Dear Pastors, Supporters, and Praying Friends,

Trying to change the sovereignty of God is like trying to change the law of gravity. The law of gravity that God established in the beginning is impossible to change. Gravity will always be gravity, and it is the same with God’s sovereignty. Proverbs tells us that if we commit to the Lord, He will direct our steps. Every step that we go, we are to live by faith and trust the Lord’s sovereignty.

We thank Lord for directing our steps during Roniya’s heart procedure. We received enough money to pay off the loan for her procedure. Praise the Lord! After her brief time of recovery, we started to travel again in April. Our daughters are doing well traveling so many thousands of miles as we continue on furlough.

In the month of April, we reported to most of the churches that already support us. It was such a blessing to be with people that we know faithfully support us and that are praying for us while we are in Brazil. Seeing you all in person was wonderful and we have had such a sweet time of fellowship with you.

We were unsure of where we would go next and where we would sleep the next evening, but then the Lord had a person contact us and requested us to be in El Paso in two days! We were in Branson, MO at the time. We packed and drove two full days to get to Texas. The Lord provided us a place to stay for 10 days, which was such a blessing. We visited 4 churches while we were in the area. I also met a man who lived on the street asking for food. I gave him food and shared with him the Living Bread. I asked him if he would believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him because He rose from the dead for our sins to give us eternal life. It broke my heart when the man said “No, I will not believe until I got job through an interview next week.” I shared with another man who lived on the street as well. He also did not want to believe that Jesus died for his sins and rose again to give him eternal life. Please pray for these two men, as I planted the seeds of the Gospel and pray that they will one day trust in Christ.

For the next month we traveled from west Texas to east Texas, visiting churches across the state. We met so many wonderful people and had so many good experiences that we could not begin to tell everything in this letter. After church one day, while we were in Lubbock, Texas, the Lord led my wife to share with a lady about her spiritual battle she had experienced in the past few years and how the Lord had delivered her from it. In amazement to my wife, the woman said that this is what she needed to hear! We were able to pray with her for her son. It was a wonderful moment where we as brethren were bearing burdens for each other: mourning with those who mourn and rejoicing with those who rejoice.

Praise the Lord that as a result of our trip through Texas we have three new churches that will support us financially. Since beginning furlough, we now have a total of about 6 new churches that have partnered with us financially. It is exciting to see how the Lord is faithful to meet our needs.

Many of you know that we plan to return to Brazil soon, but with our support being short by 20%, our pastor has asked us to extend our furlough unto the end of this year. We are at 81% right now. Please pray with us that Lord will increase our support level by the end of the year.

In Christ Alone,

Michael, Ruth, Giovanna, and Roniya