Summer Newsletter

chriswynn — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:56:00 GMT

“Pleased to meet you!”, I said last night, as I shook hands with the couple in our church foyer. They are Mario & Dulcineia. He is one of Mirian’s teachers in her interior design course. She works for Motorola in their Campinas plant in an administrative capacity. Both of them seemed genuinely happy to be at our church where they heard a wonderful cantata by our choir which proclaimed the resurrected Christ – Mirian sang a beautiful solo. The message by our pastor also touched their hearts. Please keep Mario and Dulcineia in your prayers. They need Jesus! Pray for Mirian to be a faithful witness to Mario and other teachers and classmates.

Mirian has taken on some new challenges over the past months. Besides studying, she has increased her involvement at the Boldrini Children’s Cancer Hospital, where she used her music talent to bless those who attended the weekly chapel services. Now, she has stepped into a chaplaincy role, visiting patients and their family members in their rooms two afternoons a week. She has the opportunity to bring words of comfort and encouragement as well as just be available to those who are struggling and suffering.

Chaplaincy work takes a special gifting that Mirian seems to possess. She is able to connect almost immediately with those with whom she comes into contact, establishing a sense of warmth and assurance. She has received training and encouragement through the chaplaincy team at the hospital. One of the dynamics that she must face is that the chaplaincy team is not Christian, per se. Persons of any and all religious faiths may (and do) participate, lending an even greater relevancy to what Mirian is doing. Praise the Lord that the lady who has trained her is a strong believer.

Eric has been rebounding at school, turning in better grades and generally behaving with greater restraint. He has inherited all of his passion and love for communication from his father, and expends this during classroom hours, much to the chagrin of his teachers and desperation of his folks. But, hey, he’s 13!

Eric has taken up electric guitar lessons after a brief hiatus (for scholastic reasons). His percussion teacher at school understands that Eric has talent in the musical field. Obviously, his mother has much to do with this trait. He also enjoys sports in general, but has not found a particular one which has captured his fancy, yet.

Join us as we praise God for his continued growth and development, and PRAY with us for his success throughout the teenage years.

I, Rick, have been busy preaching, teaching, training and evangelizing in a variety of contexts, but that is the subject of another letter. For now, here are some added reasons to praise and to pray:

You may have noticed that there are no pictures in this month’s letter. That is because our relatively new (1.5 years) digital camera no longer works. Please pray that we will have the means to replace this soon, as it is wonderful tool for better communication.
On Saturday, May 27th, I will be showing the Jesus film and preaching open-air in conjunction with a local church. The youth group from our church will be evangelizing the surrounding neighborhood during the afternoon. Please pray for protection, discernment and good soil in which to sow the seed of the Gospel.
In June, we will be visiting some of our friends and supporters as well as spending a few days at our mission headquarters. Pray for a safe journey and renewed friendships and contacts.
Our support level continues to hover around 85%. That translates into over $800/mo of need which must be met soon. We continue to live off of savings, but this, too, is coming to an end. Please PRAY that the Lord would raise up new support.
In July, upon returning from the US, I will once again travel to Mozambique, Africa. I will offer greater details in future letters. Please be in prayer already for this trip and all that it represents.

We are reminded that it is because of your love and faithfulness that we are able to carry on the work of the ministry to which we have been called. Thank You!!

Love, in Christ, Rick Sturz

Rick & Mirian Sturz

Summer Newsletter