Midsummer in US is midwinter in South America

Greetings from São Paulo!

I just returned from a weeklong study trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Asunción, Paraguay.  Thank you for your prayers for my travel and for the contacts that I was hoping to make there.

The summer mission has gone by quickly with two teams already having returned to the US, one team still here in-country and another one-person team still due to arrive in São Paulo at the end of the month.

(All photos below can be clicked to enlarge.  Please note that full names of JEMS volunteers and South American friends are intentionally omitted).

SJC - Pompeia team

Belém team

JEMS is grateful for those who supported the prior teams and are praying for their re-entry and evaluation of their time here in Brazil.  Please remember to pray for the SoCal team which is currently serving in São José dos Campos.

Our final SoCal team will be serving in three churches over a two-week period.   Loren will be serving in the cities and churches of São Bernardo do Campo, Suzano and Itaquera.  Please keep him in prayer.  

I am grateful for the collaboration of my good friend, Patrizia, who was recently married and moved from Paraguay to join her husband in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Paty provided significant assistance in arranging meetings for me with the president of Centro Nikkei Argentino, an organization serving the needs of the Nikkei community in Buenos Aires.  She also arranged for my contact with the pastors of the Iglesia Evangelica Japonesa and the Megumi Kyokai.

I was also able to enjoy a good time of fellowship and ministry with missionaries Koki and Mari in the city of Asunción, Paraguay.  

Please pray as I continue serving for another month in Brazil.  I will preach this Sunday at the Igreja Evangélica Cristã de Aclimação in Cambuci, a new independent church contact.  Next week, I will begin a two-week trip through the state of São Paulo visiting six partnering churches.  The trip will end in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the city of Campo Grande, a total of 800 miles one-way.

See Pr John's travel itinerary here

It will be an exhausting trip based on just the schedule and distance, but please pray for good contacts, new opportunities for service and to share the good news of Jesus.  I will be sharing in various churches for worship services and Bible studies.  Pray that the Portuguese language would flow easily and with clarity.

Thank you so much!

John

For the most current update of Pastor John's ministry, please click to return to the main page.