Prayer Letters

March 31, 2014

Dear family, friends, and faithful ministry partners,

I want to start out by saying how grateful we are to each of you that have a part in our ministry here in São Paulo, Brazil.  We stay busy in the work, and as with any ministry, we have our share of struggles, but the blessings far outweigh the difficulties.

I want to emphasize a few of our highlights we have had in recent months.  Some of you are aware of a few of the things I will relate, but not everyone has received news of the latest happenings.

In November, Dan baptized three deaf people, and the Lord blessed with a good number of people coming to witness this event in the lives of these people.  We also celebrated the 19^th anniversary of the Igreja Batista da Bíblia (Bible Baptist Church), and we trust the Lord to continue to bless the church with spiritual and numerical growth for the future.

In December we had our Christmas Banquet, and we had a good number of people for that big event.  On December 23, Dan & Becky celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary.  Almost fifteen of those years have been spent in Brazil.  We also had our first Deaf camp on December 26 through 28.  We had a great time as we emphasized the Christian Family.

We began a New Member’s Class the last week of January, which usually goes for about eight to ten weeks.  There are two elderly ladies in the class.  One of the ladies cannot read or write, and that makes it a little more challenging as Dan teaches her the very basics of the Christian life.  She has been very faithful, and is excited about being baptized and becoming a church member.  The other lady has about a second-grade reading level, and has a little higher level of understanding, but even the most basic things are completely new to these ladies.  We will soon be having another baptism in the near future for these two ladies.

In February we had deaf BIMI missionary, Bruce Kelly, with us for a special Sunday.  We had a wonderful day, and the deaf of our church warmly welcomed Bro. Kelly, his wife, and son.  There were 87 in attendance, and we praise the Lord for the opportunity to meet some new deaf people.

We are seeing more visitors, as well as, having some others return that come from long distances, but have not been very faithful.  The situations are different, from a backslidden husband, to health and financial reasons, and another just because of the time involved in getting to church.  We are encouraged that these are putting forth an extra effort to get back in church.  One deaf lady told us that she was going to a church that was closer to her home, but that she was not learning anything.  God is blessing, and for that we surely praise His name!

We count it and honor and a privileged to represent you in Brazil.  As you keep shining the Light in your “Jerusalem,” we will continue to shine the Light in the “uttermost part of the earth.”

That all may “hear,”

Dan & Becky Bennett

June 26, 2013

Dear partners and friends of the ministry,

Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”  This verse has helped me recently as we have had many different physical, emotional, and ministerial changes in the past several weeks.

In March, we returned to the States for thirteen weeks for various reasons.  The main reason was that our children, Nathan and Anna, would be graduating from high school through the A Beka Academy home-school program.  There was a good number of graduating home-schoolers from around the world that descended upon Pensacola, Florida for those two days, and we congratulate our children for their hard work and accomplishment.

Second, we were also in a number of new churches to present our ministry, and to try and raise some additional needed support.  We are grateful that three churches took us on for financial support in South Carolina, Texas, and Iowa.

Finally, since this would be the first time for Nathan and Anna to be out “on their own”, we felt it necessary to be with them in this transitional phase of their lives as they said goodbye to the family.  All four of our oldest children are involved in summer ministry at the present time.  Joseph (age 20) is traveling with Neighborhood Bible Time, a good organization with which I served when I was in Bible college.  Rachel (age 22) and Anna (age 17) are serving with a Summer Jewish Ministry Outreach in Miami, FL, and Nathan (age 18) is doing the same thing in Downer’s Grove, IL.  Leaving four of our children in the States was a very difficult thing to do, but we praise the Lord that they are serving Him, and they have a heart for ministry.

On June 21 we returned to Brazil with our three youngest children.  We were anxious to get back here and back into the ministry.  On June 23, our very first Sunday back, the Brazilian pastor informed the church that he is leaving the ministry, and will no longer be pastor of the church.  It took a while for this announcement to sink in since he has been there for 17 years.  He said that Pastor Daniel (me) would stay there to continue the work.  While we knew this was coming, we didn’t expect it to be so soon.  Over the years, there has been a dramatic decline in the attendance, and I would like to see an increase in the church again, as a thriving, growing church.

We appreciate so much our faithful prayer and financial supporters.  While we are thankful for the three new churches that took us on for support, we don’t take for granted those of you that have stood with us through “thick and thin” over many years of ministry.  You all are a vital part of our ministry, and we know that we would not be in Brazil without you.  The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few here in Brazil.  Keep praying that we could see more fruit harvested for our Lord, and fruit that may abound to your account.

That all may hear,

Dan & Becky Bennett