May Prayer Letter - Onesimo and Marilda de Arruda

May 2008

Dear Loved Ones,

One more month has gone by and we continue the Lord’s work, by His grace. We have done a lot of traveling this past month and we are thankful for God’s protection throughout that time. Onesimo took Larry and Fay to the airport in Sao Paulo and then we returned to Sao Paulo a week later for Ana Irene’s graduation at Word of Life. Then Onesimo made yet another trip to the north of Brazil, where we were missionaries for many years, to get our things shipped and visit the brothers with whom we worked there. They were very happy to see Onesimo and served him all kinds of typical foods and drinks and also spent lots of time talking to him. It sure wasn’t easy getting there since the car broke down on the way and the last part of the trip had to be completed by motorcycle. It’s the rainy season there now, and by the time Onesimo and others reached their destination, they had mud up to their hair! But we were very encouraged to find our brothers doing well and keeping the Word of God. Onesimo was also able to see friends from town and from the church we attended. The church has grown a lot and that cheered our hearts as well. Lastly, he was able to visit with members of our previous mission board over dinner and share how the Lord is working in our new ministry. We hope that some day we can go back as a family to visit our friends in the village because those people are still very much in our hearts. Thank you so much for your prayers for us during these trips.

Joyfully Serving - Roger and Dianne Smalling, Latin America

Roger and Dianne work with Spanish language churches throughout Latin America.  They recently visited Villa Hermosa, Mexico where they have 12 theological training centers.  Click Here to see their latest update (pdf).

God is At Work - Billy and Sherry McKillop, Missionaries to Jamaica

Billy and Sherry McKillop and their three children are raising support to being ministry in Jamaica.  They are hoping to be there by June.  Click here to read their latest update.

More from Gordon Woolard - Theological Training - French

Dear Supporting Colleagues,

The spider isn’t meant to frighten you. Nor make it seem like I was in a dangerous place. It’s just a three-inch spider who clung to the wall next to me for four days while I taught in Gonaives, Haiti a couple of weeks ago. He’s one of God’s fiercer looking creatures.

The class for thirteen fellows (not counting the spider) on Bible interpretation went very well, by the way. Thanks for your supporting prayers. Haiti still needs enormous help from the believing community to rebuild itself. I have great respect for the dedicated UN troops who keep law and order.

News Update - Gordon Woolard

Gordon Woolard is an MTW missionary who partners with Ministries In Action in the area of Theological Education.  He recently returned to the US after three consecutive trips to Chile, Haiti and Belize.  In Haiti, he met with church leaders in the village of Gonaives, where he taught on the principles of Bible interpretation.

Haitian Class on Hermeneutics

Praying on the Mountaintop for Chile

April Prayer Letter - Arrudas in Brazil

 

Dear Loved Ones,

We trust you had a wonderful Easter, a special day to remind us of our God’s unconditional love and the blessed hope we have for the future, when we will be in His presence for all eternity - (2 Cor. 5:15)

We are happy to report that our computer and modem are finally working again. Wow!! We never imagined how much work they do for us and how limited we are without them.  We would have to go back to handwriting!

 

We are all doing well as a family and in ministry.  The school year, which in Brazil begins after Carnival, has started up now, and I (Marilda) am back to teaching at the village on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and also giving Bible studies to the women in the churches.  Onesimo is teaching Bible to the leadership here in town, using the Dallas course, and he also continues at the Newspaper. They are studying the book of 1 John and seem to be very interested in the truths of God’s Word.  We would love to see conversions in that group.  

Joyfully Serving - Roger and Dianne Smalling - Latin America

Roger and Dianne Smalling are MTW missionaries working in partnership with Ministries In Action in the area of Theological Education.  Click here to read their latest update.

Bringing Hope to Jamaica - Billy and Sherry McKillop

Our family has been blessed to be in Miami for the past 4 weeks or so and have had many good meetings with churches and individuals here. Please continue to pray for the Lord to raise up partners from South Florida for the ministry in Jamaica.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:

We leave Miami tomorrow (Wednesday, March 5) for meetings over the next couple of weeks in Gainesville, GA where we will continue to share about the needs in Jamaica and our vision for ministry there.

Please pray for safe travels, good meetings, new partners, increased faith and continuing perseverance in this preparation for helping to strengthen the churches in Jamaica. 

Update from the de Arrudas in Brazil

Dear Loved Ones,

Greetings from Aquidauana!! We are now in the middle of Carnival season and also our rainy season. It rained so much the other day that we got rain in our bedroom! (There must be displaced or broken tiles on our roof!) But it sure feels great to have cool weather for a change.

We started this year with many blessings and new challenges, and we rejoice in the Lord for that. As soon as we returned from Sao Paulo and from our Christmas break with family and friends, Onesimo, Larry and Fay, along with other Terena brothers were off on a two-day trip to visit a village that was started by the Terena Indians in northern Brazil. Onesimo came back very excited about the work there and plans to return to help those brothers in Christ. They need a pastor who will take over and work full time teaching them and doing discipleship. That group has already reached three different tribes and is receiving 40 new students at their school. Please keep them in your prayers.

Discovering French Guiana - Gordon Woolard

I want to let you know, my dear friends, that I had a marvelous trip last week to French Guiana. Teaching sessions were set up each day by my host, Jean-Michel. You see him in the picture with the first pioneer of the evangelical church in Guiana after WWII, Joachim Larive.

Joachim lived in the days when people were forbidden by the church to read a Bible let alone even own one. He furtively read a Bible as a teenager. It got him thinking about how he could get right with the Lord. Some years later he came to faith in Christ and became an itinerant church planter even though he is almost paralysed from the waist down since his youth. I love being around men like him.