Dear Friends and Family, :)

This past week-end was full of rich ministry opportunities and fellowship with churches and pastors. We were in the central church (SEDE) on Sunday morning for a "teaching" time. Dale taught on Acts chapter 10; it was so well received and we feel the language returning. We have actually spoken Portuguese with our children all of these years "now and then" and have keep a great portion, but upon our return we are remembering so much more.

The Pastor of the central church is such a very dear man and long-time friend. He and his family have gone way out of their way to meet our need of transportation, lodging and they even have provided office space in the church for us to work in. Please pray for Pastor Davi (David) and his precious family. They have made room for us at their table nearly daily and we have felt the warmth of their love and friendship. Please include in your prayers also the other pastoral staff members: Pastor Pedrinho and Pastora Ester; they serve a large congregation of 1200 congregants.

On Sunday night we were in a wonderful and growing work in Alphaville; a community that is somewhat "upper-class". We enjoyed a warm reception and we both had an opportunity to share with the congregation from the Word. As the congregation was worshiping I was so impressed by a mental picture from the Lord; it was a lateral view of the nation of Brazil and it was as though there was a glass ceiling over the country and it was "Sunday night from 6 PM to 8 PM" during this time I became aware that all over the nation tens of thousands of churches were all involve in powerful worship and I saw the Lord "dancing and rejoicing" on the surface of this glass ceiling. He was so excited; the verse from Zephaniah 3:17 came immediately to my spirit and I realized that the Lord was indeed "singing, spinning, leaping and shining" as His people praised and worshipped.

Dale followed this with a message from Mark 14 and the worship of Mary as she broke open the alabaster box and anointed the feet of Jesus; this box represented all her hopes and dreams of the future. It was very meaningful for all.

Afterwards there was a time of fellowship with the congregation and then we enjoyed dinner with the Pastor and members of his lovely family. When you pray please mention the names of Pastor Joao (John) Manoel and Pastora Sueli (his precious wife). Pray that God will continue to give them open doors and souls in the area where they minister.

Blessings dear ones!

Dale & Patti

Wow has time begun to fly. We have had a whirl-wind of a week. Patti had the great opportunity to attend a seminar for Women in Ministry. The guest speaker was a dear long time friend that many of you will remember; Mary Fawcett. It was a wonderful day. It was a Tea with all the trimmings and a wonderful edifying message. I was able to take the lady that oversees the women's ministries here at the central church. She was very blessed to make new friends and receive from all that took place.

On Friday Dale and I both hit the streets at 6:30 AM to catch a Taxi and head out to the South Zone where Bill & Mary Fawcett live and we spent a wonderful time visiting with them and hearing about what God is doing in their church and lives. It was an extremely edifying time.

Today we are at the central church; Dale preparing to speak on Sun. AM here in the main church and then he will minister on Sunday evening in our Foursquare church in the area known as Alfaville.

Prayer needs:
The leading of the Holy Spirit in each venue; Transportation: we checked out renting a car before even coming and it was truly cost-prohibitive for us. Pastor Davi has been absolutely remarkable about taking us around to different places; and taxi's are readily available; please pray about this for us, for we do not want to be a drain on people for transportation. It is our desire that all who transport us will be blessed and ministered to.

Dear ones, that is it for now; We want to thank all of you who are supporting us in prayer most of all; we are deeply grateful also for those who have been able to add to their prayer, financial support; our prayer is that God will return to you 100 fold that which you have shared with us.

Our love and joint prayers for Brazil!
Dale & Patti

Dear friends and family we are just reeling from all the opportunities to share the graces of Christ with brothers and sisters here in Brazil. We are really leaning on your "intercession" for us and can already feel the support of prayer.

We are reactivating our Portuguese and it is going well; we are already getting around on foot and by occasional Taxi; as well as brothers and sisters in Christ taking us to places we need to go. We are staying in a small but very convenient and adaquate hotel "flat".

Yesterday was Brazilian Father's Day and we started the day celebrating with the Senior pastor (a very old and dear friend and his family) a wonderful lunch and time of fellowship. Then we were here in the Headquarter's church in downtown Sao Paulo; there were around 1200 people in the evening service (their main service) and it was a duration of 3 hours. :) Not quite like our US services. It was a very moving and dramatic event. Many tributes, presentations, dramatic worship dances and DVD presentation and then a message on the "Pillar of Fire" as our guide through life. The pastor here is in the middle of a 7 week series on the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. They have a real live Tabernacle designed with an Ark of the Covenant made by someone in the church. There is a dramatic opening of the service with the pastor dressed as a High Priest and the Ark entering...Wow what creativity.

We will meet with leaders this week to listen to their desires regarding our involvement here in their work.

Please pray for protection and health for all of us. Last night over 500 people hugged and kissed us on the cheeks; I was not near as worried for us as I was for all of them kissing us in the same spot on the cheek...there were 3 known cases of Swine flu in the family of the congregation; so prayer for everyone's health is in order.

We are really enjoying doing all of this together. On this coming Thursday I will go with the leader of Women's Ministries to a seminar for Women in Ministry where a dear and precious Missionary friend will be the main speaker: Mary Fawcett. I can hardly wait to see her and hear her message; for those of you who remember, I know you would love to be there also.

That is all for today; Our love and gratitude to all of you our dear friends and family.

Dale & Patti

Insight For Living: My Story

Insight For Living: My Story

Hats Off to the US Navy: The Flight of the COD : Truth Observed

Hats Off to the US Navy: The Flight of the COD : Truth Observed

God's Choice versus Our Choice...

In times past God used pagan leaders in a more profitable and beneficial way than were used rebellious, unrepentant and stubborn kings and leaders, who claimed affiliation with God and His people; for examples; Cyrus, Darius, Nebuchadnezzar and Artaxerxes, just to name a few. In meditating over the principles of prayer for leaders I was prompted to pray for the possible up-coming leaders of our nation.

Lord, I lift up ___________________ into your presence and pray that he/she will not view the "Church" as an enemy but as an entity of good in the society. I pray that he/she will issue a call to the Church to function in a conciliatory way in our culture--and that we would be true "peacemakers". I pray that we "the Church" would truly PRAY for our enemies, (have we done that?)

May we join as closely as possible to the needs of our society, in which we live, without contaminating ourselves. (Jude 23) May we reach out in true Christian selflessness and give of what we are, and who we are, to help others.

In the early stages of our nation our tax exempt status was gifted to us (the Church) by a grateful government for our care of the helpless, hopeless, homeless, hindered and harassed members of our society. The Church, the Body of Christ is to make a difference in the culture and society by speaking the truth and issuing a call to righteousness, and then it must be backed up by our own sacrifice to see the disenfranchised restored to productivity and peace-filled lives through Christ with His nature indwelling them, and us, as we together pursue the mandate of Christ to the world...which was to "preach and teach" openly the Good News (the Gospel) to every creature of the human race.

What exactly is the Good News? Jesus gives us the greatest of all definitions in Luke 4:18-19, when He says..."The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah]to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19) To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.]

Luke 4:20 goes on to say, "...and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him." If we will truly declare the Gospel as it should be declared, and open up our houses of worship, and homes, to meet the needs of others, then...the eyes (attention) of not only the believing world, but the unbelieving world will be on us, and we will be undeniable "ambassadors of reconciliation in the earth and specifically our communities. Every day should be the "Today" in which these things are fulfilled in our hearing.

Luke 4:22 "And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth..." and they will also speak of us, "Are not these those Christians whom we have hated?" We must truly love our enemies--speak like people who love their enemies and get away from divisive issues in order to present ourselves as true peacemakers! We must declare ourselves as "those who reject sin [user-advocating behavior] in any venue of life. We must think before we speak--making our words and actions match those of Christ Jesus our Lord and His Word.

Lord, Jesus, I want my community to know You are here and that You want to serve them through me. Never let me represent you as someone who has a hand out to receive; but as Your ambassador, my hand is extended, to receive them and impart Your love to each and every one. May Christ Jesus be glorified! AMEN!

"My hope is built on nothing less...."

I'm realizing today more than ever that our hope must be ONLY in the Lord! We have no other recourse. If there is one thing I have been learning in these past years it is that one cannot place their hope in people; people will fail and continue to do so---Only in God must we put our trust. We run the risk of developing bitterness and getting permanently depressed and disappointed when we put our trust in places other than God alone.

Psalms 62: 5-8 Amp.

"My soul, wait ONLY upon God and silently submit to Him; for my HOPE and expectation are from Him. 6) He ONLY is my rock and my salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress; I shall not be moved. 7) With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God! 8) Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us (a fortress and a high tower). Selah [pause and calmly think of that].

I'd like to do that for a minute. See that phrase in the italics? If I'm not mistaken the "Message" renders that daily lay out the pieces of your life before the Lord. Now, I can't stop this right now and find a copy of the "Message" online to check it but I know there is one verse in the "Message" that reads just like that. What a picture! Sometimes it seems like today's pieces are like those little Dr.'s office preschool puzzles that you see. Easy bezy...but then there are those days when it seems like you have a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle to lay out. Boy, I know that feeling. To God it is all the same...but from my side...I have to remember, Ps. 31:7 Amp. "I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul."

My dear friend, I've seen your anguish and most of you have definitely seen mine. What a gift, that alone is, but to think that God not only "sees" my affliction but "knows" my anguish. To "know" for God means He actually participates in the pain with you by His Holy Spirit. What comfort and I really need that comfort today!

"Blessed are You , the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In Your great mercy You have given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us." [I Peter 1:3-4 Amp.]

To which I said; "How long O Lord, How long?" He immediately answered me..."In Your great grace, O God, You called me to Your eternal glory in Christ. After I have suffered a little while, You will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish me. To you be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." I Peter. 5:10-11 from [Face to Face: Kenneth Boa]

My hope cannot be in: government, the church, the leaders in the church, my employment, or the unemployment agency (which ever applies), family members, friends or anyone else--my hope has got to be in Christ alone.

I think of Martin Luther's words which I love so much: "I'm Yours, Lord, save me!"

To whom are you looking for help and hope?