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 [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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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [January 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,
We begin this New Year with a heart full of gratitude and praise! We hope the same for all of you that have so generously given, so that the word of God can be taken around the world.
For many years my father Alcides when asked if he was saved would always answer saying, “Yes, God is in my heart.” We were not convinced that he had made a profession of faith, but who are we to question what he would say? So for many years we have been praying, that if he had not made that decision, that God would touch his heart and help him understand that he needed to receive Jesus as his only Savior. Well, this week, my other brother who is a pastor had the privilege to preach to him in a service and when the invitation came, my father lifted his hand and said, “I want to accept Jesus as my Savior.” My father is 92 years old and has cancer, and because of his age will not be doing surgery. But now we know he well live forever with us! I have a brother who has never made any decision, so I ask that you please pray that he too will understand his need for the Savior. His name is Edson.
Odali preparing food.
The church here has just been a real blessing. We have had other professions of faith and others that were saved but from other churches that have asked for baptism. Also, we have had several new visitors. The adults that have been coming keep bringing other family members. It is so exciting to see each of them learn more about God and seeing them want to serve. We have been having fellowship every Friday or Saturday night. It has been great for the new people to get to know the others in the church. On Sunday morning we have a big Sunday school. We do have adults, but we use them to help with the kids. Each week we fix something for the kids to eat. Seeing more and more people getting involved is a blessing. Our night service is directed for the adults. We had a young lady that came by the home the other day and said she wanted to know what we were doing here at the home and the church. She said that she was going to her church but she wanted to serve more and that her church did not get involved in the community. She has started coming to our church. Praise God for people who want to serve! God has brought new people that have such servant’s hearts. Their desire to help in any thing is overwhelming!
We enjoyed wonderful fellowship on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Every one that wasn’t going to be with family came and spent the evening here together.
Celebrating Christmas!
We also had a fun time with several of the kids that had lived here when we still had kids in the home. It was really great to see that they were doing great and also how much they had changed. Everyone had fun reminiscing about the past. And, well, as they always did, ate a lot!
Thanks for your prayers and support,
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Caixa Postal 182
17400-000 Garca, SP
Brasil, S.A.
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [December 2012]
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,
We hope all are enjoying on this Thanksgiving the blessing of our Lord and Savior. We are all doing great. God has done and is doing great things in our lives and ministry. At the moment we have no plans for our furlough. We still have not received our children’s documents. Pray that they will come at the right time.
Our services have been wonderful. Sunday morning we work to a great extent with children and teens. We have a group of about 60 that come faithfully. It is so wonderful to see them change their
behavior as they keep coming. They come from homes that are a total wreck.
The Sunday night services have been great. We have several couples that have been coming for about a month now. Sunday night we had 3 of them that made professions of faith. Pray for these new converts. We will continue teaching on the doctrine of the Baptist church. Several of these adults had attended other evangelical churches. So they have been taught several doctrines. They will be a great blessing to the church.
We still spend lots of time with our children on Sunday morning. Since they come from so many homes where the suffer abuse of all kinds. Kathy and I love to sit out in front of the church and the children come and hug us. The young man that we mentioned a few months ago that came to church high on drugs is still coming. He has changed so much. Pray for him. His name is Clayton.
On Sunday night we plan for the next Sunday school. We decide what the menu is and everyone helps giving something for the meal. Everyone loves to give for the kid’s meal. Below is our last meal. The little boy in blue that is watching me cook is my helper. When he started coming to church he was absolutely terrible. His name is Bruno and his mother is HIV positive. That can kind of tell you where he is coming from!!!!!
Bruno (in the blue shirt) is Odali’s special helper.
Bro. Odali prepares the kids’ meal–a weekly event!
We are coming to a close of another year and we are making plans for our ministry for the coming year. We will share with you in our next letter what God has placed on our hearts. Thanks for all your prayers and support. God bless all of your tremendously.
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Caixa Postal 182
17400-000 Garca, SP
Brasil, S.A.
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [October 2012]
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,
Greetings! Hope all is well with all of you. We are doing great. God has been good to us and we are all in good health. I got to go visit my father in Manaus. My brothers took him to Manaus to take care of him. He is now 92 years old. Actually doing good for his age. Hope that I can see him again soon and enjoy him while I can. Our hope is that he actually has accepted Jesus as his Saviour.
The church here is doing great. We have had new adults coming and on Sunday mornings many kids and teens are coming. Every week we have new kids that are coming and we are not even doing visitation. The kids are bringing other kids. It has been such a joy to see the kids growing and changing each week. It is wonderful to see them with a desire to learn more about God. What is so fantastic is that about 70% of them are in their teens. The drug addicted teen we mentioned in the last letter is still coming. Pray for him. His name is Clayton. We run the bus pretty much just in to neighborhoods. And these neighborhoods are enemies and have been for years. Each Sunday we see and improvement in their behavior. Pray for us that God will give each one of us wisdom to work with these children.
We have been working in getting each member involved in some area of the church ministries. Some have really taken action and are growing and others a little slower. But we praise God for those that have made the difference.
Here at the home we have 5 mothers with their children. The last mother who came for help has 3 children. The little boy who is 6 years old has cancer. He has been in treatment for 2 years. Hope that he will along with his family look to the Lord for salvation.
We want to thank all of those who have been faithful in your giving to BFM and for your constant prayers for each missionary families and our ministries. Your prayers are greatly appreciated. God bless each one of you.
We do not have any permanent plans for our furlough at this moment. We are still waiting for our children’s documents to get back to us. But I think that the documents are going to go all over the US before they get back to us. We first sent them to Chicago where we were told to send them, from there they went to California, and this week we got a letter that they went to Missouri. Well I guess we will have to be patient and wait on the Lord.
We will keep you informed on what is going on and our plans.
God Bless,
Odali & Kathy
**Please be sure to visit the BFM Facebook page to view a video of their kids at church singing. It’s a blessing and a half!**
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Caixa Postal 182
17400-000 Garca, SP
Brasil, S.A.
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [September 2012]
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.
September 2, 2012
Hope all of you friends and supporters are doing great and enjoying the Lord’s blessings. We are doing great. We want to give a special thanks to all of you who have faithfully supported our ministry and BFM. We are very grateful for your faithfulness. Our ministries would be impossible or very difficult without your help. We also are very thankful for those who pray for our ministries. Knowing that someone is lifting us up to the Lord is so comforting.
We have had a great month here with those we work with and the adults that we have been helping and especially in the church. We have helped several families for short period of time. We are especially excited about our Sunday school. God has given us a special group of kids to work with. It is very hard to get teens to come to church just about anywhere. Even those kids that have been coming to church since they were little, when they become teens, they usually quit. Well, our biggest number is exactly teens that range from 12 to 16 yrs old. We are not even doing visitation. They are bringing their friends. It’s like having Alpha and Omega back for a day.
They arrive here at about 9:15 AM and leave here about 1:00 PM. How would you like a Sunday school that last 4 hours?!!! If they could, they would stay longer. These kids live in a poor part of town but worst of all right in the middle of drugs and prostitution and everything else that goes along with that. Not too many options right! That is why we try to spend as much time as we can with them. Last week we had 56 that came, not counting the adults.
Sunday Morning Service
SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE
We have two people that are coming almost every Sunday. Please pray for them. I will tell you just a little about each one. The lady is probably in her forties. She looks like she is anorexic, but is actually an alcoholic. She became that way after she killed her husband. Our prayer is that she will accept the Lord and Savior and receive forgiveness. So that she can live a new life. The other one is a teenager about 16 years old. A few Sundays ago I was driving the bus and got stuck at the bottom of the street where there is a big dip. I go down that street every Sunday and that had never happened. I believe that God had a purpose that day. When I got out to see what I could do and if I was going to need help, the teen came my way. He was drugged. He asked what I was doing, where those people were going and if you had to pay to go, and last if he could go. I answered all his questions and invited him to come. He said he would go but was going to get a friend. Well then I thought he wouldn’t be back. There probably is no friend. I was wrong!!! He actually got the friend and came. Watching him in Sunday school is so gratifying. I don’t think that he ever went to Sunday school. He is like a little kid. He wants to get involved in all the activities. Please pray that he will understand God’s love for him and accept Jesus as Savior also.
Tito (14), Odali and Kathy, Gabriel (12), Jonas (13)
We had a meeting with all our members and made plans for the church and made groups for the different activities that each one could and wanted to help in. Our son Tito age 14, who already helps in the toddler’s class offered to help with visitation and to make an invitation pamphlet to hand out. Yesterday none of the group had done anything, so he started making the pamphlet and asked Loran who is here form the US to help him. They got the pamphlet done and he went to hand them out. Loran offered to go with him and they went. We praise God for Tito. And pray that he will continue to let God use him.
Thanks again for your love prayers and support. God bless each of you.
Love in Christ,
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Caixa Postal 182
17400-000 Garca, SP
Brasil, S.A.
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