Dear Praying Friends and Supporting Churches,

I am thankful to share our latest report with you.  Your prayers and support are truly appreciated.  It is hard to believe, but according to the calendar, today (April 17th) makes eight years since we began our work in Belém.  I am honored and humbled as I consider the privilege of participating in the Great Commission here.  I am grateful for the Lord’s provision and for your partnership in this work.  When I look back over these eight years, I am amazed by how the Lord has worked in my life and in our family.  I can see a pattern of God putting people in our way to minister to and share the gospel with.  Although positive results of our labor may seem slow in coming, I remain confident that the seeds sown and the time invested will bear fruit be it known or unknown to us.

Last month I asked for continued prayers for obedience in the lives of the men that I am teaching the Bible to.  Please continue to pray.  I have been encouraged to see some forward progress this month.  I also asked that you pray for a young man that I train Jiu-Jitsu with. He expressed an interest in studying the Bible with me.  I have not had much contact with him since.  He is traveling with his family.  Please continue to pray with me that God will open a door to study with him when he returns.

The two Bible studies are going well.  We had a newcomer at the English Bible study recently.  He is a friend of the man that we started with.  He was eager to be studying the Bible and practicing his English.  He has good comprehension and seemed to pay close attention.  He was very curious about our work in Belem.  Through our conversation I learned that he was very unfamiliar with the Bible and grew up as a Catholic.  Although he chose not to mention it to me, later his friend told me that he is involved with spiritism because of charity work that they do.  Please pray that he will return and that God will use his Word to bring him to a saving knowledge of Christ.

We have recently distributed literature in some new areas.  The tracts were for the most part well received and as usual we saw people reading them as we passed back by.  We have not made any new contacts yet, but trust God will open doors for us. 

Stay faithful in the Lord’s work and may He bless your labors, for His glory.

For the Glory of God,

Chris Bell

Brenda’s Bailiwick

Greetings from Bell Academy HQ in beautiful Belém, where the bougainvillea is blooming, the clothes are getting dry, and the scholars are (we hope) accruing knowledge.

I hope that your celebration of Resurrection Sunday was hope-filled! We celebrated with an early morning family service on the bank of the bay; I appreciated our children for gamely singing “Christ Arose” in a public place—it seemed fitting.

Thank you for praying for the ABC’s Bible study with Stella. Ironically, the Monday after I wrote the last Bailiwick, I discovered that due to my giving her copies of  only the first 4 lessons (printing off 28 being a bit cumbersome), she had assumed that we were only going to go through those 4, and had already rescheduled her online English student into our Monday time slot. Stifling the impulse to turn in my communication card on the spot, I girded up my loins and tried to pack 25 lessons into our final encounter…just kidding! We had a good study and are keeping in touch.  She and her parents came over for supper the following Friday, and we enjoyed a good time of fellowship. Please continue to pray for her. I’m hoping to apply that time to revising the Basic Bible Truths in Portuguese, which has been on my Good Intentions List for far too long.

Elijah seems to be doing well; his classes are winding down. It’s hard to believe that he’s halfway through his junior year!  Sarah and Caleb are entering the final five-week stretch of their own school year and have gotten most of their major projects in the rear-view mirror. I now feel compelled to segue into Sarah’s driving lessons, which continue with increasing confidence and no vehicular damage. She and Caleb both earned stripes in jiu-jitsu recently. Thank you for praying for them!

We’ve had a bit more contact with one of our neighbors—a single lady, very friendly but noncommittal. Based on her social media, she is a progressive Catholic. She came for coffee a while back, and I recently shared some pupunha (an Amazonian delicacy sadly under-appreciated by the rest of the Bells) with her. I was also able meet for coffee (aren’t you impressed by how willing I am to drink coffee for the Lord?) with the soon-to-be wife of Michel, one of the two regular Bible students. It’s always a pleasure to spend time with her. She’s an admirable person but not a believer. Please pray for us as we try to build Gospel-infused relationships.

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