Dear Faithful Partners in Prayer and Support,
We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to you for your faithfulness to God, to us, and to our ministry.
In 1994, God called Becky and me to be missionaries to the deaf in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sao Paulo, a city of 23 million people, has between 45,000 – 80,000 Deaf! In our first term, we had the privilege of working with Dan’s brother in the Bible Baptist Church for the Deaf of São Paulo. God raised this church up to be a Gospel Lighthouse to the deaf in that region.
God brought to the deaf church a few hearing families from a neighboring city. Although it was not our original intention, God led us to start a hearing church in Osasco during our second term. On October 1, 2004, the Bible Baptist Church in Osasco held her first service. We saw souls saved, people baptized and discipled, and we even began to support five missionary families through Faith Promise giving. We praise the Lord for using us to start a fundamental Baptist church in Osasco.
Recently Becky and I were both praying for God’s direction regarding our future ministry. We were willing to change fields if God were to so lead, although we were hoping that He would not take us out of Brazil. Several options were open to us and several were offered to us as well. As we prayed, God began to show us that He wanted us to return to working full time with the Deaf, as was our plan before going to Brazil. God in His wisdom and sovereignty, however, knew we needed the Portuguese language and Brazilian culture if we were to be effective with the Deaf and productive in preaching and teaching the Bible to the Deaf.
The Bible Baptist Church for the Deaf in São Paulo has a national pastor. As I mentioned in the beginning of this letter, there are many thousands of deaf people in the metropolitan São Paulo area that are still unreached with the Gospel. We plan to work together with the Brazilian pastor specifically in the areas of evangelism and discipleship. With two of us working together, we will be able to have a larger outreach and a greater impact among the deaf. We are excited about going back into the deaf ministry to re-seed the Gospel in an extremely needy harvest field, the city of São Paulo. We are now planning to return to Brazil on December 1, 2011. Our support level has reached 90%. Please pray that God will raise the additional 10% that is needed.
On the home front, Rachel and Joseph have adjusted and are doing very well at West Coast Baptist College. They have made some good friends, and God is working in their lives even more so than we could have ever imagined. Our other five children are excited about returning to Brazil. Please pray for them all.
We are grateful to our BIMI colleagues, Garry and Pam Tyler, for filling in for us at the Bible Baptist Church in Osasco so that we could take a much-needed furlough. They have sacrificed their time, energy, and finances in going to Osasco three and four times each week – over an hour each way – to teach, preach, make visits, and serve. They have had a busy schedule, being actively involved in our church, as well as in another church, a Bible institute, and two mission boards. It is an honor and a privilege to work with such wonderful missionaries!
Many have told us, “I pray for your family every day.” We are grateful for your prayers and for those that have faithfully supported us financially throughout the years. Keep on praying, going, and giving until the Lord returns. Perhaps today!
That all may “hear,”
Dan & Becky Bennett, and family