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VOLUME JMEVII VII

JANUARY, 1988

NUME NUMBER 1

NEW LIVES BEGINNING IN 1988

On January 18th Fatima de Jesus Paiva and Johnny Johnston were

buried with Christ in Christian baptism. Joy and happiness always accom
pany this event. This was no exception.

Johnny is an Angolan visiting his sister Victoria here in Portugal. She is one of our most faithful members. He has wanted to be baptized for
years and now that is reality. Fatima is a 20-year-old girl from South Africa. God is using her to influence her whole family. Her mother had forbidden her to come to

church, but on the 10th of January she came with her daughter! PRAISE
THE LORD! I

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Our outreach at the two congrega

tions is varied. During December a group of YOUTH WITH A MISSION (35 of them) came and distributed litera

The Church grows as families are united together in Christ. Manoel and
Ivonne are faithful members of the Rio

de Mouro Church. They have put God

first in their lives.

ture and evangelized, using skits and

drama and music in the local markets.

Orlando & Luis accompanied them.

Visitors are a welcome part of our ministry. Cheri Oakley and Bonnie Devore were here during November. It was great to see Cheri again and to meet Bonnie. Our people liked them very much. May God bless their work
back in the States.

Elizabeth Mafuta and daughter, wife and daughter of Aaron Canda, the regional preacher from Angola, have been with us for a month. They came
for medical examinations. Our doctor at the Clinic examined the child and is

sending medicine back with her.

Id OUTREACH

Sarah & Dick have a weekly English Bible study with a young couple, Tony
& Marianne Santos, from South Africa.

This is an enjoyable experience in

God's Word with this new family.

They have 2 young sons.

Luis Broz carrying a load of people in the church van. This is a steady, regu lar ministry, one of the "taken for granted ones".

Preparing, printing, and addressing the Church paper, THE LIGHTHOUSE MESSENGER in Portuguese, makes
Victoria & Johnny Johnston sister &
for a lot of work with some volunteer

brother, both physically and spiritu

ally.

help as well. Thank God for the inter

national outreach of this small journal.

Dick & Sarah Robison

Rua Por do Sol, 29 Orlando has been an able helper dur ing the short time he has been here. His good attitude and willingness is an inspiration. Pray that enough monthly support will be forthcoming for his continued participation as a staff member of Portugal Christian Mission.
2775 Carcavelos

Apartodo 41
2777 Carcavelos

Portugal Portugal Telephone - 011 -351 -1 -246-1596

FORWARDING AGENTS:

Phil & Dot Wiltshire

3284 Lancer Dr.

Powder Springs, GA 30073

404-943-4668

Non Profit Org.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID
RETURN ADDRESS;

Permit No. 12

Bob Mitchell
R.R.2

Heyworth, IL
61745

Bloomington, IL 61701 Mission Services PO Box 2427

Knoxville, TN 37901

ADDRESS

CORRECTION

REQUESTED

'5'6'(

ROBISON
DEAR

A (j 1987 may well be remembered as a P P in Colombia, earthquakes in California, numerous and terrible aviation disasters, costly & devastating 0 wars, the Wall St. crash, riots & terrorism, Persian Gulf acti & then the signing of the arms reduction treaty by the R vities, two superpowers. Some were cautious, some doubtful, but the trea ty could bring some measure of peace to the world. That thought T reminds us of an event nearly 2000 years ago when angels announ
year full of big news events; mud slides

JANUARY 1988

^\6RINCu

ced the birth of Jesus and sang of "peace on earth, goodwill to men." There was no jostling of reporters, no motorcades, no state
dinners; there was a couple who couldn't find a decent room

where the Prince of Peace could be born. There were lowly shep
herds tending their sheep on the Judean hillside who received

the news, verified it and praised God that it was just as the angel had said it would be.(Isn't it great that the word of God Is^ trustworthy? If s a treaty between God and man, more import ant than any ever signed by heads of state). So we pray that this Prince of Peace has blessed your life; has brought peace
to your life during the Christmas season.

Since our last RAPPORT many things have happened.

Orlando Nascimento did decide to work with us and he has

been a great help with music, youth and general outreach His enthusiasm is contagious. We did get several sub stantial one-time gifts,but not much additional monthly support
for him.

He, Luis and Lucia Braz planned & presented the Christmas
Program, ably assisted by Luis' two sisters. It's the first one where we weren't directly involved-kind of nice.

Luis & Lucia & Arnaldo Braz continue to be cap

able &-willing workers. L.& L. went to the Madeira
Island for Christmas to visit her folks & let them

meet Marcos, their 1 yr. old grandson. Luis got his

Portuguese driver's license which takes months & requires going

to school. It has proven to be worth the cost of the course. The

church van now has 3 drivers instead of one. By the way, we are

really grateful for a friend here who has provided the tires for the Van each time they were needed. Please note that our P. 0 address is now Apartado 5^1I 2777 CARCAVELOS, PORTUGAL. For those who used our old APO address we inform you that at the end of January it's no longer available.

We reported 2 baptisms in a PIONEER and there will be 2

more this week. One is the brother of a member who is visit-

ing frcm Angola & the other is a young lady who will leave soon for

South Africa. We hope she'll return to us. We're not a large Church,
but our influence stretches to many countries.
We received

word that 2 of the 20 boxes of Bibles had

finally arrived
thankful for

in Mozambique and the brothers there were so

them.

Our guest list this year has an interna

tional flavor: (1) Duane Keeran of Austin, Texas was visiting missionaries in Europe. (2) Tom Fife, Brazilian missionary was here for 3 weeks of special classes. (3) Carlos
Fields of Louisville, Tn. preached a week on
_ the Book r.f EphAsians^...(J-)_Bill g: Qlnr:I j irv-xtr
,.. r ^ ^:4-

brought 2 interns from Spain, Scott LaRue &

Katey Pennig came thru for a visit &R&R before hitting the depu tation trail in U.S. They studied Portuguese here before going to

Terri Strakalaitas. (5) Randy, Toni, Jesse &

Mozambique. (6) Several back-packers seeing Europe stopped in: Michele Linse, of Chicago &Tito Sanders of Wash., D.C. (7) Claudia Middendorf of Germany studying Port, to join the Fennigs in Mozambi que. (8) Monica Gartner (Germany) (9) Pierre Kanfome of Guinea-Bissau.

(10) Cheri Oakley, one of the original team members, here for a visit
&brought a friend, Bonnie Devore. (11) At present we have Elizabeth Mafutei, wife of African pastor here for treatment with her 5 mo, old daughter. They had a typical Christmas dinner with us and we're en joying some Angolan dishes. We have had many visitors from the area also. All are welcome & each one adds special blessings to our lives.
We had ex/-n pected the Thomases & Fifes in
1987* but that didn't happen. The Thomases are waiting for visas, hopefully by February & we just received word this week that the Fifes would arrive

by boat March 21st. PTL: The workers we prayed for

We pause to reflect on the past year & realize

some have fallen away, some have grown stronger, some new faces appeared, there were 2 baptisms, 5 kids went to camp for the 1st time, lots of nice visitors, some health problems & recovery, times of really

missing our family, some disappointments & frustra

tions & many, many blessings. Thank you for sending us, for praying, for caring, writing & remembering special dates and the many kind
nesses shown throughout the year.

May this year be filled with blessings untold through the Prince
of Peace.

Love,

/ILU.

mm

VOLUME VII

JUNE, 1988

NUMBER 2

PRAYER

ANSWERED

IN

HIS

TIME

The Robert Fife family and Tim Thomas family hove arrived in Portugal. PRAISE THE LORD! God has answered the prayers for workers "in His time!" Oh, how we love to
pray and have "instant answers", but how difficult it Is "to wait" for God's timetable
and be satisfied with the wait!

Thank you, all of you. for your prayers on their behalf. Now continue to pray for us as we begin working together. Pray for wisdom and that we can glorify God In our out
reach !

ROBERT FIFE FAMILY

TIM THOMAS FAMILY

Robert, Derlani and children orrived in

Tim, Dixie, Sarah and Andrew arrived by

Lisbon on March 20th by boat from Santos, Brazil. They are adapting very well to Luzoland. They are the first missionaries sent out

plane from New York on March 22nd. It's very

good to have them back and adjusting to the work again. We have been counting our blessings and giving God all the glory for
blessings.
MINI VBS

partially by the Brazilian churches along with the American churches. May their number
increase.

BLUE CROSS PROGRAM

Brother Jose Ferreira and his wife Oulce

spent one Sunday sharing with both churches about their particular work. This organization began in Sweden and is dedicated to showing people the dangers of alcohol. They offer
seminars, free doctor's consultations and

recuperation help. The best way to combat chronic alcoholism is to prevent and not cure it. Our people wanted them to come back and
share more with us.

Rio de Mouro Church had a mini-VBS combined with field events to kick-off their

initial Sunday School opening. There were 27 present for the VBS and 30 for Sunday School the next day. PRAISE THE LORD!
Orlando P. Nascimento, for whom we requested special support in the last news

letter and through a special appeal letter, has

decided to work with another mission. Youth

With A Mission. This is a self-support group.

Each worker provides his own finances. Orlando still helps out at both churches when
he can.

We thank you for your support for Orlan

do. Your help provided a very needed tem porary help until the two long-awaited fami lies arrived. Perhaps some would consider
continued support and transfer it to Luis and

Lucia Braz!
workers.

"In His Time" God supplies

FIRST ANNUAL IBERIAN MISSIONARY CONFERENCE

HOME BIBLE STUDIES

Plans are being laid tor the 1st Confer

ence to be held here in Carcavelos, Portugal,

June 14-17, 1988. Pray that God will bless the meeting. The theme is "IBERIAN EXODUS".

MINI-RETREAT

Tim, Robert, Sarah, and ! accepted an

Invitotion from Maria Pia, a member, to visit

her fazenda (form) in the Alentejo Region and share the Bible with some invited guests.
Hours were spent in opening the Word and letting God's Spirit bring out the applications
needed for each one. We have on invitation

to go back to shore the "good news". Each Wednesday afternoon we have a study In
Lisbon.

Sixteen children between the ages of 5 and 9 years spent a full day with us in fellow ship, fun, and feasting. Derlani, Luis, Lucia, Orlando, Sarah and I helped with various phases of the Retreat. We ore grateful for the opportunity of sharing Jesus with the kids. May God bless them and continue to guide them. Cheri Oakley and the Grades 1-6 Youth Groups from the Heyworth, Illinois Christian Church hod sent money for the youth and this was applied to the expenses of the retreat.

FURLOUGH PLANS

Plans are being made for a short furlough this year, beginning in the latter part of July and extending until the end of November. Pray for this! There will be opportunities to update supporters, attend the National Mis sionary Convention, hold a Portugal Christian Mission board meeting, and visit with family and friends.
Dick & Sarah Robison

Rua For do Sol, 29

2775 Carcavelos

Aportado 41
2777 Carcavelos

Portugal Portugal Telephone - 011-351-1-246-1596

FORWARDING AGENTS:

Phil & Dot Wiltshire

3284 Lancer Dr.

Powder Springs, GA 30073

404-943-4668

Non Profit Org.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID
RETURN ADDRESS:

Permit No. 12

Bob Mitchell
R.R.2

Heyworth, IL
61745

Bloomington, IL 61701

3/907
ADDRESS CORRECTION REUo^.

f'WL '

''0t

VOLUME VII

DECEMBER, 1988

NUMBERS

PORTUGAL CHRISTIAN BOARD MEETS AT JBC

An excellent meeting of the Portugal Christian Mission Board was held on November 5 at Johnson Bible College. Dick Robison gave an up-date of the work in Portugal and
plans for the future.

It was good to have Bob & Bonnie Mitchell and Lovella Richardson there for the first time. Several members were not able to attend for various reasons. Mike Lacy and Bill Lindsey contributed to our meeting, and Bob Wheatley gave us an up-date on the debt reduction on the loan in the US. We are now owing only $3,800 on the $25,000 we borrowed four years ago. Positive steps will be implemented to accelerate the debt reduction on the building in Portugal.

FURLOU

Our departure from Lisbon airport was delayed 3 hours. We appreciated the send-off by our brothers in Christ, Tim Thomas and Robert Fife. How nice it was to

have a New Yorl< connection! Jim, Ann & kids met us and a joyous time was had by
all and with the Church in Glen Grove.

Travels have taken us 12,000 miles during this time. God provided for our travel ing needs by directing us to a place with a 1982 Honda Civic with 31,000 miles on it. We have been in Mission Rallies, Sunday School Classes, Vacation Bible School,

Chapel, Faith Promise Rallies, the North American Christian Convention, and many,
many worship services across the United States. We have traveled to New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Penn sylvania, and Texas. We have made a serious attempt to report to as many of our sup porters, both to churches and individuals as possible in these post 4 months.

GH 1988
Time spent with our family has been special for us. We were saddened by the
passing of Dick's sister, Rhoda Eilort, while we have been here. strong supporter of our work. She had been a

Pray for our co-workers and that God's will may be done in our lives as His representatives in Portugal. Pray for the Youth Groups and sponsors from Indiana who will be coming next summer to help out in Portugal and Spain. Pray for the re cent additions to God's body in Portugal. Pray for the laborers already in the harvest fields. Praise God for the faithful friends who helped out during furlough, especially Clarence and Ethelyn Linsenbigler who provided us a home while here.

A highlight of our furlough wos

the actual voting in person in a
Presidential election in the USA.
ballot.

We

have voted many years by absentee

Dick & Sarah Robison m. i

Rua Por do Sol, 29

2775 Carcovelos

Apcrtodo 41
2777 Carcavelos

We plan to leave the US for Lisbon, Portugal on December 28th. May God grant all of you a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Portugal

Portugal

Telephone - 011-351-1-246-1596
FORWARDING AGENTS:

Phil & Dot Wiltshire

3284 Lancer Dr.

Powder Springs, OA 30073

404-943-4668

Non Profit Org.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID
RETURN ADDRESS:

Bob Mitchell
R.R. 2 Box 288

Permit No. 12

Heyworth, IL
61745

Bloomington, IL 61704

^noxvilje, TN 37901
ADDRESS CORRECTION Kfcuu.

PO Box 2427

Mission Services