Prayer Letter

Prayer Letter – December 2023

Dan Bennett

  December 21, 2023

Merry Christmas from São Paulo, Brazil!

We want to express our sincere gratitude for the cards and special Christmas offerings that we have received from so many of our supporting churches. Your generosity has been overwhelming, and we don’t take those expressions of love for granted. Many of you have been “holding the ropes” for us prayerfully and financially for many years, and we thank the Lord that we have had such a strong team, and some for more than twenty-five years.

Some of you may have heard the news of the recent Home-going of Becky’s father, Pastor Ken Walters, on October 21st. He pastored our home church for more than 43 years, and resigned as pastor in January 2022 so that he could travel and preach more. He had just celebrated his 80th birthday only two weeks prior with a big party that was well attended by family and friends. He faithfully served the Lord for many years, and he influenced and encouraged missionaries and pastors around the globe. He was a man of God and is already greatly missed.

Last month, Dan had the privilege to baptize a deaf couple that trusted Christ as Savior. Gilson and Marileide were invited to church by Amilton, one of our deaf men that unexpectedly passed away last year. This deaf couple has been faithful and were so excited to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism. Gilson had a huge smile on his face, and Marileide shed tears of joy after they were baptized.

Thank you for allowing us to represent you in the city of São Paulo. May God richly bless you all this Christmas season as we celebrate, worship and adore our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

                                                                                                That all may “hear,”

                                                                                                Dan & Becky Bennett

Prayer Letter – October 2023

Dan Bennett

October 12, 2023

Dear faithful partners in the ministry,

Springtime in São Paulo has brought some warm temperatures and early summer showers. The flowers are starting to open as we see God’s creation in full bloom.

As we look back over the past few months, we praise the Lord for the opportunities to serve our gracious Lord. Last month, the pastor of the hearing church where the deaf church meets asked Dan to preach on Sunday evening. There was a good crowd, and the people listened intently as Dan shared about the need for more laborers among the Deaf. At the invitation, two men responded and talked with Dan and asked how they can help. One man said that he would be willing to preach once a month, while the other man, with tears in his eyes, said that he and his wife would pray about this “open door” of opportunity. Please pray that God would send more laborers among the Deaf in São Paulo, and Brazil.

Recently, a fellow missionary and friend, Joel Dunbar and family, returned from furlough, so he asked Dan to go and preach for him as they are trying to adjust to coming back to Brazil. As “older” missionaries, we count it an honor to be able to help and encourage younger missionaries in the Lord’s work. This family has two sons, and we enjoy spending time and talking with the MK’s to try and encourage them.

Our missionary colleague and family, Jon and Hannah Speights, left the first week of October for their furlough. Jon started a “daughter church” from the Deaf church in São Paulo five years ago. The Lord has blessed the work in the city of Arujá with several young families. Furlough replacement for a Deaf church is almost unheard of, but missionaries to the Deaf need to take furloughs, too. The church in Arujá is a little over an hour from where we live, so we are going to be busy going back and forth.

Many of you have been supporting us for a number of years. Thank you for being faithful to pray and give toward the work among the Deaf in Brazil.

That all may “hear,”

Dan & Becky Bennett

Prayer Letter November 2022

Dan Bennett

November 30, 2022

Greetings from São Paulo, Brazil!

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”  (Luke 2:11)

On September 25th there were 53 people in attendance for “Blue Sunday.” This is a special day in Brazil that celebrates and brings awareness to the deaf and their culture. Dan preached a Gospel message and planted some more Gospel “Seed.” No one was saved that we know of, but sometimes it takes longer for Deaf people to understand because they did not have any Bible teaching as they were growing up.

In our last prayer letter, we mentioned our invitation to present the Deaf ministry in a church in the city of Boituva. We scheduled six consecutive Saturdays to go and teach a basic sign language class, and there were eighteen people that enthusiastically learned the Brazilian sign language in order to reach deaf people in their city. We were encouraged to see a couple of men that are interested in heading up this ministry.

On November 27 our church, Bible Baptist Church, celebrated her 28th anniversary of preaching and teaching the Bible to the Deaf in and around São Paulo.  There were 56 people in attendance, and we had a good number of visitors. Dan has been preaching prophecy during the month of November, and he finished with a message regarding the Great White Throne. Many of those in attendance had never been taught about “things to come,” and most paid close attention to the message.  We were excited when several people said they would be back.

We are looking forward to returning to the USA for a short visit. We don’t often get to be in the States for Christmas, but on December 27, our son, Joseph, will be getting married to a sweet young lady from his church. Joseph has been the interpreter for two deaf men in his church for three years, and he has taught basic American Sign Language (ASL). Joseph’s fiancé, Cheryl, was in the class, and the two of them have been working together as friends for three years. We are happy for them both, and we look forward to seeing how God will lead them and use them in their marriage.

We are also excited that all seven of our children – along with our son-in-law and granddaughter – will be together again at Christmas for the first time in nine years! Of course, this will be a special Christmas!

THANK YOU for your faithful prayer and financial support throughout 2022. Have a very “Merry Christmas,” and a blessed 2023!

                                                                                                       That all may “hear,”

                                                                                                      Dan & Becky Bennett

October Prayer Letter

Dan Bennett

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.

From the beginning, our goal and prayer was to turn the church over to a national pastor. After we had started the congregation in Osasco, we noticed another fundamental Baptist, national pastor, Pastor Eutálio, also pastoring a work nearby. In God’s wisdom and goodness, He has led us to join our two churches together under Pastor Eutálio. This pastor, married with two grown children, has fourteen years of ministry experience. He said he was humbled, yet excited about serving our church people as well.
Read more →

December 2009 News Letter

Dan Bennett

December 28, 2009

Dear Praying Friends,

We greet you in the precious name of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not only that, but we greet you from our home church, the Southside Baptist Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Yes, we are back in the United States for our furlough. After five and a half years we have made it back to the States for a much needed furlough. On Sunday night, December 6, we had our farewell service. It was encouraging to see a good number of people there to send us off. There were people there that we have led to the Lord since the church was started, people whom we have discipled, baptized, and are now faithful church members to this day. We also had people there that we have worked with over the years, but have not yet trusted the Lord as their personal Savior. While we rejoice to see what God has done in Osasco, we still know that the work is not done, and it was tough to leave the people with whom we have worked and grown to love. There was a going-away party for us after the service, and many tears were shed as we said our good-byes. We left Brazil on Tuesday night, December 8, arriving on Wednesday the 9th.

Read more →