Ministry | Tylers in Brazil

Category Archives: Ministry

Boys’ Bible Club

Posted on June 10, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

On Saturday afternoon, we had our first “Boys’ Bible Club” here at our house. In our neighborhood, there are several groups of boys, roughly 8-14 years old, who hang around together riding bikes, flying kites, playing ball, and whatever else they might decide to do. This is such a crucial age in their lives, and we have a burden to help them however we can. Having three boys who fall (almost) into this age bracket, we decided to start a club once a month to get to know some of these boys, spend some time with him, and hopefully encourage them to live for the Lord.

We invited several boys, and we had eleven come for this first meeting, including our three. Four of these were boys we had just met, so we were especially excited to see them come. Jeremy gave a short lesson from the Bible, and did an object lesson, then they played games for a while in the back yard. We gave them some juice and cookies, and they were on their way.

We were pleased with how things went for this first time, and it seemed that those who came really enjoyed it. We are hoping that they will come back and bring others with them next month.

Please help us pray for this outreach, that we might be a light in our neighborhood and that these boys would grasp the truth of God’s Word!

–Amanda

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog

Fun Cultural Experiences!

Posted on May 2, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Many times we wonder what things were like hundreds of years ago. Being out in the jungle sometimes can give us a real sense of what things were like.

On my most recent trip into the jungle, I had the opportunity to eat two kinds of meat that are not readily available in other parts of the country. The first was deer meat that we ate. The dear was killed by an anaconda! The neighbors were chasing the dear but before they could get to it, an anaconda got a hold on it. They killed the anaconda to get the dear.

The second kind of meat was tapir. It is similar to a large pig, but the meat is much stronger. The particular meat we ate came from some neighbors, but we did catch a good look of a tapir being butchered, quickly dunked in the river (so the fish would not get it), washed off, and then carried off to be stored.

Here is a picture and a video of what took place.

THE PICTURE

THE VIDEO

Tapir from Jeremy Tyler on Vimeo.

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog, Work With Indians

A Mission Trip to the Rio Purus

Posted on May 1, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

I just arrived back from a trip into the jungle. It is always an adventure, but at the same time there is much to learn and to glean from on a trip like this. I have been praying about taking a trip to this region since 2010, so it was exciting to finally be able to take the trip.

Though much could be said, I will keep this entry simple and to the point. I learned much that would be impossible to share in a blog. The Lord is teaching and I am doing my best to learn. The pictures tell more of the story, so to get a more detailed glimpse at the area and the trip, please look at the pictures for MAY 2014 on our PICTURES PAGE.

THE JOURNEY

– I headed out from my house just before midnight on Sunday night. John Kokenzie gave me a ride to the bus stop where my trip began. I traveled all night arriving in Porto Velho at 5am.
– From the bus station in Porto Velho I took a taxi to the airport where I would catch my plane around noon to Rio Branco in a neighboring state.
– I arrived in Rio Branco about an hour later where Bro. Stephen Doolittle picked me up and took me to his house. Once there, we ate lunch, freshened up and got in the car for another 135 miles or so. When we reached our destination, Pr. André was there waiting for us. It was already dark. We went to get a quick bite to eat, then hit the hay.
– By 5am we were all up and gathering our belongings to take to the boat. By 7:00 we were in the boat and heading up the river. Unfortunately one member of our crew received a phone call and had to return because his father suffered a heart attack. He was able to get back just a few hours before his father passed away.
– Our boat ride lasted for about 9 hours and took us around 120 miles up river where we arrived at Pr. André and Marlete’s house.

THE TEAM

– Pr. André is the Brazilian missionary we visited. He has been working in this region for nearly four years now. He has given up many conveniences of modern day life to build a house out in the jungle in order to reach the local Indian tribe.
– Marlete is Pr. André’s wife and was awaiting us at their home up the river. She cooked and washed clothes for us.
– Ester is their daughter and a very talkative girl. She is seven years old and enjoys when someone from the city comes to visit. We had a good time playing a few games and putting together a puzzle with her.
– João is a layman who had some vacation time saved up for this trip. Unfortunately he was not able to make the trip after receiving the call about his father.
– Bro. Stephen Doolittle had already been up to visit Pr. André once before, but wanted to help on a few projects, so he had decided to go back.
– Several other men had planned to go on the trip but due to court hearings, finances, or other issues, they were not able to go.

THE GOALS

Learn more about working with the Indians – We spent more than a week with Pr. André and his family! What a blessing to get to know this precious family and glean from their experience in working with the Indians. They have been ministering to this ethnic group for about four years. They have a few other missionaries helping them.
Though they have not established a church in the tribe yet, they are building friendships with the Indians, learning the language and culture, and praying that the Lord would help them witness and win this tribe.
Help Pr. André build a house in the Indian village – In three days we were able to help Pr. André put up the main structure for his house in the Indian village. The house is roughly 18 feet x 18 feet. It was hard work and very tiring, but praise the Lord, we were able to accomplish the task even though we had a much smaller crew than anticipated.

Thank you again for your prayers!

— Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog, Work With Indians

Emails This Week!

Posted on April 7, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Email is such a useful tool. Many times I write dozens of emails a day. It takes seconds to respond to someone and let them know you are praying for them, or just send a note of encouragement.

Most days I am tempted to get in a routine of answering emails and sending off messages to people that I don’t think of the effect they could have. Recently the Lord has made me more aware of the impact that an email can have. Let me share with you a few instances of emails that I have received in the last week.

1. Just a few days ago I received an email that basically said, “Please pray for me, I am not saved, but I need to be saved so that I can have eternal life.” Though the email said more than this, this was the most important part of it.

2. I also received an email this past week that said, “I really like the content on your website. Do you have any correspondence courses that I could take to study the Bible? I want to learn more about the Bible.”

3. Another man asked for prayer. He lost everything including his family and compared his life to Job. He confessed he was a sinner and wanted to know how to have peace again in his life.

It is not always easy knowing what to write and how to write it, but I thank God for the opportunities to give out the Gospel message. Email can be much like a tract. What difference could we make if we included more of the Gospel in our email messages? Maybe you could include a link to a Gospel tract at the bottom of you eamils. God has given us tools in our hands to be used for Him. What are you doing with the tools you have been given?

Please continue to pray as we reach out to people all over the world through the internet.

–Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog, Websites

Learning more about tribes in Brazil

Posted on March 23, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Recently Bro. Sam Rogers called me. He is an American missionary who is working less than an hour from us. He asked if I would like to meet a native Indian pastor that was coming his way. This pastor is supported by a few churches in our area and we had heard much of his work. A few days later, he drove up and we picked up Pastor Daniel, the native pastor, at the bus station.

Me, Pr. Daniel, and Sam Rogers

Though our time together was brief, we talked about the work among the Indians. We spoke of his ministry, the needs, the people, and many other topics. The meeting, though brief, was very informative. I was able to speak of specific groups by name knowing where they were located, who was working with them, and learn more about other groups in the area.

Every opportunity I have to spend with these native Indians increases the intensity and desire in my heart to reach them with the Gospel.

It is amazing how God has worked out the details of the past few months. I remember, about a year ago, the desire I had to take several trips. Yet, the doors were not opening quickly. I did not know what God would do, but I began praying about several different possibilities. I wanted to learn more about this work with the Indians.

The past six months have been filled with experiences that I will never forget. What once was just a dream is becoming a reality. What once were just tribal names, now are faces and friends!!!

On deputation, I acquired pictures from the internet to make our video presentation. We used pictures of many different ethnic groups that were taken in Brazil. I never really expected to run into those people. Yet, looking back through our video with a friend, he said, “That is the guy I was telling you about yesterday. He is the one that I talked to about…” WOW! My first thought was, “You mean that man is a real person?”

In all reality, it is one thing to talk about reaching the unreached and a totally different thing to actually have personal contact with them. God is teaching me that every person alive is a part of His eternal plan. They were each created in His image and likeness. He loves every single one of them. Therefore, we must reach them!

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Please keep praying for this work!

— Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog, Work With Indians

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

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

Haitian Outreach by Brazilians on Bolivian Border

Posted on December 3, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

It is amazing what we see when we just stop and think about what God is doing! God works in ways we cannot possibly comprehend. Not only is He working in the lives of each person alive in this world, but He also orchestrates political events, national tragedies, economic situations, natural disasters, spread of disease, and every other aspect of this world in which we live. In all of this, He never loses focus of one individual.

What amazes me the most is when I realize that God orchestrates thousands of events over many years, then uses those events to bring one specific individual to faith in Jesus Christ. The immediate events surrounding this individual’s salvation may be a “coincidence” to us. We may think it happened by chance, but God is never surprised, awed, or amazed. He knows all things and is working to make sure they happen.

Last year 2 Haitians entered into a small Baptist church in a city of about 7,000 people. They had traveled well over 4,000 miles from their home to get to that point. It was at this same time that the Lord placed us in this church. We were in the church for about four months. An acquaintance was made, then a few days later, they came looking for help. Little did they know that their greatest need would be met that evening. Both men trusted Christ as their Savior!!!

The Lord used that event to help us open our eyes to a great opportunity here in Brazil. On our most recent trip to Brasiléia on the Bolivian border, we surveyed the possibility of reaching these Haitians with the Gospel. Here is what we found.

About 50 Haitians cross the border from Bolivia into Brasiléia every day.
They stay in Brasiléia until they get permission to be in the country and permission to work.
The average stay is from 2-4 weeks.
The Brazilian government provides the Haitians with food and a place to stay. This “place to stay” is nothing more than a covered over area or large tents where there is no sanitation, no privacy, and no comfort.
The Haitians must come up with about $3.00 for documents and money for the bus fare to where they are going. Some even struggle to come up with the $3.00.
For the most part, they are not well educated. More than 50% of them only speak Haitian Creole. French is also spoken by those who are educated.
They are all looking for new hope in this world. Many come with nothing but the clothes on their backs and are looking for a job where they can make money and send it back to their relatives. Some are looking to get away from their past and wish to move on to a new life.
Though there are some women, most Haitians coming across the border are men. Even a few children have been seen from time to time.

Can we offer them hope? YES! There is hope in Jesus Christ and we want to get them the Gospel as they pass through the “doorstep” of the church in Brasiléia.

Will you pray for this outreach? Will you pray for Haiti? Will you pray for the church in Brasiléia that has an opportunity to reach out to these Haitians?

–Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog

Spreading the Gospel all over the world

Posted on July 31, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

How would you give out the Gospel if you could only quote Scripture? Suppose you could only speak words directly from the Bible. How would you tell people that their sins are keeping them from a relationship with God and that repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven?

This is a challenge that we have before us at this time! Though we have some help from people that speak the language a bit, in some languages we have nothing other than the Bible to present to people. So what should we say? Should we just quote John 3:16 over and over again? This is a point I have been pondering for years now. How much of the Gospel that I give is directly from the Bible?

The last few weeks have been very fruitful as we are expanding our outreach! It is exciting to see what God is doing.

Last week almost 10,000 people viewed content from our Facebook pages. Most of these people are from French speaking countries where we have been advertising, but a good portion of them are from Brazil and from Haiti also. How wonderful it is to get comments, questions, and responses from people who are encouraged by the Word of God.

Here is a breakdown of what has happened over the past few weeks to expand this work…

1. An Arabic page has been started on Facebook.
2. Bible studies have been added to the website in Haitian Creole.
3. A Frequently Asked Questions page was added to French so we can answer more questions quickly.
4. Business cards with the website were distributed to a few Haitian people in Porto Velho, and they will also be receiving several of the Bible studies in the near future.
5. A German Facebook page has been started.

Though these are just small opportunities, the Lord has given them to us and we are doing what we can to reach the World through Brazil. Please take a few moments and pray for this Arabic outreach this week. We started advertising today in Jordan and Iraq. In just a few hours we have had more than 50 likes. This is a great opportunity to reach into the 10/40 window with the Gospel. Please pray!

Here is an image of our Arabic page.

I have also listed our Facebook pages below and you can take a look at them if you would like.

Facebook page in Portuguese
Facebook page in Haitian Creole
Facebook page in French
Facebook page in Arabic
Facebook page in German

— Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog, Websites

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