NTM

June marks our one year anniversary of serving with New Tribes Mission in Brazil. The time has passed quickly! The Lord has grown our faith this past year as He has shown Himself faithful.

He has provided for each of our needs, kept us healthy, and given us vision and direction for the future. We have been so thankful for His leading and directing in our lives.

Although you are far away, the Lord has used many of you to provide for us through this time. Your prayers, financial support, encouragement, and friendship have spurred us on in a great way. Thank you!

Apart from our classroom time and book work, we meet with language helpers; Gabriel four to five times a week and Rachel twice a week. These sessions are a great opportunity to discover new vocabulary and to practice speaking with a native speaker.

Participating in church activities, such as Bible studies or Sunday service, is another way we learn language, especially spiritual terms.

As long as our ears are ready to listen and our minds ready to absorb, everyday events like grocery shopping, eating at a restaurant, watching a soccer game, talking with our neighbor, or watching the news, can be learning experiences. Gabriel has picked up a lot just from playing soccer with the local guys.

We are thankful for the progress we have made. It is encouraging to be more self sufficient. However, learning a new language is at times a slow and arduous process. We would appreciate your prayers as we continue in language study. Please pray that we would be able to use our time wisely and that our minds would take in what we are learning. We long for the day we will be able to speak naturally and unhindered.

Greetings, once again, it has been awhile. We are excited about what the future holds for us. We are truly seeking the Lord and his direction and we are thrilled to see him guide. He is the master planner! Please pray for Rachel and the baby, just another month and we will have our very own addition to the family. We are quite anxious as to what we should expect. But we both have had wonderful parents and from their example we are joyous to see what God has blessed us with in our life. I am sure he will be a handful just like I am! 

Please be praying for us as we learn the language, and develop new friends and familiarize ourselves to a new place.

Please pray for Rachel and the baby that there are no complications

Please pray for our relationship with each other and with the Lord.

Thank for your prayers, encouragement and support,

Gabriel and Rachel

We are settled in after moving to Wisconsin. The weather is warming and welcoming us back. There is still room for improvement though as the temperature has been buzzing around 50. 

Thank you for all your prayers and support, we have been blessed by so many of you. Words can not express how grateful we are to everyone. We are still commited to get to the field this August.  Many things have to come about, but we are trusting the Lord that He is soveriegn and he has our best interests at heart. 

Please pray for the men in Brazil who are looking into our visa situation.  Pray that they would have clear effective dialogue with with officials at the capital.  Pray that our request for religious visas would be reviewed and approved.

We desperately desire to get down to Brazil, yet we realize that God’s timing is better than ours.  Please pray for us during this period of waiting.  Pray that we would redeem the time with our family, friends, and church community.  Pray for growth both spiritually and otherwise.

Because of the uncertainty of the future, it is difficult to make any plans to far ahead.  Please pray we would have wisdom in making future decisions. 

We have not given up on the field of Brazil and are looking into every option to get us down there as soon as possible. 

The leadership in Brazil is also looking into every option on their end.  Two other couples were also recently denied, therefore MNTB wants to figure out what is going on.  We greatly appreciate all their hard work.  Currently, they are communicating with officials in the capital, Brasilia, to appeal our case.

Our first step is to wait and see what becomes of their efforts.  If Brazil will not reverse the original decisions, reapplying for Visas would most likely be our next step.

Please continue to pray for this situation.

The Brazilian Consulate in Chicago rejected our request for a Religious Visa.  Because we want to eventually obtain permanent residency in Brazil, we must go to Brazil on a Religious Workers Visa (Vitem VII).

Please pray with us through this time. There are many emotions and thoughts running through our minds upon hearing this news. Above all, we know that God is Sovereign and able to lead and direct us according to His will.