Dearest Ones:
Busy, busy, busy we are always busy! It seems the last two months have been nonstop. We have worked long hours in building programs and getting ready for our regional convention. But it was well worth it. This year we enjoyed the biggest and most fruitful convention since we have been in the northeast. We had so many people on Saturday night we used all our Sunday school benches, rented chairs and still had people standing. Even our balcony was full.
We filled our 8 dorms, evangelist quarters, our home, Michael´s home, Ednei´s home and several of our people´s homes with people. We were able to offer everyone somewhere to sleep and a place to take a bath. Everyone ate a nice lunch every day and we had soup every evening.
We had people from the states of Para, Ceara, Maranhao, Bahia, Sao Paulo and Pastor Hugo representing Paraguay plus people from many different cities and villages from our state of Alagoas.
The choirs did such a good job singing and worshipping the Lord. We have several choirs so we were blessed to see them all working for the Lord.
We were blessed to have Rev. Keith Morris and Brother Birmingham as our special speakers along with many of our Brazilian pastors. Scores of people received the Holy Ghost and 10 were baptized. Our son Brother Raul Jr blessed us along with Brother Thompson.
The life changing gospel makes a lasting difference in the life of people. To watch them come from total darkness into this marvelous light is joy beyond words.
The level of poverty that we face every day is unbelievable. Often I am speechless and in tears as I watch our people struggle. I still grapple with why we will always have the poor among us. I force my heart to take solace in the mansion that awaits the least of these in heaven. It heightens the urgency to tell the good news of the gospel and spread the hope it provides to masses of suffering people from poverty.
If you are a praying person, I urge you to consider lifting up our needs in your prayer. You can help us make a difference in the lives of thousands of souls.
Prayer is such a vital part of being a missionary and it is so important to have other people praying for us and the work here. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Eph. 6:12
Maybe you enjoy travel and would like to come and spend a week or two on our ministry field. This would be a huge blessing to us and also a great blessing for our people.
Please remember our children (Brother Arlei and Sister Gilene) as they are returning back to jungle land from the convention. We call that area, the heart of darkness…but the greater the darkness the brighter the light shines. They are faith missionaries and depend on people hearing from the Lord for their needs to be met. We were able to send 6 new Bibles with them and several New Testaments. Not only do they face simply a multitude of tropical diseases to avoid, the strangeness of the culture compared to our area, the deep poverty, murders, banditry. With impending Indian conflicts lurking and intense spiritual battles - there is revival there - but also satanic opposition. Witchcraft, Catholicism and false cults are just as actively competing for souls as is the true church.
Our well never produced enough water. Our neighbor said he would sell us a piece of land adjoining ours that has water for 5000 dollars. That would give them a little more land for planting rice for survival and water to water it. I told them I would mention this need. They are trying to become self supporting but at the present they need our help very much.
Our deepest gratitude goes out to all you precious homeland supporters who give generously so that we may continue working daily.
“Pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored.”
2 Thessalonians 3:1
In His Happy Service:
Brother Raul and Sister Janice Alvear and family
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