eddisonfowler.com

January 11,
2007

The
National Bible School begins its activities next Monday through Friday night
with an intensive course on "THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL" taught by our
missionary brother David Meadows from Sao Paulo. The following week
will mark the beginning of the regular quarterly classes. The quarter will
be from January 22 to April 7 and the classes will be at night from Monday
through Thursday.

I will be
teaching "THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE CHRISTIAN WORKER".

José
Almeida will teach "INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT".

F. H. Gates
will teach "EVANGELISM".

Ivan
Goncalves will teach "HERMENEUTICS AND EXEGESIS"

The year
began well for the Central church with very positive worship services last
Sunday. I set up Evangelistic Bible Studies with two couples after the morning
service. Please remember them in your prayers. Their names are Fred and
Juliana, Robert and Monica. I continue teaching our follow-up study series of
52 basic Bible lessons with Tiago and Junio, two young
men that I baptized last year. They are both very promising. I look
forward to great things from them in the future.

The Bible
Study group that meets in our home on Thursday nights is going very well. We
have visitors almost every single week. Our attendance is holding very well
between the upper 20’s and lower 30’s. We are now working on making invitation
cards for our group. Hopefully this will increase interest and bring in more
visitors who will give their lives to the Lord. We have several Bible
Study groups that meet all over greater Belo Horizonte.

May the
Lord bless you and use you as a blessing in the life of others.

In Him,

Eddison

Hello and a Happy New Year to everyone. May the Lord bless you and use you this year to His glory and praise.

About one hundred members of several congregations in the greater Belo Horizonte area met at our “Camp Of the Pines” outside the city last Sunday for lunch, fellowship, the evening worship service, an evening meal and celebrated the opening of the New Year. We returning home on Monday morning.

Sorry I haven’t posted to my blog site the past few weeks. The elders of the Central church started making and implementing plans back in September to improve our communication within the congregation and its various ministries and making our budget and calendar for 2007. Praise God that this was all done successfully, but my time has been consumed with this and my other regular activities.

For some reason there were many names missing from the mailing list for our newsletter and Christmas card. This is now being corrected. Evidently this problem has existed for some time. We are sorry that many of you have not been receiving our reports and cards. If you missed them, please contact me by e-mail and I will send you a copy of the December 2006 newsletter.

Eddison fell the week before Christmas and dropped onto his shoulder a metal top weighing about 75 pounds. The doctor said his shoulder was not broken. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory and heat pad to reduce the swelling inside the shoulder and allow it to heal. It is much better, but still hurts if the arm is raised at a certain angle.

On January 2 he was bathing and twisted his body to wash his feet. His back locked up and he could not move for a few seconds. The anti-inflammatory and heat pad were resumed to resolve this problem. His back is much better, but until it is warmed up it is hard to walk correctly. He has suffered with back problems many times in the past. He once stayed in bed nine days on his back, unable to turn over. It has been several years since he last suffered great back pain.

Our prayer is that God is using you to His glory. If not, we pray you will repent and give yourself completely to Him.

In Christ,

Eddison

Hello to
everyone. Our prayer is that the Lord is blessing you immensely and using you
as a blessing to others.

Invasion of
your privacy, robbery and trickery–how do you feel about these things? Someone
stole my Internet access code recently and was using it at the same time
I was, which ended up costing me money. I learned to change all of my private
codes regularly to avoid this. I recommend that everyone do this. This is
serious.

The Lord is
rejoicing in heaven for many reasons. Our brother Julio Brasileiro came
back to his family and to the Lord last week. I had the privilege of
maintaining contact with him for the past two years while he was in Vila
Velha, Espirito Santo, separated from his family and the church and living
in sin. He had a good job in a big national company at the freight dock, but
far from his family and the Lord. Julio said that during his stay there, the
Lord was constantly troubling him. He finally decided to obey the Lord’s
discipline and come back to his family and to the Lord’s fold. I drove to Vila
Velha to bring him and his things back to Belo Horizonte. Those of you who
know Julio must know how happy we are to see him come back to his family and
the fold. He is an extremely talented and intelligent person, very loved and
respected by all age groups and very useful to the kingdom. Before his
departure he was teaching Greek and several other courses in our National Bible
School, teaching Sunday School and other classes at church, preaching, etc.
Please pray for Julio, his family and the church in the coming months as we
readjust to his presence.

Also, Junio
was baptized on October 15. I had been studying with him for some time. I continue
to study basic principles of the Christian life with him. We have a series of
52 studies that we do with new converts to help them become well grounded in
the faith. I am also continuing these studies with Tiago Brasileiro, (the
son of Julio, mentioned above) who was baptized in February.

Please pray
for Melissa, a young neighbor of ours who has been studying with
Marlinda and me for many months. She has an aunt who is a member of the
Jehovah’s Witnesses, who is fighting against us to keep Melissa from giving
herself to the Lord. Please pray for Melissa and for us as we try to help her
see and obey the true gospel of Jesus.

Also,
please pray for Patricia, who was baptized on December 25, 2005 but has
fallen away because of several family, health and other problems. She has
disappeared, but we are looking for her. We only had work and cell phone
numbers for Patricia. She quit her job and sold her cell phone, and the people
with whom she worked have moved. Pray that we can find her and bring her back
to Christ.

The
National Bible School
is going through some major changes. Please pray with us that we can raise US$
1,500.00 more per month to support a full time director, pay for several
physical changes and give scholarships to several full time students so they
can dedicate all of their time to preparation for future service in the
kingdom.

Thank you
very much for your prayers and support of all kinds. This helps us stay in
Brazil and continue the work of saving souls and helping them grow.

In
Him,

Eddison

The trip to
Curitiba from August 31 to September 5 was very good. Marcos Sacramento,
Garibalde Oliveira and I traveled in Garibalde’s car to Campinas, São Paulo on
Thursday and passed the night in the home of Marcos Rogério, a brother in
Christ. We stayed up until 3:00 o’clock encouraging Marcos to continue firm in
the faith and continue developing as a Christian. He aspires to becoming an
elder some day, and is well on the way. His congregation had problems in the
recent past as they tried to establish the eldership there. On Friday we
continued our trip to Curitiba, arriving well before the Three-In-One
Conference began that night.

The
conference was a success, with the participation of brethren from five states
and twenty-eight congregations. Classes and keynote speeches were centered on
the subjects of Family, Bible Study Groups and Church Growth.

A meeting
of the community of the National Bible School (Seminário
Bíblico Nacional) was held on Saturday. Unfortunately there
were not enough of the present national officers, official professors and
directors, and coordinators of the five nuclei of the NBS participating in the
conference to establish a quorum and make the decision in our special meeting
to move the home office of the NBS to Belo Horizonte; however Alvaro Pestana,
the president of NBS encouraged us to prepare for the move to Belo Horizonte.
He is confident that it will become official in the regular meeting of the
community on Easter weekend of 2007. The brethren in Belo Horizonte are in
expectation of the move. We are preparing the space necessary to receive the
1,500 library books in English and all of the files of the NBS since 1988.
Please pray for us as we continue the process of this move. Pray for me
especially, as I have been nominated as the future president of the NBS. Much
of the future of the school will be my responsibility.

While in
Curitiba, I met about ten people who remembered me from my visit there in 1979
as an evangelistic campaigner. We visited a family on Sunday afternoon that had
just become Christians when I was there in 1979. They said that my acceptance
of them and the special time I invested in their children was one of the major
things that helped them become firm in the faith and in the church. The entire
family is faithful today and one of those children in 1979 is presently a
full-time preacher in São Paulo. We never know the influence we are having even
while doing what is natural and enjoyable. Paul said that the simple things are
used to confound the wise (I Co 1:27). May God be praised!

We passed
through the city of São Paulo on our way back to Belo Horizonte so that
Garibalde could get his visa to visit his supporting churches in the USA next
month. While there, we passed the night in the home of João Cruz, the brother I
mentioned above. The trip from São Paulo to Belo Horizonte was uneventful and
pleasant.

Please
remember us in prayer every day. Our lives and work must be left in His hands.

Eddison

We moved my
office this past weekend from within our house to its original location in the
building out back. Lashonda, Vinicius and Adam had lived in my office space
until they moved to the USA on August 14. It will take a few weeks to get
things in order.

LaJuana and
I get more and more involved in counseling as time passes. It seems that more
and more families are experiencing greater difficulties in their relationships.
Just this week we picked up two more cases of family counseling.

Pray for me
from August 31 to September 5 as I travel to Curitiba, sixteen hours south of
Belo Horizonte. I will be attending a Three-In-One conference on Group Bible
Studies, Family and Church Growth. While the conference is in
session we plan to hold an extraordinary meeting of the National Bible School
community to decide upon moving the national headquarters of the school from
Campo Grande to Belo Horizonte. We have only heard positive comments and
encouragement from the brethren connected with the school since we suggested
this change. We expect the decision to be almost unanimous. We will then have
the great task of leading not only our local nucleus of the school but also
coordinating the other nuclei around Brazil and carrying the school as a whole
to a higher level. Please pray with us in these tasks.

Our prayer
is that God blesses you and yours as you try to serve Him to His glory.

In Him,

Eddison

A very dear
friend wrote to us asking if we thought we were "called" to the
mission field and if so, how. If not, how did we decide to come here. While
answering her letter, I thought that others might want to know what I think
about this. Here is my response:

“This
subject always intrigued me, but I never really studied it deeply. I just
know that I can look back and see that since the day I was born He has
been preparing me to do what I am doing now in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. From
that, I trust that He is preparing me now to do what He wants me to do in the
future–whatever that is!

“I always
pray that He use me each day to do his will that day and continue preparing me
to do what He wants me to do in the future. I also know that He gives each of
us our gifts (assets, abilities, etc) in order for us to do His will
in His body (Ephesians 4.1-16). Consider the idea of "vocation,"
"call," "cooperation" and "edification" that He
uses throughout this passage. And I do believe He answers my prayers
(James 1:5-8). I continually see His working through what I consider the good
and the bad of each day, each happening, each circumstance, each good and bad
decision and action. And I pray that He help me grow each moment closer to His
image. He is so much beyond me that I cannot understand or comprehend His
perfect ways, His complete will or his deep thoughts (Isaiah 55). I do not dare
to challenge His actions (Job chapters 38 to 42; Ezekiel 18:1-32; Romans
11.33-12:8).

“In other
words, I cannot explain how He leads our family, but I consider our work to be
that which He wants us to do. Too many great things happen
for which we do not dare take credit. And if you want
some interesting stories of His being there to get us out of scrapes, or
ways He uses the situations we find ourselves in, I have MANY!!! All of this
even though we perceive so MANY, MANY weaknesses in our lives. I guess
that is the reason he continues to use us. Glory to His name!!!”

In Him,

Eddison

GROWTH PAINS. We all have them and they are not fun, but they are necessary in order to grow. Lashonda, Vinicius and Adam left Belo Horizonte yesterday on their way to Henderson, TN. They plan to get settled in there the next few months, get into jobs, etc. and then begin school at Freed-Hardeman University in January, Lord willing. Please pray for them and for us. Also pray for Vinicius’ mother, who will now be completely alone. This move was extremely hard for her and she will need everyone’s prayers and encouragement.

Our kids will need your support as they settle in and begin life so far away from home. Please be there for them, as you who live in the USA are physically closer to them than we are. Contact them and let them know that you are willing to help when they need you. Their addresses are lasheitor@gmail.com and vinyheitor@yahoo.com.

God bless you.

Eddison

Words cannot express our excitement in announcing the

NEW BIRTH of our son Bryan. He was baptized into Christ last night at about 7:30 p.m.! Praise Him From Whom All Blessings Flow that our family is now all united in Christ. Half of our children are married to faithful Christians and another is dating a very fine young Christian man. We could not be happier. Pray with us that we can continue to bring them up in Him and say with Joshua: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Love,

Eddison & all 

Our trip to
the USA from June 28 to July 6 went well, overlooking a few problems. Our American Airlines flight
between Sao Paulo, Brazil and Dallas was aborted about an hour into the flight
due to a leak in the hydraulic fluid system and returned to Sao Paulo, where we
spent the rest of the night. I then had to scurry around all day Thursday to
rebook flights to Chicago instead of Nashville so that I could intercept our
family that was already en route from Greenbrier, TN to Marshfield, WI. Then
the ground traffic out of Chicago held us for five hours due to highway
construction, Friday evening rush hour and Fourth of July weekend. We arrived
in Marshfield, Wisconsin at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, which made us miss the
rehearsal and supper there, but the wedding went very well at 11:00 a.m. It was
beautiful in every way. The couple wrote their own vows. Wren read hers and
David sang his, as he had composed a song including the clichés that they use
in their relationship and expressing his love and devotion to her.

We worshipped
with the church there on Sunday. Brian O’Neal and I taught the Sunday school
class and preached. We then traveled to TN, where we arrived at about 3:30 a.m.
on Monday with no problem. We celebrated LaJuana’s parents’ fiftieth wedding
anniversary on Tuesday, July 4 and used Wednesday to gather everything we
needed to bring with us and pack our bags.

Our at-home
family (which is now smaller by two) returned to Brazil on Thursday. We are
still awaiting one bag that was lost en route. American Airlines says it was in
Brazil and sent to Belo Horizonte, but we cannot get the baggage office here to
answer their phone. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

Life is
much more normal with LaJuana and Marlinda at home. We were glad they could
help LaJuana’s mother and grandmother in their time of need, but it sure is
nice to have them back home. We took care of ourselves okay but we definitely
missed them.

Having
arrived on Friday afternoon, I immediately got back into full swing with the
work here. I participated in a meeting of our National Bible School and in the
Youth Group on Saturday, taught Sunday school on Sunday and continue the
visitation, counseling, Bible Studies, growth studies, elders’ meetings,
writing of the bulletin article, celebrating weddings and preparing for all of
this. Please pray for us and especially for the National Bible School. We are
revamping the school to prepare workers in the very best way and also be able
to turn the school into a Christian University in the near future, Lord willing.
Please pray with us to that end.

God bless,

Eddison