Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [March 2016]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
March 5, 2016
Dear Friends,
It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord provides opportunities to make Him known to others on a personal basis. I’m still not great at it, but I am learning to look around me as I live life day by day to see where God is opening doors for me to share His love. This week’s opportunity came in what seemed on the surface to be a mistake on my part. We have been living in our neighborhood for several months and early on, we met a Christian family who lives a few houses down. They have several teenaged blond haired boys. As I was coming home and was several blocks away I saw a blond teenaged boy walking down the street toward our home. I assumed that he was one of our neighbor’s kids, so I stopped to offer him a ride the rest of the way home. As I began talking with him I realized that he was not their son, so I apologized for my mistake and started to drive away. He called out to stop me and asked if I really would give him a ride since he was still quite a way from his home. When I told him that I would he got into my car. His name is Cody. On the way to Cody’s house I found out that he had been suspended from school for what, he said, was a false accusation of vandalism; putting glue in the teacher’s seat. I knew I only had a few minutes with Cody, so I used his suspension, whether his fault or not, to begin sharing how the Lord had found me in my youth, when I was a vandal (and worse) with the love and forgiveness that only Jesus can give. I told him that God loved us, and despite our sins, truly wants to have an intimate relationship with Him. I didn’t presume him to be guilty of vandalism, but I did want to share with him that the Lord sent His Son Jesus to save us from all sin if we will just believe and surrender to Him as Lord. Our ride was short, but I continue to pray that God will use the message I shared with Cody to plant a seed which will eventually bear fruit to the glory of God in his salvation.
Gratefully, my dad still doesn’t have any pain. God continues to answer the prayers of many to bless both him and us, his kids. We can see that he becomes feebler as each week passes. He is sleeping approximately 22 hours per day and even in his hours awake he is often confused. Charlene and I will be leaving to go to Brazil for 2 weeks starting tomorrow and we are hoping that he can endure until we return. Please pray for him about this, if it can please the Lord.
As I mentioned, Charlene and I will be leaving tomorrow to go back to Brazil for two weeks. We will serve as hosts and translators for a group of 40 youth from Brandon, Florida. Our outreach teams, Projeto Vida, are getting geared up to receive and assist us in getting the gospel to several public schools during Spring Break. We expect to be in about 8 public schools during in one week’s time. Please pray that the Lord will open the hearts of many to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and that He will also protect the group from spiritual and physical harm.
I’m looking forward to our next letter when I expect to report the results of this trip and of the many conversions to Christ that we hope to see from these efforts.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [February 2016]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
February 5, 2016
Dear Friends,
Charlene and I truly appreciate you who have kept us in your prayers as we continue to care for my ailing father. It is evident that God has answered many of those prayers because he is not in any pain. Also, the time that he and I spend together is very precious as we reflect on the Lord’s blessings to us and how we may best serve Him while on this earth. Thank you for those prayers.
I continue to have opportunities to share the Word of God with some of the Hospice care personnel. Just yesterday I was asked several questions about how to have the assurance of one’s salvation. I shared several Scriptural references and their application and the young lady seemed to understand and accept that teaching.
The Winter Missions Conference at the Park Ridge Baptist Church last month was a true joy as we got to fellowship with several of our dear friends of Baptist Faith Missions. Pastor Benton Glover and the church members hosted us very graciously. It was also a tremendous joy to get to visit with our fellow missionaries to Brazil, John and Alta Hatcher and Paul and Wanda Hatcher.
Our evangelistic outreach teams in Brazil, Projeto Vida, have returned to their activities after the holiday break. Besides having Christmas and New Year’s Day during this period, it is also summertime in southern Brazil and the schools let out for summer break. The public schools are our main venues for taking the gospel to unreached cities and their being closed doesn’t provide the teams with many available audiences. We will shortly resume our travels to many new cities since the students are back to school. In fact, Charlene and I will be traveling down to Brazil early next month to host a team of 40 youth from the Tampa, Florida area. I have already been resolving logistical details for their lodging, meals, and travel inside the country and will arrive a few days ahead of them to prepare our translator teams and tie up any loose ends.
Charlene and I thank you so much for your prayers for us. May the Lord richly bless you and your families and churches.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers Stateside from Brazil [January 2016]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
January 4, 2016
Dear Friends,
Welcome to 2016! The last month of last year was very productive for us in several ways. We had the privilege of hosting some of the best missionaries in the world, Bro. and Sis. David and Pennie Hatcher of Manaus, Brazil. We also got to share the gospel on a personal level to a few people involved in the hospice care of my dad in Plant City, Florida. Our outreach teams in Brazil had opportunities to present the love of Christ in 4 different cities in 2 separate states. Overall, the gospel was shared with over 4,000 people in one month.
After coming to the US in March to help my siblings with the care of my ailing father, Charlene and I still were able to return to Brazil twice to help tend to our outreach ministries there. Those works are doing very well and we are excited about the opportunities to continue those partnerships this year. My father’s health continues to decline as his need for assistance increases. Please keep him and my family who cares for him in your prayers.
In a couple of weeks I plan to attend the Winter Missions Conference on behalf of Baptist Faith Missions at the Park Ridge Baptist Church in Gotha, Florida. Bro. Benton Glover, the pastor, was gracious enough to invite me and I’m looking forward to reuniting with some wonderful friends and brothers and sisters in Christ and also to meeting some new ones.
Our outreach teams, Projeto Vida, spent several weeks on the highway in December taking the gospel message to 3 Brazilian cities in the states of Minas, Gerais, and Parana. Those trips were very fruitful and the teams had the privilege of leading 54 individuals to Christ as their Savior and Lord.
During the month of January the teams will take a short break and then return to do maintenance on the vehicles and begin practice for their gospel skits before going out on the highways again. We are looking forward to a challenging and productive 2016 with God’s blessings with us at every step.
Thank you for your care and support through prayer and offerings.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers Stateside from Brazil [December 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
December 7, 2015
Dear Friends,
What a trip! Our ministry partners from Projeto Vida (Project Life), Paulo and Luiza Novaes, came to the USA to spend a month with us and visit with some supporting churches and to attend the annual Baptist Faith Missions conference in Dearborn Heights, MI. On that trip, we traveled through 11 states in 9 days. The Lord blessed us to provide the amazing beauty of the autumn leaf colors of the Great Smoky Mountains—something our partners had never seen and we hadn’t seen in many years.
We had the privilege to share our ministry endeavors and goals with two wonderful churches: The Concord Baptist Church of Leesville, SC and the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Bellbrook, OH. Both churches and their pastors hosted us graciously. Charlene and I and our ministry partners, Paulo and Luiza, were encouraged and refreshed by spending quality time with new friends from these churches.
Three of our teams were very busy in outreach this past month. They were blessed to have 26 public schools open the doors for them to present Gospel skits and testimonies to over 7,000 students and faculty. There were just under 200 professions of faith in Jesus Christ as a result of these efforts. The Lord has truly blessed!
Thank you for your continued prayers for my ailing father and for Charlene and me while caring for him.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
Read more
Missionary Update: The Wacasers Stateside from Brazil [November 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
November 2, 2015
Dear Friends,
I’m sure that I have had a busier month in my life, but I just can’t remember when. But on the upside, it was a marvelous month of seeing God’s hand at work. We are none the worse for wear from the events that made up our month either. In fact, Charlene and I are very excited about so many of the signs that the Lord is blessing our efforts and using us to further His kingdom.
We are having the privilege of hosting Bro. Paulo Novaes and his wife, Luiza, this month and they will be attending the Thanksgiving Conference with us next week. Paulo and his wife launched our partnered ministry, Projeto Vida (Project Life) in 1997 to take the gospel to nearly every state in Brazil and lately they are reaching nearly 100,000 people per year with the Word of God.
Here is a recent report from one of our team missionaries:
“We were in an interior town recently doing a Gospel presentation through skits and testimonies. There was a young lady at one of our presentations who came from a very dysfunctional family where there was much abuse and abandonment. This young lady had begun to cut herself frequently and had a sense that her life was hopeless. Through the dramatic Gospel presentation and testimonies, the Lord touched this young lady’s heart and she surrendered her life to Christ. After sharing her faith publicly, she sought out her parents to declare to them that she forgives them for the way they treated her.”
Another Projeto Vida volunteer shared:
“There was a man at one of our presentations who had been abandoned by his young adult children. He felt extremely lonely and had begun to be bitter toward his children and depressed with life in general. I used his situation to show him the story of the Prodigal Son in the Scriptures and how much the Lord longs for his lost children to come home. I pointed out to him that in the same way that he longed to see his children return to an intimate relationship with him, that Lord wants this man to come into God’s loving care. The man understood the message and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. We rejoiced with him, gave him a written Bible study plan and gave his contact information to the local pastor who was hosting our team.”
Each week we have the privilege of hearing testimonies of how the Lord is using our outreach teams. I hope you will have the opportunity to be with us at the Thanksgiving Conference to hear more of how God is using this ministry.
Thank you for your loving prayers and support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
Read more
Missionary Update: The Wacasers Stateside from Brazil [October 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
October 4, 2015
Dear Friends,
Charlene and I just returned from a two week trip to Brazil. We had to count on family members to cover for us taking turns caring for my ailing father. While in Brazil we were able to have a meeting with our evangelism ministry, Projeto Vida, and make plans for the next few months of outreach efforts.
My young replacement at my former church, Alek Rossi, has been doing a great job. Everyone we talked to about how the church was doing gave excellent reports on how well he is pastoring the flock and teaching. We saw several new families attending and the church is still baptizing new members. Alek asked me to preach on the Sunday that we were present. It was a welcome privilege to be in my former pulpit teaching God’s word and seeking to make Him known to the lost. It was clearly evident that the members have truly embraced Alek and his wife as their leaders. It was also clear that the members have embraced the responsibilities of caring for their facilities. Actually, I got a little ironic laugh out of seeing how well they have done that. For 4 years I sought to transfer to the members the importance of attending to the small details of cleanliness and upkeep of the grounds while they also gave loving attention to the other members and visitors. As soon as we drove onto the property we saw that loving care had gone into the upkeep of every little detail. I want to think that my constant example and drilling the members finally took hold, but it would have been nice if they had shown that while I was still there. I love them anyway!
While I was meeting with the Projeto Vida leaders they shared how the Lord has been blessing this year. They still have two more months to work in the public schools this year, but already they have been in 6 states, taking the gospel to over 30,000 students and teachers. We also made preparation for hosting and training missionary volunteers in the upcoming months. There will be two international volunteers arriving early next year who will work and travel with the teams in active training. Also, we will coordinate the partnership with a group of nearly 50 youth who will share the gospel in some public schools and parks.
It has been many years since we have been able to participate in the Missions Conference on behalf of Baptist Faith Missions in Dearborn Heights, MI. We are really excited about being there again in early November. We hope to see many of our old friends there and are looking forward to making new friendships as well.
Thank you for your prayers and support,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers Stateside from Brazil [September 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
August 27, 2015
Dear Friends,
I am still learning how to live IN the world and not be OF the world, as Jesus taught His disciples. With all the recent news reports on the atrocities of Islamists around the world, I found myself developing a strong resentment and near-hatred for unknown people of Arabic origin. I know in my heart that Jesus came into the world redeem lost people from every nation and tribe, but the brutality of this particular ethnic group I had a hard time even desiring for them to come to salvation. That was until, this month, I had the opportunity provided by God to get to know a young Muslim man about the same age as my son. His name is Houcine and he is from Tunisia, Tunis in northern Africa. He came as an exchange student to the USA and was placed in a host home close to the church where my family and I are serving. He is a very pleasant person who is easy to be around and is extremely respectful and is always offering to help in any project. As I thought about his being here, I realized that the Lord was teaching me to love the way He loves. I would think of the Muslim people as a group, but not as individuals in need of a Savior. Now that I am in constant contact with Houcine, I am able to relate to him as a fellow sinner who is loved by Christ and who needs to be saved. I pray that my behavior and attitudes toward him serve to point him to the Lord and that, in due time, he may come to a saving knowledge of Christ and would take the Gospel back to his own family and nation.
Our church in Brazil recently celebrated their 4th anniversary. They were happy to see several new faces attending and are still growing firmly in our absence. I will be with them near the end of September for couple of services and training. Alek and his wife are doing a great job in the leadership of the church there.
Our evangelistic outreach teams from Projeto Vida had a unique opportunity this month in the capital city of Curitiba. They were invited to participate in a drama fair where the teams portrayed the gospel in skits and dramatic plays on a public stage. The theme was the horrors of the Holocaust, but our teams were able to adapt their scripts to convey the message of Christ in a public setting beyond the usual realm of evangelism. We are very thankful for the opportunities that the Lord provides for our ministry. We have seen that, as we seek Him and are bold to make Him known, He blesses and opens doors that we couldn’t even imagine possible.
Charlene and I leave in a couple of weeks to go back to Brazil to renew our permanent visas and to help in training leaders. You may have noticed in the world news that there is great unrest in Brazil. There are major rallies crying for the impeachment of the president for corruption and there is great unrest throughout the country. Please pray for us as we travel and that the Lord may prosper our journey.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
Read more
Missionary Update: Bobby & Charlene Wacaser [August 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
August 3, 2015
Helping to take care of my father has been quite a different experience from my mission routine of the last 30 years, to say the least. First, I can say that it is a privilege and, in an ironic way, a joy to do it. I’m sad that he has lost so much of the independence and strength that he always displayed, but I truly am thankful for the opportunity to spend large blocks of time in close conversation about the really important matters of life. He has shared with me his testimony of his conversion to Christ and the thoughts and conversations that he and our mother had about how to raise me and my 7 siblings. His strength continues to decline, but his spirit is at peace with God’s will for his remaining time on earth.
Charlene and will be making another trip back to Brazil in September to renew our permanent visas because they will expire before the end of the year. We are scheduling our trip in such a way as to be of the most help to our ministry partners there. I will be teaching at the mission training school of Projeto Vida and will also do some intensive training at our former church. We are looking forward to seeing our Brazilian family for a couple of weeks during that visit.
Projeto Vida had a very busy month of ministry. The Alpha bus, though not quite 100% complete, was back on the highways and took a team of missionaries two states away to aid the ministries of several local churches. The team was very helpful in teaching and encouraging the youth of those churches to heed the call to go to the lost with the gospel. The team taught some innovative ideas for gaining a hearing among one’s own peers and age group. Their own experiences were helpful for these young people to see that evangelism and outreach doesn’t have to be rote, canned or outdated. They stick to the Scriptures in their message, but use creative means to gain a hearing from folks their own age and beyond.
The Logos team was busy in the public schools both near Curitiba and in the state of Minas Gerais, about 15 hours away. This group had the privilege of being instrumental in bringing over 500 people to make a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. One of the missionaries had the privilege to lead an older couple who had been Catholics all their lives to a personal relationship with Christ. They knew a lot about Jesus, but they had never known how to KNOW Jesus. After hearing the gospel clearly both the man and his wife surrendered their lives to the Lord and were immediately overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness.
There was another man who seemed irreligious who was angry at God because he blamed Him for his son having walked away from the family. The missionary from the Logos team shared the story of the Prodigal Son and explained to the man that all we have behaved like that prodigal son by walking away from God, but that God, like the caring father in the parable patiently and lovingly waits for his lost children to come home. The man understood and embraced the message and surrendered his life to Christ also and was full of gratitude to the missionary for sharing God’s word with him. We are so thankful for our faithful mission teams and to God for guiding and sustaining them. We also thank you for your faithful prayers and support so that we may continue this outreach.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Give: Click here to give.
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