sanders ldavid ruth 1976 brazil

8/12/2019 Sanders LDavid Ruth 1976 Brazil

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Al piytt l/im

R ZIL C RISIi N MISSIONT y

Linda an d Philip McAfee withmother and younger brothers and sister :Danny, S am m y a nd I re ne , at Christmast i m e , 1975.

PHILIP A N D LIN D AM c A F E E P L A NI N T E R N S H I P

This summer is planned asmissionary candidate internship forPhilip and Linda McAfee. Bo th ar eSophomores at Manhattan (Kansas)Christian College. They have facultyclearance, and will be working under thesupervision of their parents. They ar ealready proficient in the language,h av in g g ro wn up on th e mission field.T he ir a ss is ta nc e will b e in Chris tianService camp, vacation Bible school,preaching, calling, and some secretarialwork .

Already they have written to severalchurches soliciting support. To date,t hey h av e a fund of 150 t ow ar d t he irprojected expenditure of 2,800 ( 1,400each ) fo r t h e s u m m e r .Should they not have contacted you,and you ar e desirous of helping Phil andLinda, they ma y be contacted:c/o Manhattan Christian College

1407 Ande r son Avenu eM a n h a t t a n , KS 66502

i ji .- . ile L S i*vv . 'G AssnBex 1 7 7

X n d , 4 6 0 4 9

V O L . X X V I I JANUARY FEBRUARY, 1976 NO . 1

A NEW YEAR AND NEW DIRECTORY Brasilia Church)

Seven men have been elected by theBrasilia church congregation to directlocal and outreach activities during1976. Six of these me n ar e married an dtheir wives ar e also active in th e work ofthe church. The seventh, not pictured, is46-year-old Joao Mafra , bachelor , whoworks in military radio.Filemon Ribeiro dos Santos, 43yearsold, two children (both baptized), is Vice-president of the church and WorshipDirector, teacher of the Sundaymorningyouth class and s ings in the choir. He isSub-director of th e National Foundationof Ind ians of Brazil. His wife. Celia, isSocial Service director for th e church.Jose Ribamar Alencar, 36 years old,six chi ldren three baptized. .. two oft he se w er e baptized in December lastyear), ischurch secretary, sponsor oftheyouth Department, an d teacher of th eMen's class. He is a department head inthe Ministry of Justice. Elza, his wife, isvice-president of the Women's Society,leader of programs, and Sunday Schoolteacher.Osorio Rodrigues Gonzalves, 32years old. two children and 5 yeai^old), is second secretary, teacher of classfo r newcomers an d d o ct ri na l i nf or mation, and Director of Evangelism, wherewe aim to make a special emphasis invisitation and establishing house

Church Directory, readingfrom left to right: Osorio,Josias, Evilasio, Filemon,David in background, JoseR i b a m a r i n s e r t . . . J o a o M a f r an o t p i ct u re d .

churches. His. secular business ismanaging a boarding house for studentsand workers. His wife, Lidia Maria,teaches special sewing classes in thech u rch .Evilasio Jardim, 24 years old(married January 3rd this year), isTreasurer, youth leader and sings in thechoir. He is a salesman for a drugcompany in this area. His wife,Rosangela, is director of the church sadult-primary school, Sunday Schoolteacher, and active in both youth andwomen s groups.Josias Mariano dos Santos, 50 yearsold, one daughter (baptized), is secondtreasurer, church caretaker, an da s si s ta n t o v e rs e er o f c hu rc h construction. Due to a heart attack several yearsago, he retired from an active public jobof superintendent of cons truction.Juracina, hi s wife, is active in th ewom en s g ro up s.L. David Sanders, 58-year-oldmissionary, is church president. Heworks with these me n in churchintegration and outreach, as well as withfive other men, evangel is ts , who comefor t ra in in g a nd o ri en ta ti on for theirfields of labor. P i c t u r e wa s t a k e n inDavid's office, located below the balcony.Note picture of church and surroundinga p ar tm e n t a re a on beam.


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EDITOR - DaleH McAfeeThis publication is printed,addressed and mailed byCapstan, Box E

Checotah , Oklahoma 74426(a missionary service ministry)

MISSIONARIESL. David and Ruth Sande rs

Mailing Address:Calxa Postal 07-862 .

70000 Brasil ia, D.F., BrazilFo r Information, colored slidesan d mission studies , write to :

Mr. and Mrs. Larry Durham2929 Sou th Mart inson StreetWichita, Kansas 67217

To receive praye r l et te r, wri teto :

Brazil Christian Mission% Bethany Christ ian ChurchRural Route 1 - Box 61BCAnderson, Indiana 46011

MISSIONARIESDale H. an d Caro l McAfee

For informa t ion , co lored slidesand mission studies, write to :

Miss ion Se rv i ce sB ox 1 77

Kempton, Indiana46049To receive pr aye r l ett er, w rit eto :

Brazil Christian Mission% Capstan, Inc.

Box EChecotah, Oklahoma 74426Send ALL Con tribu tions To :BRAZIL CHRISTIAN MISSION

Box 1 7 06 7

Wichita, Kansas 67217Please help keep our records straightby designating your o ff er ing fo rmis sionar y o r p ro ject . Please do not

s e nd che ck s or bil ls to t he field.The Brazil Christian Mission i s o wn edby th e religious organizat ion of th esame name and is published bimonthly with second c la ss p os ta gepaid at the U.S. Pos t Office inChecotah, Oklahoma 74426. Subscriptions a re paid from offerings received.

Vania and Iraci lead choruses (toppicture). Children show interest as theylisten to Bibl e story.

JANUARY ISVACATION BIBLE SCHOOLYouth Lead Again -- Four youngpeople led out again this year in sponsor

ship of th e seven-day vacat ion Bibleschool in th e Bra si li a c hu rc h. VaniaBastos, 16 years old, was le ade r andteacher; Rosangela Jardim and DenisRibeiro, were co-teachers; Iraci CandidoSantos helped with music. Elza Alencarand Bernade tte Tes ta helped withhandwork and games. The church'swomen's group furnished the dailylunches. The re we re 73 enrol led with anaverage at tendance of 51.

The final program was presented onSunday morning following the school,and small gift s were given to paren tswho came for the special program.MISSIONARY CONFERENCE

A SUCCESSThe 14th Conference of Brazil

M issionaries of Churches of th eChurches of Christ was held in BeloHorizonte January 8-13, 1976. About 135total attended, including organic andinorganic brethren (for 12 years nowthis annual meeting of missionaries hasbeen joint ly held by Christian Churchand Chu rch of Christ missionaries).Mr. Herbert Works, Eugene,Oregon, and Mr. Wendell Broom,Abilene, Texas, were the specialspeakers on th e theme of ChurchGrowthL. David and Ruth Sande rs , whoattended almost al l of th e 14conferences, report that this one was thebest so far. Others, whose c omment shave come to th e editor, liave been in th esame vein. P r ai se t h e Lord fo r brethrenwith a vision an d hearts obedient to theLord, open to one another.

CERES CHURCHBUILDING

A Fund to Plan t New Churche sEarly in 1974, a fund was begun bythe Ceres Church to build a new buildingfor worship and meeting center. Appeals

were made to the brethren to supply halfof the expected cost of 10,000, or a goalof 5,000. After indecision an d somedelay, th e decision to build wa s madeand work beganMay i5,1974. Later thatyear, the building (15 meters long, 10meters wide, with walls 5 meters high)was constructed on property being givenas a gift from the city government. Costwas 11,106.00.Funds to finance th e construction

from local efforts were insufficient to doth e job. Mission funds from t he s al e ofBCM cow projects that matured, wereloaned to make construction possible andguarantee a place of meeting rent free.That is, a long delay and greatlyincreased costs were thus avoided, at th esame time providing encouragement toth e Ceres brethren^ A total of 4,503.96in BCM Cow and Heif er Fund monieswent to the construction. Local fundsnetted 1,061.04. The balance 5,541.00,was met with 4,787.20 from formeremergency repat ri at ion funds, and753.80 of gifts to th e Ceres Churchbuilding.Now we look forward to new churchplanting and pioneer evangelism. TheCeres church meeting house has beenbuilt and paid for. The congregation willbe contributing toward a fund named intheir honor to do pioneer evangelism andplant new congregations.A total of 1,153.00 has been r eceivedtoward the 5,000goal; 400 has gone tothe cow and hei fe r project ; 248.()0 is in

t he c ur en t fund.This makes 3,847 needed yet toreach the original goal of 5,000. You caninvest in new church planting in Brazilby giving to this fund.

PRAYER REQUESTS1. For th e Sanders ' health to bestrengthened, as they carry theheavy load of responsibil it ies at this

t ime2. For th e McAfees to finish withsuccess their special studies this year

in Pasadena, California.3. Fo r th e organizational transition ofBrazil Christ ian Mission field association to the Brasilia church.4. Fo r th e growth of the Ceres church.5. For the Mother Church plan begun byth e Brasil ia church.


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AT po^pim

R ZIL CHRISII N MISSION

BRASIL IA BUILDERby L. David Sanders

Vision and Chal lengeBrasilia Building has been our vision

and challenge for tw en ty y ear s - yesNearly thirty yearsBefore coming to Brazil, we saw thenew future federal capital area markedon maps of the nation. The world calledBrazil th e S le ep in g G iant . Sincearriving in Brazil in 1948, we have neverbelieved he r to be sleeping. Yes Brazilhas been ever-growing and expanding.

We have v isua l ized the Church of ou rLord also in this expansion. We dreamedthen of seeing ten churches establishedin our life t ime .

Today, we dre am of a hundred newchurches of Chris t i n B r az il . Yes Even inour life-time, perhaps 500 churches inthis great growing country.Solu t ions

Do we have new solut ions? Notnecessarily new solutions for problems,but a new spirit to work; a def init e planof action and some better preparedworkers, as well as a new mentality forgrowth and plant ing new churches.

Dr . Ted Yamamori visited last yearand brought to our a ttent ion weaknessin ou r activities and a new challengew it h n ew aims and goals which we ar eattempt ing to put into practice with ou rown mission plans and various othermissionar ies .

This plan is basically not new, exceptfo r some n ew f ac et s and n ew e ff or ts to^CQ^entSte on. evangelism through a>-^ \Mpther Church plan ofehucch extensionV;mcirin turnwill carry-cm a leadershiptraining program along side of a Chutch-jGrowth Research Center here inBrasilia. = : .'^' Putting ^ ision into Action

Beginning activity of research in coopera tion with other missionaries, hasshown weaknesses and strengths in ourold activity as well as challenges for newactivity. One challenge has been that lastyear the churches showed 16% growthand we hope to see this move up to 20%

l iss ion Services /issn.;0x 17 7empton, Ind 46049

M Y 2 Q

VOL. XXVII MARCH APRIL, 1976 NO. 2

this year and on up to 30% next year.With thi s in view, we have laid ou t somefive-year plans for the local BraziliaChurch .

Our goals for 1976:150 members (we have 90 active

members in 1975).6 Bible S tu dies o r C hu rches in

homes .6 Prayer Nuclei in homes.6 Couples making regular visits.6 Groups in the Theology Extension

Course.Our goals for 1980:50 0 membe r s30 Bible Studies o r Churches in

homes .30 Prayer Nuclei in homes.30 Couples making regular visits.20 Groups in the Theology ExtensionCourse.

Goal AchievementThe month o f March saw sevenprayer groups pu t into action, already

putting us one over our goal for the year.By the end of March, the total baptismswere 18, which was 8 over our goal forth e local church. Last year there wereonly 12 with 4 transfers. Our immediategoal is 60 baptisms for the local churchfor 1976with this many more in outlying re s

Ou t re a ch h o us e s e rv ic e s h av e b e enthree; bu t from this beginning, we anticipate Bible studies or small groups in fourpermanent locations for the year.Our former goal was for four Bibles tudies and four house c hu rc he s t hi syear; bu t this plan was not understoodor adopted, so we ar e having to retreatto Bible study groups as an initial goaland, as the Lord develops the hearts,allow them to become churches inhomes.

New Church planting was begun onMarch 23 in one satellite city of Brasiliacalled Braslandia. The work is beingspearheaded by a young man whograduated from the Goiania school lastyear. Two of the e lders from th e Brasiliachurch made a rapid survey of the city of20,000 an d began house to housevis i tat ion in March.

In this aspect, we look forward to th ecoming of the Bruce Colson family inJune to develop Bouse churches in theFederal District. frnXhisT tte hope fornew force in this area and new goals fnplanting churches.Concerning the training aspect thatresults from closing th e boarding schoolin Goiania, already Extension Coursesar e being directed in central Brazi l byTom Fife. Centers have been opened inat least five p laces this year. F romBrasilia, it is expected to open twodaughter churches to Extension course.son a beginning lower l evel for trainingworkers. It is from this tra ining thai wehope for ou r greatest growth andstrength.Mother Church Shoulders IlesponsibililyThe Brasilia church, although a 1'oung church, is shoul de ring theresponsibility of all of the workers thatthe Brazil ( jhr is tian Mission has beensponsoring. The Church board is helpingplicy and plans and encouragementtor these daughter churches. Thesechurches have only an average of 15 to25 members each, many being young folkin need of much encouragement. So ourplan is to help them financially at leastone more year so as to have an,evangelist present to direct the work.

After 28 years of experience, itseems there is new hope for churchgrowth in our area. Now we need yourprayers as we experience newpossibilities for church growth in Brazil.FACING THE FIELD -

1976by Dale McAfee

AfwThr^ terms of service in Braziland tnree~Turloughs . thi s last one extended to inc lude a Masters program inmissiology at Fuller School of WorldMission/Institute of Church Growth,Carol an d I look f o rwa rd t o ou r return toChristian missionary service in CentralBrazil.Rping gnnp from our place of serviceengagement for nearly two years (we


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EDITOR - Da l eH McAf e eThis publication is printed,addressed and mail ed by

Capstan, Box EChecotah, Oklahoma 74426(a missionary service ministry)

MISSIONARIESL. David and Ruth Sanders

Mailing Address:Caixa Postal 07-862

70000 Brasi lia , D.F., BrazilFor Information, colored slld^a nd m is si on studies, write to ;

Mr. and Mrs. Larry Durham2929 Sou th Mart inson StreetWichita, Kansas 67217

To receive prayer letter, writeto :

Brazil Christian Mission Bethany Christian ChurchRural Route 1 - Box618CAnderson, Indiana46011

MISSIONARIESDale H. and Ca r ol McAf ee

For informat ion, colored slidesan d mission studies, write to :

Mission ServicesBox 1 7 7

Kempton, Indiana 46049To r ec eive p raye r l et te r, w ri tet o :

Brazil Chr i st i an Miss ion Capstan, Inc.

Box EChecotah, Oklahoma 74426Send ALL Contributions To:BRAZIL CHRISTIAN MISSION

Box 17067Wichita, Kansas 67217

Please help keep our records straightby designating your offering formissionary or project. Please do no t

send checks or bills to th e f ield.The Brazil Christian Mission Is ownedby th e religious organization of thesame name and is published bimonthly with second class postagepaid at th e U.S. Post Office inChecotah, Oklahoma 74426. Subscriptions are paid from offerings received.

left in August of 1974, and anticipatereturn by July 1,1976) means the occurrence of many changes in Braz il, in th epeople and church we have worked with,in organizational relat ionships, in ourselves. Our de si re to wi tne ss to th e loveof God in Chr is t and His saving, life-changing power has not changed. Ourexpectation is still for a response to themessage of life and hope in Christ byBrazilians who, gathered into congregations, represent church growth.

Our goals are in three areas:1. To harmoniously and constru ctively relate to our missionary colleagues, in first place to David and RuthSanders with whom w e are affi l iated inBrazil Christian Mission.2. To coopera te w ith the Brasiliachurch in organizing and operating aChurch Growth Research and Theologica l Educat ion Center . T his include sdevelopment of a full curriculum (adegree program on a multi- academiclevel) in theological education. I want toprepare some of the texts myself, one ofwhich I am now writing for my master'sprog ram3. To be personal evangelists: assistin church plant ing through housechurches in B ra si lia ; and contr ibutetime and effort available to pioneerevangel ism (select ing localities andbeginning the foundational work forplanting churches in those localities).Specific details to implement plans toreach the goals awai t our a rriva l inBrasilia where face to face communication can be possible. But they do include

_jnpving our residence from Ceres to- PrasiHa.You, ou r friends, loved ones,Christian acquaintances, dearly belovedin the Lord, have stood by us throughthick and thin. This of whichwe speak is') \a work of faith - y our faith and ours.yVour prayers and your support have

upheld us. We go forward in th estrength of the Lord. We give praise toGod for this partnership in giving andreceiving (Phil. 4:15), and at this pointr eded ica te our l ives to t h is s erv ic e.And myGodwillsupply every needofyours according to His riches in gloryin Chr is t J es us . T o our God an d Fatherbe glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Phil.4:19-20).

WOMEN IN THE WORK ATBRASILIA CHURCH

by Ruth SandersWomen in th e Bras il ia chu rch a refinding vitality in service. Last year,many of them relaxed in their going-

out for th e Lord and complained oftiredness, bodily and men ta l ache s andpains, and not having t ime for theLord. This year, after ten days of specialGincana (a period of re-dedication andservice), they felt that what was missingwa s their obedience to th e Lo rd a nd, a sthey obey and serve, new vitality.^ hascome into their - -.JDiv ided info three groups, hewomen emphasize three aspects of tl^Christian life. The Evangelism^gTOup,led by Elza BraumgartinT Alencar,s erve s through special visitation inhomes and have had two evangelisticservices, one in th e church an d on e in ahome not to o f ar fr om th e church. Theirleader, Mrs. Alencar, also brings appropriate and challenging messages orstudies every othermonth at our generalmeeting of all groups.The Integration group, led by EunicePaniago Testa, serves through prayernuclei in the homes. They have six such

nuclei weekly in various areas ofBrasilia, each led by a d if ferent womanof the group. Their leader, Mrs. Testa,visits each of the nuclei as often as possible to give orientation and encouragement; The group, as a whole, also acts asa First-Aid for Prayer group foremergency calls for prayer.The Stewardship group, led byAbigail Seve Azevedo de Mesquita,serves through the many phases of time,talent and money. They take charge ofreceptions, weddings and parties held inthe church and sponsor fel lowshipdinners in the homes.Oneof their groupcoordinates hospitality for visitors fromout of town. A coming project of thegroup is to furnish th e kitchen (which isbeing completed this year) with a stoveand re frige rat or. Th ei r leader, Mrs.Mesquita, inspires her group throughher own participation in the activities ofthe church.

The women have found th e truth inSeek ye first the Kingdom and Hisrighteousness and these things shall beadded to you. Matthew 6:33,

Ph \ , ;nr i.in: . , : .i Students a t Manhattan ChristianCollege Manhattan Kansas 66502 are continuing preparationsfor missionary internship in Brazil this summer. You maycontact themincareofthe college to help inthis project. Theywill need a total of approximately 3 000.


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J.I?

M i s si o n ervi es sg n

Box 177Kempton, IN 46049

R ZIL C RISII N MISSION

Dale McAfee on mal l a t Ful le rcampus on graduation day.

M cA f e e s returnOn June 7 Dale participated in the27th annual graduation ceremony ofFuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena,California. After studying full time theentire past school year he is a recipient

of th e Fuller School of World Miss ion/Insti tu te of Church Growth ^s te r of-Theology degree in Missiology.Dale and Carol had thei r re turn

passage to Brazil booked to leave LosAngeles on June 19. Only the threeyounger children, Irene, Sammy andDanny ar e accompanying them.

The return trip included a SV: daystop-over {including Sunday the 20th) atWichita, Kansas where they me t withBrazil Christian Mission Trus te es , andvisited th e Glenn Park Christian Church.At Wichita Linda and Philip McAfeerendezvoused with t he i r folks toaccompany them to Brazil for. Summer^Mission In^rnship. Arrival in Brasiliawa s scheduled fo r 7:50 a.m. WednesdayJune 24th.

Return Postage Gauranteed To:CAPSTAN, Box E , C he cot ah, Ok lah om a 74426

VOL. XXVII MAY JUNE, 1976 NO 3

AS THE CHURCH GROWS

On April 11, 1976, a newcongregation was formed with sevennew baptized believers and fourt ransfers in the ru ra l area ofDespenhada of the Alvorada Township, north of Bra si li a. The storyconnected with t hi s congr egat ions t r eams b ac k a lmo st to th e t ime of th eSanders arr ival in Brazil.

FIRST CONTACTSOne of th e f irs t contacts was meetinga family from Sao Paulo state, who wasfollowing the western stream of settlersof Go ias . Hearing of this f amily who

were said to be Christians, David calledon them. They had come seeking freeland on which to settle. Among them wasa young man, Jose, who wanted topreach the Gospel. He come to studywith David a nd b ec am e th e first Biblestudent. Ou t of this grew our firstattempts at training nationals in 1952-53,f ir st i n the Sanders h om e a nd later inth e Goiania Chris tian Ins ti tu te .As the years passed, the uncle of thisyoung man sent two daughters to study.This fa ther wanted to show hisfriendship when he got squatters' rightsto an acreage of land in a new area andgave David a registration slip for rightsto about 800 acres of land. He promisedto help care for the land - fencing,planting coffee and renting.

VISITATIONDavid began making some vis it s upthe long dusty, rocky tra il {now pavedhighway) which eventually opened doorsfor preaching points along the road.

Churches were born and some havealready died along this road. (Amongthose yet functioning are Ceres and SaoLuis. Four other congregations underthe leadership of a Goiania convert, havesince been es tab li shed under an addedindependent name of Church of Christof the Awakening along this road).

On each v is it m ad e to this m an shome, preaching services were held. Arural area, much influenced by spiritism,the people were slow to respond. Whenthe Christian family sold their farm to anon-believing brother and moved away,new contacts were made and stop offs atvarious homes began to producein te r es t

David continued to make frequentvisits to the area, supposedly to see thefarm, which up to now has neve r reallyproduced and has had its problems withrustlers and bad times. Then, along withother missionaries, David began to makefriends and be welcomed and finallyinv it ed into many homes in thecommunity. Now more and more homesopen and with birthday and othercelebrations, there are frequentpreaching services held.

HOLSECHURCHTwo years ago, four members of one

of th e churches which had die d backalong the road, moved into the area andbegan to demonstrate the Christian lifebefore th e o the rs . Thei r home became acenter for a house church . Last year,several of the community indicatedinterest in salvation and this year in i pril sevenmade thedecision and were ]baptized. In the meantime, three girls/from th e area had come to Brasilia towork and were converted and baptizedin th e Bras il ia church.

On the day the seven were baptized,V ^a new congregation began with a jlchairman a reader and an explainer of,^the Scriptures. Few in the area can readand few have any idea of spiritualgrowth. Already fifteen others haveindicated interest and we expect moredecision s in a shor t time. Thecongregation is the first new one thisyear, but we have plans for one or twoothers soon in th e Brasilia area.


6/10

EDITOR Dal e H . McAfeePrinted addressed and mailed by

Capstan Box EChecotah Oklahoma 74426

MISSIONARIESL. David and Ruth S a n d e r s

Mailing Address:C a ix a P o st al 07-862

70.000 Brasilia D.F. BrazilFo r information colored slides an dmission studies write to :

Mr and Mrs. Larry Durham2929 S o u t h Mart inson S t r ee t

Wichita Kansas 67217MISSIONARIES

Dal e H . and Carol McAf eeMailing Address:

C a ix a P o s ta l 1 5 476.700 Ceres Goias BRAZIL

Fo r information colored slid es an dmission s tudies write to :

M i s si o n S e r vi c esB o x 1 7 7Kempton Indiana46049

S end ALL Cont r i bu t i ons AndQ u e s t i o n s T o :

BRAZIL CHRISTIAN MISSIONB o x 1 7 67Wichita Kansas 67217

Please help keep our records s traightby designating you r o ff er in g formissionary or project. Please do nots en d c h ec ks o r bills to th e f ield.

The Brazil Chris t ian Mission i s ownedby the religious organization of thesame name and is published bimonthlywith second class postage paid at th eU.S. Pos t Office in Che c o t a hOklahoma 74426. Sub sc ri pt io ns a repaid from offerings received.

At publication time for thi s paperPhilip and Linda McAfee had receivedalmost th e amount of their funds goal forsummer internship and had round triptickets to go with thei parents leavingfrom Wichita .

News and views of newly organizedcongregation at Despenhada 99

Travel is mostly afootby women and childrenbu t th e young men haveho rs es and bicycles. Perhaps there is one ca ramong a hundred inattendance. They comefrom up to five milesthrough rice fields timberand grazing lands.

In teres ted folk a ttend th e f ir st bapt ismin the Despenhada re

I

. ... ^

The newly baptized group inApril.

Children come an d wait around th etable for service to begin. Bibles songbooks kerosene lanterns and flash lightsmake up equipment. Men wait inbackground for services to begin.


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ATS^pempton, IN 46049

Return Postage Gauranteed To:CAPSTAN, Box E , Checotah, Oklahoma 74426

BRAZIL CfiRISflAN MISSIONVol. XXVII September October, 1976 No. 5

BIRTHDAY IN A BRAZILIAN HOMEIt was July 31st , a Saturday night.

We had visited Dona Rita (Mrs. RitaLagares), in the hospital, she- is amember of th e Ceres Church of Christ,who ha s terminal cancer. Then wea tt ended the religious wedding ceremonyin the localCatholic church of theoldest daughter of another woman whois a member of our church (see picture).We excused ourselves early from thereception for the newlyweds held in thebride's home in order to take a cake wi th17 candles on it to the daughter of thewoman in the hospital with cancer. Asmall group sang Happy Birthday. Niveablew ou t th e candles and began to cutthe cake (see picture).

Pictures have formed in your mind asyou read the above words. Now lookagain at the picture with the birthdayscene. Th e interior of this house istypically Brazilian, especially so of ourregion, central Goias state. There is thetelevision set, a nice large screen with apiece of tr ansparent colored plastichanging over its face to give a tint to thepicture. A transformer rests onthe littleshelf of th e T.V. stand, because th eelectric voltage varies so much, theenergy going to th e set must beregulated constantly in order to keep

Dale McAfeefrom ruining the mechanism immediately. Moving your eyes up and to theleft there appears a picture on the wall ofa younger sister. To the left of it is acalendar with a picture of the painting ofJesus of the Bleeding Heart (a RomanCatholic symbolism). Above the calendaris f athe r' s hat (the head of th e house)hungconveniently ona nail. A small loopcan be seen below it which is a leatherwhip on a short stick (a horseman swhip) used by this father to disciplinethe children Down th e dark hallway canbe seen a dish towel hanging on a nail inth e wal l o f th e ki tchen. Bedrooms are to(Contiiiued on back page)

Joel Morreira, right with electricguitar, and his musical group, presentspecialmusic at a Sunday night worshipand preaching service in Ceres.

LEFT: Father give away his daughter as a bride to the groom who unties thesymbolic barrier that now unloosed represents the passing of the bride from herpaternal home totheside of herchosen man to form a new home. Mother, amember ofthe Ceres Church ofChrist, stands in center left looking on. The bride s, younger sister,Valdelice, is also a member of the Ceres Church of Christ. RIGHT: Nivea s 17thbirthday.

BRASILIA BUILDINGAND BAPTISMS

L . David SandersPound, pound, whir-r-r, noise is all

around as construction of th e educationalplant of the Brasilia building takes upspeed. Workers began with thepermanent roof and are slowly goingdown, putting in tile in the schoolbathrooms, window frames and doors one ach c la ss ro om . The baptis try wasre-finished with tile in time to be filledfor baptisms at the end of August.

Attendance at church and SundaySchool is now averaging over the 100mark. There h av e b ee n a total of 55added since the first of th e year, being 27

(Continued on back page)

ABOVE: Two youth camps were heldin July with a total of 95 youth enrolled.(First week, intermediates; secondweek, seniors.) Plans are being made fornew roof on dining-hall , c lassroombuilding.Two heavy rains during secondweek dampened camp spiri ts as a goodpart ofpresent roofhad blown off.PhilipMcAfee directed th e first week andMerlin Shie lds, t he second week.BELOW: A special fish d inner wassponsored by ladies of the Brasiliachurch on a Saturday noon in Julyserving nearly 400 in the church patio.


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EDITOR > Date H. McAfeePrinted, addressed and mailed byCapstan, Box EChecotah, Oklahoma 74426MISSIONARIES

L. David an d Ruth SandersMailing Address:Ca ix a Po st a l 07-862

70.000 Brasilia, D.F., Brazilror i nforma ti on , colored slides an

sanders ldavid ruth 1976 brazil

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