Brazil River of Life Ministries (Jeff, Monica and Isaac Fife)

October 2010, East Tennessee
Dear friends,
Greetings from your co-workers to the Portuguese-Speaking world!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29.11NIV).

This verse has been part of our lives for many years now! When we planned to move back to Brazil in 2001 this verse was in our minds; when Monica went to her open brain surgery on April 1st, 2008, this was the last verse she told us before she went to the operating room. Through the years, on many occasions, God has continued to show us the plans He has for us and He is continuing to do so. With this in mind let us share with you some of these plans as we report what God has been doing in our lives.

Here are some highlights of our lives since we wrote last:

We enjoyed lunch with Tim Wallingford, senior minister at FCC-JC (First Christian Church in Johnson City), on Wednesday June 30. Brother Tim is interest in knowing more about our work to the Portuguese-Speaking world. After lunch we drove to Knoxville and we had dinner at Ben and Carla Lutz's residence that evening. After dinner Ben, who is BRLM (Brazil River of Life Ministries) President and I (Jeff) had a meeting to talk about the ministry.

On Thursday July 1, we enjoyed brunch at Dr. David and Margaret Eubanks' residence. It was great visit! That evening Monica, Roger and Isaac practice with SHCC (Seymour Heights Christian Church) Praise Team for Sunday worship.

We had dinner at Jim & Nancy Knowles's on Friday July 2; Jim and Nancy are BRLM board members.

We had the opportunity of visiting my niece, Anna Fife-Offshack's family who live in Knoxville on Saturday July 3. It was great to play with our great-nephew Joshua.

I preached, Monica sang, and Roger and Isaac played the drums at SHCC both a.m. services on Sunday July 4. We had dinner at John and Sherry Leech's residence, and in the evening we had the American 4th of July hamburgers at Norm and Mary Dungan residence and they took us to see the concert and fireworks in downtown Knoxville.

A couple from SHCC blessed us with tickets for Dollywood and we spent Monday July 5 there. This was a plus!

The trip to Knoxville was a blessing; during the time we were there we stayed at the apartment beside Bob and Sue Berry’s house. We had a great visit with the Berry’s. We came back to Elizabethton on Wednesday July 7.

Saturday July 10, I preached at FCC-JC's Saturday Night Service. After service we went to Ron and LeAnne Blackmore's residence for dinner. Ron is an elder and he is our contact person for the Missions team at FCC-JC. By the way, if you are looking for a book to read Standard Publishing just released LeAnne Blackmore's book Obscure No More.

We drove back to Knoxville on Thursday July 15 to meet with Ben Lutz and the lawyer that takes care of BRLM documentation, and drove back home on the same day.

Sunday July 25, we presented the ministry at HCC (Howard Christian Church) Sunday School (Howard, PA), and during that week we were the missionaries of the week at Sylvan Hills Christian Service Camp. Our good friend Scott Brand who is the senior minister at HCC was the dean of the week at camp and invited us to come. We had a great time, Scott did a super job as dean and we really enjoyed our time at the camp and visiting with the Brands’.

Our friends Mike and Sarah Delp invited us to come to Stillwater Christian Church (Stillwater, PA) on Sunday August 1, and we had a great time visiting them that weekend.

Roger and Isaacs’ school year started on August 5. Roger is a senior at Elizabethton High School and Isaac is an 8th grader at T.A. Dugger Junior High. They are loving school and are doing very well! Both are involved in sports and Isaac plays in the band.

In May, Monica and I were surfing the internet and seeing the possibilities of colleges for Roger and we noticed that Milligan College offers a Fine Arts Degree. Monica is gifted with arts, and she always dreamed of studying Fine Arts. In the ministry in Brazil Monica does all the materials for the Children's Ministry. We felt that it was like God whispering for us to apply for Monica to study at Milligan, so by faith we did. The summer went by and we did not hear anything from Milligan. The week before classes were supposed to start we received an e-mail that Monica was accepted. We thank Milligan for accepting her, but we told them that we did not have the financial resources and Monica needed scholarships, in order for her to study. On Thursday August 12, two days before Matriculation for New Students, we received the news that Monica was awarded a full scholarship, including fees, and she only needed to buy the books. So Monica started her fall semester at Milligan College on Saturday August 14. We serve a mighty God! She is at Milligan from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, although she has missed three days of school because of her health, but she is loving the opportunity to study! For me the fall semester at Emmanuel started on Thursday august 26.

Brother Sergio who is the minister at the Portuguese-Speaking church planted in Atlanta (Marietta), GA, by Hisportic Christian Mission with Carl Bookout invited us to come for their first anniversary celebration September 11 & 12. Saturday morning we had a leadership meeting to talk about the 2011 Gathering in Atlanta that will be held right after the National Missionary Convention for the Portuguese-Speaking church leaders in the USA and Canada. There are over 1.5 million Portuguese-Speaking people in North America! Saturday night I preached at the anniversary celebration service that was also a missionary conference. The church in Atlanta is already supporting the work in Guinea Bissau. The Portuguese-Speaking 2011 Gathering in Atlanta will be held at NWCC (Northwest Christian Church) so we went with a group from the Portuguese-Speaking Church there on Sunday morning. My parents (Tom & Libby) drove to Atlanta and participated in the weekend celebration with us!

Annual Missions Emphasis Sunday at Colonial Heights Christian Church September 19, was a great time for us to see family and friends.

We had the opportunity to make a ministry presentation for the Prime Timers Sunday School class at FCC-JC on September 26.

Our new friend Greg Key, senior minister at Westside Christian Church in Elizabethton, TN, invited us to visit his church on Sunday October 3.

Oct 13, we celebrate Monica’s birthday!

I continue to write the weekly discipleship material, the monthly journal for the Portuguese-Speaking Churches. We have monthly Skype Elders meeting with Campo Limpo and Jundiai Churches; every three months we have Skype Leadership meetings with all the church leaders in Sao Paulo area. This has been a great way to keep in touch with the work in Brazil, plus we answer dozens of e-mails every week and we make a few phone calls every month. The churches are doing very well, and the ministry there is overflowing.

We would like to thank all our friends and family for the hospitality and love as we travel visiting our supporting churches. We are looking forward to spending more time with you all in the near future. Thanks for being a blessing in our lives.

Here are some prayer requests . . .

• Thanks for praying for Monica’s health; she is doing a lot better, but please continue to pray for her complete healing.
• Please pray that we will have all the funds needed to continue the work in Brazil and Mozambique, plus our living expenses. We need an extra $1,075.34 (US Dollars) per month to meet our budget.
• Pray that we will have funds to be able to re-start the Bible College classes in Campo Limpo in January. We need $700 (US Dollars) per month to run the Bible College, and because we had no funds, we had to cancel all classes for this year. We have 10 students who want to study so they can become evangelists and ministers of the new churches that we will plant in the future. If we could get 10 monthly gifts of $70 each we could re-open the Bible College. Could you be a sponsor for one student?
• Pray for the churches and the leaders in Brazil, for the churches, the school and the leaders in Mozambique, and please pray for us!

Please make plans for us to visit you and your church!

Here is our updated agenda:

November 18 - 21 – National Missionary Convention our display area are 515 & 517. Please come by and visit with us!
November 28 – Colonial Heights CC – Kingsport, TN (Missions Moments) Three a.m. Services
So we will not overwhelm you with information, we will send a newsletter in December with a report of the work in Brazil and Mozambique!

Your prayers and financial support are vital for us! Please continue to pray for us - we need all the prayers we can get!

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!
In His love and service,

Jeff, Monica, Roger and Isaac Fife