Sunday, August 8, 2010

August

Dear Friend,

It is somewhat hard to write letters to you at this time, for we feel so "un-plugged" from our real life. Being at home visiting our churches is not only a great joy, but also has precedence (Acts 14:27- … gathered the church… rehearsed all that God had done with them…) But it is so hard to leave our beloved children and all the work, hard to slow down from a heavy teaching preaching schedule to a "devotional and slide show"… though for sure, we have enjoyed the delightful weather (!) and seeing the beauty of God's creation as we travel the many miles…

We just finished a week of ME (missionary enrichment) classes and a second week as a "facilitator" for the candidates headed to the field in a class to teach them strategies and methods of church planting. We now are headed up for a meeting in NY Sunday followed by a wedding in Oxford Michigan. The wedding is on a Saturday, then we have an overnight drive to Atlanta to catch our plane back to Brazil.

August is busy, with a weeklong meeting in Sao Paulo (down south) with the Brazilian Association of Biblical Counselors. The next week we will be in Manaus a whole week working on renewing my mechanic's license (which is vital to our aircraft maint. needs - we really need prayer on that one- Aug 16-20), The following week, we will be joining Randy Richner, Fernando (VP for the association mentioned above) and another Brazilian for a combined track 1 and 2 of Biblical Counseling training we are giving at a seminary in Fortaleza, Brazil.

GOOD NEWS from the field- Our church is going rather well, far better than we expected, praise the Lord! We had a half hour call last night and got all caught up. We won't go into details here, but to ask for continued prayer for our toddler whom it seems is walking on it's own! This will allow us (upon return) to work more on outworks as we help the church continue to develop its autonomy. They also continue to support the young Ticuna Indian missionary from our church that is covering all the Indian works in our absence. This is very exciting news in the life of a church plant.

OTHER GOOD NEWS:
Pictured on the next page- we are finding solutions to our aviation dilemma- we are forming a partnership in networking with other pilots from other missions in the area of maintenance. Tim Lankford is a BMM MK, now a Continental Airlines pilot, that has purchased a shop (see pics) in Manaus. We hope (with successfully renewing my mech. license) that this will allow us to do all inspections at our own place, give us two bases in our area, and greatly help the security situation. Please pray that all this works out, greatly enhancing our current work and securing a future for this (still) very needy work! We are also working (with special help now) at getting the plane documents changed over to our area in Manaus. Some documents are needed from the 1960s that we have not been able to find yet- so pray with us that we can find them or resolve the problem through a hired on attorney.

August 1, 2010

The new shop in Manaus is at the Airclub. It's success can keep the airplanes up and flying, and therefore keep the Indian works growing- and starting to reproduce.

GOOD NEWS- we received a letter from the two Indians that work on staff with us, one a missionary from our SPO church. They want teaching in how to organize a mission and start sending our missionaries from their own association- this is also quite exciting! We are prepping classes even now on the subject.

As weather changes, so does the interpretation of the law by those in power over us. It is becoming apparent that if we tie in with the NEW shop, we will not have to buy a rebuilt engine! But with the paperwork push and inspections at hand, and a lawyer now to pay, we still need to pray for and ask for funds to help. Thanks for joining us in prayer for that one!

As I write while putting through the Pocono mountains and the breathtaking beauty and majesty- I am reminded how big our God is, and how small our problems really are in comparison.

Thanks to all of you once again for your love, prayers, and support. God give you a blessed summer's end.

Always
Your servant and HIS bond slaves
Allen and Kimberly