During the first part of the trip I went with Dr. Paul Syltie (see article above) to Maloca de Moscou in Northern Brazil on a Good Works agricultural project. The purpose of this project was to identify areas where the Church could be of the most help to the brethren and local community. Dr. Syltie took various soil samples for analysis and identified that having a healthy and stable fresh water supply to water their vegetable and fruit plantations as well as instructing them in healthy eating habits is absolutely critical to the brethren and local community. Further details on this project and future action plans will be determined as soon as we get permission from the Brazilian authorities over Indian affairs, as well as budget approval from Good Works and/or LifeNets.

After the completion of this initial phase of the agricultural project, we kept Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread in this tribal village. We had 20 brethren who observed the Passover, 38 at services and 14 at the Kingdom of God Bible Seminar in the village. We also conducted two leadership training exercises, various Bible studies and two youth Bible studies with seven and 11 young people attending, respectively.

After the first day of Unleavened Bread in Maloca de Moscow, we visited the Feast site at Eco-Park, and the site owners welcomed us with wide open arms. The site is clean, well kept, air-conditioned, and it will be a real preview of the wonderful world tomorrow for the brethren. The brethren are excited for the Feast and are really looking forward to meeting fellow brethren at the Feast. If you have not made plans for the Feast and want a unique place to keep it where you will be uplifted spiritually by the Christian fellowship with these local brethren, seriously consider the Brazil Feast site this year.

Subsequently Dr. Syltie returned to the States, and I continued the pastoral trip into the southern part of Brazil. The next stop was in Sumaré, where I visited and addressed a number of questions from members of the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Sumaré. Some had many questions about the divinity of Christ, observance of the Holy Days and baptism, among others. After that I conducted a Kingdom of God seminar in Sumaré with 14 people present. After the seminar I addressed many questions from the audience, until I had to leave, as the venue was closing. Please pray that God may help these new babies in Christ and protect them from Satan’s deceptive attacks. This is always a danger in these remote areas, and particularly because Brazil has a great mixture of different beliefs and different faiths, all pulling in their individual directions.

Then I went to Uberlândia to keep the last day of Unleavened Bread with Giovane Macedo and his family, who are longstanding members in Brazil, as well as a number of his close relatives. There were 14 present during Sabbath services. There I also conducted another Kingdom of God seminar. I had various questions from interested family members.

After that visit I travelled to Rio de Janeiro to visit a prospective member some two to three hours away from Rio, but was not able to do so, due to a massive demonstration on the road related to the soon coming world soccer cup and misappropriation of funds. This demonstration and many other trip-related set-backs that I experienced should remind us all of how important it is for us to daily pray that God may deliver us from the evil one. God thankfully protected me from danger.

Overall the trip was very successful. God protected me on the trip, and further inroads were made into a region where the gospel of the soon coming Kingdom of God has never been preached, as far as I know. We are doing this with our literature in the Portuguese language. Currently we have 27 booklets in Portuguese, a bi-monthly Portuguese edition of The Good News (A Boa Nova) and 5 lessons of the Bible Study Course. We hope to print another two more booklets and the sixth lesson of the study course in the next month or two.

God is doing a greater and greater work in the Portuguese language through the support and tithes, which you are generously giving to United Church of God. Thank you for your financial support, prayers for protection, health, godly wisdom and godly love on these trips. We need to continue praying that God may hinder Satan’s efforts of blinding people from the truth. Also, that He bless the Church’s efforts so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ may shine on them (2 Corinthians 4:4), and the hope of the good news of His soon coming to establish the Kingdom of God may reach all nations as a witness.