Dear Praying Friends and Supporting Churches,

I am thankful to be part of the Lord’s work, and I am thankful for your faithful prayers and support.  It is a blessing to share the gospel with the people God has called us to minister to, in view of establishing New Testament Baptist Churches.

Thank you for continuing to pray for the ongoing Bible studies.  The Bible study that meets at our house is going well.  We are still praying for more application of the truth in the life of the man involved.  Our two families have been able to spend some time together over the past month, leading to good conversations and more understanding.  The other Bible study is also going well.  Two ladies visited last month.  One has continued to come faithfully.  They are mostly interested in improving their English, but they have both been involved in asking Biblical questions in English and Portuguese.  As we move along through the book of Romans, I have had several occasions to discuss the difference between justification by faith and justification by good works.  Through the conversations around this topic, I can see that some of the regular students are growing in their understanding of this vital truth.  We were also invited to have the Bible study in the home of one of the students recently.  We accepted and enjoyed the opportunity.  

Brenda traveled to visit her sisters and pick up the new school material.  I am thankful she was only gone for a week and has safely returned.  The Bell family academy is back in session.  Our children have completed their first week.  We are getting back into a school-year routine and have plans for more hospitality in our home.  

May God bless your faithful service to Him.

For the Glory of God,

Chris Bell

Brenda’s Bailiwick

Hello, friends. How can it be time for another report? Here we are one week into Sarah’s senior year and Caleb’s 10^th grade year. As the newlyweds said while exiting the church, “So far, so good!” Actually, in my dad’s version, they said, “We got along really well in the early part of our marriage—but as we were leaving the church…”

Thanks for praying for my trip to Texas. It was very quick, but what a blessing to spend time with my Stateside family. Since I’ve already invoked my dad, I will quote him quoting Scripture: “The field is the world,” and I am privileged to be related to some very faithful laborers.  On a related note, it was such a pleasure to attend services at my ecclesiastical alma mater, Rodgers Baptist Church. Finally, I was especially grateful to spend time with Elijah, who graciously added 7 hours of driving to his week so that we could spend a day together. He, too, is starting his second week—of his sophomore year!!

That said, I was extremely (This edition of the Bailiwick is brought to you by the Adverb family—apparently!) thankful to get back to my Belém family, just in time for Chris’s birthday.  He is such a fine man that we celebrated twice, once with the Mendozas and again with M and his wife. True to his general character, the birthday man grilled for us on both occasions.

Speaking of grilling, I know that some of you have been praying for us as we try to intentionally (!) practice hospitality. Now that we have a backyard suitable to Chris’s skill on the grill, we have decided to make Fridays hot dog and sausage night and extend an open invitation to those in the Bible studies, our neighbors, and other acquaintances. How I envision things working is almost never how they work (What, you, too?), but we want to use what we have to try to build current relationships and develop new ones. I’d really appreciate your prayers for this outreach.

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