Good morning everyone!
Family Updates
Justin & Paige Jacobson
I know that it has been about a month since I last communicated to you, and a lot has been going on! On the family front, both Bill Burrows and I have taken some family time off for vacations, big events, and painting jobs. Bill and Joyce celebrated their daughter Paige's wedding in August.
Nola's and my second grand-baby was born this past Sunday (a beautiful baby girl named Bridget!), and I have been in construction-worker mode on the home front, helping family members paint and roof and fix stuff.
Steve and Nola welcome little Bridget into the world! Proud parents not pictured are Ryan and Bobbi Reed!
Friends on Mission
Before I go much further, I would like to welcome about 20 veterinarians from the Christian Veterinary Missions group to the update. Welcome! In August I had the privilege of sharing a testimony with that group at their annual meeting that happened to be here in Kansas City this year. Special thanks go to long-time friend, Dr. Natalie Beck, for setting that up.
The last time I communicated with you in this format, a team of ours was in Guatemala helping Cesar Gonzalez finish the construction of a medical clinic. As of yesterday, Cesar told me that they just lack a little painting, then it will be completely ready. We hope to show you finished pics soon. Special thanks goes to the teams from Second Baptist in Springfield, Missouri, and First Baptist of Avilla, Missouri.
Speaking of First Baptist of Avilla, Bill and I went down there this past weekend to train them in our Play. Story. Eat. process. What a great time! Special thanks go to their pastor, Lance Green and Melfin Buchanan for helping our time go smoothly. Also, thank you to the food crew for making the "Eat" part of the Play. Story. Eat. weekend a delicious highlight for all of us who attended.
New Play. Story. Eat. Missionaries! First Baptist Church of Avilla
Disaster news...During the past month there has been a lot going on with Harvey, Irma, and a big earthquake in southern Mexico that rocked Guatemala, too. Cesar informed me right after it happened that even though it shook them pretty good, those in their area withstood it okay. More of an ongoing issue has been the torrential rains that have created many mudslides. Electricity has been off and on a few times, but according to Cesar, there has been little to no loss of life. On the U.S. front, some of our friends are gearing up to help in Texas and in Florida, so there are ongoing needs to continue to pray about and help with.
Possible Expansion of PSE in Brazil
Brazil opportunity...as I write this update, I need prayer for wisdom on an opportunity we have for Cesar and I to travel to Brazil. In July, when we did our Play. Story. Eat. training in Guatemala, a pastor of one of the churches attended. His name is Junior, and he also happens to be Brazilian. Junior came to Guatemala with his family as a missionary several years ago and has been networking with other pastors to do evangelism together. After the training, he remembered hearing the story of a noted rodeo announcer in Brazil who had come to Christ. In the training, as we told of how this process came largely out of our work with cowboys, he felt compelled to find this guy on Facebook and contact him. This past week he got in touch with him and was informed that the rodeo announcer had been praying about this very thing and had been given a word from the Lord that someone would contact him within three weeks to help him know what to do next!
After speaking with Cesar yesterday, it looks like the initial plan is for our Brazilian announcer to come to both the U.S. and Guatemala to meet us in these two contexts. In addition, he would like for us to come to Barretto, Brazil, as soon as possible to meet key leaders there. I expect to get more information today and would appreciate your prayers about this. Communication could get interesting since Brazilians speak Portuguese, and though we Spanish speakers can kind of understand it, there is a greater challenge. If you have Brazilian connections and expertise, please contact me. As soon as I know something more, I will let you know.
10:02 PRAYER (Luke 10:2)
Please pray for the wisdom and resources to respond to this Brazilian request.
Pray for our friends dealing with the latest string of natural disasters.
INVEST
Thanks to FBC of Avilla, Missouri, for your generosity this weekend! We look forward to partnering more in your mission endeavors as we work together to see that every person in the Americas has a friend who loves Jesus.
ENGAGE
Note that our next Play. Story. Eat. Experience will be November 10-11 in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Stay tuned about those details and pass the word to all your Nebraska friends.
Love y'all!
Steve
PS... Investing Information
You can mail checks to:
Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210
On PayPal, you can give using the email daybreak.international@gmail.com.
On our websites, you can give at www.PlayStoryEat.com or www.DaybreakInternational.org.
Baby Bridget sleeping after a hard first day of work!