On Sunday morning 5 were baptized at our Sao Vicente do Serido church which is led by our sister Nenem Guimaraes. She is doing an excellent job. The leader of our little church at Umburana is sister Leonarda and we have just received word that she is pregnant. Please remember these women leaders in your prayers. Our Sunday services in Patos went well. Liz says the Sunday school in the morning was down in numbers but was blessed. I led the main service of the week at night which was our monthly communion service. The church was packed out to capacity. Of special note was the solo sang by Fabio ..read more

Floods in south Brazil have killed over 70 with over 100 people reported missing. A dam has burst and others look that they might burst. It is a terrible climatic tragedy in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Please pray. I have had a good meeting with Pastor Wostenes about the Action Child schools. Yesterday was the last match of the season in the English Football Championship and QPR won again, this time beating Coventry 2 x 1 away. This means we ended up in 18th position on 56 points, which was 4 places and 6 points clear of the drop. Well done QPR! I don't expect to say much about QPR for the ..read more

Amanda is one of our 9 grandchildren. She is the daughter of Lynn and her husband Hutan. Amanda was 9 years old yesterday. Hence at night we all had a pizza party to celebrate and lots of Amanda's friends from church and school came along. It was a lovely evening. I went to the gym yesterday as I do every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I enjoy going and it does me good of course. The rainy season continues here and we had 796 mm (33 inches) between December and April. Now in May the rains normally start to dwindle, but on the 1st of May we had 20 mm at Green Pastures. Thank you for praying ..read more

Dengue fever has passed 4 million cases in Brazil this year with about 2 thousand deaths. Dengue fever gives heavy flu-like symptoms, a rash, and the killer version gives haemorrhaging. In the first quarter of this year the police in the city of Sao Paulo killed 179 people! This is a rise of 138% from the previous quarter when they only killed 75! Yesterday Liz and I did some difficult counselling with another couple. We also had an important meeting with some Action School leaders mainly about the Patos school. Whilst we were in the meeting a man from our church left us a bag of custard apple ..read more

This Saturday night was busy. I went to Green Pastures to hold the weekly service there and I took Fabio (for the singing) and Murilo (preaching) with me. The service was good with a good number present and happy participations from Fred, Paulo Silas, Nega, Dodora and Julio. Parallel to this service another was held at our school in Patos where our deaf pastor Luiz Carlos preached the Gospel with Geralda interpreting. Meanwhile in England the Cadnam Methodist Church held their annual concert in support of EAB for which they sold 75 tickets and the event went off very well. Last night in Patos ..read more

I went to Green Pastures and saw a nest of the Greater Ani which is a dark blue bird with white eyes which measures 46 cms. I saw the parents and 3 young in the nest who are quite large already and should soon be flying. This species comes to us every year in the rainy season. I also heard the Scaled Dove cooing and saw a number of small flocks of Red-cowled Cardinals. Yesterday afternoon I received the visit in my office of the leader of an evangelical mission in Joao Pessoa called Juvep. The leader's name is Sergio Ribeiro. He was coming through Patos and so contacted me asking to set up a m ..read more

Liz and I went to the Patos General Hospital to visit our worker Fabio who was injured in a motorbike accident. His hand/arm is broken and in plaster and his knee is heavily bandaged having been ripped open in the accident. The 2 girls that were also on the bike were fortunate to be unscathed as they didn't even have crash helmets on! We have received news from Peter & Marion Miles of the death of Pastor Ray Westbook, aged 88 years, who was the pastor at our old church Peniel Chapel for many years. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our dear brother. On Tuesday night I travell ..read more

Fabio is one of our young leaders who leads the Travessia and Fonseca little churches. When he was a child he was one of the EAB sponsored children. Well, he has been injured in a motorbike accident when he was taking his sister and her friend on his bike! The excesses of youth! 3 on a motorbike is a bit much! Fabio was sent to the general hospital in Patos where he is being treat for a fractured hand and badly damaged knee. Please pray for Fabio. On Sunday night I led the service in Patos and Rafael preached on Mark 9. It was a good service. Liz and I have renewed our Brazilian drivers licens ..read more

I went for a walk at Green Pastures and saw and heard a variety of birds: Many Picui Ground Doves, Caatinga Cacholotes, Burrowing Owl, Red-cowled Cardinals, Striped Cuckoos, Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, Smooth-billed Anis. I have proof read EAB's InTouch magazine #101 and it looks very good. Our thanks to Dave Flowers and Marian Rashleigh for all their good work. In this edition topics include: 60+ Movement, Pink & Blue, Tavares Outreach, Baptismal, Carnival Camp, Bathroom project, Ministry to the Deaf, Donkeys and Sheep. You should receive this magazine in early May. Please read it and then ..read more

Liz has been involved in some counselling of a young person with relationship issues. I can't mention the name or go into details. I have been doing sermon preparation for the annual general pastors' conference next month. Your prayers are valued. Liz and I had our bi-annual blood tests today so I've been walking round all day with an empty arm! We get our results online and everything that has come through to date is fine. ? I went to the Men's Fellowship meeting last night which was led by school teacher Claudivan with Rafael coordinating the reflection in God's Word. Only 7 went but it was ..read more