Thursday, April 9, 2009

Happy Easter!

We pray that you have a wonderful Easter holiday.  Needless to say this is such a special holiday for Christians.  Everything surrounds this moment in time and praise God, “He has risen”.  Jesus defeated death and for those who put their faith in Him can now have eternal life with Him.  Praise God. 

This month we had a children’s conference at the church and it was well attended.  We brought in Pastor Wanildo from Santeram, a neighboring city, to teach at the conference.  He has his Masters in child education and he has a huge heart for children.  Our children's ministry leaders were taught many new teaching tools to reach out to children.  They left the conference feeling more encouraged and excited.  It was a success!  As a church we are committed to raise our children in the ways of the Lord. 


To give you an update from an email several months ago.  CDR, our non-governmental organization moved to the Mission base because it would give us a better opportunity to reach more of the underprivileged.  We were nervous about the move because students believe that the neighborhood surrounding the Mission base is not safe because there is a lot crime.  We did not know if the enrollment would decrease significantly because of this belief.  Praise God, we are happy to report that we maxed out our enrollment for English as a second language with 170 students, and we have 68 students learning the basics of computer.  Please keep CDR in your prayers as we plan to open up a Christian Preschool next year.  Also, we have been promised from the government to receive high speed internet (YES!!!!) by the end of this month.  This would be a huge boost for our computer program.

 

Also, this month we had the opportunity to go to our sister base in Marabá and see the good work that Rick and Deanna Bergen have started, and now with the assistance from Clyde and Kelsie Bergquist.  Elba had the opportunity to share the Word to these new hungry believers.  It was really nice to see the Marabá base doing so well.  After we left Marabá, we got the opportunity to take a mini vacation at a place called Salinas.  It was really fun, and the girls were definitely addicted to the beach and the ocean. 


Again, we pray that you have a great Easter and that our Lord Jesus will touch you in a special way.  Check out the other photo’s below. 

Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

 

Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:

The Xingu Mission

P.O Box 340785

Columbus, Ohio  43215

 

Or On-line donations at:

http://www.xingu.org/6_giving.html

 

Check out our new redesigned website at: www.xingu.org

 

Here is a picture of a little monkey at a house in the Assurini.  Notice how I am keeping my distance.  That little sucker has some sharp teeth.  I did not want anything to do with him, but he wanted everything to do with my hammock. 


 

Picture of Elba and Alyssa on the beach

 


 

Here is a picture of Denise having some quiet time.  She is a beautiful woman of God.