Latest from the Greenwoods

Time for an update:

You may have picked up on the news that Mark has been appointed as Regional Team Leader  for Latin America for BMS, well - our biggest challenge at the moment is to conciliate both our jobs, the Social Action Department for The Brazilian Baptist Convention, and this new role with BMS.

We are looking to have somebody to share the Social Action job, which will be a blessing: ask God to guide us to the right person. The Social Action work is growing and the idea has always been to pass it on to Brazilians, so it is the natural way ahead. Until this happens, the tasks sometimes seem bigger than we can manage, so we would appreciate prayers that God will help us to manage time and tasks, so we work in a way that we bless others.

Ana, our daughter, was baptized last Sunday, and Mark was able to baptize her. We are very thankful for the way the children are well integrated at church, and find  friends and spiritual guidance there.

Edward, our son, has got into his head that he wants to be an engineer, and that he wants to study in a good university, so he considers his studies top priority at the moment. It doesn't mean that all he does is study, but he has a good group of friends at school who also value their studies, so they are an encouragement to him. We are very grateful for that.

Suzana is in a selection process to do a Masters course in Health Education. The selection is quite tough and she would appreciate prayers for the interview stage, which will take place on the second half of the month. These studies will deepen her understanding of questionswhich are covered in the Space-to-Fly materials, some of which cover Healthissues. Recently a Space-to-Fly nucleus in Rio de Janeiro state received the blessing of a large, two-year HSBC grant. On 18th-20th November there will be a training weekend in São Paulo, and in February the programme will be launched in Pernambuco state.

Our colleagues in São Luís (Julia Stanbrook) and Rio Grande do Norte (Daveen and Mike Wilson, John and Maria Dyer) are all coming to the end of their ministries in Brazil. Rosimar and Tim Deller are looking to expand their work among the landless agricultural workers in other states beyond Mato Grosso do Sul. Please pray for clear guidance for their futures.

Mark has just got back from a visit to Peru, please pray for the Peruvian Baptist Convention and the BMS colleagues there (Willimsons, Ropers, Rivas,Thurgood, Henleys, Swires) as we deepen our partnership in Church Planting,Environmental Projects and Leadership Training.

Thank you very much for your prayers and interest in our work.

Mark and Suzana