a word for word copy of my last monthly letter:
SOUTH AMERICAN FOREIGN MISSIONS
Rev Raul and Janice Alvear
PO Box 797, Jonesville, LA 71343 – Phone 337-290-2658
CP 204, Maceio, Alagoas, Brazil, South America 57020-970
Phone: 011-55-82-9909-9350
Gather the wheat into my barn…. (Jesus)
Dear praying friends,
Another month has come and passed so fast, and it is amazing how quickly time passes. What a reminder it is to us to use our time wisely in service for the Lord, and make the most of our opportunities to serve Him. May we truly be mindful of the brevity of our lives and use our time wisely that the Lord gives us.
Psalm 90:12 states “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
We have spent much time working on Bible lessons, booklets, charts, tracts and things like this that will continue to reach souls long after we are gone. All my life I have felt such a deep burden to get good books and study material into the hands of our people.
I read this the other day:
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." (Matt. 9:37-38)
Ever since Jesus first spoke these compassionate words, the supply of workers in the fields of soul-harvest has always been horribly low. But today the need is the greatest it has ever been in the history of mankind. Remember, Hell is not just for the weekend! More people are alive today, and more souls are at stake, than the total number of people who have ever lived on the face of the earth in all of human history! This simply means that we can populate either Heaven or Hell by our obedience or our laziness. According to one source: There are over 2,700,000,000 people who have never heard the Gospel at all, and there are only 5,000 to 7,000 missionaries worldwide, working directly with these totally unreached groups of people. That means there is approximately one missionary for every 450,000 of these people! There are over 16,000 different and distinct cultures and people-groups - even whole countries, where not one single church is in existence. There are 7,010 distinct living languages, and 5,199 of them still have no Bible or Scripture translations available in their own language! Do these figures move you at all? Does it matter to you that an estimated 80,000 unsaved people die every day (approximately 3,333 every hour...55 people every single minute!) to face the judgment seat of Christ?
May Jesus help us to reach as many souls as possible during our short stay on earth.
We are happy to report this month in the Maceio area we averaged winning one soul a day! We also opened up a new work in one of the villages
This month a new church is being opened in a little village called Masagueiro. We are so excited to see all that God is doing.
Please keep us in prayer and thanks to those that helped Brother Arlei and Sister Gilene. They arrived just minutes before her father passed away.
Each month we are conducting a soup kitchen feeding as many hungry people as we can. In Brazil poverty affects more than a quarter of the population - some 44 million people. In the nine states in north eastern Brazil, the poorest parts of the country, almost half of all families live on approximately a dollar a day.
Every time you breathe, a poor lost, untold, heathen soul struggles for his last breath, and sinks into eternal darkness, alone without hope and without God. Every minute many, many souls go out into eternity. Billions have never heard the sound of church bells. Every time the pendulum of your clock swings, someone that is ignorant of Christ's redemption grasps in hopeless despair as the curtains of death enshroud another heathen soul, taking him into eternity without God. Since we make up a part of the half of the world that has heard the Gospel, we are debtors to the other half, who have never heard.
We are grateful for our faithful friends all over the world. Thanks for helping us take the story of Jesus to thousands over the years. Your giving and sacrifice has made such a difference.
The missions vision in Brazil is beginning to grow, but lack of training and funds limits the number who can go. Pray that this vision would continue to develop and for funds to buy more study books and bibles.
We are deeply indebted to each of you because of your prayers and support for our family and ministry. Thanks so much once again for remembering us on the mission field.
In His Service
Brother and Sister Raul Alvear Sr
My soul followeth hard after thee....Love one another with a pure heart fervently. 
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