Danny Bratcher

Brazil

 

Rua Joao Dias Martins, 256, Apto 1001

Boa Viagem, Recife-PE, 51021-540

Telephone – 011-55-81-3341-0499

September 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The month started out with a trip to the annual youth rally called Mega. We had a group of 15 from the Boa Viagem church that attended the rally of more than 150 young adults! Lee even made friends with one young lady and began studying the Bible with her!

 

On Sunday mornings a lot of our youth have been studying for Bible Bowl, but I have been teaching our Wednesday night youth group. We have been studying the book of Mark. The Wednesday night group isn’t very big, but they really enjoy studying!

 

We continue to be blessed with a donation to buy food baskets for the families of the Catecismo Biblico children, which are the children in the neighborhood around the orphanage! Each month we buy 33 food baskets for these needy families who many times dig through trash for food.

 

God blesses a work involving children, and we always see it in the faces of the children! We have been teaching the Procrescer children the English Bible Talk course, and we recently showed some of the Catecismo Biblico children the film, "Kung Fu Panda," teaching them from the film that even when people say they are not good enough, God always says that they are!

 

This month, we had our 6th annual Bible Bowl! There were 104 students from 9 different churches, and a total of over 200 people all together. The Boa Viagem church had 2 teams that participated (left). Neither team won but we are very proud of all their hard work!

 

Lee and I are also very proud of 5 of the children from the children’s project, Procrescer (right)! Williane, Walber, Cleiton, Italo, and Igor have participated in Bible Bowl for the last 3 years, and it has been a true blessing to see them grow spiritually and intellectually in God’s Word!

One of the ladies that Lee studies with, Claudia (left), who sometimes brings her mom and daughter (right), had a recent tragedy in her life. Claudia’s 33 year old brother Manoel, who had been battling alcoholism for many years, took his life on September 20th. For the past 3 years, Claudia and her mother, Maria, had searched for a rehab clinic for him, but could not find one in Recife. Because of his death, Claudia’s mother has a lot of guilt feeling like she should have done more. Please say a special prayer to comfort and help this family.

 

Also, please say a prayer for Mario, Cristiane, and their sons. We had been studying with this family on Tuesday nights, but have not continued with them because of some family problems. Cristiane had also been studying with Lee on Thursday nights, but has not been coming lately. Please pray for God to resolve their problems and help them get back to studying His Word!

I would like to take a moment to remember 2 of my fellow classmates from Sunset! I was very close to both of these men, who have now gone home to be with our Lord! Jorge DelBosque (left) went home on July 21, 2009, and Bryan Shelley (right) went home on September 14, 2009. Both of these men had cancer and left this world within 2 months of each other, but not before reaching out to as many people as they possible could, even while being sick in their beds.

 

One of the hardest things that I have learned while being on the mission field is that you will miss having the opportunity to say goodbye in person to close friends and family who are dying. However with technology today, I did talk with both Jorge and Bryan by phone a few times!

In John 13:34-35, Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Jesus loved us to the point of dying for us! With this in mind, I would like to encourage you all to embrace your loved ones, and cherish them and your time with them. It is never too early to let someone know that you love and care for them, but it can be too late!

I would like to ask you to pray for two special requests, (1) Please pray for comfort for the families of Jorge and Bryan, and (2) Please pray for God to water the countless number of seeds that both of these men have planted in the lives of others while here on this earth!

With the love of Christ!

Danny and Lee Bratcher