Dear faithful ministry partners,
Let me begin by saying how grateful to God we are for each and every one of you that have an integral part in our ministry. Thank you for “holding the ropes” so firmly and faithfully! We do not take you, or what you do for us for granted.
As the first month of 2013 is already history, we thank the Lord for what He has done, and we look forward to seeing what He will do in the remaining eleven months of this year.
Regarding the church property, some time ago, an elderly deaf couple passed away and left a portion of their “estate” to the deaf church. After being tied up in legal matters, their property is now free to be sold. Please pray that it will sell quickly. We don’t know for how much it will be sold, but the sale of this property should help with the initial cost of getting started on the construction of a building.
We are praising the Lord for a great Deaf Women’s Retreat and a Deaf Men’s Retreat in January! We had the privilege of having missionary/evangelist Jim Sloan with us for the Men’s Retreat on Friday and Saturday, January 25th & 26th. Brother Sloan also preached for us twice on Sunday. The deaf really enjoyed having him here. One young lady, Marcia, who has come a few times, responded during the invitation. Another deaf lady, Sônia, has been witnessing to Marcia, and she and Edenir, the Brazilian pastor’s wife, took Marcia into another room and gave her the Gospel one more time. After about thirty minutes, there was a new name written down in Glory, and it was “Marcia”, as she repented of her sin and trusted Jesus as her Savior! She is the third person that we have seen make a profession of faith recently. On November 25th, a twelve-year-old boy named Gustavo trusted Christ as his Savior, and then on December 16th, a deaf woman of seventy-five years of age named Maria put her faith in Jesus Christ. To God be the glory!
Please pray for the salvation of Willian, Marcia’s common-law husband. I have been able to witness to Willian at great length on a couple of different occasions, and he also went to the Deaf Men’s Retreat and heard the Gospel there, too. We believe that it won’t be long before he, too, is saved. We would also appreciate your prayers for the salvation of Eraldo and Luciene, Marcos and Edna, Alex and Yanes, Kleber, and Murilo.
We want to express to you our gratitude to the many Christmas, anniversary, and birthday cards that we have received over the past couple of months. We have already received two packages for Valentine’s Day (with Reese’s peanut butter hearts and M&M’s!), and we appreciate you that have made a special effort to let us know that you are praying for us.
We count it an honor to represent you in Brazil. May the Lord continue to bless you as you faithfully serve Him in your “Jerusalem”, and also for reaching out to the uttermost parts of the world, including Brazil!
That all may “hear”,
Dan & Becky Bennett