Cajueiro Claro January

(Mercia, with some of the food baskets that were donated)

Pastor Flavio and his new wife Mercia enjoyed a lovely honeymoon and vacation in December. January they have begun again, working together with many new projects including changing up the program at Living Stones. Since the beginning, it has been open four mornings a week. But, with the school system, only half of the children could attend, since many of them went to school in the mornings (Public school in Brazil is 4 hours a day, either morning, afternoon, or evening).

This year, we are trying out having two morning and two afternoons, to be able to expand the influence and opportunity to more children. One day the focus is on literacy and basic math, the other on sports and activities (the first must be attended to receive the privilege of the second). On January 20^th, Pastor Flavio had a parent meeting and lunch to explain and begin the new system. Things are going well, and everyone is looking forward to the special Carnaval camp coming up next week. The church put together a snack booth, selling food to raise money for some of the children from Living Stones to go to church camp during Carnaval, one of the few ways to get away from the many drunken parties, that are often dangerous for the younger children.

There was a big disagreement and problem with the soup ministry in December, and the owner of the restaurant was close to ending to program that provided over 12,000 meals to Living Stones families last year. But thank God, everything has been worked out and is running smoother than ever this year!