May 2007

Dear friends and family, Revival greetings in Jesus name.

It has been about 8 weeks now since I have sent out a newsletter. Please forgive me, but there has been so much going on that I have simply been busy in the fields of the Lord here in Brazil.

I am very excited about what I see happening here. The churches are open, and so are the heavens. When I wrote the last newsletter for March, I was about to go to the state of Parana and be with the churches there. I love Parana, and we have many friends there now. It was the first time however, that I have been to the city of Curitiba since we moved here. Candi and I were there twice with Dan and Marti years ago, but not in recent years.

We were with two churches there. They were new contacts, and when they heard we were available to come, they greeted us with open hearts. What a wonderful time. Pastors Manoel and Quiko are true men of God and their churches are mighty. When the meetings started, it was obvious that they had prepared their people as best as they could for what was about to happen. One dignified lady told me that she wore older clothes so she could do floor time! She had never been on the floor in here life. Ha. To make a long story short; wow! Ps Quiko has a school on his property for missionaries in training to go to un-reached people groups. We had time with them and other members of the staff daily. I really loved these churches. While we were in the hotel there, we met part of the hotel administration. They listened to us for a few days and have set up the month of August for us to come and be with 9 of their Baptist churches. They are so hungry…Sometimes just talking with these men of God I am overwhelmed with gratitude that God has included us in this revival and the restoration that accompanies it.

From there we went on to another new contact. It is a church in a city called Cianorte. This is a community in farmland in the heart of Parana. Pastors Bruno and Raquel have a young church (2 years) that has grown up to a membership of just over 300. When we opened the meeting the first night, it just went to heaven. I know many of you know what I mean. Most places you go require a certain amount of plowing and foundational ministry. This young church just exploded and off we went. After 6 meetings in 4 days, they were well on their way to a serious face to Face with Father. They found out what all of us need to remember: When the Glory of God falls, your flesh will move to its proper place flat on your face in the Presence of God! They found the revival they were seeking, and found it to begin in a very deep and personal place. Before any revival is released publicly, it is always released personally in the hearts and lives of individuals like you.

I could go on and on. I am sometimes tempted to change the form of our newsletters and just send a teaching. The letters and testimonies just sound too good to be true. Every month the same old/same old wonderful testimonies. There just isn't anything else to write. Our trials and challenges are just like yours. We are always being challenged in something. When I was leaving for these meetings, I got hit with dengue fever, yet the Glory and the possibility of what God would do in the meetings got me up every afternoon, and into the place God has called me to be. Like many of you, our funds go up and down, children need stuff….you know how it is. Yet there is a life in Jesus that gives life and rest of heart. Peace and the rest of God do not mean the absence of warfare. It is living in the Holy of Holies as a priest of the New Testament. In Jesus we rest from our labor of mind and labor of fleshly works. I am so glad that Jesus provided a place of rest for us. I have accepted that living in the heart of God is a better place than worry and the constant struggle over what is next, what do we do, where do we go, how do we pay for it and such things. The resting place of Gods joy, peace and righteousness is our heritage.
We were also in the cities of Cascavel and Umuaramma. Oh the Glory! In Cascavel we enjoyed perhaps some of the best meetings we have had yet. We visited friends in Umuaramma and when some of the folks from the church found out we were there, the yard filled up with people until almost 3:00 am. One woman named Angela Trento was there. Last year she was in the final stages of terminal cancer. We prayed for her and told her that we wanted to see her again, and play with her hair. Her hair is now over 2 inches long, and she is alive with plans for the future. She just cut her first worship CD and is planning the next one. Only Jesus can do that. What a great God we love and serve!

We just got home several days ago from Paracambi. Paracambi is a community 70 Km outside of Rio. Pastor Bob Dean from the River Road 4 Square church in Florida was with us for these meetings. He is seeing what we see every month; he is seeing the spiritual breakthrough that Jesus brings in every city we go to. He is also enjoying the Churrascho and the other things that go along with being here. I appreciate friends like Bob, who I have known for 34 years now. It is his first visit to Brazil, and the Holy Spirit is making it a life changing trip.

Today we travel to Cianorte then home again on Monday. On May 10 Candi flies to the USA for a month or so, and I fly to Recife for 3 weeks of meetings. If you would like to meet with Candi, or have her to your church while she is there, call Linda at the office. Thanks to all the partners in prayer and finance! You so faithfully keep our hands lifted up, and our feet on the ground of new cities. I can say with confidence that Jesus is working His miracles, souls are being saved, and the gospel of the Kingdom is being preached. God bless you all for your faithful partnership with us in the gospel.

My embrace to you all, Jeff Martin