Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [April 2012]
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,
What a wonderful time we have had in the States. It has been so good that I have returned to Brasil 20 lbs. heavier. (Lol!) And guess what that means– I have had to increase the size of my clothes. And that means new clothes. Oh well, so goes life –next week I’ll start a diet (Lol!).
At Church Sunday we were welcomed back with a surprise party. Cake and the works. I guess this means more pounds. Not only did we receive a warm welcome from the Church people we also received a WARM welcome here in Brasil. The temperature has been in the high 90’s. How great it is to serve such and AWESOME God!! With the temperatures being so high that means that the Church building also is extremely hot. Something like 105 degrees So I picked out place in the Church where a fan was blowing completely on me—-(just a little selfish). But none of this high temperature keeps our people from coming to Church, Sunday morning we had 104 in attendance and 140 on Sunday night. Our Choir presented a piece for our Easter Sunday that was great.
Upon returning to Brasil we found that a very dear friend is moving back to the States. His name is John Norris and he is a retired fireman from Florida.He is having some health issues with his hearing–please put him on your prayer list.
While there we had a meeting with a young man in Georgia, Jason Hamlin, and set up for us to meet him in Atlanta for him to visit Brasil one more time to see where God would like for them to base their ministry. His ministry is to train youth pastors all over Brasil. To start with, they will be getting some basic language training here in Caraguatatuba. And no, I will not be doing their training because if I did they would definitely have my mountain accent (Hillbilly) This is another prayer request, please put this family on your personal and Church prayer list.They are making a big transition with 3 kids.
This has been a fast-moving week here and we have lots more to catch up on in our ministries. So pray for Barb and I as we re-connect and integrate ourselves here.
We need a new bus!
Sunday night again it was so obvious that we really need a bus. The van was so over-crowded and the people were so uncomfortable but they did not murmur or complain. We work with some very special people.
While we were in the States we were able to visit many Churches and meet many new people. If we were not able to get to your Church we would like to put you on the top of our list for our next time. We would like to give a Special Thanks to everyone where we presented our ministry and preached. Everyone was so gracious and loving. We were treated like royalty.
We would like to thank BFM and all of you who support us financially and prayerfully. Without this support we would not be able to stay here in Brasil doing what God called us to do. Don’t take our word for what is going on here and what God is doing, come on down and see for yourself. We have been here long enough to be able to turn the bed down and put a mint on the pillow, so come on down.
In His service,
Aj and Barb
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [January 2012]
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.
Friends,
Well, we had an awesome Christmas here in the States. We spent it with Barb’s mom and our son Bryan and his famil, and our Brasilian daughter and her family. We were anticipating a white Christmas but we got fall-like weather. Oh well, things and times are changing.
We traveled some in December visiting two churches in Virginia Beach. We stayed with dear friends Lonnie and Barbara there in Virginia Beach. We also got to spend some time with Jerry Flug, one of the first youth pastors that visited us in Brasil. He has been a big help for us printing our prayer cards and banners for us to use at some of the conferences we will be attending while here in the States.
We also spent time with Pastor Thomas and the folks at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church where Barb’s mother is a member. There I had the privilege of preaching the morning and evening services on the first day of the year.
While here, Barbara and I have been getting some exams done. They have found a cyst in my kidney. Pray for me as the Doctors work to decide what action to take in treating my problem.
In our absence the Church is going and growing. As we were leaving Brasil, there was plans for another baptism. And we are praying about starting another mission work on the other side of the city. One of the couples who regularly attend our services has offered us access to a hotel that they own as the building for us to begin the meetings. Pray for this project that God would supply the person to preach there and the persons that need to hear the gospel.
It has been an AWESOME year in ministry in Brasil for us. Lots of construction on the Church and plans being made for the up-coming year. The vocational school has progressed very well and we are hoping this year we will complete the dorm house.
As we have told you in other letters the most pressing need for us there in Brasil is transportation. As we were leaving, we had to put the van back in the garage for more repairs. This time it was the power steering and it took over 3 plus weeks and $1,800 reais to get it back. The Church in western Kentucky had just sent us an offering and it covered the cost. Isn’t God great? He knows your needs and He provides. While we are here in the States, our pick-up is being worked on. Hopefully a lot of maintenance will be done—wheel bearings, minor body repair, oil change, filters, tire alignment and balancing and some suspension repair. This sounds like a lot but with the age of the truck and the mileage, that is not really much work. I told you all this just for you to see that we really do need help with transportation here in our work.
As we enter this New Year we are totally thankful for everyone that has been involved in our mission work both financially and prayerfully. We ask that you continue praying for us in the coming year.
I hope that you are planning to come down to see what your mission dollars are doing in Caraguatatuba, Brasil.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
Caixa Postal 1511
11672-300 Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo, Brasil
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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