McKinney Report

          The month of August has come and gone as a blur and we are almost half-way through September already.  I have only been back in Brazil for seven months, since our last visit to the States but it seems so far away.  So much has happened; so many trips, classes taught, meetings and baptisms that it is a blur.             In August there were 9 baptisms throughout the state, that I know of.  Three of them were in a small town called Emas.  The evangelist, Givanildo, has lived in this city for several years and the church has grown very little.  I began studying the Bible with Givanildo by phone once a week, every week and he began teaching more people in his city of Emas.  This past month, three people were baptized and more are studying God's Word.              I do not believe that my studying with Givanildo was the cause of these three baptisms but I have "seen" or should I say heard a change in his voice and the subjects he talks about.  I have seen him m

The Right Step Program is a social project that benefits boys and girls between the ages of 10 to 16. There are exceptions in the age bracket for older kids who have been through the program and still want to continue. The kids are, for the great majority, from families who struggle financially. The Right Step Program is not in place to help financially but to help in an area that we were all lacking at some time in our lives, spiritually.  T he church in the city of Cajazeiras  has grown substantially in number, due in a big way to Right Step.  The Federal government in Brazil gives grant money to approved social projects, as well as, other benefits for those being served. The costs are many when caring and training over 100 boys and girls and you, the church, have supported this work to this point. I am not writing to ask for money. I am writing to let you know that we are trying to be approved by the government for grant money. It is not just the money that would be beneficial

             My son Samuel went from being treated for parasites to having major intestinal surgery in just a few days. It was so quick: we discovered the tumor on Monday; on Friday we were in the hospital in São Paulo, waiting for one of the best surgical teams in Brazil to operate on him.             They removed a five inch adenocarcinoma and several swollen lymph nodes with it. This is extremely rare in a child who hasn't had a lifetime to harm his colon with bad diet, alcohol, and cigarettes. Though our surgeon has decades of experience, having done this same surgery thousands of times, we could tell by how she told us how big the tumor was that it caught her by surprise.             She said that they got it all, but because of the lymph nodes, Samuel would have to do at least six months of chemotherapy. Edda asked if he would be able to have a normal life, but she didn't give much hope, saying that it depends on each person's organism. The five year survi