Dear Praying Friends and Supporting Churches,

Thank you for taking the time to read our latest report.  We continue to benefit from your faithful prayers and generous support.  Your partnership in the Lord’s work here in Belém is a blessing and encouragement. 

The month of September saw the work here progress.  I am now teaching the Bible to two men at different times.  Both men are excited to learn what the Bible actually teaches and have been surprised on several occasions to see that what is commonly taught in “church” culture here is different from what the Bible actually says.  One of the students is an English language teacher and asked to learn the Bible in English.  The process of teaching in English keeping in mind it is a second language has been challenging and productive.  Please pray that God will minister to the spiritual needs of these men, and that they will not only learn what the Bible teaches but obey the teaching.

We continue to see new visitors to the website.  We have followed up with the requests for information about studying the Bible, but so far, we have not been able to start any new Bible studies.  We had one man scheduled to meet Aaron and me, but in the end, he did not show up to the meeting place.  Please continue to pray as it seems that many people that received the outreach cards in August have held on to them and are trickling onto the website.  I am prayerfully considering what changes to the website I can make that may potentially lead to new Bible studies.

There are several options open for us to move forward.  Now that the initial follow-up from the August outreach is finished and the two Bible studies are stable, we are seeking God’s direction for where to focus our attention.  Please pray with us for God’s will.

For the Glory of God,

Chris Bell

Brenda’s Bailiwick

Please know that we are praying for you, as many of you have been affected by the hurricanes. May the Lord supply all your needs and grant you grace and Gospel opportunities.

Although relatively uneventful, September rushed by, its pace accentuated by the fact that it is also my birthday month, which led me to reflect that LIFE is rushing by. What a good thing that I know how it will end! Meanwhile, I was duly fêted by my generous family, both here and Stateside; Chris grilled a truly impressive amount of meat, I got TWO tasty cakes—one made by Sarah, and the other by Amanda—and I have added no fewer than 6 eBooks to my collection in the last 2 weeks.  No doubt about it, I am “living the life of Bell!”

Though not as spoiled, the other Bells are also well. Elijah just got a new job; we appreciate your prayers for him. Shockingly, he will soon be done with his first year of college! We hope to have him come for a visit sometime in the next few months. Sarah is coping with a heavy class load this year, as she takes on both geometry and physics. (Pray for her, since I, her first resource, am rather obtuse about geometry; thankfully, Chris is much more acute at it…) On the more enjoyable side, she has also resumed piano lessons and is doing very well. Caleb is about to start his yearly science project; he isn’t very excited, but hopefully the fact that he gets to burn things will be some consolation.

I recently ran into Ann, one of the ladies I had tried to no avail to contact in August—it was more awkward for her than for me, but she ended up chatting with me for 20 minutes. Please continue to pray for her. And for me, that I will be faithful with the opportunities that I do have. Not a birthday goes by but what I am reminded of one of my mother’s favorite quotes: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Thanks for reading and for praying!

In Christ,

Brenda 

Prayer Requests:

– Preparation of hearts in Belém to receive the Gospel – Following up with Contacts

– Language Acquisition – Outreach Efforts – Bell Academy