What a tremendous time I had in Rio with the First Baptist Church of Campo Grande and the Baptist Theological Seminary of Rio de Janeiro. Let me tell you how your prayers were clearly evident in several areas. The flight, both to and from Rio, was uneventful and smooth. I was met by one of the seminary students and driven to the pastor's home. The pastor, Jose Laurindo and his wife, Loyde, and their three teenage daughters were kind and gracious hosts. We developed an immediate friendship. The classroom exposition went very well. As I lay in bed after the final evening of exposition and preaching, I could not help but thank the Lord that the material I had prepared was just right, both in content as well as in amount which was neither too much nor too little. In fact, I sent some of my free time each day transposing my material for Word to Power Point slides. I even used the delayed flight time at the airport to begin this process. Each day I seemed to finish just in time. It was obvious that the Lord was at work and that you were praying. Thank you. The material was received with enthusiasm and excitement. Please pray for the Baptist churches in this western neighborhood of Rio in their evangelistic efforts. I spoke with Mirian several times throughout my absence. She and Eric were fine and no mishaps occurred while I was away. I left with a feeling of sadness as one does after making new friends and then departing. I praise God for the opportunity to minister in that context and delighted in seeing how He has blessed that seminary and church in that location as well. Thank you for your faithfulness and diligence in praying for this endeavor.

Galilee Baptist Church in Denver, Colorado, sent down a ten person short-term mission team which arrived May 10 and left May 17. They were mightily used to impact lives and share the Gospel of Christ with people living in the neighborhood surrounding the local church where we are working. I have been talking to Pastor Jorge, the pastor of the Baptist church which hosted the short-term team from Denver. He was beaming. "In the morning my wife, Eliana, walks our little girl to school along with several other moms. Although they are courteous, none of them has ever bothered to talk to my wife at length. Today, all of them were very talkative, curious as to the whereabouts of the "Americans". All of them approached my wife with many questions and were very open." It is this kind of bridge-building that we hope to achieve with the short-term teams.

Now, Eliana has a chance to witness to an attentive group of women who see her in a new light. One opportunity placed the team in front of several hundred school kids at a public school at three different times. The school principal was so impressed that she readily opened the door for the pastor and his church to return on other occasions. Pastor Jorge tells me he can not walk down the street without being immediately recognized and approached. What a ripe time to present the Gospel to eager listeners! Thank you for your diligent and faithful prayers.

We witnessed what I can only describe as a miracle on Tuesday evening. I had set up our audio equipment and video projector to run an open-air film. All was set, but the video projector would not turn on. I carefully walked through the whole procedure three times, but all to no avail. I then turned to Pastor Jorge and asked him to alert his church members as well as the team that we needed prayer. A group entered the church building and began to earnestly pray, seeking the Lord's intervention. I tried a fourth time and the projector fans and bulb clicked on. I have no other explanation other than spiritual warfare. After the film I preached and during the altar call several hands were raised high. Praise God!