Christmas Eve marked 6 years for us in Brazil! Wow, what a time it’s been. Just looking back on 2012:
- The girls rode their tricycles down the hill at Grandma & Grandpa’s house 1,967 times (more or less).
- I recorded and produced the church’s 2nd worship CD: Adoração com Propósito
- We spent some time in the States going to the weddings of Debbie & Ben, Jed & Susan
- Ministered alongside Reinhard Bonnke in the Congresso da Paz, bringing over a thousand people into the Kingdom
- Had fun missions teams and great visits from Geneseo, New Life, and several friends
- Continued in disciple-making and leading/supervising our ever-multiplying cell groups!
- Had one of the best MDA conferences yet with participants who came as far as Japan and Italy
- Became the Leader of Praise & Worship at the PAZ Church when the leading pastor (Pastor Welson) went to a new base to take over leadership
- Became pregnant with our next baby! That’s right, #3 is coming along, due early July!
All this week are Christmas celebrations, next week is new years and right afterwards the Leadership Conference. Then we have a week or two to prepare for Japan — yes Japan! We are going there on a vision trip with the possibility of going to help the PAZ churches there over the next several years. Looks like our first 3 months of 2013 are set 🙂 Enjoy these picture highlights from 2012! Click on your favorites to see them full screen. We love you and appreciate your love and support so much!
Family Fun
As you can see on our blog, the girls are growing up fast and we’re just having a blast with them while they do. There are many more pictures on our blog of them, but here’s some of our favorites from this year.
Landscapes
A number of years ago, when I took over the PAZ website, I noticed the need for quality pictures to be able to show what God is doing here in the Amazon. I researched cameras to see what we would want and ended up settled on a Nikon DSLR. Since then I have been thrilled to see the results of the camera. As missionaries we go to all kinds of crazy, far-out locations. Often, my camera is with me. Here are some of my favorite landscape shots from this year.
Ministry
I am often traveling and ministering here in Brazil, so I can’t usually take pictures when that’s happening. Here are some shots that others have taken of some powerful ministry times this year!
Stateside/Weddingside
This year was a time of celebration as Ruth’s sister Debbie got married to a great man of God named Ben and one week later my brother Jed got married to a talented woman named Susan. We packed up the girls and several suitcases for a whirlwind tour of the States for the festive events! Here are some favorite snaps of that time.
Out on the River
There are always teams and missionaries heading out on the river, but what made it special this year were two of our supporting churches that came down to minister with us: Geneseo Free Church and New Life Christian. We also had a number of family friends come down with us. It all added up to a great year of ministry with special people!
The Best is Yet to Come!
That pretty much wraps up 2012, but we look forward to a great 2013. We are always praying God’s blessings on you and your family and wish you God’s best for 2013. Let’s make a difference for the One who loved us so much to give his very best — Jesus!
