Kuhns July Newsletter

We finished our first year at Pan American Christian Academy (PACA) with 360 students in grades pre-K-12. PACA services children from 26 different mission agencies and the pastors at 16 different churches around Sao Paulo. The students, staff and faculty proved to be fantastic to work with, we have been blessed.

We were honored this week to have a missions team from Enid MB visit us. They were such an encouragement. It was an honor to think that the church cared enough to send this team of nine. We spent nine full days working with different ministries, showing them the vast needs in this city of 21 million, and encouraging our Christian brothers and sisters. We worked at an orphanage, an emerging leadership training center, a home for street kids, a favella (gh etto with a mafia type boss), and at two churches that are within walking distance from our home. We saw God work in a number of ways during this nine day visit. We want to thank all of those who were responsible for helping this team come to see us. We love you all. On Sunday, July 20 at 6:00 pm they plan to have a special meeting at the Enid MB church to report on the trip. (Consequently, I am not going to share the “God Moments” in this letter.) If you are in the area we encourage you to attend.

In August Moises and David Kang will be moving into our house and enrolling at PACA. They are Korean missionary kids. Their parents were sent by their church in Korea to evangelize the Indians in the interior of Brazil. Moises joined Timmy’s junior class last February and has been living with us since April. He speaks fluent English, Portuguese, and Korean. David will be enrolling at PACA in August and is also trilingual. The Kang family is so grateful to have a place for their children to study while they minister to the people who have not had the opportunity to hear the gospel.

When the new school year starts I will be teaching the junior Bible class and coaching the varsity girls’ basketball team along with my principalship responsibilities at PACA. This is a great opportunity for me to get more involved in the students lives. About one-fourth of the students at PACA have not accepted the Lord at the time they enroll. Our prayer is that, they all accept the Lord by the time they graduate.

Denice will have a class of 26 little Kindergarteners next school year, up from 21 this year. Even with this large class she is thankful for at least two things. 1) She will have a certified teacher as her classroom aide and 2) most of her students are English first language (unlike last year). Pray that she will be able to adjust to such a large class and to utilizing a certified teacher. (The computers that the Enid MB church brought will be used for instructing elementary students who are non-English first language students.)

Timmy is a senior, yes he will start his last year of high school in August. We are beginning to discern, with him, what the Lord has for his future. Please pray that God will make his decision obvious. Timmy is working long hours for my brother in Indiana during his break from school. He is hoping to pay his airfare and put a little money in his pocket before he returns for school the first of August.

Nicole graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University in May and is now working at Hillcrest Hospital in Tulsa. She will be taking the Oklahoma state exam to become a registered nurse on July 25. Please pray that she will pass the test and adjust to the work a day world of a nurse.

Stacy is preparing to go to Guadalajara, Mexico in a two year mentorship program with Mennonite Brethren Missions and Services International. Her team will be coordinating and training short term missions teams, church planting, and evangelizing some of the six million people in Mexico’s second largest city. Pray that she will be able to learn Spanish and form solid relationships with the people she comes in contact with.

Finally, we want to thank all of you who have supported us financially over the past year. We have found that we need donations of $1,300 each month in order to live and work in Sao Paulo (on top of the salary and benefits that PACA is able to provide). We currently have funds that will last another three months in our account with MBMSI. If the Lord leads you to give to our little ministry here in Sao Paulo we ask you to send your donation to:

MBMSI Project CO561
4867 E. Townsend
Fresno, CA 93727

Most importantly, we ask that you will pray for the concerns listed above along with our continued protection and provision here in Sao Paulo.

Grateful to Him,
Tim & Denice Kuhns