With two kids and two churches to take care of, finding the time to write newsletters can be a challenge! This year’s first letter comes a bit late for lack of a free hand to write—but certainly not for lack of enthusiasm. On the mission field it always seems like much happens in a short period of time. For us the years have raced by in a blur of events, making it hard to believe that we’re headed into our eighth year (four single, four married), working with partners to plant churches, disciple, and share the news of Jesus. Accordingly, our first phrase of the year is a loud: Thank you for helping to make this possible! We hope you are as encouraged as we are. (pictured left is Sarah Cristina, 8 months)

Almerim News

What’s a wedding ceremony, a baby dedication, a baptism and communion service all wrapped into one? We call it lots of fun! In December, four couples from our Almerim plant, all new believers, decided to make a new start in life. They legally married (living together is a common lifestyle here), were baptized, and dedicated their children to the Lord (pictured right). To conclude the weekend’s events, the tiny congregation took the Lord’s Supper together. Events like these make us all the more eager to move to Almerim and begin to disciple these families.

At the writing of this letter, Railson is with a Brazilian team on the Paru River in the interior of Almerim (pictured left), ‘spying out the land’ in a few new riverside communities. We are still on the lookout for a motorboat to aid in these ministry trips and are accepting donations to that end.

Beyond doubt, our most powerful evangelistic tool has been our program on a local radio station that reaches a population of 35,000 in Porto de Moz. Recently, Railson learned of a governmental project to facilitate the establishment of educational radio in communities such as ours, and, curiously, our church qualifies to solicit such a station. Our desire is to establish a station for Almerim, which would be 100%, administrated by Igreja da Vinha, and could generate funds for the ministry through the sale of airtime. Please pray with us as we consider this opportunity.

Railson & Heidi

Letters & Packages: Railson & Heidi Gil, Rua Abel Alves dos Santos 1704,
Cabanagem, Porto de Moz, PA 68.330-000 Brazil
Financial Support: The Xingu Mission, PO Box 340785, Columbus, OH 43234-0785
(checks made payable to the Xingu Mission with a note for Gil-Brazil)
Phone: 55-93-3793-1259
Email (forwarding): harnold@orst.edu

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