oakley cheri 1994 portugal

8/10/2019 Oakley Cheri 1994 Portugal

1/4

Po r t u g a l Ch r i s t i a u

Mi s s i o n

Cher i Lynn Oakley , Miss ionary

Rua P6 r

do So l , 29

2775 Ca r c a v e l o s PORTUQAL

Te lephone : 011 -351 -1 - 456 -1596

Ap r i l

20 , 1994

arcavelos

Dear

Family and F r i e nd s ,

I

am sure

that many of you

think that

I have forgotten you,

but I assure you, that is not the case, X have been very

involved

in

different

ac t iv i t i e s

with

both

the

church

and

school

and

also

making some

very

important decisions and have

not

had the

opportunity

to s i t down

and

write to

each of

you. I

apologize

and

hope that

each

of you understands and will forgive my lack of

correspondence. I

will

do my

best

to

catch

you up on everything in

this letter

As you know, I re turned to the US to spend Christmas with

my

family and i t was a time of great

fun

and fellowship. I had the

opportunity

to

spend

some quality time with my folks and my

brothers and

s is ters , and i t

was

great

I

returned

to Portugal

the f i r s t

week o f

January and s t a r t ed r i gh t back

in to c l as ses a t

s choo l

and

th e

work

he r e

at

th e

chu r ch .

The months

of October ,

November

and December

were fu l l

of

different act iv i t ies and practices for Christmas programs. I had

the privi lege once again to do

the Christmas

program

a t

school as

wel l

as here a t

the

church .

The

program a t

the

school was

cal led

Not a Creature was Stirr ing and the kids did an

excellent

job.

I even dressed up for th is one and

everyone seemed to

enjoy

themselves throughout the

evening.

The program here a t church

also went very

well as the youth presented Night Alive . Bveryone

worked

bard

on th i s

production as

the music was to ta l ly new and

di f fe ren t . I

had

to rew ri te some

of

the music to f i t with the

t r an s l a t ion , bu t a l l

went

wel l . I t was

fun and

our

Lord was

glor i f ied

with

the

performance.

Praise to

His

Name Once

again

the

program

reminded everyone

of

the

TRU

meaning of Christmas and

the

special time together

as we remember

God's love

in

sending His

on ly

Son

fo r u s .

{John

3 :16

Upon

re turning

to Portugal a f t e r th e h oliday s, I

had

to do

some very

serious

soul searching ,

praying

and seeking the

Lord's

w ill fo r my l i f e . I made

some

very

impor tan t

dec i s ions

and

shared

then with

the team here in

Portugal

f i r s t and then my

f inanc ia l

supporters in the USA, as well as with the school here in Portugal .

I would l ike

to share

a

pa r t of the

l e t t e r tha t I s en t

to the

States

and

ask

tha t

you

read

care fu l ly

and

prayerfu l ly

the

f oll ow i ng p a ra g ra phs .

F orw a rd in g A g en ts :

Bob

and

Bonn i e Mi t ch e l l

R .R . 2

Box 288

B looming to n, IL 61704

Te l ephone :

309 -378 -4338


2/4

March 14 ,

1994

Dea r Ch r i s t i a n

F r i e n d s a nd C o-W o rk er s ,

Gree t ings

in th e name o f our Lord and

Sav io r

Jesus

Chr i s t ,

whom we se rve . I pray t h a t 1994 has s t a r t e d o f f

with

many

b less in gs fo r each

o f you .

It s hard

to b e l iev e th a t

Jan uary has

a l r e ady come

and

gone .

January was a

very

impor tan t

month

fo r me

and

I made some very

hard dec i s i ons

the first coup le o f

weeks .

With

much praye r

and

s ea rc hin gi c ou ns el

o f f r i e nd s and

f ami ly , t e a r s ,

thought , and much

more prayer

I

have

made

the dec is ion to re tu rn

to the

United

S t a t e s

in June . Th is de c i s i o n

was

no t

e a sy , b u t I f e e l

t h a t

I have

sought the Lord s Wil l and He has given me a peace t ha t only He can

give. As in many of our

l ive s , the focus

changes

and

we must

ad jus t

our

course

or

change

d i r e c t i on s .

I

fee l th a t

t h i s

i s

what

I am doing in l e av ing Po r t ug a l .

The

work con t inue s to grow and

prospe r

both

in

number and in

sp i r i t .

There

are

members of the

church

now tha t can

carry

on the

work and r e spons ib i l i t i e s

t ha t

I

once performed. Pra ise

the Lord

fo r His g re at b le ss in gs and His gu idance fo r th e church here in

Carcave los . May

t hey

con t i nue

to

g lo r i f y th e Lord

with

t h e i r

t a len t s

and g i f t s

as

I have t r i ed

to

do in my

t ime

here .

As I sa id e a r l i e r ,

t h i s has no t been

an

easy

dec i s ion and it

was made with much prayer tears and

s t ruggle .

Portugal i s home

fo r

me

in many ways as

I have

been here

e igh t

years .

I have seen

the changes in

th e

country as well as the growth in the work

fo r

God s

Kingdom .

I

have not

ye t

shared

with

th e

church

here

my plans ,

but

ask

for

your prayers

as

I

wait for the proper t ime

and

also

tha t I

wil l

have the r i gh t words. It i s d i f f i c u l t

fo r

me to commxmicate in

emotional

s i t ua t i ons

and

the re fore , I cove t

your prayers .

I know

tha t the Lord wi l l

supply

the s t rength and words tha t I need as He

has

never f a i l ed

be fo re . I know

His

s t r eng th

As I have t o ld th e team he re and PCM, I wi l l

be

more than

happy to continue to

represent P

a t

conventions

or in

churches.

I wi l l be ava i l ab le to speak fo r r e t r e a t s , camps

lad ies n ig hts ,

e tc . th roughout

the

coming

years .

God

has blessed

my

t ime

here

in

Portugal and

I

have

grown

and

lea rned much. Thank you fo r being a

pa r t

of these

pas t f iv e to e igh t

yea rs .

I w i l l look

fo rward

to se e in g

each

o f you t h i s summer. May

Cod r ichly

bless you as you cont inue to labor fo r

Him

I n H is Service and l o v e .

y decis ion has been

shared w ith

the church here

and

the

school

and

a l l

have

accepted it

knowing t ha t I have

sought the

Lord s wi l l and have a p eace abo ut th e d ec is io n . I still c a n t say

t h a t

it has been easy , as many

o f

you

know

me

wel l and

know

my love

fo r Por tuga l

and

the

people ,

my

family

here .

However

I

do

have

a strong

peace about the decis ion

and know

tha t

God has

other plans

f o r

me

i n

th e f u t u r e . God is i n c on tr o l


3/4

The week b ef o re E a st e r was full of

activities

h e r e at chu r ch

a s

we

c e l e b r a t e d ou r

Week o f Conse c r a t i o n o nc e a tf ain . We s t a r t e d

on March dOth with

a

program fo r which

I was r e spons i b l e .

The

Lord

had

l a i d

upon

my

h e a r t

a

lo ng tim e

ago

to p r e s e n t th e song Watoh

t h e Lamb a s a drama . I

t a l k e d w ith R ob er t

and

some

o f th e

men

o f

th e

church

and

they

agreed

to pa r t i c i p a t e

and on

th e

30th

o f

March,

we presen ted Watch

th e

Lamb *

t was

supe r

and the audience was

touched

in a spec i a l way. I

a l s o

sang Th is Blood ' s For You and

Dav id B ra z a ccompanie d with mime. Af t e r a s ho r t exp l ana t i on o f

the

c ru c i f i x i o n , I sang Serve th e Lord and we ended th e ev en ing . I

have

t o

a dm i t , it

was

a

ve ry s p ec ia l n ig h t

f o r me and I

began to

unde r s t a nd a

little

o f wha t Ch r i s t s u f f e r e d f o r MB A ll t o th e

Glo r y o f

God

We had a s p e c i a l communion s e r v i c e Thursday even ing

and

ano the r se rv ice on Fr iday

wi th a

praye r

v i g i l

un t i l

1:30am. We

c e l e b r a t e d th e r e su r re c ti o n E a s te r morn ing

wi t h

a s un r i s e communion

s e r v i c e on th e be a c h . t was

v e r y

mean i ng fu l a s

t h e

devo t i on

cen t e r ed

a round

J e su s

appearance

t o

H is

d i s c i p l e s on

th e

beach

a s

He

f i x ed b r e ak f a s t .

(John

21 :1 -14 ) The day was b r i g h t no t

only

wi th s un s h i n e , b u t

th e

happ i n e s s

and l ove

t h a t

f lowed

from

eve ryone .

Ha l l e l u j a h Ch r i s t is ALIVE

P r a i s e His

Name

I

r e a l i z e

t h e r e

a r e th in gs

I have

f o r g o t t e n , bu t

I

have t r i e d

to

hit

th e h i gh l i g h t s

o f th e

pa s t s ix months . I wanted to share

with each o f you

my dec is ion

and f e e l t h a t i s

the most important

t h i ng

r i g h t

now.

I wi l l

be

wr i t i ng

aga i n a f t e r

I g e t to th e S t a t e s

and

wi l l

fill you in

on th e

p l an s f o r th e

f u t u r e . I

wi l l be

t r a ve l l i ng to

my

suppor t ing churches and

p r e s en t i ng

the work o f

P

and

t h e i r

goa l s

fo r th e

coming

yea r s a s w e ll as

my

p lans .

I

cove t

your praye r s as I prepare

to

l eave

and

t h a t I can ge t every th ing

done i n

good

t ime .

As

I c l o s e ,

let

me sha re some

p r a i s e s and r eques t s

with you to

remember in

your pe r sona l qu i e t

t imes .

> > > tio UCX tD > > >

>> fo r a g r e a t f am i ly Chr i s tmas and His p ro t e c t i on ;

>> f o r

e nc ou ra ge m en t a nd s u p p o r t f rom

f am i ly

and f r i e n d s ;

>> fo r con t inued

he a l t h

and s t r e ng t h ;

>> f o r

H is

f a i t h f u l n e s s and l o v e .

W T eelc w-t i l :x y o v * x - V

fo r my prepa ra t ions to

le ave as

I pack

and

cont inue

to

work;

fo r

my f i n a l weeks here t o be a s p ro du ct iv e

a s

pos s i b l e ;

fo r

th e

s c hoo l

a s t h ey

a r e

i n a

t ime

o f t r a n s i t i o n

t o o ;

f o r th e chu r c h h e r e i n Ca r c a v e l o a t o r ema i n s t r o n g and con t i nu e

to grow

and

sh i n e fo r

Ch r i s t ;

f o r th e

t eam

fro m K ing sw ay Ch r i s t i a n

Church that

w i l l

a r r i v e

i n

Ju ly

to

spend two weeks he r e , in

th e

s e rv i c e o f

th e

King;

f o r

me

a s

I

t r a v e l

to

and t h roughou t th e

USA

t h i s summer,

r epo r t i ng

and sha r i ng

my

work here

i n

Po r t uga l ;

f o r

con t i nu ed

gu idance f o r all

o f

u s , a s we

con t inue

to

s e rve

ou r King and Sav i o r , J e s u s Ch r i s t .


4/4

Thank you once aga in f o r

you r

co n t in ue d p ray er suppo r t

and

encou ragemen t

w i th letters and

c a r d s hope

this f i n d s each o f

you wel l and enjoying some n ic e sp rin g weather ll look forward

to see ing many of

you

t h i s summer In camps

o r

p r e s en t a t i on s

o r

j u s t

v i s i t s

You

a re

a l l in

y

t hough t s and p r aye r s Take

care and

remember God l oves you and so do

I

JU

t

oakley cheri 1994 portugal

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