Personal Address Passagem Pau d'Arco, 18 67113-190, Ananindeva, PA brandon carmichael @ tambrar org ‘wow teambrarilorg {acebok.com/CarmichalDeputation Sending Church Victory Baptist Church Pastor Dane Mikoy vbcabionny@ juno.com ‘www vbcalbion org Sending Agency Baptist Hid Misions PO Box 308011 lvland, OH 44130-8011 info@ bam.org ‘www bmi. 01g Spring 2017 Dear Praying Friends and Family, ‘Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” So begins Psalm 107, the text Brandon spoke trom at the seminary's Day ot Thanksgiving this past week. It truly was an evening ot giving thanks and glory to God for what He has done, as we heard testimonies from two of the students ‘and Pastor Rubens, the seminary’s academic director. God is at work in lives here, and for this we are thankful Its incredible to think that five weeks of classes have already gone by, but then it's not so hard to believe 23s we watch the days fly by. Brandon says it's ike someone “pushed the fast-forward button on our lives.” The Seminary We are thrilled to have 10 students enrolled for our first semester after re-opening! Several are members of local churches who work all day and take classes in the evening so that they can better serve thei churches and prepare for future service. One young man takes classes during the week before traveling ‘wo and @ half hours home to serve in his church on the weekends. Two students, a pastor and his wife, drive a couple hours every Monday morning to spend all day in module-style classes before returning to their children and church ministries on Tuesday. These students’ dedication and sacifice to leam God's Word are a constant encouragement and challenge to us to serve more and give our best. Ita privilege {ouhe able to invest in ther lives and te he present when the “oh! | get i look pasces actos their faces ac they lear something new from God's Word. Because the seminary is the servant of the local church, it was a great encouragement to have several of the churches represented on the Day of Thanksgiving. And they not only came, but they also took up an otfering to put down a new tloor inthe library and spoke ot prospective students they want to see en- rolled next semester. They are investing in this ministry that serves them. ‘The Church We have joined with Pastor Rubens to help a church, Good News Baptist, located a few miles away from the seminary. The church has passed through some difficult times and was without a pastor, so when Pastor Rubens offered his assistance. the church was glad to acceptit. Our desire isto see the church grow and be capable of fully supporting its own pastor again. Pastor Rubens and Brandon are splitting the preaching and teaching responsbites and already have begun Bible studies with some ofthe folks When a church loses sight ofits Christ-given mission, the proclamation of the Gospel, it runs into trouble. Brandon is teaching a short series on "What is the Gospel?” as we, as a church, begin to turn our focus in this direction. Please pray for us as we seek to spread the Gospel and help this church grow both in spiri- tual maturity and in number by conversion to Christ. eyPersonal Address Passagem Pau d'Arco, 18 67113-190, Ananindeva, PA brandon carmichael @ tambrar org ‘wow teambrail org {acebok.com/CarmichalDeputation Sending Church Victory Baptist Church Pastor Daniel Milroy valbianny @ juno.com www vbcalbion org Sending Agency Baptist Hid Misions PO Box 308011 levland, OH 44130-8011 info@ bmm.org www bmi. 07g The Family ‘As we said in our last prayer letter, Norther Brazil is like another country, and we knew it would be yet ‘another culture shock. It has taken some getting used to, but we praise God that we are adapting well Seventy degrees now feels chilly (we are going to positively freeze in the Northeast on furlough). Our Uninvited houseguests have included frogs, centipedes, spiders (of all sizes), birds, lizards, slugs, and (mul titudinous) mosquitoes and ants. We are leaming to understand the different accents, sentence structure, ‘and vocabulary of this part of the country. Although the traffic is less than in So Paulo, the motorists here seem to have less regard for their fellow man or traffic laws. One of the main roads in our area regu- larly changes between three and four lanes; its designers created it to have two! Life runs ata slower pace here than it does in Séo Paulo and the people are in general friendlier. Driving through the neigh bothoods, itis very common to see people siting outside their gates talking to their neighbors and pass ers-by. Chloe isin a phase of big changes. Her vocabulary is exploding, and she's putting words together trying ‘0 communicate an idea (sometimes causing us to wonder what's going on inside her litie Nead!), Pastor Rubens has a son only three months older than Chloe, so when both of us have commitments at the seminary, Chioe visits with her litle friend at his house. Because of this, her Portuguese vocabulary has surpassed her English and she pronounces her words sometimes even better than we do! She garners ‘attention everywhere she goes and it is not uncommon to have people touch her arm or pat her head as they pass her in the grocery store. Praise the Lord For: Pray For: ~ Ten students and five good first - The students, as they are becorning tired and weeks of daze. beginning to realize how much work is involved in taking classes. ‘A safe move and smooth transition to Norther Brazil The professors, as they are continually preparing for their classes, teaching, administrating, and ~ Men in our church who desire to pastoring/serving in their local churches. One of study God's Word and teach it to ‘our professors, Pastor Isaias, travels in three hours their children. by bus every Monday to teach his class and retums frst thing on Tuesday moming. Good News Baptist Church, that each member would grow in maturity and that we would realize ‘our purpose in sharing the Gospel. Keep running (1 Cor. 9:24)! PL 4 ib) asm Brandon & Emily (and Chloe) Carmichael