Dear Pastor and Church Family,
Thank you for your prayers, support, and care for us as we serve on the foreign field in Sao Paulo, Brazil! While we have to live behind an iron gate for protection, it is your prayers we depend on for God`s strong hand to keep us from danger. We want to thank you for showing that you care by your prayers, cards, and gifts. May the Lord bless you! Thank you also for your understanding as we desire to get our prayer letters out in a more timely manner.
We are excited about what God is doing at Igreja Batista de Sao Paulo this new year 2014! We love to see growth and decisions made to follow Christ! Mike first came to our church over five years ago and reminded us that Amy led him to the Lord during an invitation. A young man named Elias invited Mike and several other of his soccer friends to church. While playing professional soccer, he sustained an injury, and he had been out of church for some time. For the past several months, he has been very faithful to services and recently asked if I would baptize him. It is evident that Mike is listening to the preaching and is growing in his faith!
Marinalva was invited by a lady in our church who has a gift shop. She says that she loves this church and our family. Recently, after hearing of Amy’s health issues, she asked if she could make her a doctor appointment and accompany Amy to the doctor. Amy was so touched by her care, and it reminded us that investing in others is not about losing your time but could actually be about gaining a friend, someone who may even take care of you! It is worth the time and effort to invest in the lives of others!
The days prior to Valentine’s Day were all but lovely! For no reason, our internet was cut off for several days. The bracket holding half of our clothes closet just fell to the ground—at 1 o’clock in the morning. And last but not least, our drainage pipes clogged and backed up, which made for a very urgent call to the plumber. In a foreign country, not all plumbing is as easy to fix in one day! Thank the Lord, we were able to get the immediate problem taken care of, yet the quote we were given to have work done so that we will not have future plumbing problems was US$2,500. Thanks to some very generous friends, US$1,300 has already come in to help with this need. A plumber will need to dig and connect pipes that will go through our living room, and a builder will have to repair the damages and patch it up.
On Valentine’s Day we played a game with the kids, and each one told each member of the family what we love about them and exchanged chocolates. There was a lot of sweetness going on! We are thankful for the seven gifts God has given us and the blessing they are. Our daughter Esther turned eleven in January and is quick to remind us if there are visitors her age in church to please LET her share the Gospel with them.
Please continue to pray for God’s protection from harm for our family and for good health (Amy still struggles with breathing difficulties and has fallen twice this past month with all the rushing around).
We have two homes to clean (ours and the church’s) several times each week, four children to homeschool, weekly visitation, crisis counseling, and, of course, the church ministry and activities to keep up on. Your prayers are very welcome and appreciated! My wife reminds me that it would be okay to call for help when, for instance, the water box breaks, yet by God’s grace the boys and I get these jobs done. Electrical, plumbing, painting, and maintenance needs are constant. It takes a lot of time to keep up on the needs of the church building, yet I want to make sure the jobs are done cost effectively and without wasting time or materials.
Thank you to those who prayed for Amy’s dad, who recently underwent eye surgery. He is healing well and grateful for all the prayers as he continues to heal.
In His service,
The Vallejo Family
