Parker's Newsletter

The Parker Quarterly Post

Summer, 2007

Dear Friends,

We often hear that privilege implies responsibility but seldom do we consider our responsibilities as privileges. Recently, I was preparing a message on our responsibilities as believers when I noticed that every single one of my points could also be described as privileges. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you by writing out the message, but let me share a few examples with you. As believers we are responsible to read God’s Word, but when you consider the tribal person who has no translation of Scripture or the man living in a river community that has no ability to read, we have no choice but to see our responsibility as a privilege! Not to mention the incredible source of wisdom and power the Bible contains to transform our lives. We are responsible to pray, but what a privilege it is to have access to the creator of the universe in prayer. It is our responsibility to share our faith with others, but what greater privilege could we imagine than to be used of God to bring hope to a friend or family member that is enslaved to sin.

As missionaries, we definitely feel like we have responsibilities before God, our supporters and the people we serve, but the truth is that we are truly privileged to be able be a part of the spread of the Gospel to the people of the Amazon. It has been an incredibly fulfilling experience to be able to see this ministry grow from its very beginning to what it has become today. We just celebrated the 15th anniversary of the inauguration of the ministry, so we had the privilege of looking back to see the past, honor God for what has been done and then recognize the responsibility we have to be faithful with what God has given us. It has been a rewarding experience for us, but we recognize that each of you that pray for and support this ministry are a vital part of all that God is doing. We are privileged to have your partnership in this work.

This last semester has been one of the busiest that we can remember. It had been several years since Gary has taught three classes. It was also the first time for him to teach counseling, so there was a lot of preparation and writing involved. There were over thirty students in the class so that made for a lot of grading as well. But - it was a privilege to see the students growing in their confidence in the ability of God’s Word to bring help to people. Gary has also been teaching through the book of Proverbs at a local church in the Adult Sunday School class. We consider teaching the Bible to others to be one of our main responsibilities but it is a privilege to be able to spend the time studying in preparation and then to have so many opportunities to pass on what God is teaching.

In our last letter we shared with you two major projects that we were trying to finish. The first was the new library. We are happy to be able to tell you that as a part of our 15th Anniversary Celebration we inaugurated the new library! It turned out absolutely fantastic. At times we were concerned that expanding the old library would not turn out as nicely as building a new one and were afraid that the savings in funds would not be worth it, but that was not the case at all. The final result far exceeded our expectations and the students are absolutely thrilled with the final product. It is not only spacious and functional, but it is also beautiful. I wish we could walk each and every one of you through it. Pictures just do not do it justice.

The other project was an 80 meter tower in order for us to get high speed internet for free on the campus via radio. God once again provided in what I consider to be a miraculous way and the tower is currently up and operating. It truly is a privilege to serve such a faithful and powerful God!

We are currently wrapping up our summer camping season. Our main camps are held in January, but this July we held river camps in three different locations and also have hosted two weeks of camp on our campus. The river camps were attended by over 200 young people. Our students and staff were impacted by the privilege of working with these very needy people who were so receptive to the Gospel. Here on the campus we partnered with a local ministry to hold a week of camp for about 120 children who live around the local trash dump in town. These children literally live off of the trash that others throw away. The first meal we served caused a fight to break out as the kids were pushing and shoving in order to get to the food. Several picked up knives from the tables and we were afraid that the week was going to be a nightmare. Needless to say, we removed the knives for future meals. It was sad to see the kids stuffing food in their pockets because they could not believe that there would be more food later that same day. What a transformation occurred during the week, by the last day the kids were standing neatly in line. The kids cried for the last day and half because camp was coming to an end. Twenty of the dozens of kids who made decision have been attending discipleship classes since camp ended.

This next semester Gary will only have one class, but it will be new, so please pray that the preparation for that will go well. I also want to begin work on my thesis to finish up my Masters Degree, so that will take time and discipline as well. Our forth year students are all out on their internships this semester, and most of them will be working in river communities. We are praying that God will use them greatly and that many of them will take up the privilege of investing their entire lives in taking the Gospel to these people who have not heard that Christ has died to pay sin’s price. Our construction crew will be doing several maintenance projects, one of which involves replacing the roof on one of our staff homes. The main project will be doubling the size of our game room and snack shop before the start of our camping season in January. We are thankful that the funding for these projects has already been provided. We greatly appreciate your prayers for the construction crew to be able to work quickly and safely so the projects will be done on time.

Our children continue to grow up faster than we can fathom. They are doing well in school and are becoming more and more active in the ministry. We are thankful for the work that God is doing in their hearts to make them more like Christ. Raising children on the mission field is a big responsibility, but it is also an awesome privilege to be able to expose them to another culture and so many ministry opportunities. Mishaela will be a junior this year, Joshua is going into eighth grade and Mackenzie into sixth. Their school is going through a major transition right now that might involve them having to relocate at the end of this next year, so please make that a matter of prayer. Having a good school for our kids is a privilege that few missionaries have. We are very thankful for Amazon Valley Academy and pray that it will be able to continue to provide an excellent education for our children.

Over the last several months we have been sharing with you our concern over our monthly support level. We want to thank those of you who have either recently started supporting us or have increased the amount you are giving in order to help meet that need. However, even though our support level has increased, we are still short of what is needed. The major reason for this is the weakness of the US dollar overseas. Five years ago we were getting R$3.50 in Brazilian currency for US$1.00. We are now getting about R$1.85 for US$1.00 and it continues to drop. That, coupled with the inflation of prices here in Brazil over the last five years, has made for a critical need. For the last year we have been trying to live here without a salary increase, but are finding it very difficult. In order to request help from Word of Life, we will once again need to increase our support level. We realize that missionaries all over the world are going through the same thing for the same reasons and we have recently seen several missionaries leaving the field. We truly believe that God has given us the privilege of serving Him here. If you are able to help meet this need it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for your faithfulness in following our ministry and lifting this work and our family up before our Father. It is our prayer that all of us would not view our responsibilities as a drudgery to be fulfilled, but that we would honor and praise God with joyful hearts, recognizing the privilege that we have as children of God to worship Him and promote the worship of Him in the nations of the world.

Privileged to Serve Him,

Gary and Sandy Parker

Prayer Requests:
Praise the Lord for the completion of the library and internet tower projects.
Pray for the students of the Missionary Institute as they complete their internships.
Praise for the changed lives in the camps on the river and with the kids from the trash dump.
Pray for a quick and safe expansion of the game room and snack shop.
Praise for the opportunities to teach God’s Word in so many different settings.
Pray the additional monthly support that is needed.