RODRIGUES NEWSLETTER

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