Dear Praying Friends and Supporting Churches,

Thank you for remembering to pray for us as we continue laboring in our corner of the field.  The grace of God is evident in our lives.  Your faithful prayers are bearing fruit in ways seen and unseen. 

The work here continues largely unchanged.  We see progress in both of our regular Bible studies.  We continue to meet new people interested in speaking English and willing to come to our Saturday Bible study to do it.  As we study the book of Romans, there are many opportunities to share the Gospel of Christ with each new student.  Most of the visitors come one time, but a few continue.  Recently one of the more faithful students took a job that will not allow him to attend the study.  We are working to find a time to get together with him.  He is not particularly interested in studying the Bible but enjoys practicing and learning English.  Augusto, the man we started the English Bible study with, is faithful to come each week and often brings a friend or one of his English students.  He is very interested in studying the Bible.  

We are still passing out tracts in the park and monitoring the website.  The visits to the website have diminished quite a bit.  We are looking for other areas to distribute the tracts in hopes of reaching people unfamiliar with the website.   

Please continue to pray for the approval of the Mendoza family’s visas.  We are currently in the wait-and-see phase.  We are hoping for positive news soon.

The Bell Family Academy is in summer recess.  I am happy to report that our talented teaching staff (Brenda) and our bright student body (Sarah and Caleb) successfully completed another year.  We are working into a summer routine that promises to be disrupted by moving houses next month.  We have agreed to rent a house not far from our current location and are only waiting to sign the contract before beginning the moving process.  Please pray for a smooth transition and open doors for the Gospel in our new location.  

May God continue to guide and direct you in His work.

For the Glory of God,

Chris Bell

Brenda’s Bailiwick

The Bell Academy 2024-2025 academic year has concluded.  Hallelujah!  Rejoicing has been muted but fervent—and the kids are happy about it, too.  Thank you for praying for them!  They’ve had a week to sleep as late as they liked; now we are easing into our summer schedule.  Both Sarah and Caleb have been reading voraciously and writing copiously, and Sarah has been broadening her crochet skills.  Elijah is also done with school, thankfully.  Next on his agenda is church camp, after which he plans to spend some time in Houston. Thank you for your continued prayers for him!

I appreciate your prayers for our house search, and I am thankful to report that we have found a house nearby.  That is a blessing, as we like this area—it is considered a “Noble” (read: safe) bairro, but not a pretentious one.  It will still be easily accessible to M as he comes for Bible study, and I am hopeful that our current “yard man,” can also continue to come, especially as we will actually have an extensive yard, with—wait for it—GRASS!  Yards are a rarity in Belém, big yards even more so, and big yards with grass are like hens with teeth (but less disconcerting).  So, although I will miss the panoramic views, the balcony, and the loquacious pair of parrots that flies over our current house most mornings, I am thankful for what the Lord has provided.  We hope to sign the lease within a week or so and be moved by July.  Please pray for me that I might yet have a chance to share the Gospel with some of our current neighbors.

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