Hello my friends,
Greetings from Belo Horizonte (BH) in the ‘central’ part of Brazil (a little south of central). We are here spending Christmas and New Years with Nayara’s family as well as visiting her church home and family in João Monlevade (about a 2 hour drive east of BH). We have experienced a mixture of things on this “vacation”.
Nayara’s Pastor & family own an apartment in BH, and
this is where we have been staying. It
is a peaceful place, and we are so grateful for it. I have been staying here a lot. Nayara has been staying with her sister for almost
2 weeks who had a baby Jan 4 by C-section.
The Lord instructed Nayara to offer this service to her back in November. So, this was not a surprise for us. Her sister is not walking with the Lord and
her husband is not a Christian. This
truly has been a mission trip for Nayara, and I have been supporting her in
prayer each day. She is dog tired for
sure. Tomorrow we will leave for
João Monlevade for a week stay with her best friend’s home who is also the Pastor’s
daughter. They are wonderful and have a
lovely place to stay! They built
upstairs when the baby came and they call it Nayara & Lisa’s room, which is
upstairs with a bedroom, bathroom and a desk area outside the room that looks
out over the soon to be patio party deck with a great view! We love it there. We were able to spend about 4 days at the beginning
of our trip where I preached on the Sunday evening. Now Nayara will speak to the ladies this Sunday
morning and preach that night.
Along with Nayara’s mission trip, we have both also had some much-needed medical checkups. We both know that this is the time that we need to take care of ourselves and get serious about getting in better shape. It is fortunate for me the dollar has been strong down here and I was able to get multiple MRI’s, scans and blood work done and it didn’t break the bank. I am so grateful for each of you, through your faithful support, everything is paid for in cash!
During this break, unfortunately, the state of Amazonas has
had a serious outbreak of COVID-19 and maybe the new mutation of the virus. Manacapuru is on lockdown as well as Manaus. This is a portion of an email received
lately.
Today, the state of Amazonas is experiencing
a health collapse, whether private or public, due to the lack of oxygen
cylinders, due to the high number of hospitalizations due to Covid-19, and also
other respiratory complications.
Patients are already being sent for
treatment in other states. The Air Force is transporting oxygen and
supplies to Manaus. It is indeed a war situation.
I ask the brothers to pray for our
state, for the situation that is happening, so that the Lord will be the
provider of the resolution of this chaos. By exhausted health
professionals. For the mourners, for the families, so that more people
can know Jesus in the midst of difficulties.
In Christ,
Pr. Tomás Corrêa
* Missionary of the National Missions
Board in Amazonas *
So, the situation there is serious. One of our student’s aunt died because of no oxygen! Camilo, our pastor in Manacapuru, sent us an email suggesting that we stay in BH longer. He is the 3rd person who suggested it. I talked with Rhonda Madison, the LCM chairman of the board, and she agreed that we probably should stay here a little longer. If it as bad as they say we would not be able to start our project classes anyway. This is not what we want for sure, but we are walking in peace. We are now checking the airlines for the possibility of changing our tickets due to the pandemic.
Here in BH, we are also in lockdown (2.5+million population of the city). Even if Nayara had not been assigned to help care for her sister and baby, we would not have been able to do our normal running around. I have been staying here at the house. I have been resting, reading, playing with drawing, learning about watercolor, and watching movies along watching multiple services in North Carolina, OK and other places! I have started using as my devotional Rick Renner’s Sparkling Gems which a friend gave me years ago. Wow is it rich, I have loved it! I recommend it! I have also been reading a new book about a missionary in Somalia, what a challenge!
As we have started this year, I have also been having prayer time. Praying for God to continue His transforming work in my life. Praying for you and your families. Praying for our country during this time of transition in leadership. Praying for the English Project that we would do exactly what He wants and how He wants it done. Praying for the students of the English Project. Praying for Nayara & Paty’s online business with AME (English instruction). There is not a shortage of things to pray for.
This I do know. God is Present. God is Faithful. God is desiring to move this year in a powerful way. The main questions are: Am I taking time to be still before the Lord? Am I listening to Him through the Holy Spirit and through His Word? Am I being faithful to do what He tells me to do? Easy questions to ask, tough questions reflect on and answer honestly.
Thank you for praying for us, for our city of Manacapuru, for this mission that God has called us to. You all are so precious to us. May God richly bless you in many new and unexpected ways!
in Him,
Lisa
