January News

January 2009 marked several milestones. It marks 32 years since the Aveys first left for Brazil, the 15th year with the Churches of God, General Conference Missions, and 10 years since the founding of Project Good News Brazil (Good News Bible Conference of Brazil). God has surely blessed us through all these years, good times and difficult battles. The truth is, without a battle there is no victory. We are praising God for all the victories won in the last 10 years, especially for the lives that have been transformed by the power of the Good News of Jesus Christ!

The Good News Conference will have an anniversary celebration the 26-29th of March. It will be held in the Good News Bible Church of Santo Antonio de Jesus in the NE state of Bahia. We are anticipating a wonderful time of celebration, fellowship and renewed vision to accomplish more for His kingdom in the next 10 years.

The anniversary theme will be “Building and Battling” taken from Nehemiah 4:17 “Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held their weapon with the other and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.” This verse provides a visual image of the spiritual work of missions. Building the kingdom while battling the forces of darkness on his territory…advancing often inch by inch. Satan is never happy with the building of the kingdom nor the kingdom builders!

Project Good News Brazil is the result of the many fellow laborers with Him who have prayed and supported this ministry. Through the years, together, we have been building up lives and winning spiritual battles. Thanks again to each of you our prayer warriors and support partners. Keep praying for PGNBRAZIL!

Happy New Year 2009!!

Gordon and Annie Avey want to wish each of you and your families a blessed and healthy new year!

Just think, God has provided us with a blank page to begin anew…let’s not waste it but try and obey the Bible admonition, “Be very careful, then how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Efe. 5:15-17 NIV

December News

Merry Christmas Gordon & Annie Avey December 2008 PROJECT GOOD NEWS BRAZIL – gbavey@yahoo.com

Christmas Greetings to You! My, it seems like I just sent out a Chirstmas letter and already another year has rolled around. Like they say, time stops for no one. We would like to wish you and your family the most blessed Christmas ever! Our prayer for you is that the new year will bring you health and peace, and opportunities to express God’s love to others. For we know that this is the reason for t

he season and the purpose of our existance on earth, as followers of Jesus Christ. Annie and I want to thank each of you for your faithfulness in making it possible for us to proclaim Jesus Christ in Brazil for another year.

A Non-Traditional Nativity

The picture of the Nativity scene (right) was taken at a park in Campinas and is full of cultural and spiritual meaning. It has the theme of the Brazilian Everglades. Few know that Brazil has an everglades swamp along the Bolivian border larger than the state of Kansas called the “Patanal”. The scene has the baby Jesus lying in a thatch roof hut, with Joseph and Mary portrayed by the peasant workers of the region. The animals are regional as well with the monkey, crane, alligator, leopard, parrots and yes, even an anaconda (below) replacing the traditional, sheep, cow and camel.

Even though He is portrayed through different cultural lenses depending on the country, Jesus Christ came as the Savior of the world! The birth of the Savior shall be Good News to all peoples, the angel proclaimed. Thanks be to God this Gospel continues being proclaimed through God’s Church around the world.

October News

Field Address:
CP 5582
13095-990 Campinas, SP  Brazil,S/A

Return to Brazil

Greetings! After four months in the good ole USA, Annie and I are now back in Brazil. We arrived back on August the 12^th, which happened to be our 36^th wedding anniversary. We got home to find everything in order and it was good to be able to sleep in our own bed. There was a big stack of mail awaiting us at the post office with many birthday and anniversary cards from churches and individuals. It is always great to receive these well wishes from back home and we do appreciate each one. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!

Church Plant Campo Grande in Campinas

In 2007, we began a new church plant in the region of the city of Campinas know as “Campo Grande” or “Big Field”. This region use to be a large farm and ranch, now it is home to over 300,000 people living in 17 different neighborhoods. The city of Campinas has built hundreds of starter homes for the working class in the last 15 years. Today this region thatwas unpaved and isolated, now has four lane avenues, banks, supermarkets, hospitals, schools and is still growing. Property values are rising as more andmore investments are made in the region. Pastor Jimenez and family has lived here for 15 years. Pastor Jimenez was pastor at the Jambeiro Park Church since 2005. Until recently he also pastored the church plant started in his home in 2007 plus working a fulltime job! He is also a cancer survivor. With the support of his wife Claudia, they have services and Bible studies in their small home almost every night of the week. God has blessed them with a growing number of children, adolescents and youth. One of the new converts now offers tutoring twice a week in the afternoons for the needy children with their school work. Parents of the neighborhood are beginning to take notice and are visiting the church, some have even made professions of faith in Christ. The new church is planning a baptism in November. This is a working class neighborhood and the need is great as families are many times fractured by divorce, alcoholism, drug abuse and poverty. There is a deaf girl attending as well as an 11 year old girl with HIV infected by her mother at birth. The Good News of Jesus is being proclaimed! Pray for this church plant that has already reached its capacity for growth in the pastor’s home. The average attendance is now 60. We hope to find a property in the near future on which to locate the Good News Church so they can continue to reach out to this multitude.

New Desks for Bible Institue in Bahia

During my visits to the churches this summer, I made mention that for the last two years our Institute students have been taking notes on their knees…no not kneeling… but resting their notebooks on their knees in order to take notes. A Sunday school class in Ohio and several individuals made it possible for 30 new desks to be purchased. There are only 19 students but we bought the other 11 by faith God would fill them with new disciples wanting to learn more of Jesus and His Word. These are the future leaders of our church and Brazilian Conference. Pray for the Bible Institute in Santo Antonio de Jesus, Bahia.

Jambeiro Park Project Roofed

As I write this, the final touches are being done to the roof on the school project next to the Good News Church at Jambeiro Park Campinas. Also a work team from Hanover First Church of God (EPA) is arriving October 18^th to helpus get the construction farther along. Thank so much for your prayers and faithful support to Project Good News Brazil!