MAP Stories: David & Tauana Souza

“What can I offer the Lord for all his goodness to me?”  Psalm 116:12

Another year of work began, and within the first month, God had already given us several reasons to thank the Lord.

On Sunday, January 20, four pre-teens were baptized. There were two Royal Ambassadors (RAs) and two Girls in Action (GAs), who had long been demonstrating how much they love Jesus. We have followed their spiritual growth over the course of several months. In order to perform the baptisms, we had Pastor Ely, of First Baptist Church of Anori, Amazonas, and our leadership present. Many relatives and friends of the pre-teens also attended to witness this precious moment. And to complete the festivities, during the evening worship we had the Lord's Supper where a couple was accepted by acclamation to join the membership roll here at Caapiranga.

This month, we also started the Ambassador of the Month (RAs), our boys' discipleship program. The boys were challenged to memorize a verse for each meeting, to take and handle the Bible, and to arrive punctually at meetings and other activities, thus accumulating points. The RAs with the most points would win a prize. The boys did a lot and, to our surprise and joy, the winner was a boy who at first said he would never win because he could not learn anything. Both he and the others saw how worthwhile it was to study the Word of God and dedicate themselves. Now they are more motivated than ever.

During the meetings of the Messengers of the King (GAs), our girls’ discipleship program, we studied the book of Jonah, and played a game. Our hearts jumped with joy seeing the commitment and dedication of the girls in the study of the book and how much they learned. One girl especially caught our attention during the Sword Drill, a game where they needed to quickly open the Bible to the reference that was mentioned. This girl found almost all references. It makes us happy to know that she has learned how to handle the Bible since we gave it to her at the beginning of the year.

Our year began at full steam and we count on you, dear friends and partners in the missionary work, to continue advancing to the honor and glory of our God.

A big hug from your missionaries,

David and Tauana Souza

David and Tauana Souza serve as missionaries in the Amazon region of Brazil. They are each available to adopt as MAP missionaries. Contact Gloria Tillman, MAP Ministry Assistant, at gloria.tillman@texasbaptists.org for more information on how your church can adopt a MAP missionary or visit texasbaptists.org/map today!