November 19, 2007

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Fortaleza, Brazil. Thanksgiving this year includes a special thanks to all of you who have contributed for the continuation of the missionary outreach of our denomination by your support of the Mission Challenge campaign this October. Although we were not personally there, we want to thank all of you who hosted missionaries and who pledged to hold us up in prayer and help us continue our witness outside the boundaries of the United States.

IPIB Moderator Assir Pereira celebrates the Lord's Supper after a seminar on continuing education.

We are also thankful for the denomination that partners with us here in Brazil, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB). This semester Tim traveled extensively, flying just about every week to different parts of Brazil to teach pastors of this denomination about missions. All of this was sponsored by the IPIB. Tim and Marta also taught at the Fortaleza Theological Seminary, and Tim helped them create the seminary's Web page. We invite you to look at it, even though it is in Portuguese. We are thankful for the students, committed men and women God has called to ministry. Once again we ask you for prayers for the graduating class. Many will transition to a year of internship before they are ordained. Because this is a poorer area of Brazil, many will also have to find jobs to help support their families.

Participants in one of 11 continuing education seminars.

Next week, Tim will have a unique opportunity to address a group that is concerned with the preservation of the environment. He and one of our graduating students, Andrez, will travel to Belo Horizonte for that purpose. Andrez is from the Amazon. Next year he is returning to that area to serve as a pastor. He recently published an article about the preservation of the Amazon in The Banner, the denomination's paper, so Tim invited him to help lead the seminar at the conference. They both edit a Web page in Portuguese called "Ceus & Terra," or "Heaven and Earth," which they call a "a Christian forum on faith and ecology."

We are thankful for our family. This was the year we became grandparents, Anabel is a precious gift from God (see her at our personal Web page). We rejoice with our daughters on the completion of college and high school (Jenny and Sarah). Jenny has been with us in Fortaleza since September, and we covet your prayers for her health. She had a flare up of Crohn’s, has lost some weight, and has had pain in her joints.

We wish you an Advent season full of the peace, joy, and love that come from a relationship to the Prince of Peace, who left the comfort of his home to give his life for all of us. May this be the gift we offer the world this year, the opportunity to hear about this love. May this love also surround and sustain each of you.

Marta and Tim Carriker

P.S. A number of web sites we've published recently can be found at Tim's personal home page. Happy surfing!

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 45