I just realized that we didn't take a lot of ministry pictures this month, so we're posting some of Katie's. Obviously she has too much time on her hands at BJU. (I mean sitting around on the ground!)
We had our November 15th holiday picnic (Proclamation of the Republic...Brazil was an empire...after it was a colony.) at the church. We used our future auditorium for a gym, with volleyball, relay races and food. Here are some of the men having a individual tug of war game while standing on concrete blocks. You win if you don't fall off! Letting go is often the key to victory.One apparently contradictory note in the world's economic mess is the rise of the dollar. Looks like, no matter how bad things get in the USA, when there is a crisis the world runs to the dollar for refuge. This has worked to our advantage since the beginning of October. Recently, I paid $632 to buy 1000 reais (the Brazilian currency) This week I paid $420 for the same amount. We don't know if this is long term or short term, but it is a relief after several straight years of decline. We are now back up to where we were in 2000! This rise came at exactly the time we need to buy a pastor's house for the church. Its a good time to invest in ministry. Praise the Lord for his provision.
Lord bless, Graham and Rene
