News
News
Dear Friends and Family,
As another month comes to an end, we can hardly believe we’ve been here in Säo Paulo for over three months. We are settling in, running after paperwork and visa issues, exploring our neighborhood, and generally finding our small place in this big, bustling city. Having family close by continues to be a great blessing to us. We are also very thankful for our ability to stay connected to you through email, Skype and Facebook.
Family News
We have faced many health challenges since coming here to Brazil; David getting shingles, Lucas getting chicken pox and this month we have been hit with the flus. It’s winter here in Brazil and somehow both of us managed to get pneumonia and Lucas also came down with a bad cough and cold. We’ve had several doctors visits and have lung x-ray appointments in the next week to see if the pneumonia has cleared up. We are fortunate to have good health insurance, which is helping to cover these costs. Now that Taara (finally) has her CPF (Brazilian social security number) we are on our way to getting Brazilian health insurance. In the meantime we are covered by an international insurance company.
Planning, Planning, Planning...
The majority of our time this month has been spent working with the leadership teams both at the church and at Refúgio to plan for the future. The church leadership team, with their families, enjoyed a weekend retreat at the end of August to develop a strategic vision for moving forward. We enjoyed spending time together with everyone and strengthening relationships as we had devotions, meetings and meals as a group.
David is working on a new website for the church and is hoping to have it up and running by the end of October. We continue to be involved with the services, helping with the music and videoing the sermons.
We have spent a number of weekends at the Refúgio ministry center, talking and planning with the team there. Our main project at the moment is designing a building for guest accommodation. Both of us have been involved with this process and our next step is to get the plans looked at by an architect and to have the land surveyed. We have some donors who have expressed interest in helping to get the building started, but we will still need to raise funds for this project. We are also hoping to have the library and office building fully furnished and renovated by the end of the year.
Pray for us:
Pray for the church plant we are helping to get off the ground. The planning retreat in August was very constructive; pray that the ideas and practical steps will be followed up by the members of the leadership team.
Pray for the Refúgio ministry, the biblical counseling and leadership training center which will be the main focus of our work here in Brazil. Pray for the building work to go ahead, as we seek to finalize the plans and raise funds for this exciting project.
Pray for our health as David and Taara recover from pneumonia and for Lucas recovering from a bad cough. David continues to take nerve medication as he is still prone to headaches and nerve pain from the shingles.
Pray for Taara as she cares for Lucas and continues to learn Portuguese. She is meeting with a friend to work on her speaking and is using a computer program to learn grammar, reading, speaking and listening. Pray for confidence and opportunities for her to practice.
Pray for our financial situation. We are looking for individuals and churches that can support us both in prayer as well as financially. At this point we are relying on a few key family members to sustain us. It is crucial that we achieve at least 50% of our target support ($3000 / month) by the end of the year. Please prayerfully consider whether you can contribute to our ministry in this way. For more information about donating either a one time gift or signing up to be a regular giver, check out our website http://portela.com or send us an email.
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!
Love and blessings,
- David and Taara
Portela Post: September 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009