Dear friends and family,

     We are now all back in Brazil.
    The kids and I spent three months (end of Nov. - mid Feb.) in Florida with my mom and dad. Jason was able to go for 5 weeks during the middle of this time.  It was a wonderful time, especially after being gone for almost 5 years.  We really enjoyed visiting with everyone there, and it was a nice break from the busy routine and tiny house here. This visit home to the US was short because we couldn't be gone long from the school here in Sarandi. We plan to go back in two years for another three months.

    We are once again busy with our English school.  Jason teaches every day and I teach two nights a week as well.  We have moved the school two blocks from where we were last year.  It is a much better location and we already have over 10 new students.  Please continue praying that the school will grow and that the Lord will continue using this to bring more people to Him.

     Four weeks ago, Jason and Jonas finished teaching the chronological Bible study to a group of 3 people, all whom we met through the English school (2 being mothers of students and the other the man who installed our air units).  All three of them came right out and said that they have believed in Christ as their Savior.  Now they are anxious to learn more and Jason will be meeting with them tomorrow for further study of the Bible. There are also 3 others who are saved in town so pray that we will be able to find an evening that all are free so that Jason can continue teaching God's Word to them.  Pray alsfor their spiritual growth and their family members who aren't saved yet.

     We are looking for a house here in town but so far have not found anything.  There are very few houses to rent, the cost is high, and when a house does appear it is usually rented quickly.  We are considering buying a house as there are more houses to buy that to rent, but we need definite direction from the Lord as this would give us an additional financial burden.  We have looked at several houses already but none are what we would want to buy.  Everything in town is small and usually has no yard and no privacy.  Pray that the Lord would work a miracle and provide a nice, safe, good-sized, private place for us to stay.  "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37 (This is such a neat promise to remember.)  We need a home where we can invite people in and have studies there, but where we are now there is absolutely no way we can have anyone over.  (There are 7 of us in a 2 bedroom kitchenette.)

    We have also been praying about a vehicle for our family.  A young man from the church in Chapeco has offered to trade an old 10 passenger van for our small 5 passenger car. We prayed about it and agreed to trade. Now Jason has to take fifteen 45 minute driving lessons to get a different license in order to drive the van. (Anything over 8 passengers needs a special license.)  This will take awhile since he is quite busy with English classes.  We also hope to fix up the van a bit during this time.  Pray that the Lord will provide for us to be able to send it to Chapeco to a brother in Christ there who can do a good job on it and get it working well and looking nicer.

    Some of you know that we have begun the process to be able to adopt some children here in Brazil.  This is something the Lord has put on our hearts and as we can't have more of our own because of my health, and we have decided to adopt 2 or 3 more.  (In Brazil you don't have to pay any fees to adopt unless you hire your own private lawyer. The government does the entire process for free if you adopt Brazilians.) Before our trip to the US we began the process in the town where we live out in the country (Gramado dos Loureiros).  We wanted to go through the initial process there since the people in town all know us well and accept that fact that we home school our children. If we were to move to Sarandi and do the whole process here it would be quite a bit more complicated.  Two weeks ago the social worker and psychologist visited us at Canaan.  Now, they have to send their evaluation and we will see what the judge says. The neat thing is that they are not against our homeschooling but through comments they made they even like it. Pray that the Lord will guide the process and in His time send along the right children.  

    Thank you for all your prayers for us. They mean so much and are so very important. Please keep them up.

With love,
  Jason, Esther, Karen, Sara, Eric and Kendra