Dear Praying Friends and supporting Churches,

Thank you for remembering us in prayer.  It is a true pleasure to be involved in God’s work in this world.  I’m thankful to report that we safely arrived in OKC and have been busy catching up with family, helping Sarah prepare for the next phase of her life, and spending time with our church.

We have been able to see both Brenda’s and my side of our family.  It has been great spending time with them all.  It has been especially good to see Elijah and catch up with what is happening in his life.  I am thankful for his service in the music ministry of our church as well as his willingness to serve where needed.  I am also encouraged by his desire to grow in his relationship with the Lord. Being nearby has meant being able to have conversations that are sometimes difficult to have over the phone.  He is getting close to finishing college and is in the process of moving out of my parent’s house to share a place with a couple of other young men.  Please pray for God’s direction in his life as he continues to grow.

Sarah is making good progress in her transition back to Oklahoma.  She has decided to study special education at the Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, OK.  I am happy she will be within an hour of Edmond, where she has her church and much of her family.  She has completed driver’s education and will be testing for her driver’s license soon.  She has also worked through several other tasks necessary to live and work here.  Please continue to pray for her as she adjusts to living here.

I have enjoyed the fellowship with the church.  Catching up with the brothers and sisters that prayer has bound us to, as well as worshipping together has been a special blessing. It is encouraging to see the spiritual maturity in lives of people we have prayed for and invested in.  I was very thankful to be part of the process of the church ordaining a young man as a chaplain in the national guard.  Though I miss seeing the faces of those that have gone to their reward, I am encouraged by the many new faces that God has added to His church to bring Him glory.

Please remember the people in Belém that God has given us to minister to.  Aaron has reconnected with several of them and is continuing to study the Bible with those interested.  Pray for the young man I mentioned in the last report.  We were working to get him connected to a church closer to his home.  It seems that it has not worked out yet. I fear he is becoming isolated from God’s people and is becoming less interested in His word.  Please hold him up in prayer to Him that is able to make him stand.

For the Glory of God,

Chris Bell

Brenda’s Bailiwick

Greetings from toasty Oklahoma! Belenenses often ask if it gets hot here (in the same mildly condescending tone that Southerners adopt with Northerners when talking about warm weather—or is it only I?) and are shocked to learn that Oklahoma’s summer temperatures routinely outstrip Belém’s. I have to hurriedly asseverate that the Belém humidity is MUCH worse in order to cheer them back up…Americans aren’t the only ones who play “Weather Poker”…

Now that we’ve gotten the weather out of the way, thank you so much for your prayers for my brother-in-law!  As noted in the last Bailiwick, after being hospitalized in late June with pneumonia, he became unresponsive except to pain for about 4 days. Thank God, he was treated for encephalitis and gradually “came back.” I am greatly indebted to my in-laws for making it possible for me to fly to Dallas the day after our US arrival and help during a challenging time. Though I returned to Oklahoma after a week, Neil remained hospitalized for another 2 weeks. He is now back at the nursing home; he is making steady progress but hasn’t yet completely recovered. Please keep him in your prayers.

In mid-July, we all went to Texas, to spend time with family and participate in the Rodgers Baptist Church’s missions conference. It was my honor to speak to the ladies there (Thanks to the many who prayed for me!).  As always, RBC did an outstanding job of serving and it was a special blessing to me to see my homefolk.

Along with Chris, I deeply appreciate the chance to commune with family and church, add my hearty “Amen!” to all that he said regarding Elijah, covet your prayers for Sarah in this highly demanding period of transition, and gratefully inform you that Caleb and I both survived the first day of school.

Thanks for reading and for praying!

In Christ,

Brenda