We pray that you are blessed with this month's update.
God continues to draw His chosen people; in September we baptized 16 new believers. The church gathered together beside the Xingu River to eat, swim, and celebrate these new believers’ declarations of faith. What a happy day! One of our new brothers in Christ is Luiz, who is 60+ years old and was baptized that day. His wife had been praying for years that he would accept the Lord and start a relationship with God. At church, he is always seeking prayers and wanting more of God. His baptism reminds me of the passage from John 3:4-5 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered,“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
I love the fact that God receives us anywhere, anytime, and at any age!
Camilly has made friends with one of the girls at the church. Mayara is 10 years old and is very sweet. Her family has been going through some hardship because her brother Mateus was suspected to have leukemia. Since this is something more serious, her mother and brother had to go to Belém (800 km away) to get a diagnosis. To date, they have been in Belém for more than two months trying to get medical help and answers. This may sound absurd to us North Americans, but it is commonplace here in Altamira. Mayara wrote Camilly a very sweet letter the other day. She essentially said that she considers Camilly to be her best friend and that she loves her very much. She went on to say that their friendship has helped her overcome the feelings of sadness for her mother and brother. She misses them very much. Please keep Mateus and his family in your prayers.
On a personal note, thank you so much for your prayers for our time in Curitiba. The meetings went really well and it was great to see everyone and get reunited as friends. After the meetings, we had a family vacation and it was great! Upon arrival we had no idea what to expect from the hotel, transportation around the city and the weather. The Lord literally made the whole vacation perfect. It was amazing time together as a family and great time to just hang out and relax. Thanks again for your prayers and thank you Lord for such a great vacation. Below is a picture of us at the zoo, the girls playing in a hot tub, and a peacock at the zoo.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers for spiritual, physical, and emotional health. Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa
