Dear Friends and Family,
We are still healthy and unaware of anyone in our family who has contracted the virus. We are very grateful to the Lord for that blessing!! Please continue to pray for our son, Brian, who was laid-off from his job last month, as a result of the downturn in the economy. He had an interview that went well last week and is waiting to hear from this company.
Our pastor preached a sermon last Sunday from Exodus, which he called, “Finding Purpose in a Plague.” Today I had a video-conference with members of our EE-Brazil team in which I briefly shared some points from the message, beginning with: “God’s ETA is always unknown, but He is always right on time!
- Detours build anticipation.
- Delays are part of preparation.
- Disappointments increase our appreciation.”
The Wuhan Virus in the US and in Brazil has been characterized by quarantine, isolation, shelter in place, closures and social distancing. Yet, our EE-Brazil team has grown together in the last 7 weeks, in spite of being in different cities and each one focused on a different area of ministry and/or region. I shared last time that the “Lord is revealing that we can continue conducting significant portions of our ministries while sheltering-in-place” and just how we are going about that.
One of our missionaries sent me a short video of a local church EE Facilitator who used an app on her phone to record a video challenge to her EE students. She presented the Introduction that we teach, and then she challenged her students to explain the 5 Gospel points one by one. The next day one of her trainees named José* accepted her challenge and recorded a video of him explaining the first point, Grace. He finished by challenging someone else in their group to explain the next point of the Gospel, Man.
*José lives in humble circumstances in a favela in Rio. He is unemployed. While he doesn’t have much in worldly terms, he explained Grace with a radiant smile on his face, demonstrating that he both understands and can explain the Gospel to anyone that the Lord brings into his path. He naturally shared the sub-points and Bible verses, as well as using illustrations that we teach to help people understand the central truths of the verses. Frankly, for those of us who have invested our lives in evangelism training, it was emotional just watching/hearing José share what he has learned through EE training!
It is this kind of multiplication that we want to see in churches throughout Brazil! Please pray for our EE-Brasil team and for this vision.
In closing, we want to thank you for your faithful support of our family and ministry! You are truly holding the ropes for us through this difficult time, and we value this partnership in the Gospel!! Please let us know how we can pray for you.
Prayerfully and with sincere gratitude,
Robert & Mary Jo Foster,
Serving Evangelism Explosion-Brazil
* Atualidadesis a Portuguese word that means news or up to date information. We want you to have the latest information in order to support us in prayer, as well as financially when the Lord leads/enables. Thank you!