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Update on Flooding

Posted on March 11, 2014 by admin Leave a comment

Several weeks ago, I wrote about flooding that is going on in our state. The flooding still continues and is causing more problems. Nearly 2,500 families in the capital city of Porto Velho have had to be relocated to schools and other places. The river has hit a record high. As imagined, this has made travel very difficult.

Next month I will traveling to Porto Velho. I will be catching a plane to Rio Branco. The stretch of highway between Porto Velho and Rio Branco is flooded for miles. This is the only access road from this part of the country. Below are some pictures that show what is going on. These pictures were taken around the 21st of February. The water has risen another 4 feet since then!

Please pray for the churches in Porto Velho! Though we are not aware of any directly in the flooded area, there are definitely families and lives affected by the problems caused from the flooding.

— Jeremy

Ponte que atravessa o Rio Madeira na BR-319, em Porto Velho

Distribuidora de botijões de gás foi tomada pela água do Rio Madeira

Botijões boiam em distribuidora de gás, após área ser tomada pela cheia do Rio Madeira

Casa foi tomada por água do rio na Comunidade São Sebastião

Casa tomada pela enchente em Porto Velho

Casas na Comunidade São Sebastião estão inundadas por conta da cheia do Rio Madeira

Comunidade São Sebastião foi tomada por água do Rio Madeira

Galpão da Feira do Cai N'água no Bairro Baixa União, tomado pela cheia do Rio Madeira

Moradores chegam de barco em suas casas no centro da capital

Comércios tomados pela enchente na Avenida Rogério Weber

Acesso ao Tribunal Regional Eleitoral tomado por água do rio

Moradores se arriscam ao atravessar rua tomada pela cheia do Rio Madeira

Pictures are links from THIS NEWS SITE

Posted in Culture, Old Blog

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

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

Family Trip to Rio Branco

Posted on December 2, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

Just a few weeks ago we had an opportunity to travel as a family. It was the longest trip we have ever taken in Brazil. We traveled over 1500 miles round trip. Taking into consideration the road conditions, this was quite a long trip. We found that the worse stretch of road on the whole trip was the first 25 miles from our house.

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.

Our whole family spent about 31 hours together in the car on this trip. That gave us plenty of time together. This car has a CD player in it! We listened to quite a few Patch the Pirate and Adventures in Odyssey episodes. The boys were looking forward to listening to some new things.

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.

We were able to see the new location they have been meeting in. It is on the edge of town. Though a few people were not all that excited about the change in the beginning, it seems as though things have picked up and people are enjoying it now. The Lord is using the church to reach many people in the area.

Amanda and I also sat in on one of the Bible Institute classes. They have four students and the courses are all done through videos.

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.

It is always refreshing to spend time with other missionaries. There are many things we share in common that other people do not understand. It is also exciting to see how God works in the lives of other missionaries.

–Jeremy

Posted in Family, Old Blog

Thanksgiving in Brazil

Posted on December 1, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

This Thanksgiving was not unlike other Thanksgivings we have had here in Brazil. The Brazilians do not celebrate Thanksgiving, so we usually get together with other missionary families and make a fun day out of it. This Thanksgiving we were able to be with the Brewers, Kokenzies and the Rogers.

Tom and Cindy Brewer opened up their home to all of us. We had 21 people there all together. It was quite an event since we all stayed in the same house. How did we do it? Well, below is a picture of a very Brazilian way of solving the problem. We thought Bro. Brewer might have been a little overzealous in planning all of this, but in the end it worked out quite well (not sure how much sleeping took place though)!

We are very thankful that God has chosen us to be missionaries. Yet, sometimes in the ministry we have to give up a few things. Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when we would like to be with our family. We miss the fun times with family, but try to still make these times special for our own children.

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

Posted in Family, 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

Preaching Conference

Posted on July 30, 2013 by admin Leave a comment

This past weekend we were invited to visit a church in Porto Velho, the capital of our state. The pastor, Pr. Adonias, invited me almost a year ago to preach a conference for them. The invitation was set for when the remodeling was finished. They were putting a new roof on the church building and he wanted to hold a conference shortly after they finished.

Our time there was very enjoyable. It is always a pleasure to have fellowship with Brazilian pastors. We stayed with him and his wife. They have three grown children all of which are very active in the church. They were very kind to us and to our children. Praise the Lord for faithful preachers like Pr. Adonias. He has been the pastor of this church for nearly 30 years.

I had the opportunity to preach on Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening. Saturday night was the night more people showed up. I was told there were around 300 people in the service that evening. There were chairs in all the aisles and the pews were very full. We put so many people in our own pew that we had to kick 4-5 people out.

A couple of the people that have attended our Bible studies in Ouro Preto moved to Porto Velho in the last 6 months. It was a great joy to see them come on Saturday night also and listen to the preaching of the Word of God. We continue to pray for them and communicate with them even though they are living nearly 200 miles away now. God is still at work in their lives.

One of the exciting things about this church was the effort they put into the music. Many churches have special music and presentations, but few put much work into it. These people are working hard to honor the Lord with their music. The pastor’s son is the one who leads the choir, plays the piano, and orchestrates all the special music in the church. He has little formal training, but enjoys serving the Lord in this way.

You can find more pictures of our trip by clicking HERE.

While we were in Porto Velho we had the opportunity to meet Bro. Henry Mantonya and his wife. We also met his daughter and son-in-law, Steve and Robin Campbell. They are missionaries to an Indian tribe here in Brazil. We were able to spend a few hours talking to them and learning what God is doing in their lives and in the lives of those in the tribe they are working with.

On the physical side of things, we are thankful to be home safely. The trip was somewhat exhausting. Though the roads are much better now than the last time we drove them, it is still a dangerous drive. Jonathan and Judson were a little sick during the trip, but seem to be doing a bit better now. We were also glad to arrive home this time and find things just as we left them. Due to a recent break-in, and non-functional electric fence, we had home on the back of our minds during the entire trip.

Thank you for always praying for us!

— Jeremy

Posted in Ministry, Old Blog

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