The Bountiful Dealings of the Lord

But I have trusted in Thy loving kindness.  My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Greetings from Brazil!

Seems like time is running away and the world is upside down like the Brazilians say.

We have had our ups and downs these past few months. God has been so faithfully taking care of us.  All three of us have had bad colds but are better now. I (Betty) had a bad case of laryngitis and completely lost my voice and it has not yet returned to normal.

Skip continues to have his good days and bad days. His blood pressure fluctuates and sometimes it really is low and we call the Dr to see what we must do.  He is sleeping much better now which helps us to get a fairly good night’s sleep too.  He is eating much better.  His food is just liquid as his teeth are at the gums now, the dentist says there is not much he can do. At his age it is dangerous to give anesthesia. His therapist comes twice a week and does get him to walk some.  His legs are very weak, and it is so hard to make him stand up. He walks for his therapist but not for us, so we use the wheelchair mostly. It is so hard for him to get in and out of a car.  In August he went to church twice because the weather had warmed up to the 80’s but then went back down into the 40’s. That has been our winter temps this year.

The construction on the church continues. Finally got the floor down which helps with the dust.  The walls are painted and look so nice.   There is more to do and little by little we are getting there.

Our Women in Action group has been focused on evangelism more this year and want to reach especially our neighbors. We are studying “Twelve Extraordinary Women: how God shaped women of the Bible and what He wants to do with you” by John MacArthur. It has been a blessing. I am planning to start a children’s ministry in my backyard with another lady from our church

A while back a beggar came to our door and we asked him the question, “If you died right now where would you spend eternity?” His answer, “In hell, I guess. I’m bad.” We witnessed to him, but he did not not make a decision. Another person gave the same answer.  So sad to see. Trust that he did think on words. Sowing the seed, trusting the Spirit to do the work.

Praise God for:
His goodness to us day by day,
Four new members in the church,
For Lauros’ conversion,
For Naomi being able to be here to help us.

Keep praying for:
Our health needs,
For children’s work,
For us as we witness to people we meet.

We are so grateful to all of you. Thank you for praying and for your financial help.  God bless all of you.
Yours for Brazil,

Skip and Betty Harkins