David ('97), Kim ('97), Jessica, Christina, Audrey, and Mary Kate Huffman
Contact Information
Mr. and Mrs. David Huffman
Avenida Principe de Monte Verde 140
Vila Represa
Sao Paulo 04826-330, BRAZIL
Email:huffmansbrazil@gmail.com
Phone:404-474-0171
Website: www.thehuffmans.info
Mission Agency
Baptist World Mission
August 6, 2010 - Huffman Highlights
"Dad, she got saved . . ."
Since our return to Brazil in April, it has been exciting to observe a baptism at the Moraes church and meet new converts at both Mirna and Moraes. The most exciting thing, however, has been hearing Christina tell us how she led her neighbor friend, Leticia, to Christ while playing at her house one afternoon. Leticia has gone to church with us several times and has enjoyed spending time with the girls.
It's VBS time again!
Both churches ran VBS programs again this year and were able to impact the lives of several hundred children and mothers with the gospel message. We drove to São Paulo on Saturday to participate in the VBS at Mirna. Kim led the craft time for the mom's class and I taught all of the children's classes the object lesson. The three girls stayed the whole week in São Paulo. Jessica helped with the K-5 class, and Christina and Audrey participated in their respective classes.
Big sisters are great!
Between reading to Mary Kate, changing her diaper, or helping Kim make supper, all of our girls have fulfilled their role very well as "big sisters."
It looks like Mary Kate is here (in Brazil) to stay, since Brazil's Federal Police has issued her a protocol providing her legal authorization to stay in the country until she receives her permanent visa I.D. card. The process went much smoother than we expected, and the card should be issued within the next year. Thank you all for praying!
Closed Doors = Continued Direction
In recent weeks, two properties that we had seriously considered purchasing were sold before we could proceed. Kim and I are relieved to know that this entire process is in the Lord's hands, and that He is leading us each step of the way. Thank you so much for your continued prayer for our family!
Brazil our Blessing - David and Kim Huffman
April 9, 2010
WE ARRIVED TODAY !!!! We praise the Lord for an awesome trip from Atlanta to São Paulo, and we did not have any trouble going through Brazil's customs either!
Soon after leaving the airport here in São Paulo, I asked the girls what they were thinking and how they were feeling after having recently arrived back in Brazil. They quickly replied, "I am in shock . . ." and "It's like I have never seen any of this (looking out the car window at the city) in my whole life." By nightfall though, they seemed to be enjoying the adventure! As we were sitting around the supper table at a Brazilian steakhouse [churrascaria: pronounced in English as shoo-hos-ka-wree-a], Jessica blurted out, "I like Jundiaí!" Of course, we won't be eating out every night, but it was a lot of fun doing something together as a family in Brazil! They are eager to brush up on their Portuguese and excited about seeing some of their friends on Sunday at the Mirna church. Although we already miss friends and family in the U.S., we are thankful to be back where God has placed us for His glory!
Brazil our Blessing - David and Kim Huffman
March 23, 2010
I came to Brazil twelve days ago to move our "stuff" from our house in the south zone of São Paulo to Jundiaí, a city closer to a suburb region west of São Paulo. When Pr. Elielton's (Mirna's pastor) 5-yr. old son arrived and saw this room full of boxes and trash bags filled with our belongings, he blurted out "All you have is trash?!" In his innocence, he made a pretty profound observation. He is right. Our stuff, at some point, will all end up in the trash! It caused me to reflect again on that which really is important - telling others about the gift of ETERNAL salvation!
José has recently accepted Christ as his Savior. Once very involved in spiritism, José now is a temple of the Holy Spirit!
Although I was very disappointed to not be able to fly out again last night, I am thankful for some unique opportunities that resulted because of my "Flight Delays"! Before leaving the airport last night, I purchased some water and a snack. When I handed a gospel tract to the cashier, an employee standing beside her immediately said, "Sir, don't you have one to give me too?" When I told her that I had given the cashier my last tract, she responded, "That's o.k., I'll just read the tract with her." Wow! That's awesome! A few minutes later, as I was waiting on the sidewalk for the hotel bus, the Lord gave me the opportunity to witness to Fátima and her friend for about 10 minutes! Fátima (a Catholic name) told me she had grown up Catholic but at some point began to wonder exactly which religion was right. It was exciting to share with her that only a relationship with Jesus Christ based in His revelation to us through the Bible will provide eternal life! Although it often takes some time for a Brazilian to actually put their faith in Christ alone, I consider it a wonderful privilege to serve among a group of people who are often very open to discuss what Christ means to them!
The open door to the home we will be renting in Brazil is a visual reminder of the open door of ministry the Lord is providing to us in a growing suburb region west of São Paulo! I have no doubt though that this new opportunity will also come with many obstacles along the way. I am equally confident that God wants to work through the prayers of His people [YOU] to do amazing things so that all who see it will have no option but to praise His name! I have listed a few specific prayer requests below that I would ask you to remember in the days ahead:
1. Please pray that I will be able to get on the flight tonight to Atlanta. :-)
2. Mary Kate, our baby, has an interview at the Brazilian Consulate in Atlanta at 11:50 AM on Friday to seek a tourist visa. I'm not sure what she will say or do during the interview, but it should prove to be interesting. Ha!
3. The transition process of our family moving back to Brazil from the U.S. and moving to a new area of ministry within Brazil.
4. God's provision and direction to the exact piece of land for the next church-planting project. My first step upon returning to Brazil with the family will be to explore the possibilities of buying property in a large new development in Cajamar, a suburb located within minutes of São Paulo's city limits.
January 2010
October and November of 2009 were filled with missions meetings in FL, GA, TN, NC, and IN. The girls squeezed in birthday celebrations with their friends, and I (David) survived Jessica and Christina's sleepover party. In December, all of us were involved in Mikado's Christmas Cantata, so it was an awesome privilege to see several people accept Christ as their Savior after seeing the presentations! Since Thanksgiving, it has been a special blessing to get to know many more families within our home church by way of teaching or ministering as a family in nine different ministries of Mikado!
Please pray for the 5-day Bible Club being held in Pr. Elielton's home this week!
On November 29, Pr. Smith and I presented the Expand the Impact Campaign to the people of Mikado Baptist Church. The goal was set to raise $50,000.00 to go towards the total need of $200,000.00 to purchase land for the next church-planting project. To date, the church has given $70,000.00 and committed an additional $20,000.00 within the next couple of weeks. These gifts and commitments bring the amount that we have set aside thus far for land to $112,411.40! God definitely is an AWESOME God! Continue to pray with us that we would reach the $200,000.00 goal soon!
“Girl, you are about to pop!” has become a commonly heard phrase by Kim in recent weeks. Our daughter Audrey, just asked if Kim’s belly would get as big as the huge exercise ball that we have in our house. That would be interesting. :-) We are on the final countdown, and we are all eager to see and hold this gift from God. Thank you for your continued prayers for us and the ministry in Brazil!
Brazil our Blessing,
David and Kim Huffman
December 2009
Dear Friends and Family,
As the chosen city to host the 2016 Olympics, Rio de Janeiro's skyline would be incomplete without the Christ Redeemer statue! This statue overlooks an amazing city known for it's carnaval time (like Mardi Gras), beautiful beaches, and other popular tourist attractions like Sugar Loaf Mountain. Having seen and touched the masterpiece myself, I thought about how this impressive yet lifeless statue is an accurate picture of Brazil's religious condition. Most Brazilians have a shallow and lifeless knowledge of someone who once lived and called himself the Christ, yet their soul is completely empty of the presence of Christ! However, Elza, Maria Antonia, and Maria Nazare are among many others that accepted Christ the Redeemer as their personal Savior this past year. Their decision to accept the redemption of Christ for their sins and place their faith in Him to be saved has enabled them to truly celebrate Christmas for the first time in their life! Once Thomas the disciple saw the resurrected Christ, his faith overflowed his heart when he said, My Lord and My God. There are many Brazilians who instead of just looking at a lifeless statue of Christ or just having a shallow knowledge of a lifeless Christ during this Christmas season can now say like Thomas did, My Lord and My God!
We wanted to thank all of you for making this possible! Thank you to those of you who pray for us! Thank you to those of you who support us financially, and thank you to those of you who have been able to help us physically build Christ's church in Brazil!
From our family to yours, we hope you had a Merry Christmas . . . a Feliz Natal!
Brazil our Blessing,
David and Kim Huffman
Huffman Highlights
October 2009
In May 2008, we began to look for land to start our next church. Now, nearly 18 months later, the Lord seems to be putting some of the puzzle pieces together. Although we are in the U.S. reporting to our supporting churches, I had the opportunity recently to return to Brazil for a 3-week trip. The sole purpose of the trip was to scout out potential church-planting areas for our next term. The search for land has taken me all over the city of São Paulo, to many of it’s suburbs, and even to other cities in Brazil. After much prayer, Kim and I firmly believe that the Lord would have us continue planting churches in the metropolitan area of São Paulo in order to build upon the momemtum of the other two church-plants in which we have participated since arriving in Brazil in May 2000. The Lord has led our family to move to the northwestern side of the city to a region of several suburbs that are experiencing rapid growth. The main suburb city of this region is called Jundiaí, and it currently has a population of about 350,000. Jundiaí’s metropolitan area includes aproximately 700,000 people, and it is expected to reach 1,000,000 people within the next ten years. Jundiaí is strategically located between São Paulo, one of the world’s largest cities, and Campinas, a city with a metropolitan population of 3.2 million. This region’s landscape is filled with new housing developments, several well-known amusement parks, hundreds of industries, and new shopping centers. We are thankful that the Lord has already provided a house for us to rent in Jundiaí for the first year that we are there!
Cajamar is located within minutes of São Paulo’s city limits and close to several main highways in the region. We have no doubt that a church-plant in Cajamar could be very influential in reaching other parts of this region in the years to come!
We are thrilled to announce that our baby (due in February) is another girl! So, that means the girl to boy ratio in the Huffman home is 5 to 1. If you include the stray dog that we took in about two weeks ago, it is 6-1. Needless to say, the girls will still be able to chant "girls rule" without much opposition! :-)
Thank you all for your continued prayers for our family and ministry!
We have updated our website with our ministry video along with information about how you can make an eternal investment in Brazil! Visit us at www.thehuffmans.info soon!
Brazil our Blessing,
David and Kim Huffman
Huffman Highlights
May-July 2009
The Mirna Church celebrated its seventh anniversary last month, but it was even more exciting to receive news that five people accepted Christ as their Savior, including one of the moms of the preschool minis try. The moraes church baptist four people just before our coworkers, Nathan and Diane Fray, returned to the U.S. for furlough!
Although the girls miss their friends in Brazil, they have enjoyed learning and experiencing some unique American things, such as exploring Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg as well as attending a local July 4 celebration with their cousins in Georgia.
During our recent ministry trip out west, Kim and I were able to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary in the same place we honeymooned--Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We certainly have a lot to rejoice in! Our youngest daughter, Audrey, recently graduated from kindergarten. She and her two big sisters and thrilled that they will soon be helping Mommy with the new baby. Yes, it's true. Kim is about three months pregnant. Her due date is Feb. 13.
Huffman Highlights
April 2009
In the last several months that we were in Brazil, it was exciting to see 14 children, ladies, and men from the Moraes and Mirna churches publicly declare their faith in Christ through baptism. The most satisfying aspect of missions is watching new converts grow in Christ.
Pr. Rusty Smith, our sending church pastor, along with our personal friend Steve Case came to celebrate Moraes Prado Baptist Church's first anniversary. During this special occasion, the church was officially organized and Pr. Heberson was called to be their permanent pastor! The two "mother" churches, Bethel and Mirna joined us as we celebrated God's goodness and power seen through the establishment of one more autonomous church in São Paulo!
Since returning to the U.S. in January to begin our second furlough, we have enjoyed reconnecting with friends as we have zigzagged across the Southeast reporting in supporting churches and presenting our ministry in new churches! April 6-11, I had the privilege of going along with a construction group from our home church to help build a new building at the Wilds Christian Camp.
More Praises:
1. Thank you to all who helped in so many ways with our move back to the U.S. for our furlough! Our girls were reminded of God’s goodness as they were showered with love and gifts ranging from board games to bicycles!
2. Since we returned to the U.S., both the Moraes and Mirna churches have reported of several who have accepted Christ as their Savior.
3. It was an awesome experience for me to baptize Audrey, our youngest daughter, Easter Sunday.
More Prayer Requests:
1. Continued safety as we often travel several thousand miles a month for our furlough meetings.
2. Wisdom and provision from the Lord as both Nathan (our co-worker) and I are seeking to purchase two pieces of property in order to lead two new church-planting projects at the same time next term.
3. Increased opportunities to witness to our neighbors and to those we meet while we travel during furlough.
Brazil our Blessing,
David,Kim, Jessica, Christina, and Audrey Huffman
Visit our website at: www.thehuffmans.info
Huffman Highlights
October 10, 2008
Perhaps at times it is easy for us to see the buildings but not the people. One of the popular shopping streets of São Paulo is shown in the two pictures above (not shown) as a way to request your prayers once more as we strive to reach the Brazilian people for Christ!
Kim continues to teach a weekly English class in the Pre-School ministry of the Mirna church. Approximately 80 students learn more about Christ and his love each day, and several pre-school parents have accepted Christ as their Savior in recent months!
After visiting Carol and Viviane several times since they participated in our V.B.S. in July, Viviane accepted Kim's invitation to do a weekly Bible study together! Please pray that God would give Kim wisdom as she tries to help Viviane understand her need to make a genuine decision to accept Christ as her Savior.
On September 13, Kim and I conducted the games at Mirna's couples activity. Several people from the Moraes church also attended. It was exciting to see so many couples enjoying their time together and being challenged to communicate more effectively with each other! Rafael and Patricia started coming to church together just a few months ago. Once Patricia accepted Christ as her Savior, it wasn't long before Rafael rededicated his life to the Lord after being backslidden for several years.
Our national pastor's wife, Goretti, (pictured in the pink above) recruited helpers from several churches to hold an evangelistic outing for a local orphanage -- the same one that allowed us to hold a mini V.B.S. for their children in July. It was a blessing to hear that several of the girls who accepted Christ as their Savior in July reminded Goretti of their decision and seemed eager to grow in the Lord! The outing was held at Acampamento Betel (Camp Bethel) - a ministry that our co-worker, Nathan Fray, has been working fervently to develop in an effort to serve the area churches, as well as provide a great place to hold special events such as this one. We praise the Lord for our co-workers and their strong commitment to impact our region with the gospel.
More Praises & Prayer Requests:
1. Our neighbor, Roberto, allowed me to come and talk with him for a few hours about Christ. He had a near encounter with death a few weeks ago, so he seems to be more open to the gospel than before. He is a spiritist.
2. Carlos and Babi, our other neighbors, have accepted an invitation to supper with us next Friday night, so please pray that they will be receptive to hearing more about Christ.
3. Pray that our charter member service, in conjunction with a special weekend conference with Pastor Rusty Smith, will go well from October 24-26.
4. Jessica played her first piano special in church.
Brazil our Blessing,
David, Kim, Jessica, Christina, and Audrey Huffman
September 8, 2008- Huffman Highlights
|
 
After waiting (and asking) for several years, our youngest daughter, Audrey was thrilled to finally be able to start school with Mommy just like her two older sisters! Kim has ajusted well to teaching all three of them now!
 
About two weeks ago, Kim and I had the opportunity to visit one of the ladies in my Sunday School class named Flora. Before coming to our church, she had attended a Pentecostal church where she was led to believe that her salvation was based on Christ along with her works. We had the privilege of explaining
to her during the visit that Christ alone is sufficient to save us. At the
close of our visit she prayed and placed all of her trust in
Christ alone to be her Savior!
 
I have just recently begun again my new converts / membership class called the New Life S.S. Class with a new group of adults. It has been a special blessing to see De, pictured above in red, always so eager to learn. Please pray for the eight students that are a part of this class that they will come faithfully
and grow abundantly!
 
Kim continues to teach the 5-6 yr. old S.S. class. Her students really
enjoy the special treats, crafts, and activities that she uses
to re-inforce each week's lesson.
 
August was our church's first missions emphasis month, and our people were challenged by visiting missionaries and our church-planting team to consider how God would have each of them to be more involved in missions.
Our prayer is that each participant will greatly impact the world for Christ
in the years to come!
More Praises:
- Three other adults accepted Christ as their Savior in recent weeks in addition to Flora (mentioned above). Their names are: Ana Maria, Antonia, and Carlos.
- I had the opportunity to bring an evangelistic challenge in a special service that one of our Christian neighbors held in their home so that his unsaved friends and co-workers could hear the gospel.
Prayer Requests:
- Spiritual growth for all who have accepted Christ recently.
- Boldness and wisdom as I seek to share Christ once again with Sérgio, one of my neighbors, during a lunch appointment next week.
- God's provision for my co-worker Nathan Fray to be able to receive a container of donated equipment for the Christian camp ministry. Pray that he will not have to pay the absurd duty taxes normally charged on such shipments upon arrival here in Brazil.
- Wisdom as I continue to scout out potential locations for the next church-planting project that God would have us to start.
Brazil our Blessing,
David,Kim, Jessica, Christina, and Audrey Huffman
| |
July 26, 2008
It was such a blessing to have the Mikado Baptist Church Youth Missions Team along with our friend Kristin Hanson with us this month! The group, together with our church people passed out approximately 3,500 flyers and tracts leading up to our V.B.S. and evangelistic teen conference!
We had a high day of 216 children and 21 moms in attendance! The highlight of our V.B.S. was to see children like Isabelly (pictured on left) and moms like Eloá (2nd from left in picture on right) along with come to know Christ as their 
Savior!
The group also helped our church people hold a 2- day VBS at a local orphanage where Paloma (pictured in blue sweatshirt) and two other girls accepted Christ as their Savior!
The 3-day evangelistic teen conference brought many visitors and proved to be both spiritually challenging and a lot of fun for everyone!!!!!!
More Praises:
- The Lord gave me the opportunity to preach at a sister church this past Wednesday, and a lady in her 40's named Elaine responded during the invitation to accept Christ as her Savior.
- One of our new converts, Ítalo, admitted himself into a Christian drug rehab center almost two weeks ago. I had the opportunity to visit with him yesterday, and he seems to be making progress.
- God has worked in some miraculous ways this past week to provide for some special financial needs that our family was facing. We are always so amazed as He often does "Above all that we ask or think!"
Prayer Requests:
- Spiritual growth for all who have accepted Christ recently.
- Open doors to share Christ with Viviane, Miriam, and Ana Claudia who requested a visit after attending our V.B.S. mom's class last week.
- Wisdom as I seek other opportunities to help Santos and Simone understand that they need to accept Christ as their Savior in order to save their souls and their marriage!
We have just begun using a new service to send out our e-mail updates. Our goal by using this service is to decrease the number of bounced e-mails, as well as to offer more options for our friends and family to manage their subscriptions to our updates. Below you'll find a "Manage your subscription" button which allows you to update an e-mail address or opt out of the subscription altogether. You can also forward any of our updates to a friend that you think might be interested in reading them, and that individual will have the option to just read the update or to join our update list by using the "Manage your subscription" option at the bottom of each e-mail.
Brazil our Blessing,
David,Kim, Jessica, Christina, and Audrey Huffman
April 30, 2008
Dear Friends and Family,
Yes . . . we are still alive. We praise the Lord for what He has done in the last few months.
January- We had very well attended five-day clubs in January with close to 200 kids in attendance each day! Our family also enjoyed the yearly visit from "Paw Paw" and "Mee Maw" (Kim's parents)!
February - A group from Trinity Baptist Church in Franklin, TN helped us start our AWANA program at the Moraes Prado church with a BANG. Approximately 70 students enrolled to begin the third year of Mirna's pre-school ministry.
March - Our hearts overflowed with mixed emotions as we participated in our last service as missionaries of the Mirna church. We left happy to see the church operating on it's own under the competent leadership of a full-time national pastor yet sad to know that we will miss many within the church that God allowed us to disciple and grow close to. We look forward to the opportunities that God will give us in the future to see our "Mirna" family at activities and special services that the Mirna and Moraes Prado church will participate in together. We had a great Easter conference with about 25 first-time visitors.
April - A young man struggling with drug use and unemployment accepted Christ as his Savior during a Bible study that Pr. Heberson (the national pastor who works with our missions team at Moraes Prado) and I were doing with him. God used a total of 29 men from Virginia and North Carolina to accelerate our building progress in an exponential way! (I'll send a separate update to show the progress!)
Prayer Requests:
1. New Converts: Patricia, Fabio, and Ítalo.
2. Wisdom in training leadership for the Moraes Prado church.
3. Wisdom and strength for the national pastors who are now leading church # 1 (Betel), and church # 2 (Mirna).
Thank you for the part that each of you have in the ministry here in São Paulo! God definitely wants to continue to use you in some way to help reach the multitudes here who live surrounded by religion yet separated from a relationship with Christ!
Brazil our Blessing,
David Huffman
São Paulo, Brazil
Vonage Phone: 1-404-474-0171
Prayer Request- March 13, 2008
During the month of April, we have two work groups that will be coming to Brazil to help us in our new church-planting project. Please pray that God would give me wisdom as I prepare for these groups and as I endeavor to use the Lord's money wisely in this new project. Thank you for your interest in our ministry and for your faithful prayers on our behalf!
Sept- Oct Highlights 07
Dear Family and Friends,
If you have a minute, we would love for you to look below and rejoice with us about what God is doing as well as pray with us about what He plans to do!
Praises
- Pr. Heberson (pastor in training at Moraes Prado) was ordained on September 29th.
- The teens led the entire Sunday evening service at our church in Jd. Mirna on September 30th.
- The Lord sent a team of volunteers from Virginia to help us put up our roof and front gate! Our church people enjoyed helping.
- The Inauguration service went well on October 20th, and there have been over 40 in attendance at each Sunday service since then.
- Genildo, a man that I have done several Bible studies with, accepted Christ as his Savior last Saturday night at an informal men’s activity. His wife accepted Christ about 8 months ago.
- Our church in Mirna voted to call Pastor Elielton to be the permanent pastor beginning on January 1st, and Bethel Baptist Church, our co-worker’s church, has also called a national pastor!
- Kim has thoroughly enjoyed her new washing machine!
Prayer Requests
- Wisdom and direction as the national pastors assume the primary leadership roles at both Bethel and Mirna within the next few months.
- Spiritual growth for new converts: Luzinete and Genildo.
- God’s power and blessing as we strive to develop the new ministry opportunities in the Moraes Prado church.
Aug- Sept Highlights 07
Dear Family and Friends,
We have included below some of the praises, prayer requests, and pictures from our ministry during the last few weeks in order to share with all of you a little of what God has been doing here in São Paulo!
Praises:
- The Lord gave us a great opportunity to share the gospel with over 30 dads at our last father / child breakfast at the Jardim Mirna church.
- The Saturday Kid’s Club at Moraes Prado continues to provide many ministry opportunities and contacts with families in the area.
- Pr. Elielton’s Dad (seen in picture below) volunteered to lead the basic plumbing installation free of charge!
- We are almost ready to pour the concrete floor at the M. P. building.
- Another pre-school mom, Luzinete, accepted Christ as her Savior last week.
Prayer Requests:
Wisdom and direction as our church considers the possibility of Pr. Elielton becoming the permanent pastor of First Baptist Church in Jardim Mirna. Lord willing, the official vote will be held on October 14. - Wisdom as our co-worker, Nathan Fray, seeks a national pastor to take his place at Bethel Baptist Church.
- God's protection and provision as we continue the construction on the Moraes Prado project. The work site has been robbed frequently in the last several months.
- We plan to have the Moraes Prado inauguration service on October 20 and begin the regular Sunday services on October 21.
- Kim requests special prayer that our new washing machine would be released soon out of Brazilian customs. We had it shipped here from the U.S. on another missionary’s container. Our old washing machine gave up the ghost in July. :-(