Here is the video I referenced on Sunday. My brother, Rob shot this video while on a trip into the Haitian countryside to explore the needs for this particular mission and school. More info can be found HERE on Rob’s blog. Rob, His wife Becky and their three children plan to move to Haiti next spring after raising financial support.
Novo Demini
November 2nd, 2009
Dear Friends,
Greetings to all! Christmas season is coming right up on us and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I know it’s still quite early, but by the time you receive this it won’t be so far away after all.
Last time we wrote we still hadn’t had our time out in Boa Vista. We Praise the Lord for the refreshing time we had. We have been back ever since the 20th of August. After we arrived we had a little less than a month with our co-workers, Wellington and Águida and their 5 year old son, Abraão. On the 17th of September they left for Boa Vista, as Águida was expecting their second child. Our team is made up of 4 couples, but two of them were already on home assignment (furlough) and when Wellington and Águida left that left us alone. After their baby is born they will also be leaving on home assignment.
On the 19th of October our language consultant along with another couple from our mission’s leadership arrived to spend some time with us. We praise the Lord for Joao’s progress in the language. He still isn’t at a level were he can start teaching, but we were very encouraged to see how far he has come since last year. On the 22nd our language consultant left, but the couple stayed to spend a few more days with us and the Yanomami Christians. We praise the Lord for their time here and the blessing they have been. Unfortunately they will be leaving on the 5th.
We are so thankful for the time they were able to stay.
In the last two months we have had a lot of cases of malaria, mostly falciparum and a few vivax. It is finally getting under control again, but for a while there, it was pretty scary. We Praise the Lord that through it all God has spared our family from getting malaria.
Our plans are to stay here until the beginning of January and then fly out to Boa Vista. From there we will have less than a week to get our things ready to travel to Manaus. The trip from Boa Vista to Manaus is around a 12 hour drive on really bad roads. From the 16th to the 22nd we will be attending our mission’s annual conference. The following week, João plans on taking a course that our language learning consultants will be giving in Manaus. Sometime the beginning of February we will be leaving on home assignment. After 5 years on the field we will be taking a year off to spend time with our family and friends and also with our supporters. We will be dividing our time between Brazil and the US. We still aren’t sure of the dates we will be in each place, but as soon as we know we will let you know. We look forward to getting reacquainted with many of you.
Once again we want to express our appreciation for your prayers and financial support of our ministry. Looking back over the past five years we can truly and honestly say, God has been good to us, and you have been a part of that channel through which God has shown us His goodness!
Because of Him,
João, Hope, Nathan & Ryan
This time we will have to send our greetings from a very hot and dry Novo Demini. We have been having lots of really hot weather and we haven't seen a good rain in quite a while. I don't think I would know how to survive in cold weather any more. I've been only in hot weather for so long, I think my blood has already thinned out. Ha!!!
As we mentioned in our previous update we had been planning on spending some time in town. Well, that time has come and gone and we have been back in Novo Demini since the 20th of August. Our time out went really fast, but we were able to have a refreshing time and re-charge our batteries a little. The boys really enjoyed it. Nathan enjoyed going to the supermarket and being able to go around town seeing different things. We were able to buy
him a small bicycle which he really enjoys. In town he rode it a lot, but out here it has been a little harder for him to ride as he still needs training wheels and they don't work very well if you aren't on really level ground. Once in a while he gets his friends to push him around on the airstrip.
It's good to be home again. Our co-workers Wellington & Águida and their five year old son, Abraão, flew out to Boa Vista on the 17th of September. They are awaiting the arrival of their second child for some time this month. As soon as their baby is old enough to travel, they will be leaving on furlough. We are currently the only missionaries here at Novo Demini. Our other co-workers
are all on furlough. Please pray for us in the coming months being alone and all. Nathan really misses his little friend Abraão. It was the highlight of his day to every afternoon be able to play with his buddy. We are so glad for his brother Ryan. It helps him not feel so lonely.
Over the last month a lot of cases of malaria have shown up. Almost all of them being malaria falcipurum and a few vivax. We are very grateful that so far we have been kept safe. Please pray God will protect us from getting malaria, but that if we do, we won't have any greater complications. For quite a while after we arrived back, João's allergies had been really bad.
We had to do a thorough cleaning of our house to see if it would help him. Our house doesn't have windows; I mean glass or stuff like that. Our windows only have screen on them to keep the mosquitoes and other creatures out. All the dust comes right through. Clothes and things being put away for a while get a moldy smell. I had a lot of washing to do to get everything back into shape. We praise the Lord the last few weeks he has been better and his allergies are at least under control.
Sorry, time gets away from us and we take a while to write, but we sure appreciate each of you. Thanks so much for your financial support of our ministry. Hope you are all well. It looks like we will be going on furlough next year. We are planning on being back in the US during the next summer. We are looking forward to getting to see you all again!
Because of Jesus,
João, Hope, Nathan & Ryan
I thought this was really interesting and worth seeing. It comes from J.D. Greear. We serve an awesome God!
This is a 3 min video put out by Harvard on the incredible intricacies of the cell. (special thanks to our David Goodman for putting me onto it!)
One of the interesting things is that even as evolution has become more entrenched in our culture, belief that a God is still behind creation has stayed basically the same, much to the chagrin of neo-atheists like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. That is because there is something in the human heart that knows that there is no way that nothing x nobody = everything. Psalm 19:1 says that the heavens declare to us the glory of God and Romans 1:20 says that the immensity of creation reveals to our hearts the massive size of the God behind it. (and not just in America...Two new books put out by the UN say that belief in God is making a massive comeback even in Europe.) What always amuses me is the way that guys like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, who so deplore the way that theologians will appeal to mystery as it relates to things like the problem of evil, will get this blankish look on their face when they are asked where matter and energy could have originated and say something about a mystery... Here is the video we used from Francis Chan.
And here is the sermon itself (if it's not there, check back in an hour or so). You can also watch by going to our website and clicking "sermon media" and "watch now."
As the weather cools and the leaves begin to turn, the signs of fall are all around us. Our sovereign God controls all things. His faithfulness to us is displayed in the changing of the seasons as the heat of summer gives way to the cool nights of early fall. Soon, the snow will fly only to be followed by the daffodils of spring. As sure as the seasons is God’s grace offered to us in the horror of the cross. One day we will be with him. Until then, we enjoy the beauty of his creation 
and dream of the day when all will be made perfect as it was intended to be before Adam allowed pride to enter his heart.
As we spent our first afternoon in a tree stand, we were filled with anticipation for the deer that might pass within range. On this day, that was not to be. As so often happens, each deer passed by safely beyond the range of my arrow. There will be more days to dream about the big one that didn’t get away. 
Today was a day to spend some time with my boys and recognize that I am blessed by the God of All.
See You At The Pole
Wednesday, September 23 7:45 AM
Loomis Public School
“Go and pray to God for me and for the people . . .“ —2 KINGS 22:13a (The Message)
The Loomis Fellowship Of Christian Athletes is sponsoring the annual prayer rally, “See You At The Pole”, tomorrow. Everyone is invited to join the students as they gather around the flag pole to pray for their school and their friends.
“Did you honor the Lord Jesus Christ?”
“Rather than mope around after a loss…Get God’s perspective”
“It’s what He (God) thinks is what counts”
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