“Its Raining Tacos!”

We are having a blast learning new expressions (and sometimes

inadvertently creating our own)! We recently learned that during a

downpour, people say “está chovendo canivetes.” This is a

Portuguese idiom that means “it is raining pocket knives.” That made

us think of other fun expressions that have to do with rain, like the one our kids seem to prefer which is “its

raining tacos.” We have been taught not to say things are “weird,” so we will call that phrase “interesting.”

Because it is so interesting, we looked it up and it turns out to be a silly YouTube video. Here is the link

(https://youtu.be/zLZKuAY2tkc) but be warned, you may be singing this for perpetuity! To find out what

happened next…check out our blogpost here:

Lenҫóis Maranhenses – Incrível!

Believe it or not, we were advised to take a vacation. No really, we were

– for several reasons. For one, with

the events of this winter…we needed

to be able to stop and relax and just

have some fun. Getting away also served

another purpose we had not considered. There

is a feeling that surfaces when you walk back

into a recognizable place after being gone. It is a feeling that rushes

you with familiar sights, smells and a sense of belonging. That feeling

helps to cement that you really are “home” again. We are so thankful

for the wise counsel from Becky Holton from Great Cities Missions who helps us think about

how to care for our children and ourselves in ways

we would not have considered! Also, as the

understatement of the year – Lenҫóis was beautiful!

Appreciative, awe-struck, humbled, reverent,

thankful, recharged…all feelings that this incredible

piece of God’s handiwork stirred up in us!

Team Update # 11

God is so Good!

April 2018

Lauren and Troy, Reef, Jonas, Lachlan, & Poppy Gibbins

Melynda and Mark, & Jude Dye

Jill and Justin, Caden, Rylee, & Addison Hill

SLMT Blog

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Texas travels are a treat!

The Gibbins family had a busy month of church visits! We

kicked off April with Troy speaking at Northside’s Engage

Praise service. Engage is a new Saturday night

contemporary praise service started by Northside members

this year. It was a great

evening of worship!

The next weekend we were off to HEB Camp with Brentwood Oaks for

their annual family retreat. We always find retreats a great way to

connect and get to know people,

and there was no shortage of friends

for the kids to play with! Lauren was

able to join the MacArthur Park

ladies for Bunco again this month.

The following weekend we were

blessed to get to be with

Kerrville Church of Christ for our family’s first Sunday visit.

Troy shared

the communion

message and

we enjoyed

lunch with their

Youth and

Family Minister

and Jill’s

family. That

led to an

opportunity for Troy to attend Kerrville’s Men’s retreat and

connect with some of the men of that congregation over a

fellowship and good food!

We finished up the month worshipping with Western Hills Church of

Christ in Temple for their Harvest Sunday. We are excited about our

new partnership with Western Hills and we can’t wait to see what God

has in store for the Kingdom because of these new bonds! Whew! The

travels and visits can be tiring, but we love being able to strengthen

church relationships while we are still here, and our kids have become rock stars at walking into an

unknown Bible class and making a new friend!

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Making Connections!

Melynda and Jill were finally able to get together with

Desiree this past month. When we first talked about moving

to São Luis, we learned about her efforts here through a

former SERVEiVOR participant and Northside member who

connected us with a Baptist missionary who then connected

us with Desiree. She and her husband head an organization

called Projeto Casa, which works weekly in several

neighborhoods in São Luis by providing Kid’s Club (4-12

y/o), school reinforcement, Jiu Jitsu, ballet, and large scale

house painting projects. And they do it all in the name of Jesus! Desiree has worked here in São

Luis for 8 years and was able to share how God has provided for her family since moving here and

how He has blessed their ministry with growth and impact on the city. We were encouraged and

have no doubt that their experience will bless our mission here as well!

We also had a chance to have a virtual meeting with Júnior Crispim and Nick Fowler from Belém.

Nick was part of an American missionary

team through Missions Resource Network

there in Belém for 7 years and Júnior is a

Brasilian leader in that congregation now.

It was great to listen to their experiences

and hear their advice! Who knows what

this spark may ignite in terms of working together for the northern region of Brasil in the future!

Opportunities abound!

A brother and his wife from Campo Grande, Lucas Cavalcanti, recently

had a job assignment here in São Luis. Though they were only here

for a short time, they became friends with the owner of the Pousada

where they were staying. He put us in contact with each other and we

recently were able to spend a Saturday afternoon having churrasco

with Júnior (different guy than above) and his friends. Conversation

ranged from Whitney Houston to Trump, meat types to church types,

and everything in between. It turns out that several in the group are

seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus and have a desire to be a

part of a group of people that earnestly seek to follow Him! Pray for these opportunities that God

may be glorified!

Judicial seminar update: God continues to amaze us with the latest developments in

this opportunity! We aren’t quite ready to share the details yet, but momentum is growing!

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April showers bring…lots of FUN things!

Here in São Luis our families have been busy

attending birthday parties, playing futebol on

the sand with friends, going on school field

trips, and having classmates over for school

projects. Getting a tour of the neighborhood

gym followed by pizza, a morning of friendly

tennis competition, & an afternoon churrasco

filled with delicious food & enlightening

conversation has also filled our

calendars with numerous God-given

opportunities with contacts here.

Back in Texas, the Gibbins family also

had a fun-filled calendar in April.

Celebrating Easter with special friends,

Reef attending a middle school youth

retreat, and the family eating lots of yummy treats from an ice cream

truck, Duck donuts, & Steel City Pops created many sweet (“kkkk” = “haha”) memories.

In trying to maintain healthy families

and a healthy team in São Luis and in

San Antonio, we are trying to take the

strong advice given to us and

incorporate regular FUN together.

Sleepovers have created great

memories for Caden and Jude. We

had a blast exploring our neighborhood

park and eating delicious hamburgers

from the food trucks. Best of all though,

our first road trip to experience more of

Brasil’s beauty was so refreshing and

needed by every one of us.

Continuing a family tradition of picking

strawberries in the Texas Hill Country, having a date night at a Hillsong

concert for Troy’s birthday, & starting a family Gratitude journal…the

Gibbins have also been busy taking advantage of ways God is

strengthening their family while waiting for His timeline to unfold. We

look forward to the time when all 14 of us can be having FUN together,

creating new memories in São Luis, while serving our awesome God!

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Poppy loves

horses and

hopes she

could have

one in Brasil!

Lachlan is

all about the

soccer playing and eating

mangoes!

Rylee can eat

half her bodyweight in

rice or noodles in one

meal!

Caden is having

tons of fun

collecting World

Cup trading

cards!

Jude loves playing

cribbage…it is from his

U.P. bloodline!

Jonas is a great

helper in the

kitchen and

loves to cook!

Addison can

make up a

song in

Portuguese

on any

subject!

Reef is a skilled

pianist and has

only been playing

3 years!

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“We praise thee o God…”

The Gibbins family praises God because Troy’s hematologist informed him that the

blood clots in his arms are fully resolved, with only a little scar tissue left. This is

great news and we do not have to see that doctor again!

We are also thankful because we have really enjoyed all

of our church visits and love seeing God work through

this unexpected time in San Antonio!

The Hill family praises God because at her 6 month

follow-up Jill’s mom Rene is cancer free!!! We have seen

prayers answered in Caden’s more positive attitude

towards Portuguese learning. His bravery to speak more

in public is increasing as well! We also rejoice in

watching Rylee master writing her “R’s” and follow

directions with drawing; and we are thrilled to listen to

Addison count to 10 in Portuguese!

The Dye family praises God because we are seeing

continued improvement in Portuguese and are growing in confidence with

interactions. We give glory to God for the opportunities we have to build relationships

and to reach this community.

Prayer Requests

The Gibbins family asks for your prayers as

we consider what a transition plan will look like.

We also ask that you continue to pray for

physical healing for Troy, for pain relief, and for

muscle strength as we have exhausted many

options and still do not have good solutions.

We ask for your prayers for us to place our

trust in God’s timing and plan for our family.

The Hill family asks for your prayers over our Portuguese learning, and for time to

spend nurturing our family. We seek comfort for hearts aching with “saudade,”

and we request that you pray for us to be guided by Wisdom for our plans for the

city of São Luis. Please also pray for patience as Rylee is still potty training and

for us to find good doctors and therapists for her.

The Dye family asks that you pray for our discernment about the best decisions as

we finalize plans for Jude’s surgery in December. We also seek prayers for

discernment on the things we say “yes” to.

New friends to pray for:

Parents of kids’ classmates:

Antonio and Fernanda

Raul

Roberto

Orcelio and Taiana

Edvaldo and Gisele

Sandro

Emilio

Jone and Nadja

Carlos and Mércie

Alfredo

Ricardo

Marcos

Patricia

Guys at barber shop:

Piri

Kelson

Manuel

Philippe

Pharmacists:

Regina

Tianni

Maple Bear teachers/staff:

Hamanda

Leesa

Analea

Thais

Fernanda

Tâmisa

Denise

Eretuse

Val

Max

Rafael

Wellington

Other community contacts:

Paulo

Júnior

Lucas and Kátia

Ademir and Rosely

Edvan and Carolina

Adenauer

Carlos

Joãnn

Eliane

Lázara

Fernando

Edie

Rick

Isabela

Porteiros/neighbors:

Magno

Ivan

Júnior

Adrian

Manuel

Lívia

Bené and Rita

Geovani

Macio

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