January 2019 Prayer Letter

Happy New Year from São Paulo, Brazil!

I trust that you all had a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!  I apologize for the delay in getting out an update of the last quarter in 2018.  I started to write a prayer letter the first part of December, but I received a call from my oldest brother telling me that my Dad was in critical condition.  We made an unexpected trip to the USA which put our prayer letter on a “back burner.”  My Dad improved, and I am glad that I could go and see him for several days.  We also saw our three oldest children that live in the States, as well as spending several days with Becky’s family.  Becky and I got colds while in the USA, probably because of the extreme temperature changes.  When we left Brazil, it was around 90 degrees, and then arrived in Charlotte, NC to temperatures around freezing.  Even after returning to Brazil on December 31, Becky has been fighting a sinus infection with the accompanying symptoms.  I ended up taking  her to the doctor, and she is now on antibiotics.

Since our last prayer letter, we have seen the Lord working in wonderful ways.  On November 18, Dan preached a soul-searching message on Hell, and two people prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  One was a hearing boy of deaf parents, and the other was a precious deaf lady.

The following week was our Prophecy Conference, and at the end of the Conference, another young hearing boy listened well during the sermon about eternity and wanted to be saved, so after showing him the Bible verses he prayed to receive Jesus as his Savior.

On December 9, we held our annual Christmas banquet.  This is not only a time of fellowship for our church people, but also another opportunity to preach the Christmas and salvation message to visitors.  Marlene, a deaf lady that was saved back in April of last year, brought her deaf boyfriend, José, to the Christmas banquet.  After seeing the message as to why Jesus came, José responded to the invitation and asked the Lamb of God to take away his sins.

In our last prayer letter, I mentioned the start of a new church plant in Arujá.  This is a daughter church of our church in São Paulo.  Our co-workers, Jon and Hannah Speights, began holding Sunday services in their home on October 21, 2018.  Since the start of the Deaf church in Arujá, 17 people have been saved, and they have been averaging 40 people in their services.  Please continue to pray for the Speights in 2019 as they teach, preach, evangelize, and disciple the Deaf in this new church in Arujá.

Thank you for being a part of souls being saved among the deaf and hearing in São Paulo, Brazil!

                                                                                                That all may “hear,”

                                                                                                Dan and Becky Bennett