Things are heating up here in Salvador, Brazil—no, really! The heat index here has been in the mid-90s every day for the last few weeks. I imagine that you all can sympathize with us with your current weather in the States. Continuing with our metaphor of things heating up, January was a very encouraging month of ministry here.
Over the course of the month, we had 18 adults visit for the first time. Of those, over half of them have begun attending services weekly, and several have not missed a single one. We have begun another round of our discipleship course, and all of the participants are men. This means a lot for our future here because, as you know, one of our continual prayers is for God to raise up many men and call them to ministry. At the end of January, we held our second VBS and were blessed to have over 65 in attendance each day. Many of the kids made a decision to trust Christ as Saviour.
Soul-winning efforts also produced fruit this month, though not always in the immediate sense. One week I met a lady named Amanda who had grown up in church, but was “away from God,” as she put it. I shared the Gospel with her, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. However, she would not take that step of faith in receiving Christ. She told me she just couldn’t do it right then. Two weeks later, some of our ladies went back, and again she was in tears. This time, however, she was ready to take that step. She prayed and asked Jesus to be her Saviour.
Thank you so much for your continual prayers and support. Many of you sent special Christmas offerings and cards, and we cannot thank you enough. We are humbled and very blessed by your generosity. It is encouraging when you hold the rope so intentionally; it is also motivating, in that we dare not become complacent when there is so much work to be done. You are doing your part; we are committed to doing ours.
Please continue to pray for the Lord to add more families to the church and to help those who are currently being discipled. Also pray for some new ministries that we will be starting this month for youth and for music. It is our privilege to represent you here in Brazil. We look forward to what the Lord will do through this ministry in the northeast of Brazil.
Declaring His glory,
Wesley Palla
Psalm 96:3
