Leonard – February 2011
Prayer Team,
Greetings from warm, tropical, Brazil… OOPS! We should say… Greetings from COLD, WINDY, SNOWY, IOWA! Yes, that is right, we are here in the States trying to stay warm, and it is NOT easy! As we look out the window, we see lots of snow and the thermometer is reading 8 degrees!! We praise the Lord that He has brought us safely here for our furlough. We are getting settled into life here in the U.S.A., enjoying seeing family and friends, and scheduling meetings. Our responsibilities begin on February 25th. Please pray with us for safety and health as we travel, and most of all that God will use us greatly as we minister.
Yes, the last time we wrote, we were in Brazil and getting ready for the Christmas season. Jerrod and Jonna took advantage of their college Christmas breaks and came down to be with the rest of the family and help with the move back. Being together as a family was a special treat. How grateful we are that the Christmas celebration in our home was well-attended. Forty-nine people were present at this great outreach opportunity. We enjoyed the singing of traditional Christmas carols, and John gave a challenge which included the clear Gospel plan. We are grateful for your prayers and want ask you to continue to pray for those who heard how to be saved, but have not yet responded. As a family, we were also able to go “caroling”—something that is new to most Brazilians, but they were so appreciative!
One more HUGE answer to prayer…the Christmas program at Sao Pedro was held in our new, unfinished church building!!!! God used the presentation to touch many lives including several visiting families from the community. The following day, we celebrated by having a special Christmas meal also in the auditorium! Such an exciting time for us all! But no one was more excited than John and the four young men who usually had to carry John up and down those 20 steps to the basement where we formerly held all meetings!! Thank the Lord for His goodness!! And most of all, prayer team…thank YOU once again for your prayers!!!
It has been quite some time since we have given you an up-date regarding our former work in Jundiai. Our son, Joshua, who stayed in Brazil, gave us a report regarding last week’s Vacation Bible School. An average of 90 children were in attendance each day. During the children’s activities, the mothers were also invited to a class just for them. And best of all, there were at least five children who accepted Christ as Savior!! We also received good reports from the work in Gato Preto and the rest home ministry. It is exciting to see the national believers and their new pastors carrying on the work. Thank you for praying for the ministry in Brazil!
May the Lord bless and keep each of you.
Sincerely in Christ,
John and Bev Leonard
Bair – January 2011
Happy New Year from the Brazil Bairs!!
2010 was our first full year in Brazil. It was definitely an interesting one!
Filled with many ups and downs, challenges like we’ve never faced before as a family: Full time students, moved to a new city, began homeschooling, had a stretch of illnesses, continued to work through heartache of being separated from friends and family.
But God sent many, many blessings our way: Great new brazilian friends, a church wanting to please the Lord, great new missionary friends, a new closeness as a family, spiritual growth in all our lives, and the list goes on.
What will 2011 bring? Only the Lord knows.
But I have confidence that whatever it is, it is the best for the Brazil Bairs.
“As for God, His way is perfect.”
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Isn’t it awesome that we can enter a new decade with the confidence that God already knows what is going to happen every moment?
Isn’t it awesome that we can enter a new decade with the hope that every moment is ordained by our loving God?
We can enter 2011 with no fear of the unknown.
Because, what is unknown to us is always known by God…
And He knew it before time began…
And He allows it in our lives because it is best for us…
and He loves us more than we can comprehend.
So, enter 2011 with confidence in our Lord and His plans for us…
No matter what they may be.
Happy New year!!
Bair – November 2010
Here is a preview to the video:
News:
1. Graduated from Language school
2. Moved to Gravatai to begin working with a young church there
3. Transitioning into ministry.
Prayer Requests:
1. Continued language learning
2. Direction where to invest in the ministries here
3. Continued development of new evangelistic contacts
4. Lucas is preaching first sermon in 3 weeks
Hope you enjoy the video. I will include a link at the bottom in case the embedded video doesn’t work. Love you all.
The Bairs
Link to video: youtube
Bair – February 2010
So, I think I’m officially the worst blogger ever. But, I’m going to try harder now-blog more often with smaller entries…I promise??
We have gone back to school after a 7 week summer break. At the beginning of the break, I was like, “7 weeks! I don’t want to miss school for 7 weeks!”. The week before we returned to school I was like, “7 weeks!! I don’t want to go back to school after 7 weeks!!”. It was so nice to have a break from studying and just be a mom and wife. We had a great break. We traveled the area a little, visited the beach a few times, even had a group come down from one of our supporting churches. It was really great to have visitors.
Well, we have completed 2 weeks since we returned. I think we’re adjusting well to jumping back in. Yesterday, I gave my first devotional in portuguese for class. It is certainly a different experience giving a devotional in a language that I speak like a preschooler. Really what it consisted of was thinking in english in words I could translate into portuguese and writing them on paper. It was more of a 3 minute testimony about a passage that is dear to my heart than it was a devotional. I actually thought it was way too fluffy and it seriously annoyed me, but it was as far as my current portuguese would take me! Then the actual presentation itself was simply reading the written out devotional in portuguese. I’m not sure how I did, but it was kinda cool to talk about the Lord in a different language! Lucas gives his this coming Friday…
We are settling into a church, which is great. It is “Comunidade Crista” in the Rincão bairro. (A bairro is like a village or neighborhood in cities. Cities here are all broken up into bairros.) We love it. We love the people. We love the pastor and family. The first time we visited in November we really felt like it was where we belonged. I’m sure I’ll share more about it in blogs to come.
Here is a video of highlights of Crossway Community Church’s recent visit.
Leonard – January 2010
Dear Prayer Team,
Greetings from warm, humid south Brazil!!! It is summer vacation time here! After having our traditional family time on Christmas morning, if was so nice that we decided to celebrate the day as many Brazilians do and have a cookout/picnic. John’s mother was able to be with us this year, as she is getting ready to leave for her furlough in the States beginning January 20th. Our short-termer from Grace Baptist Church in Chariton, Iowa, Bekah Hendricks, was also here for Christmas and will be staying through March. She loves snow, so it was hard for her to hear about all the snow in Iowa that she was missing. We were trying to dream up ways to make her Christmas “white,” (throwing popcorn in the air, spreading corn starch around…etc.), but decided against those. We think she enjoyed the picnic, though. She has made some good friends down here–in fact a couple of them are here from Fortaleza visiting her right now so we have a full house!! We are enjoying the extra visitors, as it is nice to have help with the ministry and also at home.
The last time we wrote we were gearing up for our Christmas program at Gato Preto, and we are glad to report that it went well…all except for the stormy downpour RIGHT at the end as John was wrapping up the Christmas message. Even the tarp that we had put up before the meeting did not keep the strong winds and rain from dampening the crowd, and we ended up quickly running for cover in the small home where we meet. There we enjoyed a time of refreshments, gift distribution (small sacks of candy for the kids and devotional books for the adults), and also inspirational special music with Orlando and Lourdes, a dear couple that has been helping us. Even though the program did not go as we had planned, it was a blessing to hear one lady say at the end that this was the best Christmas she had ever had! Also, since that night, a lady named Rose and her two children have not missed a meeting. She hasn’t accepted Christ as her Savior, but we sense she is very close to making this decision. Please pray for her salvation.
Besides our work at Gato Preto, John has had the opportunity to speak at various churches and also at a camp for Chinese adolescents. (pictured below) How awesome it has been to see the Lord work each time He opens the Word of God!
Our prayer requests are as follows:
-For Rose and others who need to be saved.
-For a place for our group in Gato Preto to meet–our land issue was put on hold until February, but a couple other options have come up.
-For our up-coming VBS in Gato Preto. (salvation of children)
-For the Carnaval events planned (retreats, special meetings…) in February.
Thank you for your prayers!!
Sincerely in Christ,
John and Bev Leonard
Bair – October 2009
Due to the weather (cold and maybe even some snow) we are moving our open house indoors. This Sunday, October 13th, we will have an open house from 2PM-4PM in the fellowship hall of Saylorville Baptist Church. Here is the address:
6429 NW 6th Drive
Des Moines, IA 50313
If you are in the area and able to drop by we would love to see you.
We had a very busy day today packing up our container. All of our earthly possessions left on a semi to Kansas City where it will get on a train to New York to get on a boat to Brazil. Hopefully in 6-8 weeks we will get it. Seeing the truck drive away helped us to realize that this is really happening. It is crazy to think that this time next week, Lord willing, we will be boarding a plane in Miami for Porto Alegre. The “roller coaster” is just beginning to reach the top of the first hill…. hang on!!!! 
God Bless,
The Bairs
