I traveled from Santiago, Chile, Aug. 9 to the city of Santa Maria, in the south of Brazil. I spent three days with the five brethren in that area. Every day we had a Bible study and also spoke informally about the work of God. Because the brethren only receive a ministerial visit about once a year and during the Feast of Tabernacles, they had a lot of questions and comments to make. So this part of the visit was very productive for both parties.

The second part of the trip began on Aug. 13 to Rio de Janeiro, where our four brethren in the area were also delighted with the visit and the profitable conversations we all had. There was a Bible study, and the five of us spent one complete day together speaking informally about many things related to the work of the Church.

Maloca de Moscou

The third and longest part of the trip began Aug. 16. This was to Maloca de Moscou, in the northernmost part of the country. There we have 35 dedicated brethren—including children—who try to obey God with all of their effort, despite the many physical limitations they have.

Most of the brethren there actually came from Guyana some years ago when the government of Brazil offered them a piece of land. Little by little they all have been coming out of poverty because of their hard work and because of the blessings of God through rain and fertile land. They raise maize, rice, bananas and chickens mainly for their own nourishment.

At this point the village does not have running water or electricity, but all of the brethren have water from wells and light through means other than electricity. They built their own houses when they moved there. They even built their own hall for services on the Sabbath and Holy Days.

The United Church of God was able to help them with a solar charger, a big car battery, an electricity transformer and the rest of the equipment so the brethren can view the DVD sermons sent from the home office in the United States.

By the way, most of these brethren speak three languages: English, Portuguese and a local dialect. So they are able to receive sermons in English and Portuguese (recorded by Jorge de Campos, an elder in Cincinnati). In fact, for the Feast this year they will be viewing DVD sermons every day since they will unfortunately not have a minister with them this Feast.

Two men in the congregation, Robert Mathews and Geraldo de Souza, will be leading songs and giving the sermonettes every day of the Feast.

Wedding and Four Baptisms

The visit was very profitable. On Friday we had a wedding and spent most of the day speaking with the candidates for baptism. Four were baptized on Sabbath morning. It was very inspiring to see the Holy Spirit giving understanding of the great plan of God to brethren who live so far from other brethren! It took me five hours to fly from Rio de Janeiro to Boa Vista. And from Boa Vista to Maloca de Moscou is still a 50-mile trip on dirt roads.

On the Sabbath we had a Bible study in the morning and formal services in the afternoon. They all—including the children—really came with their best clothing and their best attitude to worship God and enjoy what they consider a real event: a visit from a minister of the Church.

At the end of the visit the Church helped provide funds to rebuild the roof of the meeting hall, to buy a new battery and to completely rebuild the bathrooms for the meeting hall. This is expected to be finished before this coming Feast.

We have two other members living in Brasilia and three living in Minas Gerais, but unfortunately I was not able to visit them on this trip. Please keep your brethren in Brazil in your prayers. Please also pray for more laborers for the work of God in this part of the world. UN