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BUNCHES IN BRAZIL

Spring 1979

BUNCH NEWSLETTER

Spring, 1979
Dear Friends:

"Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray giving thanks to God. At
the same time pray also for us, so that God will give us a good opportunity to
preach his message about the secret of Christ."
Colossians 4:2-3
We thank you for remembering the Brazilian ministry in your prayers. Sandy
and I and the children have continued to be blessed as we serve Christ in Cuiaba.

Your prayers continue to move the hand of God.

In February the Lord touched the hearts of sixdynamic^oung Christians in

Uberiandia and led them to visit the Christian family in Cuiaba. In reality, they
"ministered" to us all. The cover of our Spring newsletter has been dedicated to
that ministry and the impact it had on the lives of our people. The first of May we

will take advantage of a holiday, as five of us go to return the visit. I'm sure it will
be a blessing as we rejoice in the Lord with the Uberiandia Christians.
We have seen eight additions to the Christian body here since the first of the
year; seven by baptism. Growth is still not spectacular but we believe foundations
are being laid.
The "Life of Christ" films have been a key to
our ability to open new areas. Up until now we have
been able to borrow both projector and films through
the kindness of Harry Scates in Uberiandia. One of

Bruce Colson's supporting churches recently raised

funds for us to have our own projector here in Cuiab
We think this is a good time to challenge our
supporters with the need for films as well. The films
cost about $350 apiece and if each of our churches
bought at least one film we would have the entire _
series of the "Life of Christ" and could collect some

of the better"Sermon from Science" films from

Bruce,projectingfilmwith

Moody. These have proved to be excellent tools for

newly purchased machine

reaching ripe souls in Brazil.

fioni aiop mycar.

There are now three house churches in Cuiaba and an average of 40 taking
communion each Sunday. The house church that was meeting one week in Cohab
Veiha and the other in Novo Terceiro has divided into two churchletts, that will

meet jointly once a month. The men are excited about the division since they are
taking increased responsibility. Sandy and I are visiting one one week and the other
the next. As more house churches are initiated we will decrease and they will
increase. AMEN!

Felizberto and Gongalo recently opened a savings account for their two house
churches. They did this completely on their own and have even given the account
number to the other Christians in case they wish to make an anonymous gift at the
bank.

Good Friday is about the biggest reiigious holiday in Brazil and we decided to
take advantage with a retreat for the Christians from the three areas. We were able
to borrow the truck that has taken us to the past two retreats and we reserved a

small school a few miles from Cuiab^. Everyone was blessed and two were baptized
into Christ.

We scheduled a Sunrise Service for Easter morning, with the plan to meet at
4:00 a.m. Only a few women braved the early hour. Interestingly, it was the women
who went to the tomb at dawn that first Easter morning. We went down to the
river, where so many have been bom into Christ, and there we sang and prayed in
the sunrise! Severai others appeared for the picnic breakfast which took place off
the front of our car.

The men's meetings, Sunday Schools and afternoon worship services continue
to be a blessing to "those who love the appearing of our Lord."
..
JlfTl

A Note from Sandy

The Lord continues to shower us with His goodness because you continue to

pray for us and His work here in Cuiab. Our Christians are so thankful to those
who responded to the plea for used
clothing practically everyone re
ceived a little something that they
can use, but there is still a great need

for more clothing. We now have

three Sunday Schools in three dif

ferent sections' of the city with the

Brasilian women leading out in two
of them.

Our

total

attendance

is

around 60, with these children shining

out for Jesus through their singing
and participationBrasilians (children
and adults) love to sing and they put
everything they have into it! Mistie
assists the teacher at one of the Sun-

Flander, one of the youth from Uberlandia,

broiiglit a new dimension to our women's
meeting.

day Schools and Corey is my big helperafterwards Corey walks me home which
takes around 40 minutes in the hot sun but the time passes quickly as we explore
the beauty of God's creation along the way. Mistie and Corey are enjoying their
new school and making many new friends. Mistie is in the Second Grade and Corey
in Kindergarten. They study in the afternoon which leaves time in the morning to
get homework done. Corey's Portuguese has greatly improved since starting school
and his school work is gradually getting
better. Mistie started out well and con

tinues to get good marks on all her

tests. Many times we are unable to pick
them up so they walk home which
takes around 45 minutesusually by
the time they reach the house Mistie
is carrying everything and Corey is
dragging a bit! March 16, Jim and I
celebrated our eleventh year of mar
riage by going fishing out in the
swamp-land of Mato Grosso. It was very
We enjoyed showing off the beauty of our
exciting to see this, practically, un
countryside to the visiting youth.
touched land with its many swamp
creatures and birds. I'm grateful to my Lord for giving me such a dedicated Chris
tian husband who is concerned about his family and the Lord's work.

Child Chatter
Hi. Are you fine? I feel a little bit sick because my nose is runny. I study very
much and my head hurt when I was at school. One time there was a grasshopper at
my school and all the girls were scared. There's a new little girl at school and she
was scared that the grasshopper would get on her. We had Easter time. Pascoa
means Easter and at Sunday School we learned about Jesus getting alive again. I

love Jesus and I know what he says. Have a good

day and here comes Mistie to talk . . . Hi, I'm
doing very well at school and I get 10 on my tests.
My teacher is good, too, but she smokes and that's
naughty, but I tell her not to. We have 10 in our
class and I have a lot of friends, but there are only
four girls. Everything is going on very good here
and remember that I'm still eight. It's very hot
here but it did get cold for three days. On "Good
Friday" we went with all the Christians on a re
treat. It was fun; but at the end wasn't so fun for
me because I fell off the truckI went to jump but
my feet stayed and my hands and head went first
and I started to cry and when we went back home
me and my friend were standing up and all the
boys fell on us and we fell down, too, and started
crying. We swam at the river, too, and two people
got baptized. It's good to love Jesus. Bye-bye,
everybody.
Mistie! Don't look now,

but I think something's breathing

down our necks.

Jim and Sandy Bunch, Missionaries, Caixa Postal 1092, 78.000 CuiabS, Mate
Grosso, Brazil, S.A.

Christina Semple, Forwarding Agent, 2676 - 39th S.W., Seattle, WA 98116,

Phone 935-2798

Bob and Gladys Christian, Promotional Agents, 17641 S.E. 60th, Issaquah,
WA 98027, Phone 747-8964

Parkland Christian Church, Mailing Agent, 757 S. 138th Street, Tacoma,

WA 98444, Phone 531-0757

Issaquah Christian Church, Sponsoring Church, P.O. Box 400, Issaquah,

WA 98027, Phone 392-5848
psch litho

PARKLAND CHRISTIAN CHURCH

757 S. 138th Street

Tacoma, Washington 98444

Non-Profit

Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID

Permit No. 570

Address Correction Requested

At

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DOStil
N LOT 42
rsiUY BOB 14 H P

KOKOMO, imum 45901

Tacoma, WA

3 119S0 6 3/3-

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BUNCHES IN BRAZIL
Summer 1979

BUNCH NEWSLETTER
Summer, 1979
Dear Friend:

"Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in ..."
Luke 14:23

Recently we celebrated the first year anniversary of the Christian family here
in Cuiaba. On the 25th of June, 1978, five Cuiabanos put on Christ and celebrated
the Lord's Supper. Since that day the number of baptized believers has grown to
84. Many have continued firm in their commitment to Christ and have grown tall
with roots planted deep in the "good soil" of the Word of God. We praise God for
these victorious lives.

Unfortunately there are always those who are quick to receive the "Good
News" but are like seeds on rocky soil; they spring up fast but their roots do not
go down and soon they have dried up.
We have seen several of our new babes who have never developed a thirst for
the milk of the Word and amid all our prayers and efforts have shriviled and died.

Yes, Satan is alive and well and working overtime in Brazil. From the beginning
we teach our people the Promise of James 4:7, that if they submit themselves to
God and resist the Devil he will run away. Obedience is the key and those who are
growing spiritually are those who have discovered that "there is no other way but
to trust and obey."
We recently completed campaigns in two new bairros of the city. We used our
own people to sing and give testimonies in the meetings and have already seen five
baptized from each bairro. One of our leaders, Manuel, lives in "Cohab Nova" and

is excited to see five new Christians that he can shepherd. He had been walking to
the meetings in Cohab Velha and Novo Terceiro and is now happy to be leading a
group in his own neighborhood.
:
Felizberto has'returned to work
on the Radio Patrol of the Police

Force. This has cut into the time he

was spending in calling and he'has had

to work some Sundays. They work 24
hours straight and are off 48. However,
he has been a real testimony to those

that knew his alcoholic past and we

Qi*

look to see fruit from his testimony at

Congalo has grown tremendously

and has been a real asset to our group.
However, the Lord saw a need of an

_ ,

'

additional leader on Bruce's side of

town and provided a lot where he built

himself a wooden house. He is now
Felizberto and I work with Pedro and Christina

leading meetings in CarambeII, the

thetasty juice from sugar cane.

other recent campaign site and shepherding the five

"new horns" from that bairro. I miss him here but

praise the Lord that he is being used to strengthen
part of our Christian family across town.

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Antonio, Emiliano and Felizberto are sharing

t

the leadership of the Cohab Velha-Terceiro group.

We lost some families because ofmoves and with

the opening of the new bairro have returned to
meeting all the Christians in these two bairros

together, alternating from one bairro to the other,

from week to week. Naturally, everyone is happy to

be back together and "busting at the seams" but we

know that if the family is to really grow they wilt
soon have to divide and multiply.
Thanks for your faithfulness in prayer and

support of this ministry.

-Jim

I caught my first "Pintada" (large striped catfish) on a re

cent trip to the Pantanal (great swampy region nearCuiaba).

A Note from Sandy

PTL! What would we do without YOU and your many prayers that are lifting
us up and giving us strength to move ahead with Jesus here in Cuiaba!?!
Our little family is staying pretty healthy and we were only blessed with one
case of pin-worms but no lice this first semester of school; plus only one spell of

sickness that pulled the kids out for a couple of days. Colds and flus generally hit
the whole city when we enter into our winter months with cooler weather (friagems)particularly in the poor sections of town (bairros) where the wind whistles
through the shacks leaving the people shivering without a blanket to keep them
warm.

It is amazing how our situation changes from Newsletter to Newsletter: I am

now down to one Sunday School because two families that were holding Sunday
Schools in their homes moved away. There is hope though because I do plan on
opening up a new one in the new bairro that has sprung up and shown fruit since
our last film campaign. Lenira, a vivacious Christian young woman, was one that
had to leave us because her husband got work in a small town about 150 miles by
dirt roada road that is practically impassable during the rainy season. Lenira is in
high hopes that we'll be able to hold a film campaign there as soon as she gets
settledshe is excited about helping start a house-church in her new location, plus
beginning a Sunday School and Women's Bible Study. She is a very talented person
and has taken Bible courses in the past plus has an aptitude for music. We are great
ly missing her here but know that the Lord will use her in a mighty way in Caceres.
We have now gone to one Bible Study for the women in the daytime because of
Lenira and others' absence either by moving or going to work outside of the home.

'^W

HH for the working

though, gal,
a study
opened
up
in the
evening,

which is strickly run by Brasilians.

W
'

Satan has taken his toll in our midst

caused some confusion off and on

but for the most part Jesus still reigns as

fy

Lord in the hearts ofmost ofour Christians which is seen when they want to

hold special "cultos" or meetings to

celebrate birthdays, make special visits

to the hospital to uplift the sick or by

reaching

a hand to someone that has

*
fallen and needs encouragement. May
Manuel enjoyed a surprise "culto" (prayer and the Lord continue to spark and kindle
sliare meeting) on his birthday.
this same desire in all of us.

Child Chatter
Hi, people everywhere! I'm going to
talk about people in my school and about
a lot of things. These are the kids of my
school. Here are some of the names of

them:

Adriano, Glaucia, Monica and

Marcos (Mark). We had a lot of tests and

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we'd go home early. It was fun but it

jmpHB
wasn't so fun walking home. But Corey
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always gets tired and he lets me carry HH Hg f ' ^ 1'

everything of his. One day when we were

dm i J M \

walking home we stopped at a park and

we played a lot there and then we went
home a different way. Corey was scared

. B
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V

because he thought that it was the wrong ' .took my camera to school and shot my

way. I got some good gradesand daddy is f'''end.s.

going to give me some money. Daddy had a birthday. We went to Pantanal and we

saw alligators and big birds. Bruce and his family went, too. We had fun and we ate

there. We went fishing and that was the most fun of ail. We caught a lot of fish but
they were too little; we couldn't eat them so daddy threw them back so they would
grow up. By the river there was a place where we did a picnic but there weren't any
alligators there. We stopped a long time on a bridge to see the alligators and birds
and the bridge had a lot of holes in it. And so I went running and I didn't see the
holes and so I fell in onejust one leg fell in and I thought that an alligator was
going to eat it and so I pulled it out and went running, screaming and crying to the
car. Bye-bye, I'm having fun on winter vacation but it's about done. JESUS HELP
YOU! It's Corey's turn to talk now.

I help daddy open the gate and I do what

my daddy tells me to doI even water the grass.

|mL
I'm sick because when I go tosleep I cough. You
' know something, when I were hugging mommy
Y J n t i * t h e n I hugged daddy. Daddy always buys bones

|k *

for Cinderella. We went to Uberlandia and Markie

let me ride his new green bike. On the big plat-

ij

form that my daddy and Bruce madewe got on

..

it and then we singed "Jesus Loves the Little

Children." Ail the people liked us singing and
one daddy gave me a papaya. You know some
, thing, when I grow up I'm going to be a preacher
because I like Jesus. Bye-Bye.

Boy! This homework stuff can drive

a flve-year-old and his daddy up the
wall!

Jim and Sandy Bunch, Missionaries, Caixa P^tal 1092, J8.000 Cuiab4,.Mato
Grosso, Brazil, S.A.

Christina Semple, Forwarding Agent, 2676 - 39th S.W., Seattle, WA 98116,

Phone 935-2798

Bob and Gladys Christian, iVomofiono/Agents, 17641 S.E. 60th, Issaquah,

WA 98027, Phone 747-8964

Parkland Christian Church, Mailing Agent, 757 S. 138th Street, Tacoma,

WA 98444, Phone 531-0757

Issaquah Christian Church, Sponsoring Church, P.O. Box 400, Issaquah,

WA 98027, Phone 392-5848
pscb litho

t^dmondt, Bta

PARKLAND CHRISTIAN CHURCH

757 S. 138th Street

Tacoma, Washington 98444

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S. Postage
PAID

Permit No. 570

Address Correction Requested

Wo'C
iianager
JllSSIoa ^KV'ICI2>
Box 177

Kmsptotif IndiAoa

Tacoma, WA