The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.

Dear Friends and Family,

Sometimes we don’t realize how fast our lives are going. I came to realize this in this past month. Barb and I went to the States for 3 weeks this month. I had my plans made to visit several Churches and get some needed check-ups done at the doctor’s office while Barbara visited her mom. We had purchased tickets for me to do this traveling so it would be easier for me to get to various Churches.

Well, we all know that our plans sometimes are not God’s plans. This time my plans did not combine with what God had in store for me. We got to the States on Wednesday and on Thursday I got word that my older brother, Big John, had been taken to the hospital. He did not make it to the hospital–the heart attack took him in route. I did not get to say hello nor goodbye to him. All our plans changed; however, one of the beautiful things that I can say is, that as brothers, we had an excellent relationship. Even more AWESOME I can say that he was saved and serving the our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even though I miss him terribly, I know from his life and testimony he is in a much better place.

We are making plans to visit the States in January and February of 2015 and maybe the ticket that I could not use to visit some Churches will still be usable. God is in control and we ask for your prayers.

So allow me to put some more prayer requests in front of you all. As you know streets and roads here are not in the best of conditions so we have lots of suspension and tire problems. Add the fact that our vehicles are getting old (the newest is 2001) and well used. We are now having to overhaul the motor in my truck. I just did this last year and it cost around $5000.00 and now it looks like we will have to do it again. So please pray for our vehicles as they are ESSENTIAL in our ministries. If you are financially able to help us with this expense, THANKS in advance. Since we are on the topic of vehicles, our bus is now ending minor repairs and this preventive maintenance hopefully will prevent major problems.

Easter came and went while we were in the States. The Church held the service on the beach and had a baptism in the ocean. I missed the opportunity to do the first baptism in the ocean. Now that we are back and have done visitation, we are ready to have another baptism and who knows–maybe they will want to have it in the ocean. Isn’t God AWESOME???!!! We are getting ready to have our Mother’s Day service. We are planning for the mothers of the children that come to Sunday School to bring their moms who normally don’t come. The Bible says that ‘a little child shall lead them’, so we are getting ready to present Christ and Him risen to these mothers.

Also while in the States, I had a very thorough check-up. It seems that the only problem that I have now is sugar. (No I am not that sweet.) Hopefully I can avoid taking medication by exercise and adjusting my diet. Sometimes we don’t think about healthy lifestyles util we are too late. To be treated here in Brasil in our area, it would be a problem because our hospitals are not really up to date–and this is an understatement. So pray with me for me to eat right and exercise to get ahead of this problem.

The end of May we will receive a group from Centerville Baptist Church in Georgia. They are coming to work and evangelize. How AWESOME is that when God sense extra hands for the labor! Their project is to help at the Indian village constructing a playground for the children. We will have backyard Bible School for the children while the playground is being constructed. It is really hard sometimes to realize how AWESOME of an impact this has on an area. It is not important where you go–it could be at the Church, an orphanage, or to the Indians, but just the fact that a group comes here is wonderful for our ministry. Our people can hardly believe that someone cares enough for them to pay for their tickets to come here and help them. This shows that God’s love is abundant everywhere.

They took a group of faithful Sunday School kids to the zoo one Saturday on the church bus.

We got back to Brasil on Thursday and on Saturday we took a group of Sunday School kids that had been faithful in coming to Church on an outing to the zoo. There were 17 kids and some adult chaperones. A wonderful time was had by all. Some of these kids had never been to the zoo and had not been on a long trip. We traveled 3 hours on our Church bus and Barbara did not let anyone sleep. She kept watch and who tried to sleep got their face painted with lip stick. The kids were helping her to catch those who went to sleep.

We have, as always, hit the road running when we got back. There were many visits to be made and many lives to be helped by Gods Word. Pray for us–for our health, for our finances, for the ministry, for the plans that we are trying to complete at the Church and for the attacks that Satan is hurling at us.

We would love to have you come and see what God is doing here in Caraguatatuba and for you to be a part of this work. Come on down we will put some more water in the beans and throw some more grains of rice in the pan.

In His service,

Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com

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