Dear friends,
We just have a little news and prayer request we’d like to share with you. John & I have been asked to be in a Brazilian wedding on September 2nd. The bride asked us to be "padrinhos" in the wedding. This is what the Brazilians do in their weddings instead of bridesmaids and groomsmen. There are many couples on both sides who stand up front during the ceremony—some for the bride and some for the groom. These couples can be husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, cousins, or friends, etc. In this wedding there are to be 10 couples on each side! That makes 40 people standing up front besides the bride and groom and preacher! We’ve never done this before, but at least we won’t feel too conspicuous with that many people! 🙂 Please pray for us in this new experience!
Let me share a little about the bride and groom… The groom is one of our Brazilian missionaries. Jefferson and his first wife, Gloria, were missionaries in Senegal, W. Africa. In April 2005 she had a heart attack and died on a plane to Paris where Jefferson was taking her for medical attention. They have 2 little boys, Daniel and Lucas. We first met Jefferson and Gloria when they were finishing the mission training here in Brazil before they went to Senegal.
The bride, Joana, is originally from northeastern Brazil, but moved to our town with her mother as a young girl. She had a very hard home life and was partially raised and brought to know the Lord by some other Brazilian missionaries. (This family used to serve in Senegal, W. Africa with Jefferson and Gloria!) After Joana came to know the Lord, this family came to the difficult decision that they would not be able to return to Africa because of some health problems. Joana, as a young teen, encouraged them not to be sad and comforted them by saying that she would go to Africa as a missionary when she grew up! Little did they realize what God had planned! We first met Joana at a store downtown where she worked as a teenager.
Joana has been studying at a seminary in the same city where Jefferson has been living and serving with the mission since leaving Senegal after Gloria’s death. They have gotten to know each other this past year and have recognized God’s hand at bringing them together. After the wedding, Joana wants to complete her seminary training, they hope to go through the mission training in the States (to learn more English), and then eventually return to Senegal to serve the Lord there!
Please pray for this couple as they are united in marriage on Sept. 2nd and become a new little family unit. The boys, ages 5 and 3, have totally accepted Joana as their new mommy they’ve been praying for and she seems to be fitting into the new mommy role well. They do have a lot of adjustments and changes in the days to come, though, and I know they will appreciate your prayers.
Thank you so much for standing with us!
In His love,
John & Melanie & kids
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