Good news: the Embassy called to say that they will grant me the Volunteer Visa! My passport was sent to London today for the Consulate to insert the final document. The Visa will be given for one year, and at the end of this it can be extended for several more years.

It’s a relief at the end of such a long wait! Pastor Bill Wilson says “The only way to win is to not quit” – and he’s right. If there’s something in your life you’ve been waiting a long time for, keep going – God is faithful!

So, Susan’s children will finally all be leaving home… She has been very supportive and patient considering I am still living at home, 18 years after I left school! She has made this preparation time possible, so a big thanks to her.

Meanwhile I am waiting to hear from the Happy Child Mission office in Brazil, to see when they may be ready to receive me. God called me to Brazil in 2002, so of course I am really looking forward to going back having now been away for two years. Hopefully I can continue helping children to learn to read, training more staff to teach reading and start the Maths project I have been wanting to begin for so long. Soon it could be time to book the plane tickets! As soon as I get any more information I will let you know.

Thank you for all of you who prayed – it was well worth it! Now that the time of waiting is over, a few verses come to mind:

Psalm 25:3 “No-one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame”
Psalm 28:6 “Praise be to the Lord for he has heard my cry for mercy… my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.”
Psalm 30:11 “You turned my wailing into dancing… and clothed me with joy… O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.”

A big THANK YOU to everyone who prayed and helped secure the visa, and so hastened my return to Brazil. Please pray: that I’ll be able to get out to Brazil without further delay and will choose wisely which resources to take on this occasion.

If you would like to be added to the list for the email version of the newsletter, or if you have any questions, please contact cocacola2000@hotmail.co.uk. You can see more about Happy Child International at www.happychild.org or call 01372 375 848 for more info or donations.

Many thanks for all your support, Alistair.

Imagine that a survey was carried out around the UK, asking the question “Where is God?” What answers do you think would come up? I’d guess that quite a few people would answer “Well, I don’t believe in a god, so nowhere.”

Other people might give the answer “God – if there is a god – is out there.” Maybe these people realise that the physical world can’t be all that there is. They’ve haven’t ruled out the idea of some kind of god existing, but if he does exist then he is very distant – “out there, somewhere” or “up in the sky.” And this answer is partially correct; God is out there (the Bible says “the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him”), but it misses out the more amazing reality that God is also near.

So the third answer, and the one that we would give, is that God is near. Rather than being a distant, impersonal force, God is a Person and He is interested in being in relationship with us. But where do we get this idea from? What does the Bible say about it? We’re going to take a quick hop, skip and a jump through the Bible to see what it says about this theme…
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“For everything there is a season” (Ecc 3v1).

One of the most important things that every farmer and gardener knows is that a seed has to stay in the ground if it is to bear fruit. Every Christian has to learn to keep the seed (the word of God) continually in their hearts until they get the promised crop. The Bible says that we bear fruit with perseverance, however we often expect immediate results after God has spoken His word to us, or gives us a promise. We are tempted to dig up the seed to see if it is growing.

In the book “Ever increasing faith” by Smith Wigglesworth, when asked the reason for his faith being so strong, he answered “First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” Hebrews chapter 11 speaks of the heroes of faith, but remember that these great saints had a faith that matured over many years of testing. We need to guard against bringing the world’s thinking into the church. If we do, we should not be surprised if we become disappointed when we don’t see immediate results.

God’s words planted in our hearts, like seeds, need time to produce all the potential they contain. Jesus said that the seed planted in good soil (heart) brought forth much fruit with endurance. Every promise of God planted in our hearts will indeed come to pass if we stop digging them up and realise that there is a due season for the seed sown.

For someone who has lived in different countries, you would think that moving house to another place in England would be a simple thing. The actual process of moving from Seaton to Minehead (on 14th February) was very smooth and we are now renting a large 3-bedroom flat until Mum buys a smaller flat in the centre of town.

But having always eventually returned to Seaton, from wherever I’ve been, it seems strange learning to call a different town “home”. Seaton has been the most familiar place in the world to me since 1977, and in Minehead it’s rather like being in a foreign country to have to learn so many simple things now, that were previously so easy. Although the experience is rather like being an uprooted tree, the positive side is that I’ve lived longer in Brazil (approx. nine months in total) than the two months that I have been in Minehead. Consequently Brazil feels more like home than here, and I am looking forward to going back! But how? What about the visa and travel costs? Well…
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Alistair Hayward spent six months in Brazil during 2007. In his latest newsletter he looks back over the year and then looks ahead to what’s coming up in 2008…

Looking back
The six months period I spent in Brazil in 2007 was a probationary stay to evaluate my future as a missionary with Happy Child Mission. It was a success: at the end of my time there, they were just as eager for my return as I was! Some of the highlights of 2007 were:

A Sense of Calling: I was grateful for every day working with Happy Child and for being in Brazil. Living life on purpose and making a difference each day in the lives of the children was a very fulfilling experience. There is no doubt in my heart and mind that this is the place that God has called me to be. In my report I wrote:

“It has been a joy, a privilege and truly rewarding to have been given the opportunity to help the staff and children of Crianca Feliz! I did not have one day where I would have preferred to have been in England. I feel as though I have been helped as much, or more than I was able to help others, in the time that I spent in the mission homes. In Belo I feel like a square peg in a square hole! Each day, I get up looking forward to new successes and a chance to help change lives.”
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