Prayer Letter
August 11, 2010
Dear Praying Friends,
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:9-10)
We praise the Lord for the way He continues to challenge us at Calvary Baptist Church. Barry has been working on getting a new, year-long Sunday School series prepared this past month. It is similar to a Bible Panorama course, but focuses especially on the purposes and plans of God. He has just finished the series in Genesis, which many testified what a great blessing it was in their lives.
Pr. Ari (and family) is attending a Biblical Counseling conference this week, as well as four other families in the church. We are excited to see such a large group that have dedicated their time and money to go, desiring to be better prepared to serve the Lord! (One of the men that attended last year was so challenged with what he learned that he determined to take his entire family this year!) It is a huge blessing to see so many families wanting to grow spiritually and learn how to help others grow as well.
This past month, a few of the young people from Calvary were able to go help out some of our co-workers in a neighboring state with their VBS. The group came back really challenged with living for God and excited about serving Him with their lives.
August 8th was Father’s Day here in Brazil. Our church held a special evangelistic-themed service. Pastor Ari emphasized the special love our heavenly Father has for us. The specific goal was to invite unsaved family members to hear the message of salvation and new life offered by the Heavenly Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.
There have been a couple new families that have attended quite regularly these past few weeks. One man, Leo, has attended pretty consistently the last few months. It is hard to know for sure if he is saved, but we are excited that his twelve-year old son, Lucas, (who was just visiting his dad for a week during his vacation from school) made a profession of faith during a Bible study visit with the family.
The past month, which was our mid-winter break between semesters at Seminario Batista Regular do Sul, seemed busier than the regular semester. Barry spent extra time studying for the new class he is teaching, Life of Christ, as well as getting ready to teach for the second time, Biblical Interpretation II. We are now in our second week of the second semester at SBRS and we praise the Lord for the students who are here. In addition to most of last semester’s students, there are two new students. Both are “MKs” (missionary kids) desiring to study for a year at a Brazilian Bible college before continuing their education at a North American college.
We are not sure yet how many total students there are since each student has to have their previous bill paid before they can resume studying again. Four of the six students who did not know if they would be able to come back have been able to get their bills paid off and have resumed attending classes. Please pray that if it be God’s will, the other two would be able to return to classes and get caught up quickly.
Upcoming Events: We are all looking forward to seeing Barry’s parents at the end of this month. Tom Farlow will be the key-note speaker at Calvary Baptist Church’s annual Family Conference.
As always, we are so thankful for your prayers on our behalf, as we strive to serve the Lord faithfully here in south Brazil.
Your fellow servants,
Barry and Ellen Farlow