Missions
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark 16:15 (KJV)
Joseph and Alicia Macedo
https://www.wec-usa.org/
(Posted 09/01/20)
Dear Church Family at Myrtle Gospel Tabernacle,
May the Lord’s peace be with you!
We hope you are all well and that you are being blessed in the Lord in the midst of so much change and uncertainty.
I hope you are enjoying some good garden veggies as the summer draws to an end. We had a trip planned for Sep/Oct, but the flight was cancelled and so for now we will just stay put. I was looking forward to having some of my sister's home-grown tomatoes - nothing better! My mom will be turning 80 on Sept 25th and I was also hoping to be there for that. I will try and participate as much as possible via Skype.
Sorry to be a bit behind in getting news out. June/July was very intensive here. We are so grateful to the Lord for the wonderful opportunities that He has opened up for the MK ministry during this time of Covid. In the midst of bleakness, so many key areas of MK care that we have prayed about for quite some time are taking shape and blossoming. Let me give you a bit of a glimpse:
• Our adult MKs are stepping up and taking on leadership roles;
• Our Education department now has an executive secretary and is moving forward;
• I have been able to hand over the leadership of our Spanish MK network for the Southern Cone, in partnership with Comibam, to one or our workers who is fluent in Spanish. The network is expanding and I wasn’t able to keep up with it;
• Our annual MK Encounter - though canceled for the first time since 2010, was reinvented into an Online Encounter with around 100 MKs from all over the world;
• Our weekly small group meetings with MKs went from 36 Mks in the first season to 96 in the second season and we are now preparing for our third season with more MKs joining.
• Our number of MK caregivers has doubled;
• We created Philhinhos - a branch dedicated to children and pre-adolescence. We are partnering with another group and having online meetings with the kids once a week.
• We are translating the book “TCKs; a gifts to be cared for”, by Ulrika Ernvik;
• We have been involved in numerous live broadcasts on Instagram and Zoom;
• We are building our team and developing material in the Child Safety and Protection department of Philhos.
Joseph has accompanied a weekly group of MK, is involved in mentoring counseling of some of our MK young men and some missionaries on the filed and preaches online. His normal teaching actives continue online and he is revising the Portuguese translation of the book “The Uninvited Companion”(a great read!). He is glad to have a lighter schedule overall which has given him more time to study and write. He is taking an online class on CS Lewis and has had some of his articles published in a well-known Brazilian evangelical magazine, Ultimato.
One highlight of these last few months is that one of our former students at the MTC started a WhatsApp group of alumni and so many expressed such gratefulness at having trained at the MTC and how it changed their lives and marked their ministries. It was truly an encouragement to us and a testimony of the Lord’s great faithfulness.
Covid cases and deaths in Brazil have finally started to level out and we hope to see a consistent drop in the weeks to come. We continue to quarantine at home making very selective visits to friends. We are grateful that our health has been good and that we have a good place to walk everyday and get exercise. We are also grateful that our children, grandchildren and extended family is also well. We have grieved with many friends who have lost loved-ones, been hospitalized or lost their jobs. I know that the picture is very similar in the States and we pray that the Lord will bring comfort and relief to this difficult situation.
Thank you for partnering with us through your prayers and support. We know how important your standing with us in prayer is. Please continue to hold up this ministry and the various points sighted above. One of the things that grieves our hearts is when we have Mks who are going through depression or extremely difficult situations that they don’t know how to cope with. The Lord has impressed on us the essential importance of standing in the gap for these young people who find themselves in a dark place. We are not at liberty to share names or details but I do ask you to pray in this direction and we trust the Lord that He-Who-Knows-All will hear and answer.
A family of missionaries came for the afternoon. They work with WEC in East Timor. Lucas, the young man on the right has been working with the MK ministry with us. He leads one of the weekly small groups and Joseph mentors him.
May you and the church family be blessed and protected. May He give you wisdom from on high and joy in all the simple touches of grace he spreads throughout your day. !
Fred and Debbie Davis
