(a recent prayer letter from Jeff Barker, Brazil)

Greetings from Brazil! We have had a blessed beginning to our year. We have seen fruit of the events we held end of year 2021, seeing a growth in attendance, and visitors almost every weekend. The “Back to School Project” has been a blessing and a great outreach. With the recent crisis in Venezuela, many refugees have migrated to Brazil, and we have received many in our church. We are also, now in a building remodeling phase, giving our place a face lift and updating the auditorium.

We are very grateful to those of you who invested in the “Back to School” Project. As kids returned to school, we were able to put together over a hundred basic school packs. We are still handing them out! Our people have reached out to people they know, or are witnessing to, and invited them to church to receive a kit. It has been such a blessing to see the smiles of joy and gratefulness by both kids and parents and we are seeing many return and attend services.

As I mentioned, we have seen a growing attendance of Venezuelan refugee families in our church. It has been a blessing to see our church embrace them, help them get settled, find jobs, and learn the language. Our church is becoming an international family with Brazilian, American, Uruguayan, and Venezuelan people! I am having to remember the Spanish I learned back in college! Praise the Lord!

We are also in a building remodeling and maintenance mode. Currently, plaster is being repaired, ceramic tile placed, and painted texture applied to the walls. The church has been able to save money over the last couple years to do this work, which will cost around $3,000 USD, about a third of our yearly income. But, we are in urgent need of replacing our entire roof severely damaged by recent storms. The cost is beyond our reach right now and would take a couple more years to raise. It is going to cost us around $7,000 USD to replace the roof. Currently, we have the cement based tile sheets, which crack and break easily, and also are not very resistant to hail and strong winds. We are getting quotes from several places that place insulated aluminum sheets. This is a new type of roofing in Brazil and has proven to be quite resistant to weather and time, but very costly. Please pray with us about this expense, and how the Lord would lead you to help us with this need.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. I realize these are trying times for all everywhere, but you have not ceased to support me and the ministry God has entrusted to me in Brazil. You share in all the fruit of this ministry. God bless you abundantly!