Our construction team worked hard in extreme heat all day. In fact, when we returned to worksite after our ministries, we were shocked at the progress of the team. They were able to build the building past the windows and had to stop to let the blocks set a little bit before working tomorrow.

The most exciting part of the day for the team was seeing the receptiveness of the people of Ubaldinao. Each ministry team saw people saved today. Even our contruction team had four of the Brazilians working with them accept Christ today.

Tomorrow, we will continue our ministries and construction. Please pray for our team as we continue. One of the biggest obstacles that we are facing is the intense sun. The temperature here is not that bad, but the sun is very intense. We are all tired and looking forward to good night's sleep.

We are expecting great things from God this week while we are attempting great things for God.