Brazil Buzz

Website is moving.

2010-11-03T12:33:00.006-03:00

This blog is moving. We are now located at www.BrazilBuzz.org This blog will not be active anymore and any and all updates will come from there. Thank you for taking the time to check out our new site. God Bless.

Good News Bible Church Taquari

2010-04-29T09:48:00.003-03:00

This is Taquari today, you can see the progress we made painting the outside of the building to get it ready for the inauguration service. Heat caused us to retire early but we were able to get the painting done on Friday the day before the service. Clicking on the pictures will give you a bigger version.

First we had to paint the entire building white with a sealer so that we wouldn't need as much paint. Then the painting began.

Inauguration Service Held in Taquari

2010-04-28T14:03:00.002-03:00

On Saturday (April 24th, 2010) we held the inauguration service for the new church building in Taquari. We had over 60 people present on this evening. It was a moment of celebration. I read from Haggai 1:8 "Go up into themountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I amy take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord." This among other versus from the same book.
Pastor Samuel de Souza was present from our church in Bahia and gave the message that evening. Missionary Gordon Avey was also present and brought greetings to our congregations.
The evening was full of special choreographies, special music, praise and worship, and of course the message. After the service we had a time of fellowship as we snacked on some food and drank coca cola. God blessed us with a great evening.
Please pray that God would lead a Brazilian pastor to come and lead this new church plant.

God's blessing to you all.
Pastors from left to right Gordon, Samuel, Mike.

Children's choreography.

Choreography from the group Lilly of the Valley.

Praise and Worship Time.

Remembering where we started from.

Some of the people present that evening.

Construction News for 2010

2010-03-29T22:40:00.007-03:00

Below are some pictures of the construction that has been taking place during the end of 2009 into this year of 2010. Buildings are important, as you can imagine, for worship and educational purposes. More descriptions of the pictures follow below. If you want to see a larger version of these pictures just click on them and it should open a larger version in another window.

The above picture shows the Sunday school classrooms in the Santo Amaro neighborhood of Palmas, Tocantins. A need for a roof to stop water from seeping through the concrete ceiling was greatly needed. Two large classrooms with wall and a roof were built. Shippensburg First Church of God was responsible for a large offering that was given for this project and a big thanks to the work team from Chambersburg First Church of God and the help that they gave toward these classrooms and roof!

A balcony will be placed on the front as well as a stair case as funds become available for this project.

Quite a difference from where we began!

Work has come to a hault as funds have run out, but we are now able to be inside a much better structure in the Taquari neighborhood of Palmas, Tocantins. Funds are still needed to pay off some remaining costs that we had to get to this point if you feel led to give to that we will greatly appreciate it. Please pray for the people of the Taquari neighborhood. Pray that God would speak to their hearts that they will want to come and visit the new church, and that people may come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

A few more photos from Taquari follow. Once again thank you to everyone who gave to get the building to where it is today.

Photo of the staircase as it was being prepared to be poured for the actual steps, the concrete frame had already been poured when this picture was taken.

The inside as construction was coming to a close.

The concrete roof of Taquari, it is concrete because this will be the floor once we put up the second floor. This will be the next step here as it is so hard to keep these from leaking.

Mike and Hannah, standing on top of what will be the second floor.

First service in the new church bulding in Taquari. The official inauguration service is scheduled for the end of April 2010.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

2009-12-21T21:35:00.003-03:00

We want to thank you all who have prayed and supported us throughout this year. Thanks!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a great 2010. May God richly bless you and your family.

God's blessing to you.

Mike, Natinha and Hannah

Accident

2009-12-03T13:57:00.004-03:00

We had a big accident happen at the church in Santo Amaro, Palmas Tocantins Brazil, on November 14th. The church is constructing the classrooms on the second floor. This will provide the structure to cover the roof, so that the concrete floor stops leaking. One of the walls that was recently laid fell onto a Cyber Café. A very strong storm came by and blew the wall over. We are very THANKFUL to God, that no one was injured or killed in this accident, as the Cyber Café was empty at the time of the storm.

This left the church in a terrible financial situation. The wall fell through the roof of the Cyber Café and onto seven computers, monitors, stabilizers, chairs etc. The rain ruined a lot of the electronic items amounting to R$8157.56 or in dollars $4,826.96 Since the church doesn’t take in enough money to pay this damage, and to help avoid a lawsuit we are asking anyone or church that could help out the church of Santo Amaro in Palmas with these costs .

Anyone wanting to help the church with a donation can send it to the following address with a note that says Help Santo Amaro Church.

Here is the address:

Churches of God General Conference

700 East Melrose Ave.

Findlay, OH 45840

Thank you so much.

Mike Poe

Some pictures appear below of the damage, computers were already taken from the cafe before these were taken.

Chambersburg First Work Team to Palmas!

2009-11-24T22:13:00.006-03:00

They came, they saw, they worked, they sweat a lot, and most of all were a blessing to us and those they came across during their time here.

Chambersburg First Church of God Work Team to Brazil

On the 11th of November 13 Americans (oh yeah one was actually German, sorry Natasha) stepped off the plane into the heat of Palmas, Tocantins! They came to work and minister among the Brazilian people and in my opinion did a great job at doing both.

I like this photo!

The team being so big was separated into two work teams, some worked on our church building in Taquari while others worked on the second floor of the Sunday school classrooms at Santo Amaro. God blessed us with beautiful weather. Some asked if it is always this hot, and the reply was "this is nice you should see it in August or September!" For many this was their first time in Brazil so everything seemed new to them. The Taquari team helped fill dirt in to prepare for the concrete floor, and also helped the carpenter build his "boxes" that help hold the concrete in for columns and beams. The Santo Amaro team threw bricks up to the second floor, Kirby showed us his masonry skills, and others helped lift buckets of concrete and mud up to the second floor.

A little bit of Clowing around at Taquari!

On Saturday we held a children's service outside under a large tent in Taquari, we had almost 80 children show up! They listened to a Bible story and got to see some crazy clowns as well. That evening we had a service and were able to minister to the people in the neighborhood. One young man came up after the service to talk to Galen Bricker. He thanked them for coming. After talking for awhile Galen asked him if he could pray for him, to which the young man asked For me to accept Christ? to which we told him that was up to him, if he wanted to sure we would help him pray. He said he wanted to and I was able to translate Galen as he helped this young man ask Christ to forgive him of his sins and come into his life.

On Sunday we ministered to the Santo Amaro neighborhood, all the way over on the other side of the city, to give you and idea it is like driving about 15 or more miles from one church to the other. We did more of the same invited children to Sunday school had the clowns and Brazilian church members go with them on the streets. The church was packed with kids almost 80 again if not more, I lost count to be honest. That evening we held a church service as we typically do on Sunday evening and we had 103 people in attendance probably missed a few in my counting there too. We had four people raise their hands to accept Christ that evening and came forward to accept Christ into their lives.

Taquari Church With the Walls Up!

Move This Dirt Into the Church, Thanks!

The trip had to have at least one day of rest in which I took the team to see three different waterfalls, one more beautiful than the previous. The team enjoyed the nice cold water after a 1.5 mile hike threw some virgin Atlantic forest.

God used this team to touch lives and it was nice to see how He worked among the Brazilians and Americans during these nine days.

Taquari Night Service Under Tent

Amateur Dirt Movers

Thank you once again for coming Earl and you and the team are welcome back anytime.

Jesus name be praised!

Where have we been!

2009-10-16T21:25:00.002-03:00

If you have been wondering where we have been here is the scoop! We moved, again! We are happy to be out of our last house. It had a lot of problems, one of the major ones were bats. After a street fight broke out that was the last straw. God was good and allowed us to find a nice home in a different neighborhood. We were blessed because our contract was running out and we were unable to find anything until it was finally God´s timing, perfect as always.

So if you haven´t heard from us in awhile it is because we are exausted from the move, getting our new home in order, attending to our normal ministry duties, building a church, getting ready for my parents to come... I think you can see where this is going. Please pray for us as a much needed vacation time is coming! God bless you and thank you for your prayers.

Hopefull our internet service will be hooked up by Sunday, but I am not holding my breath.

Construction Work Begins at Taquari!

2009-10-16T20:42:00.005-03:00

Work has begun on the church building at Taquari!! Praise the Lord!!! We have watched as through the last few weeks steel has been bent and shaped into the form that needs be, cement has been poured and this week after the footers were set, they began pouring the foundation which will hold up the walls, they should have finished that today. God has blessed and the rains have held off for the most part although they have come early this year. The walls will be going up this coming week as well as the columns that will hold up the second floor and roof. We are very grateful to everyone who has contributed to this construction work. More will be needed for sure (the dollar has fallen to R$1.70), so if you feel God leading you to give toward this building project you may give your gift to the Findlay office and specify that it is for the Taquari building project. Some pictures appear below of the current progress of the church.

The footer (I guess that is what they are in English) are almost 6 feet deep and are where what the pillars will sit on top of. The metal sticking out of the whole in the ground will be one of the pillars, after it is filled in with concrete, wood boards are nailed together to keep the concrete in place while it hardens.

Two pastors who are learning more than they ever imagined about building.

Even Hannah has made some trips with Mommy and Daddy to the construction site, she slept through most of the visits.

A Brazilian worker is digging some of the holes for the pillars.

Here are the wooden forms I was talking about above, these will form the foundation of the building.

The photo above and those below were taken today and show you the progress that has been made so far.

A view from the front of the lot.

Another shot from the front.

A close up of the foundation and the metal that will be part of the pillar.

Two of the workers that are responsible for the construction.

Getting Ready!

2009-08-26T22:01:00.002-03:00

We are getting ready this week for a big event in the Taquari neighborhood. We were able to have a bus donated for our use on Saturday evening and we will be taking a large part of our church members from the Santo Amaro church out to the site of the Taquari church. An evangelistic ground breaking service has been prepared and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us. As we are really close to the start of building the church, we will also be holding a ground breaking ceremony on this evening!

What can you do? Well, the greatest and best thing you can do is pray for this evening. Pray that God would move in the hearts and minds of those who have heard, read and been personally invited to the church! Pray that people may come to know Him as Lord and Savior on this evening as well.

We will be posting more on this in the days that follow!

God bless and thank you for your prayers!

Hannah Betty Poe

2009-07-10T14:49:00.003-03:00

For those of you who haven't heard our daughter Hannah was born on the Fourth of July! We were hoping for that date, but were actually prepared for the C-section to be performed on the 9th of July. Natinha's water burst in the wee hours of July fourth and at 2:25 a.m. Hannah came into the world weighing 6lbs 7 ounces and measuring 20". God has truly blessed us. Please continue to pray for the health of Natinha as she is recovering from her C-section. Pray that Hannah would grow strong and healthy as well, and that we will be good parents. Thanks!

Rains have stopped!

2009-05-25T16:39:00.003-03:00

The rains have stopped below is a glimpse of a common sight in the streets of Maranhão as people began to go back to their homes to see the devestation. Aid has begun to arrive and we are able to help here in Palmas as places have been set up to drop off clothes and shoes for those in need in the Northern states. Pray that this aid gets to the people that need it most.

Rain Rain Go Away!

2009-05-06T11:16:00.004-03:00

The northern states of Maranhão, Pará, Ceará, Bahia and Piauí have suffered serious and widespread flooding over the last two weeks. Many cities especially in the interior parts of the states are no more. Other larger cities have been affected as well, Teresina the capital of Piauí people were wading through water waist deep. Parts of Maranhão have had towns washed away, and highways have been destroyed. Mining of ore has also suffered a lot because of the rains. Here in Tocantins the rains continue to fall today started out sunny but the clouds are continuing to grow and it will probably rain this afternoon again. Palmas has only suffered with potholes and lots of them. But another larger city closer to the border with Maranhão has had some serious problems with flooding. The prediction for Tocantins is for the rains to continue up to July. This is odd because the rains normally stop by early to mid May.

Please pray that the rains would stop and that the people of Brazil would be moved in their compassion to give and help those in need in these northern states. When the floods came to the southern state of Santa Catarina the outpour of donations and news media coverage was truly great, but we can see the discrimination by the news media and lack of donations as well, the northern states are areas where there is a lot of poverty.

Rainy Day

2009-05-02T07:41:00.001-03:00

Well the plans were not changed to much by the rain. Those who were scared to go because of the rain in the morning missed out on a fun day. The sun came out later in the day and the kids and adults had a great time in the creek! I will try to get some pictures up when time permits.

Holiday Get Away!

2009-04-29T08:26:00.001-03:00

This Friday is a holiday here in Palmas, and we are looking forward to going to a place where there is a nice cold creek to swim in. The church has been given transporation (free) by bus to get everyone to the event. Pray for a great day. The month of May is dedicated to the family, and this outing will be for our entire church family.

Fifth Anniversary of Women's Group in Palmas

2009-04-28T18:05:00.005-03:00

It was a night of celebration! We celebrated five years of Women's meetings here in Palmas at the Santo Amaro church. Saturday April 25th was the date and the church was really full, the challenge was given to bring a visitor and many did. The service was completely conducted by the women of the church and in the end we had many refreshments. Natinha preached this evening, and handed out some "prizes" to some of the women, such as who came to the most services, who is the newest member of the group, and even gave a small gift to all the little women who attend the services with their mothers.

Some pictures follow as well as the video of the choreography that was performed that evening.

Enjoy!

Children's Meeting in Taquari

2009-04-27T13:11:00.002-03:00

This is a quick video of a song we love to sing at our children's meeting in Taquari. Praise the Lord that the children are coming and enjoying their time with us. One prayed at the end of the meeting and said "Lord thank you for this wonderful church." Pray that God would continue to bless these young lives as they learn more of His love for them.

Pictures of Good News

2009-04-14T10:01:00.006-03:00

Photos from our camp April 2009.

Before Thee

2009-04-14T09:51:00.002-03:00

The theme of our camp was "In the Presence of the Lord" and we spent a lot of good quality time in God's presence during our camping program. Our theme song was called "Before Thee" which has an upbeat tempo to it, (great for youth and the young at heart) and the lyrics at one point say "In thy presence Lord, gives the desire to jump, gives the desire to dance, gives the desire to yell, gives me the desire to run..." That is the gist of it. So that is what is happening in the video here, enjoy.

PALMAS GOOD NEWS CAMP APRIL 2009

2009-04-13T17:36:00.003-03:00

Above a glimpse of just some of the things that happened at camp. If you click on it you should be able to see a bigger version. Video and more pictures to come.

Survivor Tocantins

2009-04-09T14:31:00.005-03:00

I'm not a fan of the show, but I thought I would share that this seasons episodes of Survivor were shot here in Tocantins, the state we live in. The town/area is called Jalapão (about two hours away from here) it is a national park, don't know how much damage they caused there but I am sure there was plenty.

Palmas Camp 2009

2009-04-09T08:15:00.003-03:00

We are almost ready to leave for Camp again. Typically we have camped during the Carnival holiday here in Brazil, but that wasn't possible for us this year so now we are taking advantage of the long holiday weekend and camping during Holy week. Tonight 20:00 we are leaving for camp and won't be back until Sunday evening. Pray for those who do not know Christ during this time as there often many who visit with us at our camp. We will be baptizing some as well during our camp. Look for some photos to come sometime next week.

God bless and have a great resurrection Sunday!

Coreography Team Santo Antonio de Jesus Bahia

2009-04-07T18:22:00.000-03:00

Children's Dance Team Video Santo Antônio De Jesus

2009-04-06T14:56:00.000-03:00

10 Year Celebration Photos

2009-04-06T08:09:00.006-03:00

Good News Bible Church of Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia.

Young ladies dance team.

Children's choreography team. Look how many, and only one teacher!

Saturday Youth Service

Santa Ceia (Lord's Supper)
Prayer for Ordination Candidates.

Ordination Certificates for Pastors Natal and Jimenez

Theatre piece, with evangelistic message.

Men's Choir

Gordon Avey translating for Ed Rosenberry

Mike Poe translating for Don Dennison

Pastor Natal preaching.

Celebrating 10 Years of Churches in Brazil

2009-04-03T12:52:00.003-03:00

Hallelujah, Glory to God, God is Awesome, and many others were just some of the ways people were expressing their praise to God. While our time was spent in some meetings, the majority of our time was spent in worship, and it was well spent. We were blessed to have many different people singing, men's and women's choirs, a theatrical play with an awesome evangelical message, various dance teams including the children of the church, preaching from the word of God, the ordination of two pastors Natal, and Jimenez, many different seminars presented by Don Dennison and Ed Rosenberry, a meeting with seminary students followed by an emotional Washing of the Saints Feet celebration, and of course a trip to the beach since we are close to the shore. Oh yeah, and we did all of this in just four days and I am almost positive I let something out. Pictures and video will follow but I wanted to let you all know that this was the best time ever for our churches here in Brazil, a time of unity and fellowship and of course a great time of worshipping our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ together! God Bless!

10 Year Anniversary Celebration

2009-03-24T09:57:00.004-03:00

Pastor Ernesto and I are getting ready to leave tomorrow for Bahia once again. This time our trip will be by plane as the roads are just too dangerous for travel by car. We are excited to be part of the celebration of 10 years of church planting in Brazil. Please pray for us and the travel of pastors from Southern Brazil as we travel there tomorrow. Don Dennison and Ed Rosenberry will also be present for the celebration which will be Thursday through Sunday and everyone returning home on Monday. Thank you for your prayers and your support of church planting.

Look for pictures and maybe even some video to come in the following week.

Brazil Church Planting

2009-02-05T11:42:00.002-03:00

As we stated in our 2008 newsletter to the churches, God did some pretty amazing things in Brazil in the lives of people here in Brazil. We are anxious to see what is in store for this year 2009. As we ended the year of 2008 all of the financial reserves for the Brazilian Church Planting budget were depleted and the gifts and donations that have come in during this early period of 2009 have not been sufficient to cover our church planter salaries, and have hindered greatly expansion efforts. At this point some pastors our facing not being paid in the coming month of March.

As we enter into tough financial times I know it can be hard to find ways to give sometimes, but we will rely on God supplying through faithful stewards such as yourself. Please remember the Brazil Church Planting (CC2804) in your prayers. You may call Don Dennison for more information on how to contribute at (419)-424-1961 or give your donation online at http://secure.cggc.org/AVP/Catalog/?a=c&cid=38&pid=

Back In Brazil

2009-01-29T12:24:00.003-03:00

We made it back to Brazil (January 17th), the trip back was almost as exciting as the trip going home, delayed flights, last minute arrivals to catch the next plane, and even a trip from one airport to another by bus, since our flight into Brazil was late! But we finally made it to Palmas after travelling for more than a day and a half. Life has been hectic to say the least as we try to put our house back in order, and run after many different things that need our attention.

We want to thank everyone for their kindness to us while in the USA, those of you who lent us a room for the night, allowed us to speak at your church, contribute to our support, and pray for us once again thank you very much.

Please continue to pray for a pastor for the Taquari work. I met with a potential candidate this week and will be awaiting his response soon. Pray God would touch the heart of a pastor for that area of Palmas.

God bless!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008-12-23T17:38:00.001-03:00

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We saw God do great things this year and are excited for 2009 as well. May God bless all of you who have prayed and supported our ministry and those of Church Planting in Brazil as well.

May God continue to surprise us with even greater accomplishments this coming year.

God bless you.

Mike and Natinha

Natinha sees first major snow fall!

2008-11-21T20:57:00.001-03:00

Here is the video of Natinha seeing her first major snow fall. Sorry we were talking in Portuguese, but you can get the idea, maybe. Enjoy!

Kite Competition

2008-08-01T15:07:00.005-03:00

The Santa Amaro Church in Palmas held it's first kite competition. The day could have been better even though. The month of July is typically windy, that day wasn't, so it was hard for the kites to fly. But the kids did it anyhow running from one side to the other. Below are pictures of the winners. The kites were judged on best design/prettiest, highest flying, and best aerial acrobatics.

Children all over Brazil love to fly kites and you will see this if you come to Brazil in the right month. Natinha said that when she was a child it was only something that boys did, now you see both boys and girls playing with kites.

Coming To Your Area Soon?

2008-07-17T10:20:00.003-03:00

I can't believe it but it has almost been two years since we have been to the USA, and in September we are coming back for our deputation. This means we may be close to your area. Ou deputation schedule is being made now, so if you would like us to visit your church, talk to your mission board or pastor about us visiting you. How do you schedule a visit from us? By calling the Churches of God General Conference office, they will be able to inform you of available dates and what part of the country we will be in and when! We are looking forward to seeing you and sharing what God has been doing here in Brazil.

You can contact Dee at the CGGC office to schedule a visit to your area. Her email is dac@cggc.org

Free Government Sex Changes In Brazil!

2008-07-15T20:22:00.003-03:00

Yeah if you read that title you got the gist of this article. On May 16th it was announced that by the end of the year the Free Federal Health Care System (SUS for short) will begin offering free sex changes in Brazil. The operation will be covered by SUS for men wanting to change to the female sex, the other direction male to female is still considered to be experimental and will not be covered. The demand for this surgery is estimated to be at about 1000 cases.

Critics say that this will overstress an already stressed out system. I also see the injustice that this is going to cause many people, people with real health problems. The rational for including this as a valid health related illness is that those who want the surgery and are unable to pay for it have emotional distress, but if we look at the existing government run health care system, it is already unable to take care of those with serious health problems. Health stations (postos de saude) have long lines and super long waiting periods for surgeries, many die from their illness before receiving treatment or the necessary surgery. The biggest part of this problem can be blamed on government corruption, pocketing money, and poor management.

I see this as one more step backwards for a developing country, and a huge leap backwards spiritually speaking.

Lilly of the Valley

2008-06-18T13:16:00.002-03:00

At the end of May the dance team of the Palmas church celebrated their annual anniversary, this year they used all of their different uniforms and presented seven different dances that evening. This group was founded by two individuals who had a dream of dancing and interpreting different songs. That dream grew into the present group. The group imposed a monthly fee of R$5.00 to be a part and this money is used in decoration and to buy material to make the different dresses. Everyone enjoyed the celebration, which was followed by food and drinks afterward. The name of the group is Lilly of the Valley.

Dengue in Brazil

2008-05-04T16:17:00.004-03:00

Dengue fever is something that we always have to worry about. The government is always warning us not let any water collect in anything in our backyards. The disease is carried by a mosquito and infects people when it bites them. This year the problem got out of hand in Rio de Janeiro and created an epidemic that goverment officials are now wishing they had averted. The truth is if money would have been spent properly it could have been prevented. I have pasted here a very good article explaining the situation there. Please pray for us as one form of this disease is deadly. Natinha has gotten dengue two times already. The 560,000 known cases are the ones that were reported, many others go unreported, my guess is it could be doubled or even be more. Palmas is a hot bed for dengue.

Dengue fever epidemic hits Rio

By Jack Chang

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil --

A deadly dengue fever epidemic has sickened tens of thousands of people and claimed at least 80 lives since the start of the year, and it shows no signs of slowing.

Fear of infection has forced thousands of tourists to cancel vacations to the city of Rio de Janeiro and pushed many residents indoors rather than risk being bitten by the striped Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the disease.

The epidemic also has collapsed public health services, which are overwhelmed by the crush of patients seeking aid, sparking widespread criticism that government officials were caught unprepared by the outbreak. Last week, the government of Rio de Janeiro state, with a population of 15 million, asked Brazil's military to open three field hospitals to serve thousands of infected people.

"There's been a total lack of attention," said Gabriel Fonseca, 41, an electrician who suffers from the most serious form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal. Fonseca said he had to wait all night at a city clinic over the weekend to receive hydration treatment that would boost his resistance to the virus. "I've always been afraid of hospitals, for exactly this reason," he said.

It's been an embarrassing episode for this world-famous city, which is known for its bustling beaches and sporty lifestyle. Now, street vendors sell electrified mosquito racquets -- which pop and flash when swatted against a mosquito -- instead of soccer jerseys. Gossip columns, instead of listing marriages and break-ups, announce the latest celebrity to be struck by the disease.

The U.S. and other embassies have alerted citizens to take precautions when coming to Rio, and planes heading abroad are being sprayed with insecticide.

Children under the age of 16 have been hit hardest by the outbreak, making up nearly half of the state's fatalities. Health officials are investigating 79 more deaths possibly linked to the dengue outbreak.

Dengue fever, which infects about 50 million people around the world a year, has proliferated in dense, growing cities, where sanitation is poor and public health services often have deteriorated, said Josh Ruxin, an assistant clinical professor of public health at Columbia University.

The number of people infected by dengue in Brazil quadrupled from 2004 to 2007, when 560,000 people came down with the disease, according to the Pan American Health Organization. While the national infection rate is down this year, it has exploded in Rio de Janeiro state and, at more than 75,000 cases, has surpassed the total number infected all last year.

Reach Jack Chang at jchang@mcclatchydc.com.

Baptism Held April 27th

2008-04-30T08:13:00.007-03:00

We celebrated adding two more members to the church on April 27th. Vilmar and Jusciléia entered the water and were baptized on this day. This couple accepted Christ at the Palmas church last year and went through discipleship classes. They've shown that they are very serious in learning more about how they can better serve Christ. Their baptism didn't happen right away because of their marital situation, but as soon as they could they were married. They are expecting a baby, their first, in September. Please pray for them, their son Nicolas and the baby on the way.

Some pictures appear from the baptism.

Thank you for your prayers!

2008-03-14T16:14:00.001-03:00

Thank you for your prayers. Just an update, my Grandpa is out of the hospital and back in his own home, but continues to recover, pray the medicine and rest will put him back to his usual self.

Two prayer requests.

2008-03-12T11:49:00.004-03:00

Please be in prayer for our families. Yesterday Natinha's Aunt passed away because of cancer. Also yesterday I found out that my Grandfather was hospitalized Sunday for a viral infection accompanied with a high fever he was hoping to be released today. Thank you for your prayers.

Ministry Budgets Needing Financed

2008-03-11T18:30:00.006-03:00

I wanted to point out two areas in need of financial support. The first being the Brazil Church Planting buget. This budget is used to pay salaries for current and future pastors, plant new churches, build places of worship and schools, and help with building projects in already existing ministry locations when extra funds are available. With the decline of the value of the dollar, more funds are needed than ever before to continue financing the ministries here in Brazil. The goal is for our churches to be self supporting as fast as possible, but they have not reached this point yet. Please consider contributing financially to this ministry. You may click on the link at the end of this blog.

The other ministry opportunity is the new vehicle fund for us. Our current car is on its last leg (maybe that should be tire). What should have been replaced last year was not as I did not know to request this in the budget, so a "new" car is necessary as I am having to replace parts on this one too often. I am including a picture of what we are thinking of buying as some have asked me about this. Obviously we will not be buying a brand new car as in this picture but something semi-new.

PALIO ADVENTURE

You may click here to be directed to the page where you can make a donation to these and other Cross Cultural Ministry Funds, or you can send a check for financial support to the following address. Please make checks payable to Churches of God General Conference or CGGC. The ministry number that you may place in the memo portion of the check for Brazil Church Planting is CC2804 and for the new vehicle fund it is CC2828.

CGGC
700 E. Melrose Ave.
Findlay, OH 45840

March Updates!

2008-03-10T13:52:00.006-03:00

What has been happening lately? Well at the end of February Pastor Ernesto and I travelled over to Bahia again and visited with the church there on a very happy but necessary visit. We enjoyed meeting with church leaders and worshipping with them in their weekday service.

The first of March we had a talent show at the church in Palmas and many participated showing various talents. Some of the talents presented were cooking, singing, dancing, refabricating a broken and old sewing machine, drawing, and coloring among others. Some pictures appear below showing this evening.

The challenge to cover the roof with a plaster ceiling began at the beginning of this year here in Palmas. We are hoping to have it in place before the summer months (dry season) come again. Dust destroys many things (especially electronic) as well as leaves the inside of the church completely dirty. A long red ribbon is running the length of the church wall. When this ribbon reaches the other end we are at 100% and the work on the ceiling will start. A small house shaped offering box is the place that people deposite their offerings. We are currently at 60% of the funds needed to put the ceiling in place. This has been a great challenge to the local church to give, especially since the church ministry is to typically low income families.

We received a team of 7 from Indiana last week. They came to film the differet areas of ministry here in Brazil. I made the comment that they are like lightning as they were only here in Palmas for two days. They were however able to film some different things and interview people from the local church as well.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and for those who have been supporting us financially as well.

Moving Day

2008-02-08T09:02:00.000-03:00

On February 11, 2008 we will be moving to a new house. We have been renting our current home for four years on the 20th of this month, but the owner asked for her house back so that her daughter and son in law could now begin to live here so, we had to move. God blessed and we found another home about as nice as the one we are in now, and not to far from here, actually it is a little closer to the church.

We may be without internet connection and telephone for up to a week or so depending on the telephone companies here. Thank you for your understanding.

Youth Game Night During Carnival

2008-02-07T13:31:00.000-03:00

The youth gathered at Pastor Ernesto´s house for a game night. The games played were UNO, Rume-o and Dutch Blitz. These are all imported from the USA, but make for some fun times among Brazilians. Brazilian people are very competitive and game nights are usually quite loud. This year we were unable to rent a facility that the church could afford during carnival as is usually done. This year the camp will be held on the Easter weekend, and the camp (farmette) has already been rented for that purpose.

The fellowship this evening at Pr. Ernesto´s went until midnight! That was quite a good evening and the youth that participated had a good time. Pray God would grow these relationships with the pastors and the youth as well as the relationships between the youth themseleves as some new young people came to this event as well. Two pictures follow.

Thursday, January 24th Abner Arrives!

2008-02-05T11:12:00.000-03:00

Abner Melo Nunes

On the 24th of January, while Don Dennison was visiting us here in Palmas, Abner Melo Nunes was born to Ernesto and Miriam Nunes. They are celebrating, as are we (because he is our nephew). He is doing very well and was born with 49cm and 3. some odd kilograms, I´ll let you convert that into inches and pounds. Abner pretty much has it made, as he does what all babies do, eat, sleep, and cry. Makes me think about our walk with God, especially when we are beginning our walk with him, we need to drink that spiritual milk, meditate on His word (sleep), and of course cry out to Him when we need Him most! If you like baby pictures you will enjoy what follows. God bless!

Santa Claus Comes to the Mall

2007-12-21T20:18:00.000-03:00

We took our two nieces to see Santa Claus. Yep they do that in Brazil too. Every year we take our nieces to go see Santa. Sarah and Ester always get their letters ready and handing them over to Santa is the first thing they do, even before they sit on his lap. I shot two pictures of them with Santa that I thought everyone might enjoy. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! God bless!

(Below Ester With Santa Claus)

(Below Sarah With Santa)

The Judgment of Christmas

2007-12-20T11:26:00.000-03:00

The Judgement of Christmas was the name of the play that was held on December 16th at the Palmas Church. The Christmas service was held early because many people travel during this time of year, sort of like summer vacation in the USA. We enjoyed seeing the true meaning of Christmas declared the winner. It really is an interesting play in a time, especially in the USA, that you can't even say Merry Christmas to someone without wondering what their reaction may be. Many witnesses presented their case as to why they were the true meaning of Christmas, Santa Claus (Papai Noel), Christmas Dinner, The Church, A poor boy who was told the true meaning of Christmas, and of course the store manager who gave his 10% discount speech to the court. In the end it came out that Christmas is a time to remember that God sent His Son, Jesus into the world for each and everyone of us. A Christmas cantata sang at the beginning of the service, and a small nativity scene entered in to the last part of the play. Two dance/choreography teams danced, one being the "Blessing of God" the children's dance team, and the women's dance team Lilly of the Valley.

Please enjoy the pictures below. Remember you can click on them to see a bigger version of the picture.

Santa Claus Shot Down In Rio

2007-12-18T23:23:00.000-03:00

Santa Claus Shot Down In Rio

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A chopper carrying Santa Claus was shot down over the Nova Mare slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, according to a Reuters report. It was en route to a children's party when it was fired on from below.

No one was hurt, according to the Reuters report.

Click here to read the full story on Yahoo

Rio's Nova Mare section, one of the city's 700-plus slums, is an area know for rampant drug trafficking. Police do not patrol these areas regularly but rather raid them from time-to-time with armored vehicles or helicopters. Brazilian authorities say the shooting was likely a case of mistaken identity.

The brave Santa later returned to the Nova Mare region — this time by car — to distribute the gifts.

Wedding Celebrated December 1, 2007

2007-12-15T13:43:00.000-03:00

We told you about the engagement party and service that was held at the church for Júlio Cesar and Layane, so we just have to show you at least two pictures from the wedding. What a beautiful evening it was at the church. We usually don´t use suits or long dresses here because of the heat, but this gave us a good reason to use them. We saw people in suits that I never thought I would see, but everyone gave it their best and had a great time. Congratulations Júlinho and Layane!

Natinha with two of her sisters and two nieces.

Baptism

2007-12-15T13:10:00.000-03:00

A baptism was held on 11/25/2007 for the Good News Bible Church of Palmas, Tocantins.

Baptized were Idaelton, Jucemir, e Nelsa.

It was a time of celebration and remembrance of what Christ has done for us all.

Pictures of the baptism follow.

NELSA

IDAELTON

JUCEMIR

Idaelton before the baptism

Congratulations and blessings after baptism.

Candidates for baptism.

After the baptism with Pastors Mike and Ernesto

Congratulations and blessing after baptism.

Things Are Happenning!

2007-09-03T12:29:00.001-03:00

Just because we have been quiet recently doesn't mean things haven't been happening here in

Brazil

! The contrary! When we are quiet that typically means lots of things are happening at the same time!

The elementary (Juniors) of the church in Santo Amaro, Palmas had a day outing in June! It was a great day! Many of the adults that would be responsible were afraid that the children would not listen, but that did not happen! We had a great day on the beach by the lake here in Palmas. We threw the American football but that quickly turned to football (soccer)! One of the other fears was the infestation of piranhas on this beach, but the kids braved the waters and not one was bitten on their toes! Since then the local goverment had installed a metal screen to keep the piranhas out of the swimming area. Click on the pictures for a larger version.

The juniors Sunday School department also had a pie in the face contest where squared off against each other answering questions on the book of Ruth! It was fun for everyone that participted, and tasty too!

We saw Julio Cesar become engaged to Layane at the Santo Amaro church, they have marked their wedding for December. In Brazil it is not uncommon to have an engagement party and have a special service at church to celebrate the engagement.

Also in June we had a special day in Sunday school with the primary department! The children had their June Festival party which included a corn dish that is very sweet, sort of looks like mush to me, but tastes really good. The children normally dress up like hillbillies during this month of June in the schools and such places. Square dancing is one part of the parties. While the Catholic church celebrates this party to catholic saints, we celebrated the month of June and explained that we were not celebrating these saints! It was a fun time for the children and they enjoyed dressing up!
June 24th God blessed us with six people completing the discipleship course of the church. This is for anyone that wants to participate, but usually for new believers. There were actually seven people, but only six were present when we had the certificate presentation.

Taquari Outreach

2007-06-16T14:56:00.000-03:00

Please be in prayer for the outreach and church planting program in Taquari! A neighborhood in Palmas. We have been working in evangelizing the neighborhood but still have a lot more work in front of us. We hope to have a visit from two of our seminary students in Bahia either at the end of this month or in July. This visit will allow them to see the area and also get a better idea if this is where God is calling them in their pastoral ministry. We would like to see one of these pastors living in the neighborhood allowing for more friendships and contacts to be made which is very important in planting a new church. Pray that God would speak to the heart of each of these men and that their decision can be God's decision. Also pray that God would open doors in this neighborhood.

Two twins learning how to read at Friday tutoring sessions.

This year saw us begin a new tutoring program at the church in Taquari with children of the neighborhood, since it is a free service to the neighborhood we hope that people can see that the church is interested in helping their community.

Family that is attending Taquari church plant to left of Natinha (Natinha in Center).

We also saw our first couple begin attending services on a regular basis. The church has had visitors come and go, but this family decided they would stay and attend services with us. They have been a great support to this ministry. Last week they announced that they would be moving to another city sometime before the end of this year, this saddened us but we rejoiced with them in the hope of a better life in the other state. Pray that God would form a core group for this church.

Thank you.

2007-06-16T14:46:00.000-03:00

A lot of times we get a lot of cards, especially at Christmas and near our Birthdays. We usually can't respond back because of the amount. So it is nice to have this form of saying thank you. We want to say thank you to everyone who expressed their sympathy toward us in the loss of our child. Your prayers and encouraging words were and are very important to us. Never think that we don't read cards and letters that we get just because we do not respond back to you. If we responded back to every card, letter or email that we get we wouldn't get any work done down here and I know you don't want that.

So once again thank you for your kinds words and support and God bless.

Mike and Natinha

CAMP 2007!

2007-03-01T13:44:00.000-03:00

CAMP 2007!

Wild boar that wandered in to camp. Actually he is not so wild just escaped from his pen and is now living loose. (But try to catch him)

Every year people in the church look forward to our camping program. This year was no different people were anticipating the Carnival holiday to arrive so that our church could go camp on a small farmette. This year with the help of the Shippensburg Church of God we were able to rent something a little nicer. The plan was for a group of people to come from the Shippensburg church but that was not possible this year. We thank them for their help in renting this facility.

God is so good! We prayed a lot that it would not rain on us at camp. This has been the most rain that people have ever seen during the rainy season here. To give you an example since January 24th to February 26th we had one day where it didn't rain. We camped within the city practically this year on a nice property that we rented. The only place that we heard of that it did not rain during the day in Palmas, are you ready for this, was where we were camping! It poured during the night time and was sunny during the day. But meanwhile... where the Carnvial celebration was taking place it just poured buckets of water down on the festivities. God takes care of his servants!

I invite you to take a look at some of the pictures below to get an idea of what happened during our camping celebration. God bless!

A little bit of God's word never hurt anyone, as a matter of fact a lot of God's word wouldn't hurt either! We actually met for praise, worship, prayer, and study six different times during camp!

The children took advantage of a small playground that was available to them almost all day long, when they were not in the pool they were here.

Our coreography/dance team also performed one evening.

We baptized Edinaldo and Antonhia both accepted Christ last year. Naldo accepted Christ at last years camp making an already special baptism even more special.

Our special evening this year was the night of the hill billy. If you see someone dressed like you dress please don't be offended, it was all in good fun.

More miscellaneous photos follow if you haven't had enough already.

Nice group shot of all the camp participants, and a sunset to fnish it all up.

Camp 2008 will be here before we know it!

Credit Card Contributions Arrive to CGGC Website!

2007-02-11T16:14:00.000-03:00

Well it finally happened. The CGGC website has been updated to allow
you who support us to now have the option of making your contributions
online. We welcome this change to the website and hope that it will
make life easier for some of our contributors. If you would like to
make a contribution to our ministry or to Church Planting in Brazil
follow the following link and discover how easy it can be.

Click here to contribute!

Remember
that our camping program is approaching soon! Please keep this in your
prayers as it is a moment of outreach to non-Christians that attend.
Pray that the Holy Spirit would touch the hearts of all in attendance.

Brasilia

2007-01-29T14:36:00.000-03:00

Hey! Hope everyone is well, or at least better than me. Travelling
almost always makes me sick so just a matter of time until this stage
passes. Natinha and I went to Brasilia last week to stop in on the American Embassy for a document for Natinha that could only be picked up in person. While we were there we decided
to stop in the Ministry of Justice building and see why my permanent visa is taking so long. The reason? We didn't send in a letter telling them we have never separated and are still married and have always been married. No one told us that we had to send this, and no one knew
why the process was on hold, so a good thing we had to go to Brasilia,
we killed two birds with one stone (or two rabbits with one club, here
inBrasil). While there we got to dine on some fine American delicacies like Burger King and Pizza Hut, but I am placing the blame on Pizza Hut for my current health status.

Things are running along well and we will have new news posted in the next month if we have time before camp. Please be praying for our camping program which will begin February 16 and run until February 2oth.

Merry Christmas 2006

2006-12-24T08:10:00.000-03:00

FELIZ NATAL e FELIZ ANO NOVO DO BRASIL!

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year From Brazil!)

Mike and Natinha Poe

This year was a whirlwind with much happening in our lives as well as in the ministry here in Brazil. We have been encouraged throughout the year to see people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. It truly is a blessing to see the change Jesus Christ makes in peoples lives. That is why we do what we do and hope that you feel just as blessed when we pass along these praises.

God has blessed us too, in that we have many people such as you who support us and pray for us and our ministry. Thank you! You are a blessing to us. We pray for you during the year as well.

I am thinking of what God may have in store for us in 2007. It is probably a good thing that we can’t know for sure what awaits us in the future. If we knew it would be hard to encounter the struggles that we know await us, but then again if we knew maybe we could avoid them as well. What fun would that be?! I know that God has everything laid out before us and that his way and timing are perfect. It is in that mindset that we enter into 2007. Ready for the blessings and the trials that lie ahead.

Pray that God would continue to work wonders in the lives of the people here. That people would turn from the wicked and evil practices to repent of their sins and find true peace in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God bless you and we hope that you and all of yours have a great Christmas season, and a wonderful new year.

Serving Him,

Mike and Natinha

Church Night Life

2006-12-14T17:24:00.000-03:00

Night Life

Outreach in Taquari

On December 2, the Good News Church of the Santo Amaro neighborhood went to door to door in the Taquari neighborhood, inviting people to the outdoor showing of "The Passion of Christ." We had a good turn out and the people seemed to enjoy the film. Please be in prayer that people will come to Sunday evening services and that a core group can be formed. You can see the temporary church building is where the screen was hung from.

Prayer Vigil

The Good News Church of Santo Amaro in Palmas, Tocantins also had an evening of prayer! We went to a rural setting and had a small camp fire. Notice how far everyone is from the fire. With the temperature already high no one wants to get close to the "cozy" fire. We devoted several hours in prayer that evening, and praised God with our voices as well.

Children Come For Saturday Kid's Programming!

2006-10-11T13:56:00.000-03:00

The children in the neighborhood of Santo Amaro came out to the Good News Church in Palmas Tocantins to the return of the puppets! We had a good time laughing, singing and watching Smilin Guido (an ant who teaches good Bible principles!) Over 70 children were present and heard a story about a puppet who slept for a long time in a bag, oh yeah and about a young man named Eutychus who fell asleep sitting on a window and had a nasty fall. But it's all good in the end. (See Acts 20:7-12)

Below please find some pictures of the children on that day.

1st Indigenous Games Of Tocantins

2006-09-05T13:08:00.000-03:00

I Indigenous Games of Palmas, Tocantins

Some of you might recall that I talked very quickly while back in the USA on one of our deputation trips about the Indigenous Olympics that were held in Palmas, Tocantins. Well last weekend the first Indigenous Games of Tocantins were held on the Silver Beach (Praia da Prata) here in Palmas. The tribes participating were Apinajé, Javaé, Karajá, Krahô, Krahô-Canela, Karajá Xambioá, and Xerente. All the participating tribes were from the state of Tocantins. There were many different events; bow and arrow, spear throwing, foot racing, tug of war, canoeing, log race, soccer, and swimming.

I was able to attend the celebrations one afternoon out of the five days of games, and was interested in seeing the different tribes and their traditional dress. The closest tribe that I know of to Palmas is the Xerente about an hours drive outside the city of Palmas. I hope you enjoy some of the photos that I took while at the games.

Cashews In Season

2006-08-19T15:10:00.000-03:00

Cashews are in season right now. We are enjoying the two trees we have in our backyard. Not only do they get a pretty little pink flower on them they give us fruit as well. I planted one of the trees and it's taller than me! Even though it's not yet two years old it is giving us fruit!

Cashews are a fruit, and must be eaten as soon as they are mature because they spoil very quickly. Most of us know of the seed which we call a nut. This can be found at the bottom of the fruit as it hangs on the tree. The seed is protected by an outershell. Raw cashew seeds are poisonous and must be roasted to enjoy. Roasting them is always interesting because the are highly combustible!

Take a look at the pictures for more information, and think of us enjoying cashew juice, as well as cashew nuts into the month to come.

Cashew Taking Form

Mature Cashew

Airplane Door Falls On Supermarket

2006-08-10T12:36:00.000-03:00

While we were waiting for our next part of our flight back to Palmas, we heard about the following news story. When I was entering the plane the pilot was there so I said to him, this isn't the plane that the door falls off of is it? And he replied no this the plane that's not working. (He was referring to the one hour delay for mechanical problems) Yikes!?! What a way to start off our flights in Brazil.

Jet lands safely after door falls off
From Australian Breaking News.
August 09, 2006
A JET owned by leading Brazilian airline TAM landed safely today after one of its doors fell off and crashed to earth next to a supermarket shortly after departure from Sao Paulo.

No one was hurt in the incident, a TAM spokeswoman said.

The Fokker 100 plane with 79 people aboard on route to Rio de Janeiro returned to the airport safely 18 minutes after taking off.

TAM has been replacing its Fokker planes since the Dutch aircraft maker went bankrupt 10 years ago. It still has 22, but expects to gradually eliminate all of them by 2010.

The same type of plane, also operated by TAM, caused one of Brazil's worst air disasters in 1996. It crashed in an urban area shortly after taking off from Sao Paulo, killing about 100 people, including some on the ground.

In 1997, an explosion of undetermined origin killed a passenger who was blown out of a TAM Fokker 100 during flight.

In 2001, an engine breakup on a TAM Fokker 100 caused two cabin windows to shatter and one of 82 passengers aboard died as a result of the depressurisation.

Back In Brazil

2006-08-10T11:34:00.000-03:00

We made it back! We left the hot into the hotter, although it really hasn't gotten to bad here yet, just low 100's during the day. We sure are glad to be back home, trying to get things organized and back into some kind of routine. (If that is possible.) I want to say thank you again to everyone that prayed for Natinha and her greencard. God's timing is perfect and it proved to be through much of the process. It was nice to be able to see many of you while we were in the United States. Natinha now has a green card that is good for ten years, and after that ten years are up all she will need to do is renew it. Remember you can post comments here on the site by clicking on comments below these posts. Please keep praying for the pastors, church workers, and ministries of our churches here in Brazil.

She Got It!

2006-08-02T14:16:00.000-03:00

Well, she finally got it! After three years and some months the United States government granted Natinha permanent resident status. We want to thank all of you who have been praying for us through this confusing and frustrating process. Now Natinha will have a permanent greencard that will only need to be renewed every ten years. Please be praying for our return to Brazil on August 7th. We are very anxious to be returning to our home and ministry. Thank you again, and God bless you.

Visa Interview

2006-07-21T17:31:00.000-03:00

Hey everyone. Well we were able to finally get the interview for Natinha's visa on July 6th down in Philadelphia. The man stamped Natinha's passport and extended her current greencard. Now all we are waiting for is for him to say, yes she is approved. When we went for her interview, her file had not been sent from the Vermont service center yet, so a final decision could not be made on that day. God provided a very nice man to conduct the interview. We will be entering in contact with him again on August 4th in hopes of hearing his final decision. We are currently still in the United States and plan to fly back home to Palmas, on August 7th. We will be at a missions evening at the Middletown Church of God this Sunday July 23rd. Please continue to keep Natinha's visa process in your prayers. Thank you.

Immigration

2006-06-02T16:41:00.000-03:00

We are currently back in the United States, enjoying a little bit of vacation and some deputation. Our real reason for being back state side is that we are trying to finalize Natinha's visa process. Please pray that her visa can be processed, and that they can find the last thing we sent to them. The last time I spoke with someone they had no record of receiving anything from us! Pray that God would move in people's hearts and that the process can be completed. Thank you.

Santo Antonio De Jesus Celebrates 4 Year Anniversary!

2006-04-08T12:52:00.000-03:00

The church in Santo Antonio de Jesus, located in the state of Bahia, celebrated it's four year anniversary on April 2nd. Actually the celebration began on Thursday March 30th, four years so four days celebrating! This is typical of the people in this area as the culture is very festive. Attending the services were myself, Pastor Ernesto, and brother Júlio César from the Palmas, Tocantins church. We arrived on Friday after a very long trip by car. We soon found out that the highways in Bahia are terrible and have holes in the road that can literally swallow cars. We arrived in Santo Antonio de Jesus, at 5:00am Friday. The services were very festive and full of people. Saturday and Sunday had the most people with Sunday leaving many people having to stand during the service. We didn´t count, but the number had to be 200 or more that evening.
Many singers in the city came to sing for the services during the evenings we were there. We were also blessed by the music of a couple from the church called Juraci and Eliana, they have recorded a CD and we were able to bring their music back with us to Tocantins. Juraci told me that he is waiting to be called by a talent show that passes on Saturdays on the television nationwide.
The church also had food after the services, selling them to help pay for some things at the church. We really enjoyed our time with this church and were excited to come back home to tell others about what we had seen in Bahia. Pastor Walter Santos is doing a great job with the church and is preparing leaders who will more than likely be our future pastors here in Brazil. God is doing marvelous things in the Santo Antonio de Jesus church. Pray for this and our other churches here in Brazil! Pray that God would do amazing things through His people.

Camp 2006

2006-03-19T17:24:00.000-03:00

Hey everyone. I am feeling much better now. Thank you for your prayers.

Our camp this year was a great time. It was held during carnival and was a lot fun. We had two services each day and learned a lot about our love that we show to God. Thank you again for praying for our camping program and for those who do not yet know Christ as Savior. We had two people accept Christ and baptised one person as well. While we had two services each day, this did not mean we didn't have time for other things as well. Many played soccer (I made a goal!!), volleyball, dodge ball others went for a swim in the creek, still others spied on monkeys eating in the nearby trees, and of course there were those who took it easy in their hammocks just talking all afternoon under a huge mango tree. The food for the camp was donated by the members of the church, and what was lacking was bought using the camp fee. At the end of the camp we saw that there was enough food left over to make two love baskets and give to families in need. There were no complaints during these day and when the last day came and we hated to see that time come to clean up and go home.

I have posted some new photos in the 2006 Photo Gallery. Click there to see some of the things that happened during our 2006 camp outing.

Thank you for your prayers.

2006-03-16T10:27:00.000-03:00

Hi everyone,

I know it has been awhile since I have written something here. March 8th the day after my birthday I woke up to get ready to go to the 7:00 morning prayer at the church and noticed I felt sick. This was the first day the fever, headache, and body aches came. I thought I probably had the flu and it would pass quickly. It was a long day as any day is when you have a fever, and I hoped that during the evening it would pass, the next day I was the same way and so my thoughts as well as those of almost everyone else turned to dengue. Dengue is a virus transmitted by mosquitos here in Brazil. So I went to the doctor to find our more. After about three different blood tests they found out that I did not have dengue, and that more than likely it was the rotavirus. Bloodwork did show a virus and I am still fighting that off. The doctor told me to not go back to church as I had gone on Sunday until this Saturday as this virus is highly contagious.

I want to thank everyone who was and is praying for me. I appreciate it very much.

Mike

Camp Photos

2006-03-03T11:35:00.000-03:00

Some of you are probably anxious to see our camp photos. All I can say is you will need to be patient. I am hoping to get some really good ones from a couple in our church as well as, some that we took developed soon. I would guess that I should have them up by the middle of next week. Look forward to telling you more about a successful camping program too. God Bless.

New Shares Program

2006-03-03T10:13:00.000-03:00

What is the new shares program. Well, basically it is this; one share equals $25 dollars per month. It is a new program that allows donors to give more regularly and choose a certain number of shares that they would like to committ themselves to throughout the year. 1 share a month $25 a month or $300 a year. Why is this important, because we are able to know how much support we have or lack throughout the year. Many times we are left wondering if the support will come in at the end of the year, with this new program donors, the missions office, and missionaries will have a better handle on what is happening financially. If you would like a better explanation information is available at the following link CCGGC Missions
We are currently in need of 84 more shares to be fully funded for the year 2006. If you would like to sponsor one or more of the shares please contact Dee. Please site #2750 to make sure that the funds go to Poe support.

Brazil Camp 2006!

2006-02-21T12:15:00.000-03:00

We are currently preparing for our church camp here. A time when all those of the church who want to participate can. This year the Palmas church has rented a "chácara" kind of like a farmette. It is one of the better facilities they have had in all the years. Palmas´ church camp will be held from Friday, February 24th to Tuesday the 28th. Held during carnival to get away from the carnival festivities.

Campinas and Araraquara churches are also preparing for their camping program in the southern part of Brazil and have also rented a facility to hold their camp program.

Pray God would bless these camps. Pray for those who will be participating that do not yet know Christ. Pray also that this will be a refreshing time, that it will create even more unity, and that much can be learned from God´s word.

Pictures will be posted here after the camp time.

Thanks and God bless.

2006 Photo Gallery A

2006-02-11T12:25:00.000-03:00

Photo Gallery A 2006

Prayer of pastors present, for Pastor Ernesto.

Left to Right; Pastor Mike, Pastor Ernesto, Pastor Batista, Pastor Gordon.

Ordenation of Pastor Ernesto Nunes January 28, 2006.

Pastor Ernesto Nunes Ordained!

2006-02-02T17:46:00.000-03:00

Saturday January 28th was the ordination service of Pastor Ernesto Nunes. Pastors present from our churches were Pastor Mike, and Pastor Gordon. There were three other pastors present from Palmas that represent other denominations.

The night was festive, with a spirit of joy in the air as the members of the church had been preparing for this moment for some time. Pastor Gordon delivered a sermon and charge to Pastor Ernesto and the people of the church. Pastor Ernesto kneeled and was annointed with oil on his head and was prayed for with the hands of the pastors present held toward him. He was also given his ordination certificate.

After the service was officially over, the food came out and the party continued. It was a great evening which we will not forget. That God will continue to do marvelous things through his servant.

Photos will be available soon. Don't miss them.

Bread Baking in Brazil

2006-01-20T18:21:00.000-03:00

The campaign “bread of love” for the neighborhood “Taquari Garden” was a success. All contributed to it! Flour, sugar, margarine, eggs and yeast, and the result was 74 loaves! Well, actually it was 75, but of course one of them had to be the guinea pig and was taste tested. We made the bread on the 22^nd of December and began at 7:00 AM. It was day of a lot of work, but gratifying. A sister from the Assemblies of God, let us borrow her outdoor oven, and we baked all of the bread. The day before Pastor Michael and Júlio César went after the wood for the oven.

We distributed the bread on the 23^rd of December with the help of Pastor Ernesto and brother Gideão, to 36 families. It is sad to see so many house of cheap wood and so full of children in the neighborhood. But we don’t want to stop there, we are thinking about how our church here in Santo Amaro can help socially in that community.

Spiritually we are holding services and children’s meetings and hope that the Lord will bless the work there. Thank you for your prayers.

New Ministry Photos Added!

2006-01-04T12:43:00.000-03:00

Happy New Year to everyone! We were quite busy during the Christmas holidays and hope that you will enjoy seeing some of the new photos that we added to the Photo Gallery 2005. The church was busy preparing for our Christmas service on Christmas Day evening, (if that makes sense). Before Christmas arrived we held our first Childrens Day programming in an outdoor setting in Taquari. Over 120 children came that day, and were blessed with the word of God, puppets, a quick drama, and popcorn and candy.

Then we were off to prepare the bread to be delivered on Christmas Eve. A few brave souls from the church got together and prepared 75 loaves of bread to be delivered in various houses in Taquari. It was nice to see the expression on the faces of people change from that of "what do you want", to that of "oh wow thanks" and "A Merry Christmas to you too."

Christmas came to the public square here in Palmas with nativity scenes and even a bunch of life size Santa Claus dolls, penguins and more. I think Santa decided to take a vacation here in Palmas to beat the cold for awhile, cause he is still hanging out there and will be until January 15th.

As we begin this new year we just want to say thank you to all of you who supported us financially and also prayed for us in the year 2005. Your prayers mean a lot and help us in our ministry keep sending them up for us. God's blessings to each and all.

Mike and Natinha

Good News My Friends, Praise the Lord

2005-12-23T21:55:00.000-03:00

We have good news to share. The end of the year is not here and with those gifts that those have promised and those that have already come in we will no longer be closing the year in a deficit. We are so thankful to everyone who gives toward our ministry and makes it possible for us to share the love of God in such a far away place. Thank you also for your prayers as they are what help keep us protected, strengthened and cared for properly.

We have exciting end of the year news to share with you but the time is short right now. Look for new things to appear between Christmas and the New Year.

Blessings to you all, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Mike and Natinha

Missions Year Ending 2005

2005-12-17T10:19:00.000-03:00

It is that time of year again as we begin "running" (maybe literally) to get those last minute things done before the Christmas Eve is upon us. We are running here as well trying to get all those last minute details ready for Christmas. As we rush around I hope you can take some time to remember the reason for this season, Jesus Christ. We have been busy ministering here in Brazil and reaching out and telling others about the love of Jesus.

Don Dennison has informed me that our support is in the red
$ - 5,158.26. He also told me that many missions organizations have felt the impact of hurrican Katrina as many felt led to give to those in need.

Individuals or churches who could give $100, $500, or maybe even $1000 would help make up this deficit before the year ends. It would be nice to start the new year without a negative balance. Of course any size gift is appreciated. I hope that you will prayerfully consider this request.

God bless you and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all,

Mike and Natinha Poe

PS - Checks can be made out to "Churches of God General Conference" with "CCM 2750" in the memo portion, this will make sure that it will go toward our support. The address follows; CGGC % Don Dennison 700 E. Melrose Ave. Findlay, OH 45840

New Pictures!

2005-11-16T14:40:00.000-03:00

New pictures have been added to the Photo Gallery section of the BLOG. These are pictures of the special Saturday service at Taquari.

Santo Amaro and Taquari

2005-11-09T11:08:00.000-03:00

Allow me to spend just a few sentences here to explain some names.

Santo Amaro is a neighborhood in Palmas. The church that we currently have in Palmas is the Santo Amaro church. It has existed for 4 years, has an established building to worship in and was the site of our current Sunday school classrooms that the Shippensburg Church of God helped build.

Taquari is also a neighborhood in Palmas. Taquari is where we have recently begun to work on the beginnings of planting a new church or the second Good News church in Palmas.

Tocantins is the name of the state it is an indigenous word that means beak of the Toucan.

Palmas is the captial city of Tocantins.

Taquari Service Well Received

2005-11-09T11:01:00.000-03:00

The church of Santo Amaro closed its doors on Saturday to hold its normal Saturday evening services in Taquari. A group of 25 church members traveled the 20 minutes to the other side of Palmas . This group spent the afternoon passing out tracts and inviting people to come to the church service that would be held in front of a school. God blessed us that afternoon and evening with sun and lots of it. As we have entered into winter here in this part of Brazil a shower or long rain storm is not unusual. The group began inviting people to the service at 3:00 PM and we returned to the house of Gideão to get cleaned up and eat some hotdogs before the eveninging service. At 8:00 PM the service began and 50 people were present to hear the message that evening. Pastor Walter Santos was present from our church in Bahia and spoke that evening. We pray that the seeds planted that evening will begin to grow in the hearts of those who came. Please be in prayer for another family's house to hold our services at, as the current location is a bit far from the where most of the people live.

Special Service To Be Held In Taquari

2005-11-03T13:14:00.000-03:00

This Saturday a special service will be held in Taquari. The Santo Amaro church will be taking a group out to the area in Taquari to pass out tracts, and invite people to this service. We have gotten permission to use a school for this service which will provide at least electricity. Please pray for good weather and that God would move in the hearts of the people living in this neighborhood.
Pictures will be posted in the section Photo Gallery of this site. God Bless.

New Brazil Photos Added!

2005-10-19T10:53:00.000-03:00

New photos have been added to the site! Photos of the couples getaway and the youth beach outing!! You can check them out by going to the photo gallery click this link or go to the site and click on the link to the right that says Photo Gallery.

Couples Go To The Mountain!

2005-10-16T09:32:00.000-03:00

October 12th marked the day that the church in Santo Amaro (Palmas) held their second couples day getaway! The children were left with relatives or the babysitter and we all went to the mountains nearby to get a little more cooler temperatures. Our first couples getaway held in 2004 had four couples that participated, this year we were blessed to have 9 couples who took advantage of coming along.

A pot luck lunch was great even though a rain storm passed by and left temperatures rather cool especially for those of us used to the high temperatures. Before lunch we studied a lesson from God's word that talked to couples and explained what God says about those who are married.

It was a great day and we look forward to the next time we can get together like this.

(Look for pictures to appear in the coming weeks of this event)

Brazil Buzz Newsletter

2005-10-10T15:17:00.000-03:00

BRAZIL BUZZ
Pastor Michael & Natinha Poe
CP-74 Palmas, Tocantins 77010-970 Brazil
Email mrpoe@terra.com.br
Volume 5 Issue 2 Fall 2005

Palmas is hot!

Wait a minute! Isn’t that how the last newsletter started out? Yeah, but since then it has gotten even hotter! People who have lived here for years say it is the hottest they have ever seen Palmas. We are currently in what people in this part of Brazil call Summer. Summer in Palmas is very dry. The rainy season ended the beginning of May, since then we received nothing until about September 23rd when the cashew rains came. People have to clean their houses daily because of the fine dust that is brought in from the hot blowing winds. Fans don’t help much after lunch time because they only blow hot air on you. The cashew rains come in September. Winter should begin here in and around the end of November bringing much needed rains and a little cooler temperatures, instead 120 we may get back to 90’s to 104 which would be a nice change of pace. We have had days that have reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If you ever wanted to try to fry an egg on the sidewalk this would be the place to try it. Hey, maybe I will.

Shippensburg First Sends Work Team!

The Shippensburg First Church of God worked hard to send a team to help in the construction of our Sunday school classrooms. To get the foundation laid before they came they sent some of the funds that the church raised ahead of

Children enjoying their new classroom!

time. The team arrived here in Palmas

the 9th of May to help in the rest of the construction. They carried a lot of bricks, set scaffolding, helped mix concrete, mortar, and even dug a septic tank hole that was 6’ long x 6’ wide and 6’ deep, and all in high 90 to 100 degree heat. Everyone had a great time with the team and a real bond was formed

Bathrooms and Sunday School classrooms.

between these two churches. They raised all the walls of our classrooms and bathrooms and even poured the concrete for all of the concrete columns. Time did not permit to put the roof on, but after they left the work did not stop there. While we were in the USA on deputation, Pastor Ernesto was able to get the church behind him to finish the roof. This took a lot of effort on the part of him and the church and they were able to finish the roof. Thank you Shippensburg Church of God for the love you show to the people here in Palmas.

Deputation Blessings!

Many of you got to see us as we passed through your area this summer. Others were on vacation and we understand if we missed you. It was a blessing to see those of you who support and pray for us, talk to you about what God has been doing in Brazil, and just catch up with a lot of old friends. Some churches really went all out in the way they received us and we felt welcomed by all. If we didn’t get around to your church this time, talk to your pastor and let him know that the next time we are due to come back for deputation to call the Findlay office and schedule us in for a time at your place of worship, a members home, or hey, even maybe just some ice cream and a quiet evening with a missions board!

Brazil Buzz Goes BLOG

No! BLOG is not a sound that our newsletter makes if you drop a lot of copies of them. If you haven’t heard someone say BLOG yet don’t worry I really didn’t understand it either until I discovered that it is basically a simplified way for people to make their own website or list what they are thinking about and talk to others. So here is our new website. Note there is no www. with this address, and that Brazil is spelled with an S not a Z.

http://brasilbuzz.blogspot.com/

On this site you can see what is currently happening in our ministry. You can also sign up to our email list by going to the link above. At the bottom of the page is a way to sign up to receive our electronic newsletters and know the updates made to the site. Check it out! I am excited at the opportunities we will have to communicate with you who sign up. Got a question about Brazil? Post it and get an answer, want to comment about a recent trip to Brazil? Post it and let others know how your trip blessed you.

First Service Held in Taquari

First service held at Taquari 14 attending.

We held our first service in Taquari, a new neighborhood in Palmas. Taquari is about a 20 minute drive away from our present church location. This neighborhood is just beginning to grow. We have been praying for a long time that God would show us how He wants us to begin working in this neighborhood and that He would send us a family that we could get to know to begin the work with in Taquari. God used the present church in Palmas to send this family to us. Brother Gideão and his family have left our congregation in Santo Amaro (where the present church is located) and have told us that they are interested in helping the work grow in Taquari (where they now live). They have opened up their house to our meetings. God bless this family as they give of themselves to His work.

Gideão’s house.

Financial Contributions

As the end of the year draws near we would ask that you remember our support (Poe Support CCM 2750) and the support you give to Brazil Church planting.(CCM 2804).

Thank you for your faithfulness to the ministries in Brazil for the year 2005.

You may send financial support to the Findlay Office at the following address, CGGC 700 E. Melrose Ave. Findlay, Ohio 45840. Checks should be made payable to CGGC or call 419-424-1961 for more information, ask for Pastor Don Dennison

Please Pray For The Following!

Prayer Requests

Continued growth here in Palmas and the other churches in the Good News Conference.

Pray for a new church to be planted in Taquari, a new neighborhood here in Palmas!

Pray for new believers, that they may continue with their decision to follow Christ.

Pray for the safety of the pastors and missionaries in Brazil.

Praises

Praise God for those who have recently accepted Christ.

Praise God for those interested in another service in Taquari.

Praise God for His faithfulness to us!

Churches of God General Conference
P.O. Box 926
Findlay, OH 45839

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage PAID
Findlay, OH
45839
Permit #501

First Service Held at Taquari

2005-10-04T09:47:00.000-03:00

The first service in the Taquari neighborhood of Palmas, was held on September 27th. We had fourteen people there that evening most being close neighbors of Gideão a former member of the current church in Santo Amaro church. We praise God for those who came out that evening even though we were joined by about 5000 bugs that resemble May flies. Pray for a special Saturday evening service that is being planned for that area as well. (Pictures will be posted soon of this service.)

New Addition

2005-09-21T13:11:00.000-03:00

Today I added to the site a way for you to join our Brazil Buzz email list. This will email you posts that I place here on the site keep you updated by sending to you our newsletters as well. How do you sign up?

Go all the way to the bottom of this page and you will see GoogleGroups just put your
email address inside this box and click Subscribe.

2005-09-14T10:21:00.000-03:00

Shippensburg First Church of God Work Team

Sad news and praises too!

2005-09-13T14:45:00.000-03:00

We arrived back from the USA on September 6th. We found the church a little different then when we had left, some people had moved, others fallen away back into their old lifestyles and again others were still there praising and worshipping God.

Some really unfortunate things happened while we were on deputation in the USA. One small child of three or four years old was run over and killed by a car that was patrolling the neighborhood announcing something. Another woman who was married to a mason who worked on our Sunday School classes was also killed when she failed to see a truck coming and her motorcycle slid underneath.

We do have some positive news though, the youth of the church seem excited to change the youth program and want to have a meeting as soon as possible. Their focus, attract more youth, and make the service more geared toward youth. I couldn't agree more! If only all our churches wanted to change as easily as youth and children.

We also came to know two new families that are attending our church. One of these families won a piece fo land to build a house on in Taquari, the neighborhood in which we are planning on starting our next church. They have already stated that they want to continue working with us in that neighborhood to help bring the gospel to those in that new growing area of Palmas.

Photo Gallery

2005-09-11T12:39:00.000-03:00

Welcome to the Photo Gallery.

Here you can find all the photos posted to this site and some that are only posted here!

Presents for the children in Sunday School, from the Palmas Sister
Church Shippensburg Church of God

Children enjoying a Christmas party during Sunday School.

Shopping Mall and Decorations (the only place to find a snow man in Palmas)

End of Christmas Service

Christmas Canta

Sunday Christmas Dance Team

Even Santa Claus Found His Way to Palmas!

Christmas Penguins came to Palmas!

Delivering Bread to the Taquari Neighborhood

Bread was delivered to those who needed it most.

Preparing bread after it was baked.

75 loaves of bread were baked for Taquari

Making Bread for Taquari

Outdoor oven where we baked the bread.

Making bread to distribute in Taquari

December 2005 Kid's Day (120+ children)
December 2005 Kid's Day in Taquari

November Meeting of Conference Council in Campinas

Praise group at Taquari service.

People gathered at Taquari service 50 present that evening!

Children at Taquari service.

Group "picnic" after a long afternoon of evangelism and invites to the service at Taquari.

Couples Group Photo

It got cold for those used 100+ when the rain passed through the area.

Icebreaker for couples.

Beach outing for youth.

First Service Taquari

Gideão's House

Children in New Sunday School Classroom

New Bathrooms and Classrooms!

Shippensburg First Church of God Work Team Group Picture

Mike & Natinha Poe

Welcome To Brasil Buzz

2005-09-10T20:05:00.000-03:00

Hi! Welcome to Brasil Buzz. This is a BLOG to help you keep up to date on what is happening in the Good News Bible Church of Palmas Tocantins. Thank you for stopping by and stop back as more will be added in the future. Thanks and have a great day in the Lord.