Thank you all for taking the time to read our latest report.  Please let me know if you have prayer-requests you would like for us to remember.

Dear Praying Friends and supporting Churches,

Thank you for continuing to support the Lord’s work in Belém.  Your faithful prayers and generous giving are essential to our work. I trust and pray that the Lord is at work in your corner of the field.

This prayer-letter is coming a bit later than I had planned due to the disruption involved in moving houses.  I am happy to report that we are pretty much settled into our new home, and we are completely out of the old home.  The move was only a couple of miles, so our daily activities have not been greatly impacted due to the change in location.  Our landlord has been out of town since we moved in.  I continue to request prayers for open doors to reach him and his family.  He and his wife seem very sincere but lacking in Biblical understanding.

We continue to sow and water gospel seed, and we wait hopefully to see spiritual fruit.  I have been encouraged and challenged by our Lord’s teaching comparing our work to a harvest in John chapter four.  It can become discouraging when all you do sow but without sowing there can be no fruit to harvest.  The one that sows and the one that reaps work together to see the harvest.  We are to be faithful to do our part- today it may be sowing and watering, but tomorrow it may be reaping where someone else has sown.  The important thing is that we are laborers together with God.  It is God that gives the increase.

The Bible studies continue, and we are thankful for the opportunity to look into the Word of God with the few that are interested.  We have seen some development in understanding, and we continue to look for more obedience.  The man that we began the English Bible study with has composed two sermons in English and asked to preach them to us for feedback (English and Biblical).  This proved to be a good opportunity for teaching and showed Biblical discernment.  We are praying for him to make some important decisions concerning his next steps in spiritual growth.  Some of the English Bible study students have been out of town due to what is essentially a summer break.  We are looking forward to seeing them soon. 

Our literature outreach is ongoing.  We have visited some new areas and have seen some curiosity with new visitors to the website, but we have not started any new studies.  I hope to make some changes to the website and evaluate the results.

Thank you for remembering us in prayer.  May the Lord continue to guide and direct your lives for His glory!

For the Glory of God,

Chris Bell

 Brenda’s Bailiwick

Greetings!  I am rewriting the Bailiwick and see that I saved it as the “Bailisick.” Too good not to share. As with all errors of the last 3 weeks, I am blaming the move… I was only planning to use that excuse for a week, but an experienced missionary/pastor’s wife assured me I could use it for a year, so who am I to argue?!  

We’re thankful to be mostly settled in the new house. There are still some maintenance issues to address, but I no longer feel like I am floating in a sea of chaos. The relatively quick restoration of order was due in no small part to the Mendozas’ help. Monday, we turned in our “old house” keys, which was both satisfying and sobering, as I realize that my attempted outreach to those neighbors was minimal. I am hoping to yet engage with a couple of them, but it will be harder. I’d appreciate your prayers for that, as well as for our new neighbors and landlord.

Sarah had her wisdom teeth extracted on June 30^th. She was crocheting almost before the nitrous oxide wore off and has been hard at it ever since.  Her (non-crochet) stitches came out this past Friday and she rolled jiu-jitsu on Saturday. We’re thankful that she’s feeling better.  Caleb is well; he currently has ample time to read, write, and sleep—living the summer dream! Elijah is working hard in Edmond and trying to prepare for the upcoming semester. Thanks for your faithful prayers for them.

Amanda and I enjoyed our meet-up with “Stella,” the English teacher.  She and her family are loosely “evangélico,” which here encompasses everything from Mormon to Baptist. She quit the Saturday English Bible study due to time constraints, as she lives in a neighboring city and was spending hours in transit. I am praying about offering to do Basic Bible Truths in English with her— for her, to hone her English, and for me, to clearly discuss the fundamentals of salvation. Please pray for her.

On a related note, we took advantage of July 4th to invite the English-speaking Bible students over for American fare and a patriotic movie. Stella couldn’t stay for the movie but came for dinner.  A, the anchor student, came for both and displayed great discernment by enjoying “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”  I also had coffee with his mom, Mary, this month. We had a good, wide-ranging conversation about the Bible and her spiritual journey. I know that some of you are praying for her; thank you so much!

I will be making a quick trip to Texas to pick up the 2025-2026 Bell Academy school materials and spend time with my sisters. I would appreciate your prayers.

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