Visa Interview

Hey everyone. Well we were able to finally get the interview for Natinha's visa on July 6th down in Philadelphia. The man stamped Natinha's passport and extended her current greencard. Now all we are waiting for is for him to say, yes she is approved. When we went for her interview, her file had not been sent from the Vermont service center yet, so a final decision could not be made on that day. God provided a very nice man to conduct the interview. We will be entering in contact with him again on August 4th in hopes of hearing his final decision. We are currently still in the United States and plan to fly back home to Palmas, on August 7th. We will be at a missions evening at the Middletown Church of God this Sunday July 23rd. Please continue to keep Natinha's visa process in your prayers. Thank you.

Immigration

We are currently back in the United States, enjoying a little bit of vacation and some deputation. Our real reason for being back state side is that we are trying to finalize Natinha's visa process. Please pray that her visa can be processed, and that they can find the last thing we sent to them. The last time I spoke with someone they had no record of receiving anything from us! Pray that God would move in people's hearts and that the process can be completed. Thank you.

Santo Antonio De Jesus Celebrates 4 Year Anniversary!

The church in Santo Antonio de Jesus, located in the state of Bahia, celebrated it's four year anniversary on April 2nd. Actually the celebration began on Thursday March 30th, four years so four days celebrating! This is typical of the people in this area as the culture is very festive. Attending the services were myself, Pastor Ernesto, and brother Júlio César from the Palmas, Tocantins church. We arrived on Friday after a very long trip by car. We soon found out that the highways in Bahia are terrible and have holes in the road that can literally swallow cars. We arrived in Santo Antonio de Jesus, at 5:00am Friday. The services were very festive and full of people. Saturday and Sunday had the most people with Sunday leaving many people having to stand during the service. We didn´t count, but the number had to be 200 or more that evening.
Many singers in the city came to sing for the services during the evenings we were there. We were also blessed by the music of a couple from the church called Juraci and Eliana, they have recorded a CD and we were able to bring their music back with us to Tocantins. Juraci told me that he is waiting to be called by a talent show that passes on Saturdays on the television nationwide.
The church also had food after the services, selling them to help pay for some things at the church. We really enjoyed our time with this church and were excited to come back home to tell others about what we had seen in Bahia. Pastor Walter Santos is doing a great job with the church and is preparing leaders who will more than likely be our future pastors here in Brazil. God is doing marvelous things in the Santo Antonio de Jesus church. Pray for this and our other churches here in Brazil! Pray that God would do amazing things through His people.