future leadership
In a previous prayer letter, we shared 22-year-old Pedro’s story of coming to Christ through simply reading the Word. We are encouraged that he has expressed to us a strong desire/call to teach or preach the Word. Though he had already completed a degree in political science, he is now considering seminary to be prepared for his future in full-time ministry. We are also grateful that 25-year-old Stelio taught an 8 week Bible study and did an excellent job. When we asked for volunteer workers for camp, he immediately requested time off of work and signed up.
camp is back
Finally, after 3 summers of being closed, the campground we have previously used is reopening. We were disappointed that it has changed owners and they have doubled the price per camper. After searching out other options and coming up empty, we (the leaders of several participating churches) agreed that we felt God was leading us to go ahead, even with the increased price, trusting that He would provide. Since Portuguese salaries are low, we must always supplement the cost for the campers so that they don’t have to pay the whole amount.
We currently have 5 campers from our church hoping to go, and are praying for more. Would you be willing to sponsor a camper for 80 euros?
the clock is ticking
A few months ago, we received notice that our church building contract would not renew and we must vacate the building. Even though we have known that moving needed to be in our immediate future, we have been up against several obstacles.
- legal paperwork
- costs of buying/renting
- few options in our area
Because of this, our landlord was gracious and agreed to give us one more year to find another place. We just resubmitted our church paperwork for approval after 2 years of denials. Please pray that our new lawyer will be able to get this process complete by the end of the year as he hopes. Soon, we will send out a video highlighting our fund-raising goals. We are asking those who can to commit $100/month toward this need for one year – we have until June 2024 to be out of our property. Please pray for the raising of the funds, for just the right location, and that God would already begin working on the key players involved: the bureaucrats, the owner, the banker, etc.
