If you are a frequent visitor to our site, you will realize that there are times we do not update as regularly as we would like. While updating our site has become a lot easier, things can happen so quickly that a month or more can pass and we realize there are still things we haven't posted. Meanwhile, the internet becomes more and more condensed in its communication. I realize that just the length of this paragraph has made it unlikely that certain people will even read this far.

We live in a fast-paced communication world. Where once missionaries were grateful for steady postal service, our generation can use Skype, Vonage, webcams, instant messengers, email and more, and now even social networking sites like Facebook to keep in constant communication with people in the States (and elsewhere). The latest trend, Twitter, makes things even more instantaneous and condensed: a miniblog of one-liners bombarding people at all times.

Well, we're joining the masses! Rather than stop by and find out if something is new, follow us on Twitter using the link on the left (above the main menu), and we'll keep you posted with brief messages about what's going on! On Facebook already? Follow us there as well using the link on the left (farther down).

If these instant updates aren't to your liking, our intention is still to inform people through our website. The updates will continue at their usual pace and in their usual format, which will seem sluggish by comparison. But not all things in life need to be rushed.

God gave us a busy but blessed weekend. On Saturday I was invited to speak at the regional pastors' breakfast in the city of Paulínia. I was able to speak to 35-40 area pastors and workers about seeking excellence in ministry. Sometimes I just have to stop and take in the blessing of being in Brazil--my home--and having the privilege of sharing what God has taught me over the years with men who minister to people all over the metropolitan region of Campinas. I am living my dream, and have only God to thank for that!

Saturday night was a time to be able to speak to the younger generation at a youth meeting hosted by our church in Jardim Amanda. We had sixty or more young people from our church and another local church present. We were able to enjoy fellowship, worship, and open God's word and learn about the warnings He places in our lives about the future to help us make wise decisions in the present. Pray for Brazil's youth--they are bombarded on every side by materialism, promiscuity, drugs, and criminal behavior. Pray that God will reach them young so they will dedicate their lives to His purposes.

Sunday morning I taught my regular adult class. God allowed the subject of family to touch a nerve. Our adversary is destroying our churches internally through strong attacks against the most basic unit of human relationship: marriages and families. Brazilian families suffer from weak or nonexistant father-figures, relaxed views of sexuality and commitment to marriage bonds, weakening ties between parents and children, and a lax view of parental obligation in raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Divorce rates are up 200% since the official recognition of divorce in 1984, so that 1 in 4 marriages now end in divorce. A large number that don't end in divorce are not much better: husband and wife living under the same roof, but only to maintain appearances. Pray that God will use His Word to salvage these famliies and build strong churches as testimonies to the grace of God throughout the community.

Sunday evening I was able to continue the discussion of family issues to a full house (the evening service is better-attended in Brazil). We were blessed to see dozens come forward to dedicate their lives, their marriages, their families, and their relationships to God. Pray that God will protect these people so they can be persistent in their pursuit of godly lives. After the service I had a number of people confirm how the teaching of basic family principles of God's Word had touched their lives--families are thirsty for guidance from the Lord. Pray that they will now be doers of the Word, and not hearers only!

Every year in January the pastors of São Paulo state take some time to get away from their busy ministries and have a time of fellowship together. Last year we arrived a week too late to be a part of the retreat, so we were glad to have the opportunity to go this year. Since arriving in Campinas, we have been able to expand the number of pastors and workers with whom we have contact and fellowship considerably. Events like this one extend our network beyond the city and its environs, letting us meet and get reacquainted with pastors from the whole state.

The retreat was also a great opportunity for our kids. This was the first year for children to be allowed to come to the retreat, and they were entrusted into the able hands of two pastor's wives. These amazing women spent over five hours a day teaching, singing, and playing with the kids that came, and did a wonderful job. Our kids surprised us at the end by participating in the special music and memory verse they shared with the pastors in the final service. We knew the kids had been enjoying the classes and making new friends, but we had no idea that they would be memorizing songs and a verse in Portuguese as well.

We are grateful for times like these, that let us get together with the fine men and women God has enlisted to reach Christ in this state.

Time has flown by this past year. It seems like we barely arrived back in Brazil and already the end of the year has come and gone. We took advantage of the holiday season to visit my parents and their ministry in Brasília. It had been nearly a year since we had moved away from Brasília, so it was nice to be back with friends and family during Christmas and New Year's.

The children really enjoyed the time with Grandma and Vô (all the grandkids call my dad Grandpa in Portuguese). Their house was our home for a year, so they stepped back into their old haunts easily. They enjoyed games and cooking with Grandma, and running around the yard, which is much bigger and greener than anything we have in Campinas. We recently realized that Christmas in Brasília is the only Christmas Joel has ever known.

We also had a good time at my parents' church. I had several opportunities to preach and speak to the young people while we were there. Ann Janel gave her first public testimony in Portuguese, sharing the trials and blessings of her mother's life and death. The kids stepped right back into their roles with their friends at church. Before we knew it, the two weeks were up, and we were headed back to our lives and ministry in Campinas.

Frequent visitors to the site will recall that Ann Janel's switching to the language school here in Campinas had some really positive results. Her classes were brought up short, however, with the trip to the States to care for her dying mother. Shortly after we arrived back in Brazil in October, Ann Janel resumed her language classes, and is doing really well. We have even enrolled Nathanael and Elena in some classes at the school as well, and are hearing the change.

Ann Janel had an opportunity to put her Portuguese to a ministry test on our visit to my parents' church in December. She was able to give a short testimony concerning her mother's life and death, and did a great job. Please continue praying for her classes. As Brazilians themselves are constantly saying, "Portuguese is not easy." But with God's grace, your prayers, and the fine teachers at Interclass, she is doing really well.