February | 2014 | Tylers in Brazil

Monthly Archives: February 2014

A Cry For Laborers

Posted on February 27, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” – Matthew 9:38

Matthew 9:38 is a verse that we often talk about, yet soon forget. We take it seriously when it involves us personally and when we need help. Many times however, we forget that there are people in this world crying out for the Gospel. Spiritually sick and destined to eternal suffering, they have little hope if someone does not get to them with the message of salvation.

This week was a great reminder of who God is and what He can do in the lives of people who believe in Him. I have seen both extremes. From extremely poor and remote people groups who have no idea what the Gospel message is, to the wealthy civilized people who have the Gospel and do not care to give it to those who need it, God is interested in every single person alive. He cares about the lost, but God also cares about how much we care about the lost.

Though I can rejoice about what God is doing in several tribes, it breaks my heart to see what is happening in the other tribes where there is no Gospel presentation. We are putting a plan in motion to help reach some of these tribes, but what about the others. Just this week we spoke with missionaries about at least 20 different tribes. About half of them have a missionary working with them. The others are “up for grabs”. Who will go? A “mission trip” will not solve this problem. We need missionaries, Bible translators, smiling faces, or anyone who is willing to give a portion of their life to reach the unreached. The main reason they are not reached is because no one is extending their arm.

I believe that reaching these Indians who are more civilized is the key to reaching the isolated Indians. We already know of accounts where one of these tribes sent missionaries to another tribe. The second tribe now has a church and many Christians in it. It is possible, but laborers are needed.

THE FIRST VILLAGE

68 people live in the village.
They are related to a few other tribes in the area.
Most of the adults speak Portuguese.
The tribe is very poor and unhealthy for various reasons.
At the moment, government projects to help them, are their only hope for improvement.
The tribe is around 40 miles from Vilhena a city of around 80,000 people.
They live only 20 miles off the main highway on a dirt road.
Our state is considered by many to be the most evangelized state in Brazil, yet these so close to the city do not have the Gospel.
Some missionaries have had contact with them in the past.
There is no missionary presence there at the present.
They want a missionary to work with them!

People eager to receive anything you give them.

THE SECOND VILLAGE

Is about 15 miles from the city of Ji-Paraná
There is presently a missionary working with this village.
There is a church in the village.
There is an Indian pastor in the village.

Four missionaries and the native Indian pastor.

THE THIRD VILLAGE

Is about 20 miles from Ji-Paraná.
There are several missionaries working with these people.
The Bible is being translated into their language.
There is a missionary living in the village.
There are three national pastors and several deacons also.
They are very modern and have electricity and running water in the village, though it may not be in every home.
Some of the people from this tribe have already taken the Gospel to other tribes.

Indian Pastor and his wife with Isaías and myself.

THE FOURTH VILLAGE

This village was from the same tribe as the third village.
About 1 mile from village three.
The men were all out fishing, so we did not stay.
Several families attend the church at the third village on Sunday mornings.

Young girl in the fourth village.

THE FIFTH VILLAGE

We were looking for a specific man in this village, but did not find him.
The people were very kind and gathered from every corner to come see us.
They attend church on Sunday mornings in village three.
We stayed for about 30 minutes in this village talking to the people.
This village was from the same tribe as village three and four.
It is about 1 mile from village four.
These Indians make jewelry out of small coconuts.
Some of the Indians in these tribes have inter-married. Because of this, we met a few from other tribes also.

People gathering to find out why we were there.

— Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog, Work With Indians

A Summary of My Recent Trip

Posted on February 25, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

I will try to break this up over the next few weeks, but mainly, I wanted to let everyone know how much we appreciate your prayers. The Lord gave us much needed safety as we traveled on dangerous roads.

A young boy in the first village we visited.

It is difficult to even summarize what we have experienced over the past few days, but I will try.

Though there were a few delays, we arrived in Vilhena as planned on the 20th.
God gave us a contact in Vilhena that proved to be very helpful. After telling us everything he knew about the situation with the Indians in the area, he then took us to a missionary’s house. This New Tribes missionary was even more knowledgeable and gave us much more needed information.
We were asked to stay for three days in order to visit all the villages. Having only one day, they made some phone calls and found a way for us to get into a tribe that afternoon.
We visited a village about 20 miles off the main highway. It was a bit difficult to get to, but without our 4×4 vehicle it would have been impossible. We did get stuck, but God placed a big tractor about 25ft. away from where we were stuck. Five minutes later, the tractor would have been long gone.
From Vilhena we drove at night to Pimenta Bueno. It was raining very heavily and the interstate highway had more pot holes than could be counted. Yet, after all the trouble, we arrived safely at the Indian school at about 10:30pm.
We spent most of Saturday morning (22nd) interacting with the students and faculty, then began our trip back home. We stopped in a few cities just to learn more about them.
Sunday morning we spent in our church service. We drove around our city in the afternoon, then went to church in Ji-Paraná for the evening arriving home well after midnight.
By 8am on Monday the 24th we were already back in Ji-Paraná where we picked up a missionary from the New Tribes’ base. He was able to take us to four different villages belonging to two different tribes. Spending time with a missionary who has worked in this field for over 15 years was a great help.
We traveled around 1,000 miles on very dangerous roads, yet God protected us and blessed in many ways on this trip. Though the cost of fuel was a bit more than normal, we were not hindered by a lack of supply.

Thank you again for praying,

— Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog, Work With Indians

Quick News Flash – Road Trip

Posted on February 19, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Here is what is happening on the main interstate highway in our state of Rondônia. If you read our prayer letter that we just sent out, this will help you understand why there could be a shortage of fuel. The main fueling depot where most of the fuel comes is right on this river. The entire place is flooded. All of this is taking place about 200 miles north of us.

The Rio Madeira is at a record high and there is much flooding. Other rivers are also flooding and causing trouble in different areas around the state. Though we are not experiencing flooding right where we are, we will be traveling south on this road for 8 hours today. Please continue to pray.

Posted in Old Blog

A Quick Update on The Tylers

Posted on February 18, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

There is no way for me to put everything in a prayer letter, but here are a few things that we would like for you to know about, pray for, and keep up with in our ministry…

January and February were spent on many projects…
– Relationships… God has given us the opportunity to develop stronger relationships with several people locally, help pastors and missionaries all over the country, and connect churches or individuals to others with whom they can fellowship.
– Resources… Several new messages and booklets have been added on websites.
– Translation of tracts… We received the translation of our Haitian tract and are working on layout for printing.
– Other things… Bible distribution, counseling by email through our websites, etc…
January and February – Our family has had several exciting events… Josiah (10) finished reading his Bible through for the first time, Jonathan had his 9th birthday, and Judson (6) was just baptized. See pictures HERE.
Thursday, February 20th – I will be traveling with a national missionary to scope out the tribal areas in our state. We will be going to four specific areas of the state and visiting several Indian villages as well as an Indian school.
Friday, February 28th – Josiah along with a few friends will be going to camp about two hours from here. This will be during the very popular “carnaval” holiday.
March – I will be working on finishing up a new website that will provide dozens if not hundreds of new resources for independent Baptists here in Brazil.
March – I just received 8 very good books from a publishing company to prep as e-books and place online. Lord willing it will not take but a few weeks to get all of these online.
April – Possible trip into the jungle with another missionary and a few nationals for about a week.
April – Extend our outreach to the Haitians. Print, deliver, and distribute tracts in key locations as well as develop the website side of the ministry to better reach their needs.
May – John and Julie Kokenzie may be returning to the US. If they do, we will have some more responsibilities to care for while they are gone.
June – We are working with Wings Bearing Precious Seed, missionaries, national pastors, laypeople, and visitors from the US to organize a great outreach during the world cup soccer events. We hope to have churches involved in all 12 cities. 1 million pieces of literature have been prepared for this event.(Wings Bearing Precious Seed is raising the money to get all of the literature where it needs to be. Once it is here in Brazil, it will need to be distributed to all 12 event locations. Though I am not directly involved in that part of it, I hope you will pray that the funds would come in on both ends. If you know anyone interested in helping with any part of this effort, please send me an email HERE or visit the Wings Bearing Precious Seed website.
2014 – There are many other things on our hearts and minds that we would like to press toward this year. We are seeking the mind of God in each situation. Each one of these things are directly connected with winning souls, edifying those souls, and preparing more laborers to reproduce these same steps. It is our desire to reach the world through Brazil. This requires many things, but we ask that you help us specifically by praying. If the Lord places a burden on your heart to help or get involved, there is always a need for more laborers.

–Jeremy

Posted in Literature, Ministry, Old Blog, Websites, Work With Indians