God does not need us for missions. Okay, are you done re-reading that first sentence? Do you remember something we said countless times while on deputation? God doesn’t need us—or you—to start a church in Alcochete because frankly, God does not need anything from us.

This prayer letter is roughly a month late and is barely going to meet our quarterly dead-line. We had things we wanted to write about, then there were changes or things we ourselves were wrestling with and we weren’t sure how transparent we should be—transparency comes with responsibility.

Many of you probably remember Dave preaching on James 4:13-17. Essentially, we should know that God is sovereign and we are limited. He has a plan and it will not be thwarted by us or Satan. That also means that frequently God’s plans are not our desires—even the good desires.

At the second half of 2014 we began raising support with plans to plant a church in the town of Alcochete. In August of 2017 Dave’s sister passed away and thus began the journey of a slew of health problems—blah! At the end of 2018 we arrived to Portugal. 2019 was spent adapting to the culture, learning language, getting settled, etc. In 2020, the year that we refer to as “Bruno”, there were more health problems. Then in 2021 we did furlough so that we could come back, ready to make things happen.

In August of 2022, our Brazilian counter part returned. We had a Portuguese church that felt they could support our endeavor in Alchochete and we would begin having frequent personal meetings with them to make things happen.

“Hey David, did you know about this?” read the WhatsApp notification, with the picture from above. It was the building inauguration for a baptist church plant in Alcochete. Apparently, nobody seemed to know what was going on in Alcochete. Which admittedly was kind of nice, knowing we weren’t the only ones clueless about what was happening—at least this time!

So here we are with our plans like a broken puzzle, providentially tossed up into the air waiting to see how God will ordain and direct each of those pieces. God did not need us to plant a church in Alcochete. The church plant began in 2018 before we ever arrived to Portugal and it was started by a Portuguese pastor from another town.

During the pandemic we did a lot of puzzles. We didn’t do them because we were forced, but because we enjoyed it. Likewise, we get to enjoy time seeking God in prayer, in understanding the “puzzle” we call life and find out where we go from here. We could use your prayers regarding our direction here in Portugal.

Praise to God that there is a Bible preaching mission in Alcochete!