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BUNCHES IN BRAZIL

Winter 1982

BUNCH NEWSLETTER

Winter, 1982

Dear Friends: ,Greetings in His precious, saving Name! '• , .We want to take this opportunity to thank you one - - -- -

and all for your prayerful upholding and financial under-girding of this Mission and specifically "The Bunches inBrazil." It is only as God works through you that He can work through us. We arehere because you care. Thanks! May God richly bless you.

So much has been happening since last we shared that it's hard to know whereto begin. At that time we were praying together about several important aspects ofthe Cuiaba work. A central aspect, of course, is growth and the Lord gave us 20additions in 1981. Fourteen came by baptism and six by transfer, including Iranand Neuza, our Brazilian co-workers. It was exciting to see four dedicated couplesincluded in those baptized and two more in the transfers.

We had been in prayer for sometime about a central meeting place and theLord has provided an excellent facility. We have a small meeting area on the groundfloor and a much larger area upstairs with a separate office space. It is a modernbuilding built in the '60's and is a block from the General Hospital and close to busconnections. Our prayers have been answered as to where; now we ask that youjoin with us in prayer that the Lord will help us to outgrow this facility.

We also shared the possibility of a Medical-Dental trailer to help meet thedesperate health problems in the outskirts of the city as well as serving as a spiritualfirst-aid station and launching pad for diverse evangelistic thrusts. The Lord hasseen fit through the folks at FAME (Fellowship of Associates for Medical Evangelism) to provide such an extension to our ministry. FAME is underwritten byconcerned Christian Churches and Churches of Christ and this organization wasused to channel thirty thousand "converted" dollars to purchase this unit and the"unconverted" vehical (runs on 100% alcohol and smells like a brewery) to pull it.

The question arose that if this unit were provided, what would we do with itwhen it was not in service? The Lord had worked that out ahead of time when Heprovided our central meeting place. The ground level is half of what was originallyan automobile show-room and thus is .serving as indoor parking space for pick-up,trailer and our children's S.S. class. Praise the Lord!

The Lord is still working out the details of forming the team to work in theunit. We have a Christian nurse arriving this week from Uberlandia who will betaking the lead. The City is giving us doctors and dentists until we can replace themwith an all-Christian team. We have had some problems with the non-Christianworkers from the outset and we ask your prayers that the Lord will put the rightpeople in the unit, that His name might be glorified in this "unto the least of these"ministry.

Early in the year we had been given a lot in Planalto in one of the outlinebairros of the city. Disappointment was great when we discovered this lot had alsobeen given to someone else. However, the Lord saw us through and provided aneven better lot located on the central square of the bairro. We have sinceinaugurated a shell (pillars and roof) where the Gospel is being preached and livesare being changed. PTL!

We plan to put up a similar building (another bairro) in Barro Duro where wehave worked since 1978. The Christians there are excited to have a regular meetingplace which they believe will give greater stability to their congregation's outreach.

The Christians from the other bairros of the city are being encouraged to Jointhe downtown congregation which we trust will reach people in all the areas of the

city and will serve as an equipping center for those the Lord calls to serve.Our thanks go out to all who prayed and participated in the campaign to buy

us our four-wheel-drive Toyota diesel. It looked like we might be several moremonths raising the funds for the inflated price of the jeep. However, the Lord camethrough again and provided a 1980 Jeep with low mileage for just over $8,000{compared with $14,000 for a new one. That's a pretty good savings, PTL!).

We appreciated the smooth transition that took place in the Mission asIssaquah resumed oversight and South Lakeshore completed a job well done. Thankyou. South Lakeshore, for loaning us your fine leaders: Ron, Howard, Herb, Sid,Bill, Bruce and Don. Welcome back! .. . Bob, Stu, Niel, Pete and Harvey.

Thank you all for your part in this ministry. We look forward to visiting witheach one during our scheduled "flylow" (that's short for a fast furlough) Novemberthrough January of 1982-83.

Yours for Him,

Jim

A Note from Sandy

We are happy and healthy becauseyou care and have been uplifting us inprayer to our loving. Heavenly Father.The children had a rough, but good year,in school and were promoted—Mistie tothe 5th Grade, Corey to the 3rd andJonathan to Kindergarten. Mistie turned11 on Nov. 10th and Corey turned 8 onOct. 25th and Jonathan will be 6 on

March 17th—one day after our 14thWedding Anniversary. The children have been enjoying their summer vacation andwill start back to school the middle of February. We've been having a busy summer,including a great Christmas and New Years with lots of hot weather and little raincompared to the rest of the country. One big vacation highlight was our family trip

to the Annual Missionary Conference withtwo inspiring speakers: Don DeWelt andAlger Fitch. We arrived home uplifted aftersitting at the feet of these two gifted men.The Lord is showering His goodness on us aswe serve Him as a family. The children enjoysinging specials and Mistie is learning to playthe guitar so she can play in the "cultos" ormeetings and Corey wants to learn the drums(heaven help us)! Thank you for your faithful

Let's sing unto God a new song. support. We truly appreciate it.

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Sandy and the women enjoy their new meeting place.

"Kid's Day" was a winner for everyone, even mommy!Tammy Coison got in on the big Swim Meet too.

Child Chatter

Hi, I'm saying a letter for you guys, okay?Corey who is saying the letter. One day me,Mistie, and Jonatas, Tami and mommy wentto swim at the Club. We had a swimmingmeet and we all got medals. One day we allwent fishing and us kids were catching little

fishies. Come and catch fish with us at our little farm—it's

fun! Hi, this is Mistie speaking. We have a S.S. teacher whoteaches us a lot of songs. Almost every Sunday we sing tothe adults after our Sunday School class. I am having guitarlessons and I can't wait until I can play at the church. Here inCuiaba it is getting everyday more hot. When I stay just alittle bit in the sun I get all red. You guys should come downhere—you wouldn't want to return to the States and stayfreezing! Bye-bye and I'll bring some sun with me when Icome to see you the end of this year. 1 want to see all of youand I want to play in the snow. My name is Jonathan butthey call me Jonatas in Portuguese.

". . . the little one isJim's."

Jim and Sandy Bunch, Missionaries, Caixa Postal 1092, 78.000 Cuiab5, MateGrosso, Brazil, S.A.

Christina Sample, Forwarding Agent, 2676 - 39th S.W., Seattle, WA 98116,Phone 935-2798

Bob and Gladys Christian, Promotional Agents, 17641 S.E. 60th, Issaquah,WA 98027, Phone 747-8964

Lincoln Park Christian Church, Mailing Agent, 3832 S. "G" Street, Tacoma,WA 98408, Phone 474-5127

Issaquah Christian Church, Sponsoring Church, P.O. Box 400, Issaquah,WA 98027, Phone 392-5848

LINCOLN PARK CHRISTIAN CHURCH3832 South "G" Street

Tacoma, WA 98408

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