New Believer in Portugal!
February 14, 2023
Dear Friends,
It has only been a couple of weeks since my last report, but we are so glad to report that some wonderful things have happened in that short period! I’ll jump straight to the best news of all. Our missionaries in Portugal, Yago and Manoela, were blessed to win their first Portuguese convert to Christ. You may have already read of this on the social media pages of Baptist Faith Missions, but we’re so happy for them and for God’s glory to shine, and we wanted to thank you who have been praying for their success.
They wasted no time after their arrival in Portugal in reaching out to the lost people there. The young man, Emanuel, whom they were privileged to evangelize, considered himself anti-God for much of his life. In fact, you may have watched the movies “God’s Not Dead”, 1 and 2,” that were in theaters a few years back. Emanuel was invited to go see # 2 by a Brazilian Christian friend living in Portugal and he accepted. While watching the movie, he identified himself with the atheist college professor. Similarly, his mother had died very young, and he was angry and confused at how a “good” God would let his mother die and it made it difficult for him to believe God was real. But at the same time, it got him wondering about the existence of God and, when Victoria, the Brazilian Christian friend asked him if he would accompany her to a Bible study, he accepted. Another interesting note is that Yago and Manoela did not know Victoria or she them, but on Baptist Faith Mission’s social media pages she read about their arrival in Portugal and she reached out to them to come help her evangelize her friend through a Bible study. They do not live in the same city, but they were happy to drive to meet them for this purpose. At the very first study, Emanuel, heard the gospel, believed in the Lord Jesus, and surrendered his life to Him for salvation! We are still praising God! Yago and Manoela have agreed to go weekly to meet with Victoria and Emanuel to begin discipleship training. Our continued prayer is that Emanuel will be instrumental in reaching his friends, family, and acquaintances with the gospel as well. It has only been a little over 2 months since this missionary couple arrived in Portugal and to already have a Portuguese adult turn to the Lord is astoundingly great news!
Our church did begin having services in our new location as we planned. What we didn’t plan for was the amazing turn-out in attendance. We had been having a packed house in our former location with an average of 225 in attendance. The very first service in our new location was attended by 309 people. A few of those were some curious neighbors as to what kind of church was moving into their neighborhood, but they were warmly welcomed, and some have decided to keep coming. We still have lot of renovations to do on the building and classrooms, but many of our members are stepping up to the challenge, coming out several times a week to build, paint, clean, and pray for spiritual growth. God is truly blessing our faith, and beyond it. We do at least have room now for continued numerical growth at our new location. May the Lord see fit to fill it quickly.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support. Charlene and I are very grateful.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
Read more
God is Still Marvelously Saving Sinners!
January 31, 2023
Dear Friends,
“A blast from the past,” I think is an expression that seems to pop up occasionally. That is what I got a few days ago. And it was a good “blast.” She is a lady now, but was a nine-year-old girl when we met Tabitha in 1987. In our first church plant in Curitiba, Brazil, Tabitha was a round faced little girl who we invited to our children’s Bible school. She and two of her younger siblings would come regularly to church each week. She was taught the gospel and she memorized Scripture and learned a lot about God’s will for her life. Despite several years of showing her love and biblical teaching, Tabitha chose to lead her own life and it was not in the direction that she learned in our Bible studies and church services. For many years she was involved in demon worship and witchcraft. The “blast from the past” came last week when Tabitha messaged me, sharing that she had treasured all our teaching and examples in her heart and had finally surrendered her life to Christ! She has been marvelously saved from her life of sin and asked me if I would baptize her as she begins her new life in obedience to God. Oh, how amazing is our Savior’s grace!
Our evangelism team, Projeto Vida, has just completed its first Missions Training Seminar of the year. We had volunteers from several Brazilian states participating in this three-week experience. The first two weeks were spent in biblical and theoretical studies, and the last week was the practical application of what was learned in the classroom. During this edition of our training seminar, the volunteers accompanied our veteran team of missionaries to native Indian tribes in the neighboring countries of Paraguay and Argentina, as well as to a settlement on the Brazilian side of the shared border. Day and night the volunteers and veterans shared the gospel with hundreds of lost individuals, from little children, even to the tribal chiefs. The Lord blessed greatly and many of them openly confessed Jesus as their Savior. We’ve partnered with a local Baptist church to begin the discipleship process among those who have been converted.
Our missionaries to Portugal, Yago and Manoela, reported that they are learning some very important and helpful lessons as they reach out to the lost there. One such lesson was learned shortly after they arrived about the city where they thought they would reside in and begin a church plant. They discovered as they visited the city that most of the city’s population is made up of “vacationers”. That information helped them realize that it would be very difficult to establish a thriving church with a population that is mostly transient. They are in the process of moving to a city where the population is more permanently established. They have begun regular fellowship meetings with some other Brazilian Christians they discovered also reside in Portugal. Their main purpose, though, is to win the Portuguese people to Christ, not to form a Brazilian church in Portugal. Later this year, Charlene and I intend to go there to take some supplies and to lend some leadership training. Please pray for the success of Yago and Manoela’s ministry efforts in Portugal.
Our church will hold its first service in our “new” (for us) auditorium this coming Sunday. We held our last service in the old auditorium last week with standing room only. By God’s grace, we were packed! In my message to the congregation, I encouraged the members to invest themselves in what the Lord is doing. In an amazing show of enthusiasm and desire to serve Jesus, a large portion of the congregation showed up with tools and willing hands and hearts to move our equipment and furnishings to the new location. Many of them are working every day until 11:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. installing equipment and arranging furniture to be ready to launch our first service in the new location after having worked all day at their regular jobs. I thank the Lord for the privilege to pastor such a dedicated group of brothers and sisters in Christ. We have a lot of work ahead of us to adjust to our new installations, but this group of volunteers makes it a joy, and not a burden.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
Read more
Welcoming 2023
December 31, 2022
Dear Friends,
I’m writing letter this on the last day of 2022. Throughout the past year I was baffled at how often I heard people, even some professing to be Christians, murmuring about how bad 2020, 2021, and 2022 were. For two main reasons I could not and would not join in with them: 1- No matter what the circumstances, we know that our great and good God is in control and is orchestrating them all for our benefit and His glory, and 2- When we looked back at those three years, we noticed that all of our ministries and most of our personal experiences were greater than or as great as any in our lives. So, if 2023 is anything like the last three, we welcome it with welcome arms.
I just received news from our missionaries in Portugal, Yago and Manoela. They are very excited about the opportunities they are having to share the love of Christ. They pray daily for wisdom and discernment from the Lord so that they will recognize the best timing and ways to gain a hearing from their Portuguese neighbors and acquaintances. They have already had several chances to do that and continue to look for more. Our church members pray for them and keep in touch through social media. We trust that in God’s perfect timing He will use them to win many lost Portuguese people to salvation in Christ.
Two weeks ago we closed a contract on the new and larger building where we are moving our church services. We will be able to have the whole congregation together at one time and we’ll be able to host larger events for evangelism. Our members seem to be enthusiastic and voted almost unanimously to make the move. Early this month we’ll be moving our equipment and in the first week of February we should have our first service at the new location. There will be some big challenges in the remodeling process, but the Lord has given us a peaceful assurance that this the right direction for us.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support. May the Lord bless you in this new year.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
Read more
Thanksgiving & Commissioning Service
November 19, 2022
Dear Friends,
This past week, our church celebrated our thanks to the Lord for this year’s provisions as well as His calling from our midst, Yago and Manoela Guedes, to go to Portugal as missionaries. We had a commissioning service for them and a Thanksgiving banquet at the same event. It was truly a joyous occasion. It was the first time that our entire church could get together at the same time and location for nearly two years. We met at a church member’s farm that has a pavilion that was large enough for us all. Yago and Manoela will have arrived in Foz do Arelho, Portugal by the time you are reading this letter. We will be praying for them and seeking to support their ministry efforts as they seek to reach the spiritually lost there. There is less than 1 percent of born-again believers in Portugal and this young couple will greatly need the Lord’s wisdom and power in sharing the gospel and winning lost souls. Please pray with us and for them as they seek to serve the Lord and obey His commission. If you believe the Lord is guiding you to aid this couple, you may contribute with the memo: “Wacaser-Portugal Mission”.
It has been many years since I have had any health issues and I am extremely grateful. These past two weeks, though, I have struggled with laryngitis and have had to call on my co-pastors to preach in my place. I haven’t felt very ill, but my voice was too weak and raspy to communicate without being a distraction. I am grateful to be able to count on these young men who are doing an excellent job of faithfully delivering the Word. I seem to be much better today (Saturday) and intend to preach at both services tomorrow. Challenges like this are great reminders to me of just how much I depend on the Lord for every large and small grace. I pray for His strength and ability to honor Him with my mind and my voice.
Just a little reminder that in Brazil, below the Equator, we are entering into our summer months and the 3-month school break. Since the public schools are our traveling evangelistic team’s main venue for outreach, we change our focus during this period to assist the home church with the Christmas program and to minister to the poor and homeless in our own city. The volunteers who are from other cities will get a couple of weeks to return home to visit with their families on the holidays but will return shortly after New Year’s Day to begin preparing for the outreach trips scheduled for next year. The Lord blessed greatly this past year as we were privileged to share the gospel to over 40,000 people in public venues. Thousands of those who heard responded by surrendering their lives to Christ. All honor and glory to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Charlene and I are so thankful for the faithful prayers and support on our behalf. We humbly acknowledge and recognize that you sacrifice from what you could use in any number of ways but choose to give so that we may minister here. We thank the Lord for you and pray that you may be eternally and richly blessed.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
Read more
Young Couple Headed to Portugal as Missionaries
October 22, 2022
Dear Friends,
The young couple from our church, Yago and Manoela, have received their work visas to go to Portugal and have already purchased their airline tickets for November 22. Our church will be hosting a sending off meeting and gift shower before they travel. Their visas came out a couple of months sooner than expected, but this is good news, and they will be able to get settled in Portugal before the Christmas holidays. We are still praying and discussing ministry strategy with them and are guiding our church in how and how much we can support them. If you believe that the Lord is leading you or your church to partner with us in their support, feel free to contribute with a designated offering “Wacaser-Portugal Mission”.
Our home church just held an evangelistic drama presentation based on the story of Esther in the Bible. We had over 70 of our church members involved in this presentation in one form or another. We practiced, built, painted, sewed, and recorded music and voices for over 4 months in orders to produce a quality presentation with a gospel invitation at the conclusion. We received more than a dozen public responses to the invitation at the two meetings. Our “next steps” discipleship team is following up with Bible lessons for new believers.
I traveled to meet with Projeto Vida, our itinerate evangelistic team, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. We were thrilled to see how the Lord worked through our 12 volunteers in the public schools where we shared the gospel to 2300 students and staff within two weeks, resulting in over 140 professions of faith. The first school where our team was scheduled to minister got a message one day before our presentation that we would not be welcome. They canceled the engagement because we were evangelical (the principal is a spiritist). Almost immediately after the cancellation, we got a call from the secretary of education from a neighboring city inviting our team to come minister to a huge assembly of 4 schools at one location. We ended up reaching four times as many people than we would have reached at the other school, had it not canceled on us. The Lord’s plan is always the greatest.
Charlene and I are doing very well, and we thank you for your prayers for us and your faithful support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
Read more
Sending Two Missionaries to Portugal
September 19, 2022
Dear Friends,
Last month, Charlene began giving English classes again and we had one student already make a profession of faith after coming to a church service on the following Sunday. We are also having students from some of our computer classes and martial arts classes attending church as well. These classes have been a great way for us to get to know people in our community that probably wouldn’t come if we only offered Sunday worship services. We are rejoicing!
There is a young couple in our church who feel called to missions and we are preparing them to go to Portugal in the near future. Their names are Yago and Manoela. Right now, they are waiting on their work visas to Portugal to be processed. In the meantime, they are helping with various ministries at our church, and I have had Yago preach in the pulpit as well. I am super excited about our young church learning that they are also a sending body of Christ, not just a growing body of Christ. It’s not going to be easy to support them, but Yago will also be a “tent-maker”, having a secular job as computer consultant to help with their support. Charlene and I plan to go visit them after they get settled in to use our experience to help them identify some fields of opportunity for gospel outreach. Less than 1% of Portugal’s population identifies as “born again” believers in Jesus Christ. At the same time, most Portuguese people claim to have religion, just not Biblical religion. Yago and Manoela know that their work will not be easy, but they know also that the Lord will be with them to work in the hearts of those whom He will call at the preaching of the gospel.
Our travel team, Alpha, is in the middle of a three-week trip to minister in the interior of our own state, Parana, and in the next state northwest of us, Mato Grosso do Sul. They have invitations to share the gospel in several schools and I will be traveling there tomorrow to minister with them. This month we have already had the privilege to preach to over 2500 students along with their school staff. There have been hundreds of public professions of faith at these events, and we constantly receive word from school principals and local pastors of what a change they are seeing in many of those who receive Christ. We are thrilled to have this liberty still open to us and we plan to take advantage of it for as long as the Lord provides.
Charlene and I are very grateful for your faithful prayers and generous support of our ministries. Thank you very much.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
Read more
