The Fall of the Dollar

The link below from Yahoo! Finance shows the reality of what has been squeezing the support needs of American missionaries in Brazil: over the last five years, as the chart shows, the dollar has had over a 50% decline against the Brazilian currency. For us the consequence is that though in dollar terms our pledged support is as high as it has ever been, we are now 25% undersupported. Even so we have recently been encouaged with several churches inquiring about our support situation and expressing a hope that they can increase their giving to our work. We have also had a friend from a supporting church personally pledge support to our work. Praise God that He is in control!

Steve

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=USD&to=BRL&amt=1&t=5y

From Main Street to Main Street

Tomorrow I (Steve) will be traveling alone from our furlough "home" near the Jersey shore to Main Street Baptist Church in Oneonta, NY. Mary Ann will be at home preparing for a medical procedure on Monday. Its been an interesting week since Sarah has had a Brazilian friend, now a Canadian college student, visiting her at PBU! We had a chance to have a lunch visit with them this week which was special. Today also brought our first significant snow fall of the year, which always makes driving interesting, something we don't have to deal with in Brazil (snowfall that is, interesting driving is the norm in our city!)! I just got an e-mail from a colleague in Brazil telling me they have had some torrential summer rains in São Paulo, pretty common this time of the year. We are thankful for our network of supporting churches, like Main Street Baptist, that have so faithfully stood with us in the ministry over the years.
Thanks for your prayers!

February Prayerletter online!

Our February prayer letter is available online at:
http://www.worldventure.com/Missionaries/Missionary-Directory/Missionary/Nash_Steven_Mary_Ann/Links/Downloads/Nash_Steven_PL_02_08.pdf
Our newest family picture is included. Take a look!
Steve

Back in NJ!

We are back in NJ, preparing for our next visits to our supporters. This week we have been helping with some ministries here in Toms River, I (Steve) teaching some middle schoolers on Tuesday at the Christian Academy, today, Mary Ann substituted for the 5th grade, tomorrow she’ll sub for the 4th grade, and tomorrow night I will be giving the devotional to the youth group. The church family here in Toms River has made us feel at home, and we are glad to help as we are able. The challenge before us is considerable as we look to return to Brazil later this year: our support level is at about 75%, largely due to the falling dollar. Even so we call our current ministry “support discovery” since we are convinced that God is in control, even over such mundane things as finances!

Renewal Conference and Debriefing

We are just finishing up a two week period in Colorado. A week at a missionary "Renewal Conference" and a week of debriefing and meetings with our mission. The conference was great, worship, encouragement in the word, prayer, and fellowship with missionary colleagues from around the world. It was great to see our friends, Russ and Pat Shedd, honored for fifty years of service with CBFMS, CBInternational, and WorldVenture. Though they are retiring from support, they are merely moving to a new phase of ministry as they return to Brazil and the work they have been doing. We will be returning to NJ with a new anticipation of what God will do as we continue our home assignment and support discovery. Our ride is picking us up at 4 AM tomorrow, I had better set the clock! Thanks for praying!
Steve

Our Ministry in Brazil

We are Steven and Mary Ann Nash and we have two main ministry focuses in the mega-city of São Paulo, Brazil. Steve helps to train leaders while Mary Ann works in various ministries to children. The Nashes first went to Brazil with WorldVenture in 1997 after several years of pastoral ministry in the United States.

Steve’s primary ministry is teaching at the Faculdade Teológica Batista de São Paulo. It is one of the largest Baptist seminaries in the Portuguese speaking world, attracting students from around the country, and around the world. In this school he teaches Biblical Studies and hermeneutics (principals of interpretation) at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also helps one evening per week at a small Bible Institute in a poorer part of the city. These students are either unprepared or unable to enter the larger seminary, but are none the less convinced of God’s calling and committed to serving Him. Steve says, “It has been exciting to have a part in training and mentoring leaders for God’s mission in and from Brazil.”

Mary Ann has been helping in the Kindergarten at the Pan American Christian Academy for over 8 years. This school is committed to training young people, through quality Bible based education, who can impact the world for Christ. “Young children are open to the Gospel and have a lifetime of service ahead of them. It makes sense to try and reach them for the Lord,” says Mary Ann. She has also worked as a group leader in a women’s Bible Study and later taught Bible lessons to children while their mothers attended the Bible Study.

We have started this "Blog" to improve communication with our churches, supporters, friends, and family in the United States. We realize more than ever that we are part of a team, and hope that this new forum will allow us to stay in touch with you, and you with us. Let us know what you think!