Church Planting Ministry - Work update - September 2019.

Dear family, friends and supporters, hope this message finds each one of you doing well and growing in your service to the Lord and His Church.

I appreciate your prayers, your help and your concern towards the work in Brazil – and interior of our State that you have been part of. May God be praised for our partnership in this so important ministry.

These past two months were quite busy for me and the work in which I am involved.

Uberlandia – 6 hours west of Belo – During the month of July and August we had the visit of Richard Lyles and Clay Harper who stayed almost a month to help us with various activities that took place in the city of Belo Horizonte, Uberlandia and . We also had the visit from the brethren from Texas - Ovilla Church in Dallas area who helped us in a vacation Bible School in Uberlandia and – Belo Horizonte area.

The VBS was a very inspiring and exciting spiritual activity for both congregations. In Uberlandia we ended up having an average of 50-60 kids during the three days it was held. Each day we had a different theme which motivated the kids to participate and get involved. Some of the kid’s parents came for the service on Sunday and were very happy to get to know the church. In Betim – Belo Horizonte area, the theme was Daniel in the Lion´s den – the participation also turned out to be very positive. During the activities for the kids, their parents had a class on how to raise kids according to God’s Word. It was taught by Michael Elrod, who is the preacher from Ovilla, Texas.

I would like to make an special invitation to Kingwood family, North Carolina Family, Cornestone family and Wheeler Road family to organize a group to come next summer (2020) and help us with the VBS and a short campaign in the cities of Uberlandia and Caldas Novas.

On Monday night in Uberlandia (7/22), we had a special meeting with men from the congregation at Uberlandia where we shared some key concepts of how the men should lead the congregation and encourage one another. The class also had the goal of encouraging the men to get more involved in the daily life of the church and taking more leadership roles responsibilities. Michael, Huey, Clay and Richard did a superb job helping those men to see how wonderful the Lord´s work is when we work together for His glory.

Men’s retreat

On Tuesday in Uberlandia we had another time with the all church and contacts from the community who have been attending the School of the Bible. Several visitors came. Several baptisms have come from the School of the Bible so far this year. Celio and Delmiro are doing an incredible work with this course. Many people are leaving their denominations heritage and showing the desire to become just Christians.

Please continue to pray for Celio and Delmiro and their families as they strive to serve and love the Lord´s Church in Uberlandia. The work is growing, the members are getting involved and getting excited about the challenges ahead of them and the enemy is not happy about that. Please pray.

Caldas Novas Church

The first weekend in August was the annual men´s retreat hosted by the churches in Uberlandia. More than 100 men from several cities and States came together to grow and encourage one another. Richard and several other speakers brought wonderful lessons that challenged all the men to keep serving and loving the Lord´s Church. Vamberto, who has been attending the church in Uberlandia, decided to be baptized during the camp. His daughter, Raqueline, and her husband, Felipe, have been a blessing to the Church in Uberlandia.

The City of Uberlandia

IECH – Belo area. The Institute Charley Huffman of Evangelism - The brethren from Ovilla also had the opportunity to teach and encourage the Students at IECH while they were here. Right now we have an average of 25 students attending the school. Some of them have shown the desire to do missions after they finish the training, but most of them are already serving in their local congregation where they attend. Richard Lyles and Clay Harper also taught some very needful and encouraging courses to the Students. I want to take the opportunity to thank Kingwood for blessing us with Richard in the last two years, his experience and his passion for mission work is an encouragement to the brethren in our State. Please continue to pray for Giovanni and Julio as they serve continually in the school. It is very important that those two wonderful men work together in the Seminar so the school will continue to grow stronger and have the impact that we have always dreamed of.

Montes Claros - 6 hours north of Belo. Clay, Richard and I also had the opportunity to visit Montes Claros while they were here. Dionisio who is an evangelist in Belo Area has been doing an awesome work in that city. Clay and I have been assisting him and the church in that city very often. The city is growing and so is the church, with the growth comes different challenges. One of them is the need to have a full time worker. Diego and his wife who graduated from the IECH – has accepted the challenge to move to Montes Claros and become the missionary to that city. They are hoping to move to MOC – (Montes Claros) this coming January – 2020.

The Montes Claros City Diego preaching the Word

Please pray for them as they prepare for this change. We are presently working on raising funds for them, right now we have raised half of the $1000 they need - another $500 is still needed. Two new sisters have been added to the body in Montes Claros recently, they were baptized and now the next step is to help them grow and become mature disciples of Christ. While in Montes Claros, we did several visits, taught several classes and encouraged the brethren as much as we could. Please continue to pray for this work and for Dionisio´s health as well.

Esmeralda Church – Whenever I happen to be in Belo Area, I am committed to help this small congregation to grow spiritually and also in numbers. This past Sunday we had 22 people attending the worship. Messias, Felipe and others are surprising me as I see them maturing and becoming more committed disciples of Christ. Suely and his daughter are now attending with us, so is Nardel and his girlfriend who used to attend a denominational church. Felipe is studying the Bible with Gabriel and hopefully soon Gabriel will be baptized into Christ. Please pray for the work in Esmeralda as we strive to make a difference in that simple place.

Esmeraldas Church

Lastly, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being behind the work in Belo Horizonte – Minas Gerais State for these past years. It has been a very special partnership and I thank God for bringing you into my life and ministry. As you make plans for the work in the next year please consider renewing my support and your involvement in the work here. May God be praised as we strive to serve Him and enhance His kingdom around our State of Minas Gerais. Once again thank you for your love, your commitment to mission work.

Belo Horizonte -Brazil

In Christ,

Rickricardo.