April Update: God’s Word changes lives

Over the past month, our coworker, Amanda, has been meeting with three deaf people to prepare a rough draft translation of Genesis 2 in Portuguese Sign Language (LGP). This is a first step to putting larger portions of the Bible into video in LGP. While Amanda knows the Bible, she needs their help choosing the best signs. The three deaf people know LGP, but don’t know the Bible. But as they worked together, every bit of Genesis 2 fascinated them. They asked questions like, “When God made Adam out of the ground, did he make Adam lying down or in a standing position?” Well, we don’t know. The Bible just says He formed him out of the dust of the ground. That is fine for a written translation, but when you make it visual in a signed language, you show God forming him, so it helps to know which position Adam was in. The team pored over books on Biblical archaeology to see how clothing, buildings, and other items looked at that period, so that they would sign things accurately. One day, they studied Genesis 2 until 2:30 in the morning! They were so interested that they didn’t realize that they’d been going over it for 7 hours. While in the past, they had been exposed to the Bible some, and we have tried to explain parts of it to them, digging deeply into it for themselves to translate it has made them understand it, and hungry for it, in a way they hadn’t known before. 

The deaf Bible event

On Saturday, we had an event open to the whole deaf community with the hope of sparking excitement for the project and receiving feedback on how to make this project accessible. There, these three shared their experience to the other deaf who came. At one point, they broke into groups to answer questions and practice translating the Bible. Eight of the deaf people at this event are not saved and know almost nothing about the Bible, but it was beautiful watching them interact with God’s Word. Please pray for Ana Bessa, Paulo, and Carlos, the three deaf people who will most likely be part of the translation team. Pray for their enthusiasm to continue and for their understanding of the Bible to increase, and that they will be saved. Pray for Amanda as she guides them through this project and for me as I assist in different ways. Please also pray that God will touch the heart of a Portuguese deaf believer who will be willing to be in front of the camera as the “face of the Bible” in LGP.

At the hearing church, encouraging things are also happening. In the area under the new roof, we built three new Sunday School classrooms! Several church members helped mix concrete, paint the rooms, and put in flooring. After all the hard work, it was a joy for them to see the rooms full of kids of all ages learning God’s Word. Thank you to every one of you who prayed for this need. While there is still much to be done, we are making good progress on improving our building. It is such a wonderful gift.  

Men’s Bible conference, children’s Sunday school, youth Bible study, and sunrise service

The most beautiful part of all this has been seeing the Bible taught and then OBEYED! Several months ago, two ladies in our church had a “falling out” with each other. Initially, they were sad over what had happened, but not ready to take the first step of forgiveness and reconciliation. But after much prayer, God convicted each of them, and they forgave each other. They told David that one day they would share their story with the church. Well, this past Sunday he preached from II Corinthians about having right relationships, and at the end of his sermon, they came up and shared how God had changed their hearts and brought about forgiveness and restoration. As church was dismissed, I saw a young man whose mother had remarried. He doesn’t get along with his stepdad, so the young man had moved out. Yet, there he was, stepping across the aisle and hugging his stepdad. Praise God for the obedience and humility of these two women, and now the obedience and reconciliation of these two men. What a blessing to see the Bible taking root in people’s lives and helping them grow and obey!

March Prayer Letter: Encouraging Progress

I (Sarah) am sitting in the lobby of the Portuguese Bible Society (PBS) getting a little teary-eyed, because, in the room behind me, I think God is answering a prayer. Over two years ago, we talked with the PBS about our mutual desire to see the Bible translated into Portuguese Sign Language. Since that time, they moved into a new building, built a room specifically for the sign language translation, sent us to a Bible translator’s conference, and had dozens of meetings. People have come to the room in this building, literally laying their hands on the walls, chairs, electrical outlets, etc. praying that, if it would be God’s will, He would let deaf people be in that room, sitting in those chairs, with computers, lights, and cameras plugged into those outlets, videoing the Bible in Portuguese Sign Language. Satan has fought this project in so many ways, but today . . . in that room . . . three deaf people are meeting to discuss the translation. On April 20^th we will once again present the project to the deaf community. We hope to finalize the translation team in April, train them in May, and officially begin the translation in June. Please pray for discernment in these final preparatory stages. We need wisdom for who not only has the right skills, but also the right heart for translating God’s Word. 

Praying this project moves forward

God is answering prayer for the deaf in this room, and at our hearing church He is answering prayer about rooms as well; three classrooms are being constructed under the new roof. These will house the children’s and teen’s Sunday School classes as well as children’s church. Our nursery staff has done an incredible job teaching 30 children in a tiny space. And our Sunday School children have walked in the rain, two-by-two, sharing umbrellas, to a building a couple doors down from us. Having everyone under one roof with more space will be such a blessing!

The painting and cleaning crew

 Even more important than all this, God is working in people’s hearts. This past Sunday, David gave a salvation invitation after the message. This is not a common practice in Portuguese culture, so though he talks about salvation in almost every sermon, he doesn’t usually do a public altar call. This Sunday, the sermon was a clear gospel message through the story of Zacchaeus, and David felt God wanted him to ask those who wanted to be saved to raise their hands. Four people responded that they wanted to be saved. Please pray that each of them will truly understand salvation and give their lives fully to God.

Next week, several children from the area will attend an Easter Bible camp. On Good Friday, we will host a church service in cooperation with a neighboring church. On Easter Sunday, we will have our first ever sunrise service, weather permitting. Please pray that God uses each of these to reach more people with the hope of salvation. 

While we always ask for you to pray for the ministry here in Portugal, we also ask that you would pray for our ministry there in America as we return in June for our six month furlough. The last time we saw most of you was in 2019 when we were on our last furlough. Much has happened since then, and we look forward to getting see many of you again. Pray that we will be an encouragement in the dozens of churches we will be visiting and pray that God would strengthen our support so that we can continue to serve Him effectively here for many more years to come.

February Update: Pain and Healing

Three weeks ago, I (Sarah) sat in a parking garage watching the rain pouring down. I was cold and weary. Our family had all had a touch of the flu, and I was still coughing and a bit feverish. At home, wet laundry hung all around the house as our sweet dryer tried to keep up, and our clothesline shrugged as if to say, “I’d love to help, but it’s raining.” That day, as I stared at the rain, I reached for my bag, and there it was: the pain in my shoulders that has been a constant the past year or more. I’d been diagnosed with frozen shoulder in both arms, and despite various treatments five days a week, my condition was getting worse. In addition to the pain, my heart and mind were heavy with the Bible translation for the deaf, people in the church who needed encouragement, and decisions we needed to make. Looking through the windshield, I cried, asking God for the wisdom we needed and telling Him I wasn’t sure I could take the pain much longer. I was overwhelmed with the sense that, in that moment, I needed to praise God. He is good; He is working His plan; our circumstances and limited knowledge don’t change that. My job is to praise Him, trust Him, and keep going. 

That night, Lucas tipped a pot of boiling water on his arms and foot. As I rode with him in the ambulance with his second-degree burns, God reminded me that, whether I understood what He was doing or not, I needed to praise Him and trust Him, because that would glorify Him in that moment. 

Today, three weeks later, it is a sunny day. Laundry is on the clothesline and should be dry this afternoon. Lucas’ burns are rapidly improving. Whenever we change his clothes, he looks at his arm and says, “Look! God is healing you!” It’s been one week since my left shoulder surgery, and the difference is amazing! Though my right one is still extremely painful, my left arm can move in ways it hasn’t moved in a year, and it doesn’t hurt! While I was in the hospital, our church family brought meals, baby-sat, gave our kids rides to school, and encouraged us in myriad ways.

Thankful that both Lucas and I are doing better

Besides the beautiful healing God is doing other great things. Our much-longed-for roof on the Sunday School side is finished! David completed another semester of teaching at the seminary. Over the past 8 years, God has let him invest in almost 100 students, including some of our church members, to help them better understand the Old Testament. 

Very grateful for our new roof.

Ten years ago, a man named Nuno called David. Nuno said his life was a mess, and he needed someone to talk to with him. David met with him, and Nuno came to church for a while, then started working on Sundays and stopped coming. But this past year, Nuno just showed up at church again, and has been coming regularly for months. He brings 6 children with him, including Gonçalo, a deaf boy that we met when he and our son, Samuel, attended the same preschool! Now, 10 years later, we’re reunited, and we have a chance to tell Gonçalo about the Bible, starting at the beginning. I couldn’t interpret this Sunday because of my arm, so our coworker, Amanda, took the deaf to a separate room during the church service and taught Denise, whom Amanda led to the Lord a few years ago, and Gonçalo. As Amanda told the story of creation, Denise often chimed in to add details or tell part of the story herself. It was beautiful to see Denise, whom Amanda once taught, now teaching Gonçalo! Please pray that Nuno will continue bringing Gonçalo, and that, little by little, he will understand the Bible and come to know Jesus as His Savior, too.

Denise, Amanda, and Gonçalo

This month has been full of God’s care and grace. Whether our circumstances feel cold and rainy or warm and sunny, let’s trust Him, because He is working His plan, and let’s praise Him, because He is worthy.

Merry Christmas! December Update

This past Saturday was our church’s Christmas bazaar. Each year, we gather gently used clothing and housewares, then open the church to offer them free of charge to the community. We also provide cookies, hot beverages, and conversation to make people feel loved and welcome. The church worked every night last week sorting and organizing everything, and they did a beautiful job! Many dozens of visitors came, and we pray that this outreach leads to their spiritual needs being met in Jesus.

One of the main organizers of the bazaar, Mirella, also leads the church’s food distribution in coordination with a local grocery store. This time of year, the store sells “king’s cake” (a rounder, fluffier version of fruitcake). Most people either love fruitcake, or they hate it. The same is true for king’s cake. One night this past week, the grocery store had about 20 king’s cakes left over, and they gave them all to Mirella. After giving them away to the people on our distribution list, she still had so many cakes she didn’t know what to do. So, she stood on a sidewalk, and started handing out king’s cake to whomever walked by. At first, people were hesitant, because they thought she was selling something. When they realized it was free, they happily accepted the cake, and she told each person about Jesus and gave them an invitation to our church. We never know what items the grocery store will donate, but that day Mirella saw God providing a “king’s cake ministry”, and we’re so thankful she used it to share about King Jesus. 

Another person serving at the bazaar this morning was 21-year-old Patrícia. She was saved at our outdoor Bible club when she was a kid, and she now serves as a leader of the youth group. Another college-aged young man, Alexandre, was saved through the influence of his family, the church, and camp, and he leads youth group as well. Watching both of these “kids” get saved, get baptized, grow, and lead has been a joy! Two weeks ago, they coordinated a church service led entirely by the youth of the church: the young people preached, sang, gave testimonies, ran the sound system, made the bulletin, and were greeters. It was beautiful and very encouraging to the rest of the church. What a blessing!

Another huge encouragement at the bazaar was only visible through a side door. The left side of the building, where we hope to hold Sunday School in the future, has had a hole in the roof the size of a car. We bail buckets of rainwater out of it every time it rains, and you’ve been praying and giving for the roof to get fixed. After much red tape and meetings, the roof work has begun! The damaged half has already been removed, and, as another blessing, it hasn’t rained this week. So, sunshine was pouring through the beams, and we are thankful that the repair process is underway.

As we come to the end of the year, we once again want you to know how thankful we are for you. We look forward to celebrating Christ’s birth, and we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season celebrating Him as well.

November News from Portugal

This Fall, the ladies in our church are studying healthy church relationships. One lesson was on the importance of stepping across the aisle and reaching out to new people in the church. Fátima, who leads the study, asked each lady to recall the first person she met on her first visit to our church. Each lady vividly remembered: Simone smiled and introduced herself to Debora; someone gently placed a hand on Sonia’s arm as she cried during the service; Mario caught a discouraged Ana as she walked out with her son, and he told her not to give up. Each one of these encounters has one thing in common – it was not the pastor, deacon, or other leader who spoke; it was a “regular” church member who took the initiative, did what the Holy Spirit led to do, and was used by God to encourage the new person to stay. What a blessing to see the church in Montijo reaching out!

Last month, a team of five men from a church in Iowa came and did an “Extreme Makeover: Church Edition.” In less than a week, they were able to do several projects that made our church sanctuary look 110% better. While the work they did was much appreciated by all, their presence and servant spirit especially encouraged us. Thank you, Justin, Dean, Joe, Steve, and Nathaniel, for giving so much to help us. If you are wondering about our roof situation, we think the end (or beginning) may be in sight. Lord willing, within the next month or so, we will begin work on a new roof. This is a huge step to us being able to use more of our building.

A great job done by a great team!

Meanwhile, every Sunday the kids from the church march across a vacant lot to a building we rent from the county so that we can have Sunday school. While the logistics to having Sunday school right now have been challenging, it is a joy to see so many kids, teens, and adults studying the Bible every week.

Kids walking to our temporary Sunday school building

Wonderful to see kids learning the Bible

We continue to have meetings to develop a team to translate the Bible into Portuguese Sign Language. On Monday, a neighbor girl had to interview “foreigners” for a school report on immigration. She interviewed us, which gave an opportunity to explain why we’re here. We pray God will save our neighbors. That same night, David was called to the hospital bed of a man on the verge of death. Antonio was no longer able to speak, but his daughter, Paula, called David to come share the gospel. The hospital gave David exactly five minutes to speak to Antonio. Between each of Antonio’s labored breaths, David spoke of Jesus and urged him to accept Him. We have no idea what choice he made, but we sincerely hope, like the thief on the cross, that he chose Christ in his final moments.

Everywhere we look, we see people who need Jesus as their Savior, and we see saved people who need teaching and encouragement. The same is probably true in your town. May we joyfully, humbly, and courageously serve our role in God’s plan this week!

Mark it down on your calendars!  We are coming back to the States for our furlough from July to December of 2024, and we hope we get to see you. If you are a pastor of one of our partner churches and would like us to come and give an update, just give us a call, or email us. Also, we are hoping to add some new partners while we are back, so if you know of a church that would be interested in having us come and share about what God is doing here in Portugal, please let us know.

September Prayer Letter: Great things He has done

Sometimes, when we sit down to write updates, we have big news or exciting stories to share. Other times, we simply have been “plodding along”, doing what we normally do. This morning, Sarah worked on videos teaching the Bible in Portuguese Sign Language, and she followed up with church members who want to take a sign language course. Tonight, I will teach the church Bible study, just like I have every Thursday night for years. Tomorrow, we will answer calls, plan events, seek to evangelize those around us, and do whatever else is on the “To-Do List” for the day, plus whatever surprises pop up. Thankfully, God is the midst of these normal tasks. When they are led by Him and done for Him, the Lord uses these small, routine things for His glory and for the spread of the Gospel. And once in a while, He gives us a glimpse of what He has been doing.

For example, this past Sunday, we celebrated our church’s anniversary. This is always a meaningful and exciting day, but it seemed especially so this year. More than 170 people gathered to praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

• We had a church choir for the first time ever. It was beautiful to see so many different people singing praises to the Lord. 
• Paulo gave a moving testimony about how much the church means to him and his two boys. 
• Genilson, who is a founding member of the church, prayed earnestly for God’s continued blessing. 
• We heard a powerful message on proclaiming the gospel.

We remember the first time meeting some of these people and hearing their desire to have a church in their town. We remember the Bible studies in our apartment, the kids’ clubs in the park, the conversations in each others’ homes, the tears and rejoicing, the prayers answered, the obstacles God moved; and 13 years of hours and moments flashed before our eyes. As people scurried about, dropping kids off at nursery, getting in place for choir, running the sound system, and finding their seats, we thought with awe, “Look! God made a church here!” Praise God with us for His goodness, and pray that He would guide our congregation forward. There is a great door open for us, but there are also many challenges and obstacles. Here are a few of them:

Remember Catarina and Daniela, the two college students that began attending church this year? They have continued to come faithfully, read their Bibles, ask lots of questions, and grow in their desire to follow Jesus. They both asked to be baptized and are now being discipled by a lady in our church. Their conversion and growth are especially encouraging to us, because they both come from an unchurched background and had never been to a Bible-believing church before. 

I am once again teaching Old Testament Survey at the seminary, and I have a group of students that is eager to learn God’s Word. Since this class is online, I have seventeen students scattered around the whole country, and even one student who joins us from Angola. Pray for me that I would impart a love for the Scriptures, and that I would have the clarity and zeal needed to teach a three-hour class online each week. 

The renovation we hope to do on our building is coming along very slowly, but surely. While much of our project for the unusable Sunday School side is in the hands of architects and engineers, the usable side that is our sanctuary should see big improvements soon. This week, a team of five men from Iowa are coming to help us remodel and improve the sanctuary. There is much to do, but every bit makes a difference. 

Praying that drawings and plans will come to fruition soon.

And what about Sunday School? We thought the repairs on the building would have made the Sunday School portion usable by now. Since the rest of the roof could collapse, it isn’t safe to use. However, the church people are eager to restart Sunday School, and we love their enthusiasm. We’ve prayed and brainstormed about how to fit four Sunday School classes in our sanctuary. Thankfully, a city outreach nearby will let us rent a room in their building, so we can have two classes in that room and two in the sanctuary. It will be noisy; it will be imperfect; but it will be wonderful to have God’s Word taught to all age groups again! We appreciate your prayers for unity and wisdom as we restart Sunday School on October 1^st.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. God is using you to reach the people of Portugal!

Summer News!

July flew by! Every day was filled with events, camp, a mission team, and a hundred other “little” things that add up. We want to share a couple of these moments that especially touched us. 

1. Deaf Event on July 1^st: We invited everyone from the deaf community (deaf people, their families, interpreters, etc.) to an event for starting the Bible translation in Portuguese Sign Language. Our goal is to develop a video translation of large portions of the Bible. In this way, the deaf can use these videos, together with the written Portuguese Bible, so that they can better understand God’s Word. But to make this happen, we need the involvement of the deaf themselves. So, we worked hard to reach out and invite all the deaf in Portugal, and you prayed with us for God to bring the right people. Some deaf missionaries to Madeira (a Portuguese island) came. Interpreters and other hearing people who care about this project came. But, in the end, the only deaf Portuguese people who showed up were the president of the deaf association whose building we used, and another man we paid to interpret. We still did the presentation, and it was an encouraging time for all that were there. But we’d be lying if we said our hearts didn’t hurt at the lack of interest among the deaf themselves. Sometimes you plan an event, and everything goes great. Other times, it can seem like it was a lot of work for very little results. It certainly felt like the latter to us, but we will press forward with the project, and we know that God is moving even when we can’t see it. 

The group that came to the Bible translation event

Last week, the mother of a prominent Portuguese deaf person died. We went to the visitation, and it was like a reunion of deaf people we’d met over the years: our first sign language teacher, people who have come to deaf church, others we’ve met at the deaf association. We chatted with them and watched their conversations with others. Some were sad from their recent divorces; some were lamenting the effects of aging; one remarked that if your good works are more than your bad works you will go to heaven. It made me sad, and I silently prayed, “God, they need You! How do you want to reach them?” Interestingly, that evening God provided a reminder that we never know the impact we are having. One deaf friend, Sergio, told us how he had gone home to his hearing family this past Easter. Because his family doesn’t know sign language, all they could ask him was, “How are you?” and “How is work?” The rest of the time he sat there watching their mouths move and not knowing what they said to each other. Since he was bored, he grabbed his phone and started looking up our church’s sermons, because they were in Portuguese Sign Language. We feel like we have sown the gospel here with the deaf for over a decade, and we long to see Sergio and other deaf friends saved. Please pray for us to know if there is something more or different we should be doing, and to have the faith to keep watering and praying for seeds to grow. 

2. Cooper and Eli are two nineteen-year-old guys who came and spent almost six weeks with us this summer. Initially, we wondered how this experience would go and how we could keep them busy for all that time. Thankfully, we had no reason to worry. They displayed three qualities that made their time with us a tremendous blessing. 

Cooper and Eli were terrific!

Curiosity and a spirit of adventure. During the weeks they were here, they peppered us with dozens of questions, and their curiosity and desire to learn were refreshing. We love Portugal, and it was a joy to see them experience it for the first time and grow in their love for this country and for the people. 

Willingness to do whatever was asked of them. Whether it was watching Lucas, lifeguarding at camp, teaching a Bible study, learning Portuguese, eating codfish five times in a week, or just befriending and listening to people, both guys came with a heart to serve. Their initiative and flexibility meant that they were never a burden. They were servants that encouraged our family and our church. 

Lucas found a friend in Cooper

A heart to tell people about Jesus. I loved how they were always looking for ways to talk to people about Jesus. Despite the language barrier, they were bold. They went up to a 15-year-old guy on a soccer field and invited him to church. Sure enough, he and his whole family were there that next Sunday. They sat on a windy pier listening to an old man tell stories for an hour and attempted to share the gospel with him as best as he would allow them to. I could go on and give many more examples, but their intense desire to tell others about Jesus was very evident, and it left a powerful example. Thank you, Cooper and Eli, for giving most of your summer to serve Jesus together with us!

During their last week with us, their home church from Tennessee sent a team of twelve to serve with us for a week. Despite some travel challenges, the team did a tremendous amount of work and encouraged our church greatly. 

• We were able to have a one-day retreat for pastors and their families. 
• We helped two sister churches in neighboring towns with evangelism and passed out 6,000 invitations to those churches.
• Various members of the team taught rich and practical Bible lessons to the men and women of our church. 
• We did several evangelistic activities in our own town, which went very well.
• Throughout the week, they had hundreds of conversations with people in our church and community and showed the love of Christ in a beautiful way. 

The team from Tennessee

We thank God that this month marks 13 years that we have had the joy of serving the Lord Jesus here in Portugal. It is a great privilege, and we are deeply thankful for each of you that help make this possible through your prayer and giving. We praise God for you! Let’s press on!

Our love be with you all in Christ Jesus,

David and Sarah

We helped this church in a neighboring town. It was a great experience.

Evening at the park with the church

June Update: Let’s go!

This past Saturday, we had our summer children’s Bible club, and we didn’t do a thing. You may think that is a strange thing to say, but for a missionary, this is exactly what we are working toward. People from our church did every part: Simone organized details. Rebeca taught a lesson and made a beautiful handout. Teenagers Giulia and Sara did the games. Patricia, who graduated from college last month, was a kid when we met her at our first children’s Bible club over a decade ago. This year, she led the singing with the same song posters we used with her. Around 25 kids showed up and were beautifully taught by this group of women who want to see the next generation reached for Christ. 

When we first started church services, there were so few people that Sarah and I had to cover the bases in most areas, such as cleaning the church, preparing the Lord’s supper, doing nursery, leading the singing, etc. As the church has grown, we’ve felt like parents training a young child in many areas. But over the past few months, we’ve felt more like parents of a “teenage” church. As the church assumes new responsibilities, they still need much input, and they sometimes wobble, but we’ve stood back watching them do tasks that were once ours, and we say, like a parent, “Wow! Look at them go! They’re doing it!” 

Cooper and Eli are 19-year-old college students from Tennessee. They’re giving almost six weeks of their summer to serve with us and learn as interns. They are already having new experiences with Portuguese people and are eager to help and learn. Please pray that God works in and through them however He wants this summer.

Cooper and Eli doing an English activity at a Community Center

Can we ask for special prayer for an event scheduled for July 1st? We invited the Portuguese Deaf community to see sign language Bible translations from other countries and to recruit them to participate in the Portuguese Sign Language Bible translation. Deaf translators from the Spanish Sign Language Bible are coming to share their work and answer questions as well. We hope God uses this to show us people who could work on the project and to get the word out. However, we have rarely seen so much opposition as we have seen in relation to this translation. From funding complications to people with ulterior motives, to distractions of all kinds, Satan seems bent on strangling this project from its infancy. This convinces us more strongly of its importance. Satan hates God’s Word, and he does not want it translated into yet another language. He is fighting hard. We are trying to fight on our knees, put on the armor, and take the next steps. 

Long Zoom meetings are a big part of this project. But it will be worth it.

This summer is filled with great opportunities and challenges. We need you to pray with us to have the wisdom, faith, humility, and unity we need. Thank you for your prayer and encouragement.

May Update: A good surprise

Over the past several months, I have been preaching verse-by-verse through 1 Thessalonians. Six weeks ago, I preached from chapter 4 verse 3: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.” It was not an easy sermon to preach, and it was a message that goes against pretty much everything this world affirms. At the beginning, I told the people that it would be a two-part sermon, and that the following week I would speak more specifically about pornography, homosexuality, and sex outside of marriage. 

At the end of the service, Catarina, a college student who has been attending our church since the beginning of the year, introduced me to her friend, Daniela, who was there for the first time. I asked her, “Is this your first time at a Baptist (or Evangelical) church? She nodded yes. I thought to myself, “What a Sunday to come! I wonder what she thought about the message.”

But the next Sunday, Catarina was back, and Daniela was with her. “Daniela came again today because she wanted to hear the second part of the message!” exclaimed Catarina eagerly. I wish I could say that I was not surprised, but I honestly was. That morning, I was reminded of how powerful God’s Word really is. Daniela has been back every Sunday and is eagerly reading her Bible. She’s finished Mark and Romans and is now reading through Genesis. Pray that God’s Word would continue to take root in her heart and that she would be saved. 

Enjoying lunch and fellowship after the church service

May 13^th is an important day in Portugal. It is when the Catholic church believes that the Virgin Mary first appeared to three shepherd children in a little town called Fatima in 1917. Every year, on that date, hundreds of thousands of people gather at a huge shrine to pay homage to Mary, light candles, and pray. Many thousands of these people walk for days to get there. This year, our church sent six people to provide aid for the “pilgrims”, as they are known, and share the gospel. Throughout the day, they handed out hundreds of bottles of water, bandaged feet, prepared snacks, and gave out bracelets and tracts that explained the gospel. While all of them were very moved by what they saw and experienced, Susana, who was saved and baptized last year, was especially so. On Sunday at church, she shared a testimony and explained how her heart was moved with compassion. “I used to be one of those pilgrims walking to Fatima and searching for peace in my life. I had even made a vow that I would go to Fatima every year… But all that has changed.Now I am glad I can go to Fatima and share the hope and peace I have found in Christ alone.” Praise God for his grace in Susana’s life. Pray that many others would be saved as well.

We continue to prepare for the Portuguese Sign Language Bible translation. Lord-willing, in July we will have a kick-off event to present the idea to the Portuguese Deaf community and recruit people to participate. Please pray that God will touch hearts to want His Word in their language, and that He will show us who He wants to be part of the translation team.

Thank you for persevering in prayer for us, and for continuing to care about the work of the gospel here in Portugal. It often feels like the work moves forward in fits and starts; yet God is working, most often in ways we can’t see yet. 

May Prayer Letter

When I (Sarah) was a little girl, I imagined missionaries in the jungle swinging from tree to tree and passing out Bibles to people. The reality of a missionary’s job description is so varied that it’s hard to describe. Here is what our last month has held. 
 
The first week of April, we drove several children to Easter Bible camp. They had an excellent week learning from the book of Nehemiah. That weekend we had our Good Friday and Easter services at church. Afterward, one of David’s seminary students from Guinea-Bissau came over for Easter lunch, and we enjoyed hearing more of his life story.

The following week, I went to the Eurasia Sign Language Bible Translators’ Conference. Over 170 people from 49 countries gathered in Cyprus for training on how to video translate the Bible into their countries’ signed languages. Our coworker, Amanda, and I had never seen so many signed languages being used at once and so many deaf people who were answering the call to make the Bible accessible to their deaf countrymen. We long for this to happen in Portugal. We are setting the groundwork as far as training and logistics. Please pray that God will touch the hearts of the right Portuguese Deaf people to participate in a Portuguese Sign Language Bible translation. 

At the workshop

Two weeks ago, David started teaching another baptism preparation course. We have 8 young people who want to be baptized. This class helps them better understand basic Bible doctrines and what it means to follow Christ. Please pray that each of these students will grow in their understanding and faith, as well as have the courage to follow God in believer’s baptism.
 
Last week, David took a group of men from our church on a mission trip to a closed country in Africa. They took Bibles and other discipleship materials to the missionaries there, and they saw many villages and towns where there are no known believers. It was sobering for them to see the great needs, but it was also encouraging to see how the gospel is slowly taking root in this country. 
 

Ready for our trip

In between each of these larger events have been the day-to-day tasks where the mundane rubs elbows with the spiritual: meet with contractors and architects at church, counsel people, distribute food to the poor, make a children’s bulletin for church, help a church member with his motorcycle battery, prepare a lesson on the book of Revelation, update our driver’s licenses, pray with a family whose teenager attempted suicide, run into a discouraged acquaintance at the grocery store and pray with them right there in the yogurt aisle.
 
From evangelizing, to making financial reports, walking with people through trauma, counseling, feeding, admonishing, and encouraging, our job description truly feels as if it were to be “a jack of all trades, but master of none”. We often must do things for which we lack the training or experience. Please pray for us to be focused on what is most needful each day, and to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s redirection for what was not on “our agenda” for that day. Please pray for us to see the right helpers God is providing and to have wisdom for the various tasks each day holds.