Riberio

Dear Pastor and Berean Baptist Church:


“For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” (I Co. 16:9)

The Devil, who is The Adversary, is using the same tools in the United States that he is using in Brazil to prevent the growth of the Kingdom of God. The federal government is trying to pass laws that prohibit any kind of criticism of homosexualism, and any kind of corporal punishment by parents. These projects are closer and closer to getting approved. Meanwhile, we are fighting the Devil by fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus. Thank you for being a part of this battle with us.

At the first of April, Rom preached at an Evangelistic Conference in São Paulo for Missionary Sean Lunday who is establishing a very good church. At least five souls were saved. At the end of May, Rom will preach at a Family Conference at another church in São Paulo where Rachel’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Gilmer, will be commemorating their 50th wedding anniversary.

Last month we held a three-day Prophetic Conferences at the first and third churches we established. In Goiânia, the Lord allowed us to see more than 150 visitors coming to church and 27 souls accepting the Lord Jesus Christ. In Londrina, we had 35 visitors, and 12 decisions for salvation. Praise the Lord! Dr. Roger Peterson was our guest speaker; Rom translated at both churches.


May has been a very busy month. Last Saturday many mothers attended a special afternoon tea. Sunday morning we honored all the mothers who were in the service with a special program. This coming Saturday, the students of Jimmy Rose Christian School will be having breakfast at school with their mothers. Rachel will be sharing the Gospel during the devotional.
Thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your missionary vision. You are also responsible for all the souls the Lord is allowing us to win and disciple for Him.

In His Perfect Love,
Rom, Rachel, Rochelle & Roxanne Ribeiro

Hodges

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the friendly skies between Santo Domingo, DR and Atlanta, GA!  Paula and I have just left the Dominican Republic after spending three weeks with the Dominican team.  Since I last wrote I made a trip to Warsaw, Poland in March to visit with our missionaries Robert and Rachael Krzesinski.  Paula traveled to the Dominican in February with a prospective teacher for the Palms School.  As you can see, we have been on the road quite frequently representing Daystar and encouraging our missionaries. 

The trip to the Dominican was our longest visit to the field where we lived and ministered for thirteen years.   I had the privilege of preaching three times in the San Pedro church that we helped plant in 2003.  God granted me the joy of preaching in a church that we helped to start when first arriving in the Dominican Republic in 1988.  Paula spoke to a group of missionary ladies and did her usual job of ministering and encouraging both missionaries and the people in the church.

The first week in the DR was spent with a group from Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake, VA.  Our dear friends, Ron and Carol White, founders of the Christian school, brought the group of students and faculty to help the ministry of the Palms Christian School.  The Whites have been instrumental in the foundation and progress of the Palms as they have walked alongside the school from the beginning.  During a meeting with the staff of the school, I sat in awe hearing about the future plans for the development of the school.  The school has 212 students in its third year with an enrollment cap of 275 for the coming year.  PRAY FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE CURRENT BUILDING.

AWESOME!!  INCREDIBLE!!!  NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE IT!!!  These words express the dynamics experienced with the DR Team.  I received an email from Robert Krzesinski, above mentioned Daystar missionary in Poland, telling me about a situation that needed some counsel.  I told him, “I will Skype you in the morning at 8:30 on Wednesday morning.”  I invited Gary Hale, Gary Byrd, and Miguel Mercedes to join me in the conversation with Robert.  Robert shared his situation to the Dominican Team.  Each of us, who had experienced some of the same circumstances in ministry, was able to give counsel.  At the end, we each prayed for Robert.  Truly the Lord was present in our midst!!!!  This was truly what Daystar is all about!!!  The Dominican Team reaching across the ocean to our Poland team with care was a dynamic that was simply wonderful.  May God bless Daystar, all our missionaries and all our supporters who believe in what we are doing for the cause of Christ!

                                                                                                

Yours for the World!

                                                                                                Doug Hodges, Director

Booth

Dear Pastors and Friends,                                                                                                      

Mr. Valentino and Mr. Leroy are both retired Panama Canal workers who live next door to each other just a few blocks from the church.  The Lord gave me the privilege of leading them to the Lord while out soul winning a couple of weeks ago.   Mr. Valentino, who is 85, made a profession and accepted Christ just like a child after I explained salvation to him.  Now, Mr. Leroy was a little different; being a former Episcopalian he asked, “Even the Pope is a sinner?”  I replied of course, showing him Rom. 3:10 and Rom. 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and explaining that Christ died for everyone because everyone is a sinner!  After this he mentioned “Wow, I never thought of it that way!”  Next, after paying close attention to our Lord’s simple plan of salvation, Leroy made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ!  Afterwards he also stated, “I never knew it was that easy!”  I explained that it is so simple than even a child, like my son, David, who is 10 can be wondrously saved and has!  Both of these men attended our services on Sunday!!  Pray for their spiritual growth please!

Praise the Lord and Thank You All !!!   To everyone who contributed funds that we used to buy 3 more tables and 30 more chairs!  We also had enough left over to purchase materials to build some benches also for the new classes!  This came at a great timing like always!   We’re in our Annual Sunday School campaign “Sweet Fruit” using candy as our theme talking about the fruit of Pro. 11:30. Our goal is to pray and work for 10 more in attendance each week till we reach an attendance of 230 by May the 13^th.  On Easter weekend, we decided to have an egg hunt with the winners finding the “empty egg” which represented the empty tomb of Jesus!  God blessed and we had almost 200 children and adults, with 2 professions of Faith in our morning service!

Please let us know if you know of individuals or groups that may be interested in donating Spanish Gospel tracts, New Testaments, Bibles or any other doctrinally sound Spanish literature.  These resources could be included in our container that’s coming in November with the BOB boxes.  These materials are shared with all churches of same faith that contributes to helping with the shipment of the container.  Last year thru Preaching Time Ministries we received 2015 donated boxes of blessings.  Also if you or your church would like to have a part in this great ministry that loves “The Great Commission”!  Please contact Evangelist Duane Moore at (770-530-7957) he’ll gladly be able to fill you in on all the details of this worthwhile ministry. 

We are looking forward to the BIMI’s Smart team which will be visiting us at the end of May.   Bro. and Mrs. Baughman will be bringing with them 5 missionary candidates who have completed their first level of training and now are on their second level looking and praying for the “where” God wants them to serve!  Please pray for the Lord’s guidance in their lives.

Last but not least, our son Jonathan, who turned 14 in February, was on his way back from soul winning, riding in one of the “chivas” (small bus of 30 or so people). While on the “chiva”, he gave a Gospel tract “All This I Did For You” to a man who was holding three cans of beer in his hands while drinking one of them.  As the man stood up to leave and pay for his fare, he handed something to Jonathan and expressed to him “Thank you, I know I have a sin problem and you gave me just what I needed!”  He then proceeded to get off and to throw the rest of the beer in a trash can near the street! Jonathan examined his gift to find out it was a balled up one dollar bill.  Now, he has asked me to keep the dollar for memories!  You’d better believe we will keep it as a token to remind him and us of the needy souls around us as well as to recall the importance of following God’s leading to take his Word to the right address at the right time wherever that might be!!!

In His Service,

The Booth Family

Dear Praying Friends,

Church outreach in Paris is uneventful most nights. Recently several events have happened that have reminded us of the importance of this ministry. The first occurred when a man began to challenge the existence of God. After several minutes of discussion, he made a very interesting statement: “I am going to pray that...” When I asked him who he prayed to, he stood silent. This man believes there is guiding power in the universe, but he refuses to accept the God of the Bible. Our hearts break when we consider the reality that tens of millions French people share this same view.

The second event occurred when a man began to ask very good questions about God, the purpose of the church, and the responsibility of believers. Though he was very knowledgeable about the Bible, he indicated that he still had many questions about Christianity. After talking for some time, I invited him to meet with me again in the future. This man represents a different but still important demographic in France--those who are “religious” but searching for the rest. Please pray for this man that he will be willing to meet with me.

Occasionally resting our minds from French is important for preventing “burnout”. During our spring break, we were able to visit the Dutch city of Haarlem, made famous by Corrie Ten Boom and her book, The Hiding Place. We toured her house where many Jews passed through seeking safety from the German atrocities. The actual hiding place in the upstairs room still exists today. The sacrifice of the Ten Booms is humbling. [More on FlyTogo.org] After returning home that evening, we learned that a later train to Haarlem had been involved in a head-on collision that left one dead and 114 injured. We are grateful for those who regularly pray for God’s protection over us. God has graciously kept us safe.

We are eager to begin working alongside our Togolese brothers and sisters in Christ to see churches started across the remote regions of Togo. As you know, aviation is essential to this ministry. We have posted a short video on our website to give you a better glimpse of the aviation ministry in Togo. [More on FlyTogo.org]

Since the conclusion of our deputation, our support has dropped down to 96%. We are thankful that one new supporting church in Florida will help to decrease this gap. Please pray with us regarding the remainder of our support. Thank you for your faithful prayers and financial support!

By His Grace,

Jeremy & Mattie Benbrooks

Ribeiros

MAY THANK-YOU NOTE
Dear Pastor and Brethren:
“He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Psalm 126:6)

Twenty-seven people made a Profession of Faith during the three-day Prophetic Conference we held at the first church we established. Dr. Roger Peterson preached and Rom translated simultaneously. As a result of much prayer, and many flyers and personal invitations, 102 first-time visitors came. Praise the Lord! Now we plan to contact these visitors, especially the ones who made a decision with Christ, through phone calls, letters, and personal visits.

By the time you receive this letter, the same Prophetic Conference will have happened at the third church we established in the South of Brazil. We will travel 13 hours by car to be there. They are using the same methods we used to bring people to the services: prayer, advertising material, and personal invitations. We will let you know the results in our next letter. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Twenty-eight people completed our eight-week discipleship course during the months of March and April. They received certificates congratulating them for their endeavor. Most of these people are newcomers interested in joining our church as members. One of these people is Levi, a 33-year-old husband and father who needs a kidney transplant. He comes from a Pentecostal background, but said that in two months of discipleship in our church, he learned more about the Bible than in the ten years he stayed in his former church.

Please pray for him.

The only reason we can write such an encouraging letter is because of your love for Missions. Through God, you are making our ministry possible among the Brazilian people.

Taylor

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you… for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3, 5

DearFriends, March 28, 2012

Since we arrived stateside on the 8^th, God has used our church, our family and some of you individual supporters to provide some of our most basic needs here – a home, a car, a cell phone, groceries, and the list goes on! Thank you for being sensitive to our needs. You have made the transition for us and the children so much easier. We are looking forward to seeing each one of you soon.

Andréia

You should know that we left the field encouraged. Our small group of converts continues to grow despite personal struggles and setbacks – just like the rest of us. Andréia, who has been in and out of our lives for the past 3 years, has popped back in. She professes faith, but seems to make decisions which lead her back to old sin, especially when it comes to relationships. Pray that Andréia will believe all the promises that God has for her in Jesus - comfort, peace, joy, stability in and out of the hard times. You might pray for Kelly also who is moving and says she will not be attending the church anymore, even though it is close enough that she could bus there. Pray that Kelly will insist on finding a God-centered, gospel- preaching church.

God in his providence has brought us a total of 3 new families from a Bible Baptist church in town because of serious issues in their church. Two of these families seem to be thriving at Redemption BC. They soak up every word of preaching, and thoroughly enjoy worshiping with us. Though starving spiritually before, they have been reminded of what a gospel-centered life looks like, and they are delighted! Most of them are already serving in some way, including their kids! Praise God for renewing the joy of their salvation! Pray for James and Christen as they carry on the work with this new group dynamic while we are gone.

In closing, we would like you all to pray and consider a need with us. God has graciously granted us 100% of our support on the field for almost our entire term. Because of financial reasons, one church and some individuals have had to cut back. Would you pray about an increase in your giving. If each individual and each church could increase by $20-$25 a month, we would be back at 100% of our need. Our sending church has already committed to an increase and if you will join, this would keep us from having to look for new supporters and allow us to focus on reporting to those of you who give while we are here.

I have struggled making contact with a few of our churches, so if you haven’t heard from me yet, could you pastors help us out and call us at 850-240-9550 or 336-770-5778 to line up a meeting. This would help us greatly!

David, Sharon, Gabriel and Juliana

Riberio

APRIL THANK-YOU NOTE

Dear Pastor and Brethren:

“… I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it

more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

The fourth church we established at the end of October in Aparecida de Goiânia held its first Evangelistic Conference in March. Eighty-seven people visited the church for the first time and 15 souls made a profession of Faith. Praise the Lord! Keep in mind that these results are only possible because of your love for Missions. Thank you so much! This new church is following the same steps of the other three churches we established.

In April, we are going to hold two Prophetic Conferences: one at the first church we established in the Midwest and the second one will be at the third church we established in the South. On both occasions, Rom will be translating for Dr. Roger Peterson who will be our speaker. Prophecy is a subject that draws much attention in Brazil, and we plan to invite as many as people as possible to attend these conferences. Please pray that the Lord will grant us physical and spiritual strength to endure the hard work involved in these events.

Maranatha Bible Institute has eight students this semester. One of them is Albertino, a big 52-year-old man who used to be a professional fighter and a master of Capoeira, a Brazilian dance mixed with martial arts. Albertino is a truck mechanic, and his three children are faithful Christian young people in our first Church. Praise the Lord!

We can never express enough our gratitude for everything you have done to make our ministry possible. May Jesus bless you always.