Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [November 2013]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together since 1987. They are currently in the process of transitioning to Manaus to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
Garca, October 31, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope and pray that all is well with each of you and your loved ones. We are all doing well. Things have been a little busy getting things together and sorting last minute things.
We are excited with what God is doing here in the church. The new pastor and his co-worker are doing great. It is so wonderful to see things moving on. This next Sunday there will be six adults baptized. We will have a special service and baptism in the afternoon. Then in the evening we will be going to the church in Marilia where I will be preaching.
Some men from Haiti the Lord has sent the Barros’ way in Brazil!
It is normal for us to go out to do mission, but it is not normal for the mission to come to us. But that is what has happened to us. In the last few months a construction company has brought to us many men from Haiti to work here in Garca. We had talked about preaching to them. The new pastor was also very interested. There was only one small problem…they speak French and we don’t. Well, God took care of that in a very interesting way. Three weeks ago a young lady that was saved in one of our mission points many years ago had us over for supper. She wanted us to meet her husband and family. She also invited some friends over for supper too. We were having a wonderful time together and talking about all that was going in our lives and what we were doing. Then the young man that came over also mention that he had worked overseas. We asked him what language he spoke, and guess what? Yes, that right, he speaks French!!!!! Last Sunday they came to our church to meet the people from the church. They live in a city one hour away.
Odali and the translator God provided who “just happened” to speak the same language as the Haitians they were trying to minister to (French).
We immediately made plans to have a special day with the Haitians. This coming Saturday we are fixing a special supper for them. God is just fantastic! We are all so glad that God provided someone that spoke their language. Pray for them as we preach the Gospel to them.
We have pretty much everything packed and ready to go. We are just waiting for the funds to be able to send another truck. Pray for us, as we will be getting things together and in order at our new the next couple of months. We are excited about visiting the villages to make plans for the ministry. We especially want to start in those that have no Baptist church. We will start by visiting the villages where we can go by road, since we do not have a boat yet. When God provides us with a boat we will also be doing river ministry. We ask that you pray for us, that God leads each step of the way of this new ministry is our lives. It will sure be different for us. For the last 27 years, and 24/7 we have had teens in our home. This new ministry that God has touched our hearts to do will be refreshing and very rewarding. They years working with homeless and needed were a lifetime experience that God allowed us to be a part of. We thank God for those that were saved through that ministry. We are ready for the next step.
We thank all of you for your prayers and support. May God bless each of you!
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [October 2013]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together since 1987. They are currently in the process of transitioning to Manaus to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
October 4, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Time goes by so fast that it is hard to believe that it is already October. It seems like–with all our moving plans and getting things in order here–there is just not enough time. It is a good thing that the day only has 24 hours. Things are coming along pretty well. We have a truck almost ready to go. The trip is a 10-days trip if all goes well. Kathy has bought her plane tickets for the end of November. So if all goes well, our next new letter will be from Manaus. I will be going on the next truck, which will be taking most of our furniture. I plan on getting there a little before Kathy so I can get the house painted and ready for us to move in. Pray for us as we get our moving done. We thank God for His protection till now.
The things here in the church are doing great. The folks are adapting well to the new pastor and his co-worker who will be involved with the Sunday school department. He has been working with us since Bro. John Hatcher was in Garca. He also plans on continuing with the seminary. One of his great qualities is that he loves starting churches. We have a great relationship with the pastor so he is already coming even before we leave. We pray that that will help the people to create a relationship with him before we leave.
Even though we have lived in Manaus before, it has been many years ago. But probably the biggest change of all is going from living with hundreds to living with our family. We will always help people, because that is part of our work. But having a children’s home is definitely a different thing. I always want to do for others what God once did for me through other people.
Odali with his brother Edson who is suffering from leprosy. Please pray for his salvation.
I would appreciate your prayers for one of my brothers. His name is Edson. He is not saved and has leprosy. At this moment he is doing well with his treatment. But the illness has left him with some difficulties with the nerves in his legs. Please pray for his salvation. God has been wonderful to my family. I came from a very Catholic family. In fact, all of my brothers and my sister and several relatives studied to be priest and a nuns. I was the first to get saved. Thanks to a faithful BFM missionary, today there are many saved in our family. Praise God!
Thanks for all your prayers and your support. God bless each of you.
Odali and Kathy Barros
Tito, Jonas and Gabriel
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [September 2013]
- Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together since 1987. They are currently in the process of transitioning to Manaus to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
August 31, 2013
Greetings to all dear friends,
Twenty-seven years have passed since we began our ministry here in Sao Paulo. Looking back, it seems impossible that it has been that long. As we make new plans for our new place of work, we look back and see what God has allowed us to be a part of.
Our ministry with helping needy people, especially children, started in 1987 with a widow and her 5 children. Some of you may remember when we rented a home next to ours for them to live in. Those kids are all grown and on their own. As we come to a close of our ministry here, we were with these children as a new step in their lives took place. We buried the mother last Sunday. What an unusual situation. Our ministry started and ended with the same family. We praise God that she was saved. Her son Rodrigo is one of the teachers here in the Bible Institute.
Ever since I was saved, I have had the desire to work and reach people who lived in villages on the river. Ever since the home was closed and we could not reopen, we have been praying for God to show us what He wanted us to do and where. Last year in July, we had peace about where God wanted us. We then contacted the directors of BFM and informed them of our new plans. We appreciated their prayers for our move.
For the last year we have been getting thing ready for the changes here. One day at a time God has taken care of each detail. We have already started our move. We will be moving back to Manaus, Amazonas where Kathy and I met, got married, and started our work in the ministry. We have already sent to trucks of things. Wow–one can really accumulate many things in 27 years!!! We will be living across the river from Manaus on our land where we had a children’s home also. When we arrive, we will be visiting by road and by river the villages to see how many there are and if they have any Baptist work. We want to make a map of the cities and their sizes and their needs. Since roads have been opened, villages have started on roadsides. We will be using the big bus that we had at the home and we will need to purchase a boat for the river work. We are excited about the change–and what a change after 27 years of having dozens and even hundreds of people in our home every day. God has been good and we have been blessed in our ministry. Through good and hard times He has always been with us and given us the strength that only He can give.
I was saved through the work of a missionary from BFM who visited a village on the river, Bro. Bobby Creiglow. He visited my village once and when he left the village he believed it had not been worth the long trip. Little did He know that God had a purpose in that trip. I was not in the service he held, but my cousins told me about it and I wanted to know more about that God he had preached about.
So when my Grandmother got sick and had to go to Cruzeiro do Sul, I asked to go with her. When our boat arrived at the port, there stood the man that my cousin had mentioned. Not long after I was able to go to the church and hear the plan of salvation and receive God as my Savior. I thank God for those of you who have given so faithfully for so many years and continue to give. May God pour His blessing on your lives.
Please pray for us as we make our move. Everything is just about all packed. Kathy has been working hard to get things packed and things in order that need to be left for the church here. We are taking a couple that will be working with us in the ministry, Gilmar and his wife Lizene. She has worked with us for many years. Gilmar is a young man that came to live in the home and got saved here. We will support them, through the ministry.
Our main emphasis is preaching the gospel and church planting. It is amazing that everywhere you go you will find an Assembly of God church. We also plan on helping the communities in ways such as: education, clothing, health and food.
We would like to go to the U.S. some time in the near future. We applied for our sons’ immigrant visas over a year ago and we haven’t heard anything from the office since we paid all the fees. Please pray that they will arrive soon.
If you would like to know more you can contact us at : odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com.
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Tito, Jonas and Gabriel
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [August 2013]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil for many years. In addition to leading their newest church, they also run “Alpha Omega Family Development,” which provides a home and stability for needy people, many of whom are recovering drug addicts, etc.
July 28, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope and pray that all is well with each of you and your loved ones. We are all doing well. This has been a month full of many happenings.
We took a few days break and went to Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, where we met our daughter KathyLee and her husband. We had a great time together. The boys enjoyed the beach. It was a little cold but they still got to learn to surf. This time of the year here it is winter.
The Barros Family: Gabriel, Tito, Kathy, KathyLee, Jonas, & Odali
When we went on our break we took Kathy’s car because my truck’s transmissions was bad and I left it in the shop. Well, on the way back Kathy’s car heated all at once and stopped. Thank God we had left KathyLee at the Airport and had traveled 5 hours. That got us to Curitiba. God took care of us. There we have friends. They provided food and a place to stay. The next day we were on our way home on the top of a truck. We made it home safely. We took Kathy’s car to the shop too. Well, the cars are in order now.
The church is doing great. We praise God for the 10 people baptized last Sunday. There are others who have made professions of faith. We pray that they will soon be baptized also. We have several people that come to church that came from other churches. There are all kinds of churches in Garca with some really crazy doctrines. Mostly salvation by baptism and by works and mixture of all kinds of beliefs. So we have been teaching on what the Bible says about baptism–especially that baptism is not salvation. Pray for these new babes in Christ.
Those baptized last Sunday!
So many times we preach and come in contact with many people. Some times we may think that nothing is happening and that no one is hearing, that is when we remember that God is always at work.
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. -I Corintios 3:6
This week I was looking for a mechanic and I went to his home to talk to him. His wife told me that he was at his church doing some work on the building. So I went to his church, and when I got there…was I surprised! There with him were two others that I knew. Actually all 3 of them had worked with me and been to our church. Now they were saved and serving God. It is important that we keep on telling people about God. It is God that works on their lives and hearts. Praise God!
I want to thank all of you who prayed for me during my father’s death. I praise God that he was saved and that we are only separated for a short time.
Also we thank all of you for your prayers and support. Each of you are an important part of our ministry. God bless each of you.
Love
In Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [June 2013]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil for many years. In addition to leading their newest church, they also run “Alpha Omega Family Development,” which provides a home and stability for needy people, many of whom are recovering drug addicts, etc.
June 2, 2013
Greetings to all of you who faithfully support us and pray for us. We hope that all of you are doing great and enjoying God’s blessing in your life. We are doing great and seeing God at work around us each day.
We have had unusual weather these days. This is not our rainy season, but we have had lots of rain. Today we woke up with it pouring down rain. When the bus left to pick up the kids for church, I honestly thought we were going to be coming back with an empty bus. Wow! Were we surprised, there were kids waiting in the rain for the bus. We ended up with 30 kids on the bus. They were soaking wet. So we took them to the clothes room and gave them clothes to change into. Wonder how many of us would wait in the rain to get the bus to go to church. Well, needless to say, it was an inspiration for us to keep on working with them. These kids come from very difficult and complicated homes. God bless and keep these kids in His care.
The kids love to sing. We started singing “King of Kings & Lord of Lords” and immediately these 3 boys sat on the floor to sing the song with the gestures we do. Special moments.
We had a wonderful service tonight. During invitations, 4 people asked for baptism: 3 men and 1 teenager. Praise God.
Our friendship suppers have been a blessing. We encourage our people to bring new people to be with us. Last night we had a family that brought 15 visitors. When you hear what we had to eat you will probably say, “What in the world does that taste like?!” We had cooked calf’s foot soup or stew. Well, it’s different, but it sure is good.
A few months ago I mentioned that my father, Alcides had made a profession of faith while my brother was preaching. That was such a blessing. In the beginning of last month I got a phone call that he was very ill. So I decided to go see him. But as I was on my way, waiting at the airport in Sao Paulo, my brother called and said he had passed away. We praise God that he had gotten saved. We will be together again. I ask you to pray for my oldest brother who is very sick and is not saved, and has a very hard heart.
We know that God can break the hardest heart. He has 3 sons which I have spent lots of time with. One of them has shown an interest in knowing more about God. Please pray for them. Here are their names: Edson is the father. The sons’ names are Edson Jr., Jefferson and Anderson.
Thanks for all your prayers and support. Our ministry is nothing without the help of our co-laborers. May God bless each of you.
In Christ,
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [May 2013]
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Chosen to have a different life.
The example I had of a mother who loved the Lord and was devoted to His work is a great blessing. My mother showed her loved to God by caring for her family and the ministry as best she could. The phrase “whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord” is how she lived. I am thankful that I was taught that to be in God’s service was a blessing.
It saddens my heart when I hear people say, “The last thing I want to be is a pastor’s wife.” It is not the easiest job in the world, but the eternal earnings are far more than what you can imagine. We will have the privilege to enjoy the results in heaven. I guess one of the things that runs through my mind many times is the surprises that we will have in heaven. We will then know the lives of people that we were given the privilege to touch and were not even aware of. But then again we may be saddened by knowing that we could have done more.
My life has been far from a normal life. But I would not change it for anything. God has been there for us at all times. His faithfulness has been so evident in our lives and in our family. Being a mother to so many was sometimes scary. I always asked God to help me to do and say the right things–not always so easy when you’re dealing with children that you have no idea what they have experienced and what their family life was.
Kathy Barros with her three oldest kids
Depending on God for direction was vital in every sense of the word. I look back and see the ways that God led me in doing so many things that could only come from Him. I’m glad He could use me. God was faithful and has blessed us with 6 children that love the Lord. The oldest 3 are married and serving the Lord. A while back I was talking to Amelia about the difficulty of teaching children now in days. I was blessed to hear her say, “Mom, the most important thing you taught us was biblical principals that we needed to live by.”
Loving the Lord has to be more than just an obligation it has to be a way of living–a lifestyle. There is a verse that always gets my attention: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” [Deuteronomy 7:9]
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” [Exodus 20:5-6]
As a mother and wife I always try to remember that God has more to offer than He wants to take away. The choice is ours. It is so easy to get caught up in the things of this world and forget that this world is not our HOME. “Thousand generations!!!!” That is lots of generations.
What are we leaving for our generation: blessing or curses? God even makes the curses so much less than the blessings. May God continue to help us stay strong and remember that He is Lord!
Love,
Kathy Hatcher Barros
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros [March 2013]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil for many years. In addition to leading their newest church, they also run “Alpha Omega Family Development,” which provides a home and stability for needy people, many of whom are recovering drug addicts, etc.
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
Hope this finds each of you doing well. We are doing great. The Lord has blessed us with many great things in our lives and ministry. As we have mentioned in other letters, we are still having our Saturday night get-together with the people from church. This has brought great results! We encourage each one to bring some one new to the get-together. Through this, several people that came are now coming to church. Some have been coming on Sunday and also to our mid-week service. It is great to see more people each week bringing others.
They have been having fellowships on Saturday nights with people from church where they encourage their church members to bring someone new. They have seen great results with new people attending their services!
Sunday morning we have several kids that come faithfully. There are some that you can tell probably come to eat a good meal. There is one specific family that even brought their mom. She came several times and then quit. Last week she came again. While we were singing a specific song about having faith and trusting the Lord, she started crying and got up to go outside. One of the ladies in the church followed her outside. She said, “I want to believe and trust the Lord, but it is hard when you don’t even have salt in your house.” How would you feel if that were you? Would you have faith? Sunday in service I asked if some one would like to go visit the lady. Kathy, Lizene and Marcio, a newly saved young man offered to go. They set a time and went. Sure enough–they had nothing to eat. After they came back we decided how we could better help them. First of all, Kathy told her that it was very important that she understand that God loved her and wanted to give her much more that just food, He wanted to give her eternal life. Marcio, the newly saved young many gave his testimony. What a wonderful time!!!!! We believe that by helping them solve their physical hunger, they can then listen to how to satisfy their spiritual hunger and needs. It is probably hard to get someone to listen about God when you have no food, 3 light bills, and 3 water bills to be paid. So we helped them with some food and started by paying one light bill and one water bill. The mother said she wanted to keep coming to church. I talked to the kids and asked them to pray with us so that we can get their father to go to church. When you don’t have God in your life, it is not always easy to understand why you have problems and have nothing to feed your kids.
As you can see, they have many children who faithfully come on Sundays.
While I was writing this letter, I had to get up and run to the emergency room to take a mother and her 3 year-old son. They live here with us. The son had fainted. Pray for them.
Serving people and helping them to understand God’s love is a tremendous feeling. Actually, that is what Jesus did in His ministry on earth. We are privileged to be able to do some of what He did. Continue to pray for these people, for us, and for the ministry. Thanks to all of you who have been faithful in your prayers and your financial support. God bless all of you.
In Christ,
Odali & Kathy
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros [February 2013]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil for many years. In addition to leading their newest church, they also run “Alpha Omega Family Development,” which provides a home and stability for needy people, many of whom are recovering drug addicts, etc.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope all of you have had a great time with your families through these holidays. We are all doing fine. Kathy had a great time in the States with the birth of our latest granddaughter, Violet Oliveira. She also got to visit with the other children while she was there.
The work here has been a real blessing. We have a group of 17 people coming that are new. Almost all of them are from the same family. Most of them had been to other evangelical churches, and have been taught several different doctrines. We want to make sure that they understand that salvation is not by works and baptism, but by grace. We have been teaching what the Bible teaches on these doctrines. Last Sunday I taught about baptism. After service one of them said, “You’re going to have a bunch to baptize.” Pray for these people. They are a great group of people, and we spend a lot of time of fellowship together. There is a couple coming to church for the last month. The wife has been in depression for years. Her husband was unfaithful to her for many years and when she had their last child she rejected the baby and went into depression. We are praying that God will work a great miracle in their life. The miracle of forgiveness! We are praying that both of them understands their need for salvation and that they can soon rejoice in God’s forgiveness. Their names are Dalva and Ezekiel.
Violet Oliveira, Odali & Kathy’s newest granddaughter (daughter of Amelia and Ivo)!
We have a new couple that has been coming with their son that came because his wife was coming. The man got saved by reading his Bible, but had not found a church he liked. They have been coming for about a month also. He has been talking about being baptized. We are prayerfully waiting for the day we have our next baptism. Praise God!
We thank all of you for your prayers and support. You are an important part of our ministry. None of us can stand alone. God bless each of you.
In Christ,
Odali & Kathy
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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