As another year winds down to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on the many blessings it held for us—church growth, the birth of our daughter, church plants in two other communities, Railson’s continued studies, Heidi’s nutrition work, the radio program, home groups, visiting teams—just to name a few. As if that weren’t enough, we are also blessed to live in a relatively peaceful part of the world. Here, drug gangs, violent assaults, and police violence do not [yet!] pose a great threat, nor do we stand at risk for hurricanes, earthquakes, range fires, major flooding or similar natural disasters. There are no terrorist attacks and no civil wars. The biggest disadvantage our community faces is poverty—and the health and education deficits it precipitates—but the truth is, he who has Christ holds priceless riches. That’s why the greatest blessing for us this year has been the repeated opportunity to share the message of Christ.

Healing Through Nutrition

It doesn’t take a child development specialist to recognize that a six-month-old weighing only 5½ pounds is in grave trouble. This was the most extreme malnourishment case that I’ve yet seen. It was hard to believe that the child was still holding onto life. Within minutes of his arrival at my consulting room, I called in the general practitioner and together we set up a scheme of emergency blood transfusions and nutritional therapy that served to pull the infant through. Within 28 days, Jhonata had gained nearly three pounds and his color had returned. He still visits me on a weekly basis for growth monitoring. Once again, I was blessed to be able to use the nutritional skills God gave me to reach out to a traumatized child.

This incident had the added impact of bringing me into contact with the municipal judge and Children’s Counsel due to the abusive nature of the case, and brought light to the value of nutrition work in our community. Recently, a representative from the Catholic Church and I were elected to represent the city’s religious sector on a panel of 16 volunteers making up the General Committee for Hunger Zero (President Lula’s national campaign against hunger). As such I will help implement and supervise the program in Porto de Moz as long as we’re living here.

We remain enthusiastic about developments in Almerim. In October, Railson was invited to lead a team of believers from Almerim to a community on the Raiola River. This area is said to be virtually unevangelized and residents there are seeking spiritual direction. We are at the point of needing our own property in Almerim for the construction of a church building. For now, the church meets in a small rented house. The property and initial construction (floor and roof) will require about US$3500. If you would like to give a Christmas gift to the Almerim plant, consider donating toward this project. Send your check to the Xingu Mission, designated for "Gils—Almerim." Every dollar you send will go directly toward this project.

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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