Good News I want to share!

Hello my friends!

Wow I have some good news to share with you!!!

Good News #1
This semester has been a little different than what we expected.  We were ready to jump in head first with our classes at night and at the Public-School José Mota.  Well, José Mota experienced one delay after another and they just recently started their school year.  This has worked to our advantage because we have been able to devote ourselves to further developing our new approach with the curriculum with our night classes.  The three classes which includes a true beginner class, a second semester group and our more advanced class have been going very well.  We continue to see growth with these students which is exciting to see.

Good News #2
Since José Mota has resumed classes, we went last week to talk with the students.  We received our paperwork and we have 101 new students signed up.  We have about 22 students from last semester that we are waiting to see what they want to do.  We are very excited!!!!  We are going to have the students on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 1.25 hr. classes instead of one 2-hour class per week.  This will help the students with the learning process and that is the regular mode of language classes here.  We had such a good time talking and being with them last week.  We are also going to be working with 3 of the teachers from last semester and possibly some new teachers as well.

This means that our schedule will kick into high gear with 3 nightly classes (Tues, Wed, Fri) and morning / afternoon classes on both Tuesday and Thursday along with skype classes with one missionary on Saturday, another wonderful young lady on Sunday afternoon and possibly 3 others.  WHOO WHOO!

Good News #3
I will be returning to the US for a brief visit in August and Nayara received her visa and she will be coming with me!!!!  She did not get a “tourist visa” it was more of a “conference visa”.  She has been invited to come and share with the LCM Board, José / Leoni Almada de Abreu, New Covenant Fellowship, Hosanna Assembly of God along with other opportunities to share with people both in Conway, AR and in Stillwater.  It is my desire that we have at least 2 opportunities for those of you who live near Stillwater, to come and visit with us and hear about what has been going on…AND… I want you to meet Nayara.  She was the first fruit of this mission and is a valuable part of the team.  We are scheduled to fly into Little Rock, AR on August 16 and will return to Manacapuru on September 5^th. 

As it stands right now, we will be driving to Stillwater on August 25^th and returning to Conway on Sept 1^st.  I know it’s a fast trip, but we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.  We are thrilled to be a part of this ministry work and we want to share with you.

We will be working hard these three months with the new schedule.  Thank you for your participation and prayers.  It has been a blessing to see people’s response.  Yeah!!!!

As the time approaches for our US trip I will make another post with more specific details!

Bless you,

Lisa

2018 is starting off strong!!!

Hello my friends,

Please forgive the delay in getting this post out to you.  Life has been full and very busy.  Let me catch you up….

Nayara and I spent the Christmas holiday and most of January in Belo Horizonte.  We spent our time going back and forth to her home town of João Monlevade.  We had about 7 times to share through testimonies and preaching.  It was great.  I continue to marvel at Nayara’s growth with English, what a blessing!  We also had a friend, Patrícia who flew down from Manacapuru to spend a little over a week with us.  It was fun for her and for us.  And of course, the time with Nayara’s family was a blessing.

I spent a lot of the Christmas “break” working on a new curriculum plan for the English classes.  We were unable to gain permission to use the material we used last year, so we needed to change.  The Lord was so faithful.  He led me to a book that has been fantastic!  I am using the principles in this book.  The book is called Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner.  If you are interested in learning a second language, I would recommend this book!

So, after a lot of work during the break we returned to Manacapuru ready to get back to work.  When we returned we had a few days and then we went to Youth Camp with the church and had a great time.  Wow, the memories that it brought back to me with my 13.5 yrs. in Youth Ministry!  It was wonderful to spend time with the youth and adults as well.

We are now beginning our 6^th week with our evening classes with English.  The new curriculum is working well, and the students seem to really like it.  It is helping them gain confidence with their speaking.  I am also using the principles with my learning of Portuguese and its working!  whoo!  Nayara and Patrícia have decided to learn Spanish, and they are using the curriculum too.  They asked me if I wanted to, but I had to say no, my plate is full enough.  They are having fun with it.

Our work with the Public-School students and teachers have been on hold due to construction at the school and now the teachers have gone on strike.  So, we will be patient and begin as soon as possible when things calm down.  We have also had opportunities to talk with teachers in the city (outside our school of José Mota) about the possibility of having classes to help with their pronunciation.  The feedback has been positive, so we will see what happens after the strike.  One positive aspect about the delay with the work in the Public School is that we have been able to see how the new curriculum is working.  We are encouraged! 

We have 3-night classes through the week, along with 3 skype classes on Sunday (4 people) and I am also assisting a young man in another community who wants to start an English class.  We have been able to meet several people from this community and we hope to be able to travel there soon.  He is looking at starting a class in June or July.  The community is about 4-5-hour boat ride away from Manacapuru.  We are so blessed with the opportunity to serve the Lord and people through teaching English.

We have several things to ask you to pray about:

• ·       I and LC Ministries have asked Nayara to come to the US with me in August to help me share with people about the work we are doing here.  She will be going to the US Consulate in Brasilia to apply for the appropriate visa here in a week or so.  We need God’s favor and covering.  So please pray that the visa would be granted and that she would have zero problems with getting it.
• ·       For God to continue to open doors with the Public-School students and teachers.  We are doing everything we can to be prepared for them once classes resume.
• ·       Our schedule is crazy – so we are working hard to keep a good balance of rest, exercise, study and fun.  Please pray that we keep everything in proper order!

We have also been blessed to help through preaching and teaching at the church along with other activities with adults and youth.  Our heart desire to be a blessing to Pr Rogerio and the church while the Lord allows us to be here.

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support.  Through you Nayara and I can be here doing the work the Lord has instructed us to do.  You are a blessing!  I will have to post at a late date, sorry.

Lisa