E-mail sent with Prayer Letter
Here are four ways to keep up with the Tylers…
1. Read this blog and leave a comment – You may also sign up for the RSS feed
2. Facebook – Add me as a friend HERE
3. Prayer Letters – Sign up to receive our prayer letter on the column to the right.
4. E-mail – Write to us HERE
We would like to start off this new year introducing you to our new family website (www.tylersinbrazil.com). We wanted to have this website ready before our furlough. It is a simple website with the goal to keep you more up-to-date with our ministry.
Please take a look around and let us know what you think. We will be updating the blog with events and prayer requests as we are able.
We will no longer be using the website www.braziltotheuttermost.com. Please refer to this website from now on for any updates from our family. You can get updates through RSS feed or keep up with the posts on Facebook.
Every page can be easily accessed through the menu, but here are a few of the new pages you might enjoy…
* Please note that we will be using this domain for our email also. You can use any of our first names @tylersinbrazil.com to reach us.
–Jeremy
We have much to praise the Lord for! This trip would have been much more difficult had it not been for our new vehicle. Though we did not need the 4 wheel drive on this trip, we did need the larger tires and higher vehicle. I am not sure our previous car would have made the entire trip without incident, but we must praise the Lord that this one did. The only damage to the car was all the bugs on the front. Some just do not want to come off!
The road conditions to Rio Branco were much better than we expected. Amanda volunteered to drive! Now that is saying something! She hates these roads. We even had to cross the river on a ferry, which was a first for our boys.
Once we arrived in Rio Branco, we were able to spend a few days with the Doolittles. Our boys enjoyed meeting their two younger boys (Joshua and Benjamin) and the five of them had a great time together. The Doolittles were also a great encouragement to Amanda and me.
One of the days we were with them, we enjoyed an afternoon playing ball with some of the young people in the church. We also had a good time eating pizza afterwards.
–Jeremy
This Thanksgiving was very exciting for our boys. They talked about it and waited anxiously for weeks before hand. Having so many different children around, made things very interesting. It would not be correct to say it all went down without any incidents, but we are still thankful that it all worked out. The boys had a great time. We even played some real baseball in a yard big enough to hit the ball without it going over the wall.
–Jeremy
Having recently moved to this part of the world, we are yet to get the full effect of the rainy season. When we arrived in Northwest Brazil over six months ago, we were at the end of the rainy season. We experienced the rain every day and the mud that was caused by it. We lived on a dirt road with a dirt yard and had mud on our feet almost every time we entered the house.
Within a few months, the dry season came and we started fighting the dust. You can clean, wash, wipe, rinse, dust, or mop, but when all is said and done there will be a red layer on everything you have just finished cleaning within a couple of hours.
Slowly, things begin to change. Our grass was all brown from no rain. I had not cut the grass in two months. Then just about two weeks ago we started getting rain. Several places around us had received some rain, so we knew it was on the way.
It has rained about three or four times in the last two weeks. The grass is all green, the weeds are high, the mud is back, but there were a few things we did not expect. These things come by surprise because of being in a different house.
When the first storm hit, it hit between 3-4 in the morning. We were sleeping quite well until the wind woke us up. Then all of a sudden, we got out of bed to see the rain. I walked into the kitchen and stepped in a puddle of water, as I was trying to get that mopped up, Amanda called from the bedroom and said there was water in there! Wow! Our bedroom became a small swimming pool!
Though it did not rain very long, it took us nearly an hour or an hour and a half to mop up all the rain. We were able to get back to sleep just before needing to wake up and begin our day.
Yesterday, we received another BIG storm. This one we were ready for. We placed rags under all the doors that would let water in. We closed the windows and got out the rags. The wind was once again very strong and blew the rain right against the bedroom window. We were prepared for water to come in, but a little more than expected came in. When we pulled the curtains back, here is what we saw…
The good thing about this last storm is that I found where the problem is in order to try and seal it up. When the storm hit in the middle of the night, I was not awake enough to figure out what needed to be fixed.
Spiritually speaking, we are in a dry season here in Brazil. Yes, we get a few drops here and there, but we are looking for the rain. All over Brazil, in the large cities and in the remote scattered places, the story is the same.
It is amazing to me that we live in such a remote place, but at the same time, we have so many modern conveniences. We have indoor plumbing, electricity, high-speed internet, cars, microwaves, online shopping, and much more. Yet, at the same time, within just a few minutes I could take you to places that have absolutely none of these modern conveniences. There are places near here that you could not get to in a car during the rainy season. They have no internet. They still use they use outhouses and may or may not have electricity.
Yet in all of this, God is to be praised! It is by His grace that any of us lives another day. With or without the modern conveniences of the hour, our Lord is the one who holds the world in His hands. We will either see His hand working around us, or we will face this world on our own and get frustrated, confused, and materialistic about it all.
My heart breaks when I stop to ponder the reality of our situation today. In this day and age when we have the most modern conveniences of any period of time in history, there are more people out there who have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel than ever before.
Truth is, the statistics are even more warped by the fact that religion obscures the Gospel. You can be a part of an evangelical “Christian” church for many many years and never hear the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Many statistics now reflect Brazil as a Christian nation. Just because it is a very religious country, the second largest missionary sending country in the world, most everyone you meet seems calls themselves a “believer”, and a good part of the population holds a copy of God’s Word in their hands, does not mean that they have heard a clear presentation of the Gospel.
“Christianity” and religion have become some of the largest hindrances to the Gospel here in Brazil. In almost every city in Brazil, we are not winning the “heathen” to Christ. We are simply reaching out to nominal Christians who have never been saved. They use the same Bible we do, they use the same language we do, and some even have higher standards of dress than we do. Yet, they do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
The good news in all of this is the Gospel!!!! God’s Word is able to divide asunder between soul and spirit. It can also discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Bringing this back to the story related above, we are praying for rain!!! I personally am praying for revival in Brazil. It seems as though we are in a dry season where many are discouraged about serving the Lord and few are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Yet, if we are still serving and believing in the God of the Bible, then we have hope that the drought will end and the rainy season is on the way!
Please join us in praying that souls would be saved, that people would be baptized, but don’t stop praying for true disciples of Jesus Christ. Pray for truth to be spread and false religions to be revealed.
Pray for us as we seek to reach people here in this part of Brazil with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
— Jeremy
There are many blessings to being a missionary, but there are also some negatives. We are very blessed to have friends not only in most of the 50 states of America and in many of the 26 states in Brazil, but we also have friends in many countries around the world. The bad part about it all is that many times we must say goodbye to our friends. There have been countless numbers of times when we have had to say goodbye to people we love.Most recently, we have had to say goodbye to the people of Itapuã do Oeste in the state of Rondônia in Brazil. Fellow missionary Tom Brewer and his wife Cindy were a special blessing to us during the four months we spent with them. Their church, Igreja Batista Bíblica do Vale, became very special to us. The people took us in and befriended us and encouraged us. We are very thankful for the time spent there.
Here are a few more pictures of our friends in Itapuã. The entire album can be seen HERE.
I am looking forward to updating everyone on our latest adventures and getting you up to speed on our ministry progress. I am very excited about what God is doing. Most of the news will have to be posted a little at a time. However, I will give you just a taste of what God is doing.
Several weeks ago, the Lord brought two Haitian men across my path for a brief instant. We were in and out of the same town for about two weeks. Then they moved and I moved. Now we are about 200 miles apart. However, God is still working in their hearts. Every week I receive a phone call from Adrim. The Lord is doing something special in his life and bringing him closer to the Lord.
Shortly after trusting Christ as his Savior, he lost his job and had some very disappointing things happen at the next job he took. This forced him to move to a new location where he could be closer to some friends. Though there are some negatives, he is encouraged in the Lord. He will soon receive his very first Bible in his native language! That will no doubt be a big help and boost in his Christian life.
Manoel, the second man also trusted the Lord and is well. He also is looking forward to receiving a Bible and some studies that he can go through to grow in his Christian life. Please keep praying for these men.
Since our move to Ouro Preto do Oeste, the Lord has brought several people across our path who are in need of spiritual help. One young saleslady in a department store after answering our questions asked if we were Christians. She then began to ask for spiritual advice. She has been looking for a good church and is disgusted with all the options available to her at this time. Please pray for her. Her name is Edinalva. She has many questions and is looking for the truth.
Yesterday our neighbors came over to bring us a little treat and we found out that their oldest daughter (15) is interested in missions and has already been reading our Gospel website. We also had a great conversation with some of our other neighbors a few days ago.
Our website influence is growing slowly, but steadily. Though not many have written us on the website, traffic has increased and people from every state in Brazil as well as other countries are accessing the Gospel website ConhecendoDeus every month.
Over the next few weeks we will be posting pictures and telling you more about what has happened in the last few weeks and keeping you updated with what is going on presently as well. Below is a picture of the view from the kitchen window in our house.
— Jeremy
I posted on Thursday, March 1st that we were waiting on our moving truck. Late in the day I called the owner of the trucking company and he told me the truck still was not unloaded and would not be unloaded before Friday. However, he said there was another truck coming from Rio de Janeiro that could come by and load our things.
He said the truck could come by early Friday. So I agreed to that. The problem is that our non-refundable airplane tickets were for 7:40am on Friday. I considered sending Amanda and the kids ahead and purchasing another ticket for myself later in the day or Saturday. After praying about the situation, the Lord gave us peace about taking off and leaving all of our things for someone else to load.
On Friday morning, we went to the airport to catch our plane. The check-in line for our flight was just about as long as the airport. Their network was down and the employees were writing everything out by hand including boarding passes and luggage tickets. However, the Lord blessed and we arrived at our final destination only 20 minutes later than expected.
While we were flying, we prayed that the Lord would bless in the move. There were plenty of helpers and things went very well. The truck did not arrive until after 9am. They loaded the truck and they were able to load the car on the back of the truck also!!! Praise the Lord. This will expedite our ability to get around here. It will also allow us to trade it in or take our time selling it.
It took the truck four days to get up here to Rondônia. It arrived on Tuesday the 6th. We hired a few boys from the church to help unload the truck and carry our belonging to the appropriate place.
NOTHING TELLS THE STORY BETTER THAN PICTURES!
Loading the truck from São Paulo – Thanks for the help guys! Not only did all of our belongings make it, but the van load of things we brought the day before and the car made it also.
These pictures are of our trip here to Itapuã. On the way back to Bro. Brewer’s house where we are staying, his truck broke down and we were on the side of the road for several hours before we were able to get a taxi to pick us up and take us the rest of the way.
These pictures are of the unloading process. Yes, it was a meat truck, but they did not turn it on for us while we were unloading. However, they did turn in on for my Dad when he was loading. It was huge. Notice the picture of the empty truck and look for the driver all the way at the front of it. I wish I had pictures of us unloading the car here. The truck driver backed up to a pile of dirt, we found two boards to bridge the gaps and I drove across those two boards.
Thank you for your prayers for us over the last few weeks. The Lord was very good to us. We are thankful for His blessings and for His protection.
–Jeremy
