Jan-Feb. 2023 Update

Greetings from the Amazon!

The past couple months have been quite a whirlwind for our family, in a very good way. The Lord has been opening new doors of ministry for us, for which we thank Him.

January saw our very first and long awaited missionary journey on our houseboat! It was a short visit to a village on a nearby island, where Ezra was able to preach—but oh what an exciting first small step for us. Since mid January we have been traveling every other weekend to this island, where there are dozens of villages needing gospel work and/or solid Bible teaching. Having the opportunity to make trips so close to home has also proved very helpful in familiarizing ourselves with quirks and minor problems about our boat, things we need to repair or at least be aware of before we begin traveling to really remote areas. 

Specifically, among the villages on this island, the Lord seems to be opening a door in a village called São José, where there is no gospel work happening, no church planted. The village was historically catholic, but even the Catholic Church has been closed down in this community. The village president has been very open and welcoming to us holding meetings there. We noticed that “there was a division among the people” (Jn 7:43) in regards to the preaching of the gospel in their village— some are very happy to have us there, while  others are upset that their president invited us. But as of now, we are invited back to have a church service on March 12. Please pray for us in this new endeavor. 

We continue to hold services in Crajari on the weekends that we are not on the river. Right now is the middle of the rainy season, which makes traveling into Crajari more difficult. It also often means low attendance at the services. These circumstances make for a combination that can be very discouraging to both ourselves and our brother Amarildo, who holds services on our “off” weekends. We would appreciate prayer for us all to not grow weary in well doing in that regard. 

Another wonderful blessing we’ve had these past couple months is visits from both our moms! Joanna’s mom and two youngest brothers spent 3 weeks with us, from mid January to early February. Then Ezra’s mom arrived the 17th this month, and will be with us until March 6! We have been so encouraged and refreshed from our time with our dear mothers, especially as it’s the first time in a long while that any of our family has been able to visit us here in Brazil. What a joy!

Andrew will turn 4 years old tomorrow! He’s such a helper to Mommy, very thoughtful and affectionate, and has amazed us in his balancing skills and climbing abilities since we’ve started working on the river. He’s very insistent on boarding and disembarking our little boat without help— something his mommy will hardly even do.  He loves to sing and he loves to pray. And he’s very watchful for his younger siblings— he will even carefully carry Henrietta away from potentially dangerous situations (or if she’s getting into his toys, of course )

Philip is 2.5 and his vocabulary has really been growing. He and Andrew are getting motivated to speak Portuguese more and more, so that’s been exciting too. Philip loves to climb, color pictures, look at books, and he loves to find animals in the new “I Saw it First” game that Grandma Nita brought down. Philip loves animals in general, and regularly thanks the Lord for them. 

Henrietta will be 1 next month. She walks everywhere, and on our last boat trip she learned to climb some steep stairs! She is so smiley and friendly, says “daddy” and “mommy” and lots of baby babble, loves to eat food and tries to do everything her brothers do. It’s amazing how much she can keep up and how much she can communicate already!

Please pray:

• For the new opportunity the Lord is opening in São José, and for conviction and repentance in the hearts of those opposed to gospel work there

• For the continued work in Crajari

• For safety and more opportunities to preach on the river, as the Lord wills

• For us to have consistency and patience in training our children 

• For Raimundo, Peter’s unsaved brother mentioned in previous letters, still pretty weak and a long ways to go medically speaking, but he’s now out of ICU in Manaus and they hope to send him home in a couple months if he continues to show improvement 

• For us, that God would give us the words to speak and that we would open our mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel (Eph. 6:19)

We love you all! Once again, thank you for your prayers, care and love!

Love, Ezra and Joanna, Andrew, Philip, and Henrietta Brainard