tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-144355312024-03-06T20:43:07.705-08:00Missionary John LeonardThis is the place to find the most updated information concerning Missionary John Leonard.
Most recent post are written by the family themselves.Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-68659860429636487012007-09-19T13:06:00.000-07:002007-10-19T13:58:54.604-07:00September, 2007<div>Dear Praying Friends, </div> II Corinthians 4:16 says "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." What a comfort this verse has been to us!! In the midst of trials, we know that the Lord will renew our spirits every day!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHALLENGES</span><br />We are writing a brief up-date from the "Lan House" (a place where you go to get on the internet for a short period of time and pay a small fee) which is about a 15 minute drive from our home. Yes, we have been in contact with the server that we have for internet in our home, called "Speedy" five times since it stopped working last Wednesday. Each time, they told us that within 24 hours we would be receiving a call from a technician to resolve the problem. No calls until now. Actually, John got on yesterday and told them the situation, and they now have promised that a technician will come to our home within 48 hours. I guess that is progress!?! At any rate we are thinking of recommending that they change their server name to anything other than "Speedy!!" But we know that we need to have patience and be thankful in ALL things, so that is what we are trying to do. Please pray that we would be the examples we should be in this situation, and that soon the internet service would be returned to our home. Also, on Friday, John's power wheelchair went on the blink. In the States, we would simply make our way out to West Des Moines, have them fix it, and go on with life. However, down here, things are not that easy. Without the internet, we were not able to ask our prayer team to pray, but we know that many of you prayed anyway, since John was able to use the guys that are doing the construction here at the church to make it so that he could at least use it. So we appreciate so much your prayers. But tomorrow(Wednesday, August 29, we are headed to Sao Paulo to see if we can find someone to fix it right. Please pray for safety, as one of the problems has been that when John is riding in the van, the chair will flip over on it's side. (VERY SCARY!!! to say the least) Fortunately, we do have his manual chair, and we will most likely use that for travelling tomorrow. But, we asked our son Jerrod to send us the tie-downs from our van in the States. We were getting along fine without them before (we had "rigged" something else that was working), but it seems that it now is somewhat "out of balance" -- possibly because of the "rough terrain" that John goes on down here!! One of the guys from our church recommended a person here in town that has a "forklift" company, that may be able help a little. We knew that there was one "Invacare" representative here in Brazil, but they are in Porto Alegre which is at least 10 hours by car from us. We called them and asked them for a name of someone near us that would fix it and their response was "just send the chair to us and we will fix it!" Very "simple" solution!! Continue to pray for this matter that the Lord's will be done. We are confident He is going to work everything out for His glory and that He has a good purpose for all of this!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BLESSINGS</span><br />OK...enough of that...lets move on to the Lord's blessings, which are always abundant!! Our Thursday night Bible study has been so exciting! Continue to pray for the six unsaved people who are attending on a regular basis. We are studying through the book of John, and at last week's study, we sensed that the Lord was really working in their lives. Pray that soon we will see decisions.<br /><br />Claudio and Isabel came to the couples' meeting we had last Saturday evening, and we were so encouraged. They are slowly coming around. Adam and his family were all in church on Sunday evening, and they are also gradually becoming more faithful at the services. Both of Juvana's parents were in the service on Sunday evening (Jose and Dottie). They are not only unsaved, but also our neighbors, and we are trying earnestly to reach them for the Lord.<br /><br />Wow!! Something VERY EXCITING we heard from our church in Coqueiro Seco (the church were the incident with John occurred)... One of the ladies of our church who is very dear to our family, Ana, accepted Christ as Savior!! We have prayed for her since the work began, and our hearts were just overjoyed when we heard this news. She and her husband, Nene, are the ones that are still living on the property there, and they are a great couple. Nene accepted Christ as Savior the Sunday after our inauguration service back in April of 2004. He has been a blessing in the work there. Continue to pray for Pastor Andre and Deborah as they labor faithfully there. They are also reporting five recent desicions for Christ in the adolescents' group they have on Saturday afternoons. Praise the Lord, He is still at work in Coqueiro Seco. We are also requesting prayer that a missionary would step in to help out there. When we started that work, we were planning to be there the rest of our lives. It is in a very needy village, and we knew it would probably take a long time to totally nationalize it, since the salaries that the people make there are small. Perhaps someone reading this letter would be burdened for this ministry!! We have a missionary family that has shown some interest, but the earliest they can take over would be in June of 2008. It would be great if someone could step in to help out right now!! If you feel the Lord calling you to be a part of this ministry in some way, please let us know!<br /><br />The girls officially started home schooling this past Monday, the 27th of August. It is going fine, but please pray for patience as the year goes on for all of us. Also pray for Josh and Jerrod who have begun their semester at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, IA. We thank you for your prayers for Josh. He recently went back to the doctor for a check-up, and found out that there was already blood-flow through the part of the hip that was operated on. The doctor had said that it could take up to a year for this to happen, and it happened in about a month and a half!! Once again, your prayers at work!! We are also thankful that he is able to continue his studies at Faith, as we were not sure if he would be healed up in time. Pray for our guys that they would take their studies seriously and follow the Lord's leading in their lives. <br /><br />We apologize to those of you who have written personal e-mails to us in recent days. Most of you know that we try hard to answer them within one week of receiving them, but it was not possible this time. As soon as our "Speedy" internet service returns, we will reply to you!<br /><br />Being renewed day by day,<br />John and Bev <span id="st" name="st" class="st">Leonard</span> and familyDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-32549518727075187572007-08-14T13:41:00.000-07:002007-10-19T13:48:55.221-07:00August 14, 2007Dear Praying Friends,<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PEOPLE</span><br />Praise the Lord for His goodness!! Thank you for your prayers for the outreach ministry we had on Saturday, August 11th. Sixty people from a church in a neighboring town came for the day to help us canvass the entire area here with tracts and invitations to the film night that we had. The film "Left Behind" was shown, and although there were not as many results as we would have liked, we know that many tracts were left in the hands of those around us and we are just letting the Lord work. Many of you prayed for "Cristiane" who came to our Corn night. Actually, we need to correct the name, since we had mixed her up with another lady. Her actual name is JUVANA, and even though she has not visited the church, her mother, Dottie, was at the meeting on Sunday night!! We were so thrilled to see her! Continue to remember Juvana and Dottie and family in prayer. Pray also for Claudio. We also asked recently that you pray for Odair, who is participating in one of our Bible studies. He is growing by leaps and bounds in the Lord and actually brought his friend, Claudio, out here to the church to be saved during the week! It was neat! He was so ready to accept Christ, and he was also in the service on Sunday night, along with his wife, Isabel. Bev talked quite awhile with Isabel, and she is not a Christian--has a Catholic background, but we feel that she is close to making a decision. She is happy with Claudio's decision to become a Christian. Also, we were able to begin a brand new Bible study at Adriano and Renata's place of business this past Thursday evening. It was a real blessing, as there were six who were not saved and of those six, three of them had never participated in a Bible study of any kind. We are going through a study in John and they seemed to really enjoy it. Continue to pray that the Lord would use this as a tool to reach them with the Gospel.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CONSTRUCTION</span><br />The church roof is covered!! We are very excited! The plastering of the outside has been completed, and there is a large group of workers that is coming on Saturday to do the inside. Bev will be helping to make the "bean soup" with rice that they like to make to feed large groups. It is called "feijoada" and is made with black beans. Even though it is quite tasty, the "meat" that they throw in the pot to make it flavorful can be quite "unappetizing," to say the least. How can we say this nicely? Let's see...do you know what normally goes into a good old American hotdog? That is what they put into the beans without grinding it up!! John really gets into this kind of thing and can't wait to go buy the "meat" sometime this week. Bev is not quite so anxious. Enough of that subject!! Continue to pray for the construction of the church. It has been a true blessing to see it all come together and the best part has been to see the participation of the Brazilians!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">FAMILY</span><br />As far as we know, the boys are doing fine. Never in our lives have we been so excited to receive these occasional one to two line e-mails!! Perhaps it is just because they are boys and don't like to put anything "extra" in their letters--only the very basics. But we love them, just the same! Please continue to pray for Josh and Jerrod. It seems that Josh has healed up nicely from his surgery and that he will be able to begin classes at FBBC soon. We are so grateful for the Rotz family in Chariton, IA who have graciously taken Josh into their home at this time. Jerrod is at Bev's brother, Curt's house in Ankeny, IA and is doing fine. He told us he is ready and seems pretty excited about going to college. They both desire to be used of the Lord in His service, and please pray with us that this dream of theirs would someday become a reality!! Jonna and Jeanne are doing well. Jeanne had a good 14th birthday. We invited the youth group over (12 youth besides Jonna and Jeanne) and they were all so quiet at first! We were wondering how the whole thing was going to go. Since they were eating homemade pizza, though, we think they were all just hungry. After that, the Coke really "kicked in" and it was hard to get them to settle down! To top everything off, when it was time for them to leave, John asked who wanted to come in the bedroom and "watch the show" of us getting him from the chair into bed. There was a rather wild RUSH to the door, and they all lined up at the end of the bed to "see it happen!!" Kind of crazy, but it was lots of fun, and something they will always remember!! Not sure who is crazier, John or the youth! Your prayers for our family are always appreciated.<br /><br />Thank you, dear ones, for praying for us! We will stay in touch! In His service, John and Bev <span id="st" name="st" class="st">Leonard</span>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-48017146937731264792007-07-30T13:59:00.000-07:002007-08-07T08:25:38.479-07:00Brief up-date from the Leonards...<div>PRAISE</div> <div>-That Josh came through the hip surgery well, and is recuperating in Chariton, IA.</div> <div>-That we had great attendance at our church services yesterday despite the low temperatures (53 degrees and no heat in the church building!)</div> <div>-That the new believers are growing and excited about the things of the Lord</div> <div> </div> <div>PRAYER</div> <div>-For the 11th of August--a special day when we will host a group of 45 believers from another church who will come and spend the day with us evangelizing and canvassing our section of town. We are planning to show the first video of the "Left Behind" series that night as a means to reach out to the unbelievers.</div> <div>-For continued growth in the lives of Adam and family and other new believers.</div> <div>-For the unsaved believers and others who came to the Corn Fest--especially Cristiane who recently came close to accepting Christ as Savior.</div> <div>-For the construction going on at the church--pray that the ceiling of the church gets finished quickly.</div> <div>-For Josh that he will be able to begin classes at FBBC on August 21 and also for Jerrod as he begins classes at Faith as well.<br /></div>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-14754396688807849232007-07-24T15:00:00.000-07:002007-07-27T11:37:19.701-07:00July 24th Update<strong>Just a note to thank you all for praying for our Corn Fest. It was a great</strong><strong> success--the Lord stopped the rain!!! Please take a moment to thank Him for this wonderful answer to prayer.</strong> It was a picture perfect day...we were able to have a bonfire and everything went just as we had planned. We are giving the Lord the glory for the great crowd--between 150 and 200 people. (we will send more pictures of the crowd later...our camera stopped working during the service, and we are getting pictures from another person). MANY unsaved came to our church for the first time. One lady came extremely close to accepting Christ as Savior. She came to Bev and said she needed to talk to John after the service. After their conversation, John asked her if she wanted to get saved, but she just wouldn't give her heart to the Lord, even though she knew she should. <strong>Please continue to pray for Cristiane and others who heard the clear plan of salvation.<br /></strong><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1427/918897082_7aefbb700c_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1427/918897082_7aefbb700c_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Our meeting was able to be held in our new auditorium. One half of the ceiling is on and one half is off. John has been kept busy with this project. It is looking nice!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1265/918897090_ed40063464_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1265/918897090_ed40063464_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Bev and girls served on the decorations committee. It was fun, and the results were rewarding!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1230/918897096_72550d5029_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1230/918897096_72550d5029_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The men talking outside in front of the bonfire.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1009/918897106_507e0b444f_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1009/918897106_507e0b444f_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Roberta served in the kitchen.<br /></div></div>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-20895550145478591302007-07-17T11:11:00.000-07:002007-07-27T11:41:23.572-07:00Dear Prayer Team<div>Dear Prayer Team,</div> <div> </div> <div>Greetings from the rain forest of Brazil!! Well...we are not exactly in the rain forest, but it <strong>is</strong> raining, and where we live, there are lots of trees, wild birds such as parrots, toucans, small squirrels, and last week, we saw a wild monkey running in the middle of the divided highway! We have been here in Brazil for over a month now, and we are still trying to get adjusted to the differences between here and the States. But we love it!! People are getting saved, being discipled, and it is wonderful to see the results of changed lives.</div> <div> </div> <div><br />PRAISE ITEM<br /><br /></div> <div>WE HAVE INTERNET IN OUR HOME!!! Since it was quite the process to get it here, we are all very excited!!! The desire of our hearts is to stay in better touch now that we don't have to go somewhere else to write our letters. If you want to contact us by e-mail, we should be able to answer our letters more quickly now. </div> <div> </div> <div><br />PEOPLE</div> <div><br />Continue to pray for our new convert, <strong>Adam</strong>, and family. They are doing well, but have had some sickness and have missed church. This past Sunday they were not in the service. Pray also for <strong>Guilherme</strong>, a man who was saved as a result of the special couple's banquet we had recently. Not only did he receive Christ as Savior, he also made the decision to restore his marriage with <strong>Ivonete</strong>! We are all very excited for them! They decided to go on a "honeymoon" and guess where they went? Back to the city where we formerly worked--Maceio in the stat of Alagoas! We can understand their desire to go there, since it is truly a beautiful city. Pray also for the Bible study that we are participating in, which has been a blessing. There are four couples who are involved. One of the things we are all working at is setting aside a specific time to spend with the Lord each day. One of the couples admitted that they did the entire lesson Sunday afternoon right before the study. We were so thankful for their honesty and openness! Pray that God will honor <script><!-- D(["mb","\u003cstrong\>Odair and \nMiquele, \u003c/strong\>and that soon they will be having faithful daily \ndevotions. Another part of our study is memorizing key passages of \nScripture. This has been a challenge, not only for the new converts, but \nalso for us "old converts!"\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>CONSTRUCTION\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>As you know, construction has always been something that John has enjoyed \nin the ministry here in Brazil. It seems that not much has changed, since \nlast week, he had a total of three constructions going all at once...the roof \nbeing put on the church auditorium, an upstairs storage/classroom, and also \na garage for our van. Between the three of them, John's wheels were \nrunning most of the day! In the U.S., we didn't have to charge up his \nbattery all that often, but now, he is on "E" (empty) every other night!! \nHe continues to do what he did before...buying construction materials in \ndifferent places and giving out the Gospel as he goes from store to \nstore. The people of the church were surprised when he wanted 60 \ninvitations to the special event we have planned for this coming Saturday \nnight--which is called "Corn Fest" (details below). Yesterday I \nnoticed that there were very few invitations left in the glove compartment of \nthe car. He has invited so many people!! \u003cstrong\>But continue to remember \nto pray for the constructions that we have going on...especially the covering of \nthe church auditorium.\u003c/strong\> We are now meeting in the fellowship room \nbeside the kitchen, and it is pretty full in our main weekly \nmeetings on Sunday nights (attendance has been in the lower \n60's).\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>SPECIAL EVENT\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>As we mentioned, we are planning a special evening this coming Saturday \nhere on the church property. Harvest is over, and the \ncelebrations throughout Brazil begin. There are typically three major \nfestivals, St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Anthony which are commemorated \nby having a bonfire, shooting off fireworks, and eating \ntraditional foods made of corn (corn bread, corn pudding, roasted ears of \ncorn, corn cake, popcorn...on and on the list goes). We have waited until the \nend of the public happenings to do ours and are calling ours not a Saint \nDay, but a Corn Fest. Since we have plenty of space, we are \nable to do this for the community and it has become a big annual \nevent. Our goal has been to invite only unbelievers, since the purpose is \nto reach the unsaved with the Gospel. John has been asked to speak, and we \nare expecting at least 100 people to come. ",1] ); //--></script><strong>Odair and Miquele, </strong>and that soon they will be having faithful daily devotions. Another part of our study is memorizing key passages of Scripture. This has been a challenge, not only for the new converts, but also for us "old converts!"</div> <div> </div> <div><br />CONSTRUCTION</div> <div><br />As you know, construction has always been something that John has enjoyed in the ministry here in Brazil. It seems that not much has changed, since last week, he had a total of three constructions going all at once...the roof being put on the church auditorium, an upstairs storage/classroom, and also a garage for our van. Between the three of them, John's wheels were running most of the day! In the U.S., we didn't have to charge up his battery all that often, but now, he is on "E" (empty) every other night!! He continues to do what he did before...buying construction materials in different places and giving out the Gospel as he goes from store to store. The people of the church were surprised when he wanted 60 invitations to the special event we have planned for this coming Saturday night--which is called "Corn Fest" (details below). Yesterday I noticed that there were very few invitations left in the glove compartment of the car. He has invited so many people!! <strong>But continue to remember to pray for the constructions that we have going on...especially the covering of the church auditorium.</strong> We are now meeting in the fellowship room beside the kitchen, and it is pretty full in our main weekly meetings on Sunday nights (attendance has been in the lower 60's).</div> <div> </div> <div><br />SPECIAL EVENT</div> <div><br />As we mentioned, we are planning a special evening this coming Saturday here on the church property. Harvest is over, and the celebrations throughout Brazil begin. There are typically three major festivals, St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Anthony which are commemorated by having a bonfire, shooting off fireworks, and eating traditional foods made of corn (corn bread, corn pudding, roasted ears of corn, corn cake, popcorn...on and on the list goes). We have waited until the end of the public happenings to do ours and are calling ours not a Saint Day, but a Corn Fest. Since we have plenty of space, we are able to do this for the community and it has become a big annual event. Our goal has been to invite only unbelievers, since the purpose is to reach the unsaved with the Gospel. John has been asked to speak, and we are expecting at least 100 people to come. <script><!-- D(["mb","\u003cstrong\>We are asking that you \npray with us that the rain will stop, and that many will accept Christ as Savior \nthrough this ministry this coming Saturday evening. \u003c/strong\>\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>\u003cstrong\>\u003c/strong\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>HEALTH\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Thank you for your prayers for John's health. He has done very \nwell--minor difficulties only, and we are very grateful to the Lord for the way \nHe has answered our petitions. Otherwise, we are doing fine...Jeanne \nhad a 2-3 day flu last week, but is doing fine now. She is at the moment \nhelping build a bench, since we are planning to have lots of extra people on \nSaturday night. \u003cstrong\>Please pray for Josh who is having hip surgery in \nIowa City today.\u003c/strong\> After having gone to the doctor for a \ncheckup/x-rays, it was discovered that there were several areas of his hip that \nwere not getting proper blood flow, and for this reason, it did not heal \ncorrectly. Pray that this surgery will be successful, as the only other \noption after this would be total hip replacement. \u003cstrong\>We are also \nrequesting prayer for the church people. Many have had a harsh flu, and \nsome have even had to go to the hospital, as did Adriano \nyesterday.\u003c/strong\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Where would we be without our prayer team? Probably not here in \nBrazil, and we are grateful to you for your support. THANK YOU!!!\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>Working together for Christ,\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\>John and Bev Leonard\u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\n\u003cdiv\> \u003c/div\>\u003c/div\>\n",0] ); //--></script><strong>We are asking that you pray with us that the rain will stop, and that many will accept Christ as Savior through this ministry this coming Saturday evening. </strong></div> <div><strong></strong> </div> <div><br />HEALTH</div> <div><br />Thank you for your prayers for John's health. He has done very well--minor difficulties only, and we are very grateful to the Lord for the way He has answered our petitions. Otherwise, we are doing fine...Jeanne had a 2-3 day flu last week, but is doing fine now. She is at the moment helping build a bench, since we are planning to have lots of extra people on Saturday night. <strong>Please pray for Josh who is having hip surgery in Iowa City today.</strong> After having gone to the doctor for a checkup/x-rays, it was discovered that there were several areas of his hip that were not getting proper blood flow, and for this reason, it did not heal correctly. Pray that this surgery will be successful, as the only other option after this would be total hip replacement. <strong>We are also requesting prayer for the church people. Many have had a harsh flu, and some have even had to go to the hospital, as did Adriano yesterday.</strong> </div> <div> </div> <div>Where would we be without our prayer team? Probably not here in Brazil, and we are grateful to you for your support. THANK YOU!!!</div> <div> </div> <div><br />Working together for Christ,</div> <div>John and Bev <span id="st" name="st" class="st">Leonard</span></div>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-75585077511607697842007-06-21T15:28:00.000-07:002007-06-21T13:31:53.935-07:00THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCETHANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE WITH US WHILE WE WAIT TO GET INTERNET IN OUR HOME. FOR RIGHT NOW, WE ARE PAYING A SMALL FEE TO GET ON THE INTERNET AT A VIDEO RENTAL BUSINESS ABOUT 4 MILES FROM WHERE WE LIVE. WE WROTE THIS ON MONDAY THINKING THAT WE WOULD GET IT SENT RIGHT AWAY, BUT IT WAS ONLY POSSIBLE RIGHT NOW. KEEP PRAYING!!<br /><br />We praise the Lord for the way He has blessed our ministry here in Brazil. Saturday evening we were able to do a visit at the home of one of the families that has been attending our services and it was a blessing. Our “made in U.S.A.” aluminum ramp has come in very handy over and over again, and is being used for the Lord to do visits and get into the homes of the Brazilians. The time of communion with Lourdes and Orlando was enjoyable (she plays the guitar, and sang a special number for us!!), and on the way out the door, John was able speak with Lourdes’ brother, David, who is not a Christian. He asked him if he had ever accepted Christ as His personal Savior. His response was that he calls upon the Lord every day, and since the Bible says that “whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved” he felt he would go to heaven when he died. He doesn’t attend church regularly, but promised John that he would come to the meeting last night to hear him preach. We are thankful that not only David came to the service,<br />but also many other visitors! There were a total of 62 in attendance, and after John finished the message, one of the couples raised their hands and then went forward! John was able to deal with Adam, who came forward for salvation. When Adam was asked why he came, he said that his life was not good and that he was a terrible sinner, but yet he wanted to go to heaven.<br /><script><!-- D(["mb","to let him know that it didn’t matter how awful or terrible the situation\u003cbr /\>was, God still loves him and wants him to have a home in heaven. Adam was\u003cbr /\>just thrilled to find out that he actually had even a chance to be saved!!\u003cbr /\>How exciting to hear him pray and accept Christ as his personal Savior. His\u003cbr /\>wife Alzira came forward for assurance of salvation, and we are grateful\u003cbr /\>that the Lord is working in this couple’s lives. Continue to pray for Adam\u003cbr /\>and Alzira to grow in their walk with the Lord and also for David, who\u003cbr /\>attended the service, but needs to be saved.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Health-wise, John is doing very well. We were able to meet his doctor this\u003cbr /\>past Wednesday, and Dr. Thomas seems to be very competent and not hesitant\u003cbr /\>to refer John to other specialists should needs arise. Getting into his\u003cbr /\>elevator to go to his office on the third floor was very tricky, since the\u003cbr /\>elevator was the smallest we have ever been on. We found out that if we did\u003cbr /\>it “catty-cornered” and at a certain point I crossed his feet, it would\u003cbr /\>work! Whew!! There have been so many times down here that we have had to\u003cbr /\>get “creative” to make things happen, but of course that comes quite\u003cbr /\>naturally to John—he sees it as a challenge and it makes life quite\u003cbr /\>interesting!! Besides preaching, teaching, witnessing, and visitation, John\u003cbr /\>has been able to help out with the construction of the church building right\u003cbr /\>here on the property. He enjoys that immensely and the workers here have\u003cbr /\>already gained a high respect for his knowledge and experience in this area.\u003cbr /\>Praise the Lord together with us for the way the Lord has used John already\u003cbr /\>here in Brazil, and continue to pray for good health and strength to carry\u003cbr /\>on the work.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Jonna and Jeanne have amazed us. We were quite concerned about feeling the\u003cbr /\>loss of Jerrod’s help with John and also around the house. However, the\u003cbr /\>girls have really done a great job at trying to help out more with John.\u003cbr /\>",1] ); //--></script>He said, “This is my situation, Pastor, and I just wanted to know if there was any way that I would be able to go to heaven.” John was just soo happy to let him know that it didn’t matter how awful or terrible the situation was, God still loves him and wants him to have a home in heaven. Adam was just thrilled to find out that he actually had even a chance to be saved!!<br />How exciting to hear him pray and accept Christ as his personal Savior. His wife Alzira came forward for assurance of salvation, and we are grateful that the Lord is working in this couple’s lives. Continue to pray for Adam and Alzira to grow in their walk with the Lord and also for David, who attended the service, but needs to be saved.<br /><br />Health-wise, John is doing very well. We were able to meet his doctor this past Wednesday, and Dr. Thomas seems to be very competent and not hesitant to refer John to other specialists should needs arise. Getting into his elevator to go to his office on the third floor was very tricky, since the elevator was the smallest we have ever been on. We found out that if we did it “catty-cornered” and at a certain point I crossed his feet, it would work! Whew!! There have been so many times down here that we have had to get “creative” to make things happen, but of course that comes quite naturally to John—he sees it as a challenge and it makes life quite<br />interesting!! Besides preaching, teaching, witnessing, and visitation, John has been able to help out with the construction of the church building right here on the property. He enjoys that immensely and the workers here have already gained a high respect for his knowledge and experience in this area. Praise the Lord together with us for the way the Lord has used John already here in Brazil, and continue to pray for good health and strength to carry on the work.<br /><br /><script><!-- D(["mb","Jerrod always did his “range of motion” therapy on his legs each night\u003cbr /\>before bedtime, and had a time of “training” with the girls before he left\u003cbr /\>Brazil. What was decided is that each girl would do one leg every night. It\u003cbr /\>has worked out well, although we do miss Jerrod a lot. The getting in and\u003cbr /\>out of the van has been a challenge, since we have a ramp that needs to be\u003cbr /\>manually taken out of the van and unfolded every time we get in and out.\u003cbr /\>The “tie-downs” are ones that we have “rigged,” so they take awhile to\u003cbr /\>figure out. But the girls have done really well at helping John get in and\u003cbr /\>out. So far only one near “mishap” as John’s chair went off the edge of the\u003cbr /\>ramp, but it was right near the bottom, so between the three of us, we were\u003cbr /\>able to get John and the chair “unstuck.” Brazil is sooo different from the\u003cbr /\>U.S., but of course the girls were expecting it, and we think they have\u003cbr /\>surprised themselves as to how easy it has been. They are also helping out\u003cbr /\>a lot around the house, and things are going pretty well so far. Pray for\u003cbr /\>Jonna and Jeanne and their walk with the Lord, and also for their continued\u003cbr /\>adjustment to life here in Brazil.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Our home is very simple, but nice. Things are pretty well organized now,\u003cbr /\>and we are feeling like we are settling in. There are still some items that\u003cbr /\>we have not found, but each day we take a little time to slowly go through\u003cbr /\>our barrels. When we finally discover something we have been looking for in\u003cbr /\>awhile, we get all excited!! Party time!!! When my 13 year old Kitchen Aid\u003cbr /\>mixer (it is still in great shape) was found, I suddenly became a new\u003cbr /\>person. Who cares if I have to balance it on a small wooden stool and plug\u003cbr /\>it into a transformer each time I use it!!!! Hey, it works and it is a\u003cbr /\>“wife-saver” down here in Brazil! The girls also found their aquarium and\u003cbr /\>now bugging us to buy some fish. What makes John happiest is the finding of\u003cbr /\>",1] ); //--></script>Jonna and Jeanne have amazed us. We were quite concerned about feeling the loss of Jerrod’s help with John and also around the house. However, the girls have really done a great job at trying to help out more with John. Jerrod always did his “range of motion” therapy on his legs each night before bedtime, and had a time of “training” with the girls before he left Brazil. What was decided is that each girl would do one leg every night. It has worked out well, although we do miss Jerrod a lot. The getting in and out of the van has been a challenge, since we have a ramp that needs to be manually taken out of the van and unfolded every time we get in and out.<br />The “tie-downs” are ones that we have “rigged,” so they take awhile to figure out. But the girls have done really well at helping John get in and out. So far only one near “mishap” as John’s chair went off the edge of the ramp, but it was right near the bottom, so between the three of us, we were able to get John and the chair “unstuck.” Brazil is sooo different from the U.S., but of course the girls were expecting it, and we think they have surprised themselves as to how easy it has been. They are also helping out a lot around the house, and things are going pretty well so far. Pray for Jonna and Jeanne and their walk with the Lord, and also for their continued<br />adjustment to life here in Brazil.<br /><br />Our home is very simple, but nice. Things are pretty well organized now, and we are feeling like we are settling in. There are still some items that we have not found, but each day we take a little time to slowly go through our barrels. When we finally discover something we have been looking for in awhile, we get all excited!! Party time!!! When my 13 year old Kitchen Aid<br />mixer (it is still in great shape) was found, I suddenly became a new person. Who cares if I have to balance it on a small wooden stool and plug it into a transformer each time I use it!!!! Hey, it works and it is a “wife-saver” down here in Brazil! The girls also found their aquarium and<br /><script><!-- D(["mb","his tools. Even though he can’t actually use them now, God has provided a\u003cbr /\>couple of workers to be his “hands” and it is great to see his face light up\u003cbr /\>when he sees progress in the construction going on here at the church.\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Thank you again for your prayers for our family and ministry. Our\u003cbr /\>adjustment time has gone extremely smoothly, and we are confident that it is\u003cbr /\>because the prayers of our support team!!\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>May the Lord continue to bless each one of you!\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>Sincerely in Christ,\u003cbr /\>John and Bev Leonard\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>\u003cbr /\>\u003c/div\>",0] ); D(["ce"]); //--></script>now bugging us to buy some fish. What makes John happiest is the finding of his tools. Even though he can’t actually use them now, God has provided a couple of workers to be his “hands” and it is great to see his face light up when he sees progress in the construction going on here at the church.<br /><br />Thank you again for your prayers for our family and ministry. Our adjustment time has gone extremely smoothly, and we are confident that it is because the prayers of our support team!!<br /><br />May the Lord continue to bless each one of you!<br /><br />Sincerely in Christ,<br />John and Bev LeonardDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-16410664310872482352007-06-06T10:43:00.000-07:002007-06-06T10:43:36.454-07:00Back in BrazilJust a brief note to let you know that we made it to Brazil!!! Things went<br />so much more smoothly than what we expected. We were able to hand some<br />tracts out on our journey, for which we are thankful. John made the trip<br />very well, and is absolutely delighted to be back on the field. It is hard<br />to say how many times we have thanked the Lord for His goodness.<br /><br />John was able to speak for the first time this past Sunday evening, and it<br />was so great to see the way the Lord worked. After he preached, the<br />Brazilian Pastor (Celso) went up afterwards to give the invitation and could<br />hardly speak. Through his tears, he did give the invitation, and although no<br />salvation decisions were made, there were approximately 15 Christians who<br />went forward to dedicate their lives completely to the Lord. Continue to<br />pray that God would use us in this new ministry.<br /><br />We are getting settled into our home, and things are going well. Guess<br />what we have in our front yard? A beautiful poinsettia plant!! Some other<br />good news, our boys are back in the States safe and sound...even though we<br />miss them TERRIBLY, we are thankful that they are "on solid ground."<br />Continue to pray for them and also for the girls who are adjusting quite<br />well to life in Brazil.<br /><br />Thank you again for your prayers. We appreciate each one so much! We will<br />send more details in the future.<br /><br />Sincerely in Christ,<br />John and Bev LeonardDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-83330355288632112242007-05-22T09:54:00.000-07:002007-05-22T09:54:43.419-07:00UP, UP AND AWAY<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Up on the Forklift!<span> </span></span></u><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Recently, we were in Eastern Iowa picking up some used medical equipment.<span> </span>While there, we were asked to speak to a group of young people in “The Loft,” not knowing any of the details.<span> </span>Upon arrival, the details became VERY clear.<span> </span>It was a literal barn loft.<span> </span>Because John’s wheelchair weighs 378 pounds, and John is 6’4, 207 pounds, it was not feasible to take the stair route, as everyone else did.<span> </span>John’s way <u>up</u> was a fork lift!<span> </span>We praise the Lord for the opportunity, the many who attended, the prepared hearts, and the decisions that were made.<span> </span>Thank you, Pastor Sauser, Mr. Jones, Mr. Kinzenbaw, and Harvest Baptist Church, Williamsburg, IA, for the thrill, the ride, and the blessing!</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="PT-BR"><img src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.1&disp=emb&view=att&th=112b0730182b56be" height="159" width="213" /></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"><span> </span><img src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.2&disp=emb&view=att&th=112b0730182b56be" height="157" width="157" /><script><!-- D(["mb","\u003cu\>\u003c/u\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cu\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Up-“Sprout”\u003c/span\>\u003c/u\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Our son, Joshua (5’ll”), who has \nfinished his first semester at Faith Baptist Bible College, is taller than \nBev.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Our son, Jerrod (6’5”), who just yesterday graduated \nfrom Ankeny High School, is taller than John!\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>They are both \nlooking forward to next year at FBBC.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Please pray for the \nmany changes and decisions as they remain here in the United States.\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>\u003c/span\> \u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cu\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Up With Support\u003c/span\>\u003c/u\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>When John resigned from his job in \n1988, we had to put our faith and trust totally in God’s hands to take care of \nus no matter what.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Looking back on that moment, and being \ntruthful about it, we can say that it was not easy.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>But we \nare glad He gave us the strength to go forward.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Two wonderful \nyears of deputation followed and on August 14, 1990, we were\u003cu\> up\u003c/u\> in the \nair headed towards the mission field of Brazil.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>At that time, \nthere were 28 supporting churches that we represented as missionary church \nplanters.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Over the years, five churches have been established \nin Brazil, but seven of the supporting churches have sadly closed their \ndoors.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>While going through this time of medical treatment and \nwaiting, Baptist Mid-Missions advised us to go back on the deputation \ntrail.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>As before, it was a marvelous time of travel and \nsharing our hearts.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>We are overjoyed to announce that three \nnew churches and nine individuals are now a part of our support team. Yes, our \nLord has NEVER let us down, and He assures us that He NEVER will.",1] ); //--></script></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Up-“Sprout”</span></u></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Our son, Joshua (5’ll”), who has finished his first semester at Faith Baptist Bible College, is taller than Bev.<span> </span>Our son, Jerrod (6’5”), who just yesterday graduated from Ankeny High School, is taller than John!<span> </span>They are both looking forward to next year at FBBC.<span> </span>Please pray for the many changes and decisions as they remain here in the United States.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Up With Support</span></u></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">When John resigned from his job in 1988, we had to put our faith and trust totally in God’s hands to take care of us no matter what.<span> </span>Looking back on that moment, and being truthful about it, we can say that it was not easy.<span> </span>But we are glad He gave us the strength to go forward.<span> </span>Two wonderful years of deputation followed and on August 14, 1990, we were<u> up</u> in the air headed towards the mission field of Brazil.<span> </span>At that time, there were 28 supporting churches that we represented as missionary church planters.<span> </span>Over the years, five churches have been established in Brazil, but seven of the supporting churches have sadly closed their doors.<span> </span>While going through this time of medical treatment and waiting, Baptist Mid-Missions advised us to go back on the deputation trail.<span> </span>As before, it was a marvelous time of travel and sharing our hearts.<span> </span>We are overjoyed to announce that three new churches and nine individuals are now a part of our support team. Yes, our Lord has NEVER let us down, and He assures us that He NEVER will.<script><!-- D(["mb","\u003cspan\> \n\u003c/span\>“I will NEVER leave thee nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5)\u003cspan\> \n\u003c/span\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>\u003c/span\> \u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cu\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Up With the Building\u003c/span\>\u003c/u\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Many aspects of the work we have done \nas church planters are still possible, but some, because of John’s tetraplegia, \nare not.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Baptist Mid-Missions and many of the individuals and \nchurches that we represent counseled and advised us that teaming with another \nmissionary would be the path to take.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>After many months of \nletter-writing, searching, and praying, we praise the Lord that Terry and Wendy \nBroyles invited us to work with them.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Even though we are many \nmiles away, Terry and John have been able to put \u003cu\>up\u003c/u\> the walls of a \nbuilding, and as we write, the roof is going on.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>We are \nlooking forward to ministering in that neighborhood and worshipping God in that \nbuilding.\u003cu\>\u003c/u\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>\u003c/span\> \u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:center\" align\u003d\"center\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>\u003cimg height\u003d\"189\" src\u003d\"?attid\u003d0.3&disp\u003demb&view\u003datt&th\u003d112b0730182b56be\" width\u003d\"228\"\>\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>\u003cimg height\u003d\"191\" src\u003d\"?attid\u003d0.4&disp\u003demb&view\u003datt&th\u003d112b0730182b56be\" width\u003d\"218\"\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cu\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Up in the Skies\u003c/span\>\u003c/u\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>On May 30\u003csup\>th\u003c/sup\>, at 9:30 p.m., \nwe will be taking off from O’Hare airport in Chicago.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>After \n10 ½ hours of being UP in the skies, we will arrive in Brazil.\u003cspan\> \n\u003c/span\>Bev recently spoke with a lady that has been a stewardess for many \nyears.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>She told Bev that in all her years of experience she \nhas only seen two tetraplegics flying, and neither one was a good \nexperience.",1] ); //--></script><span> </span>“I will NEVER leave thee nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5)<span> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Up With the Building</span></u></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Many aspects of the work we have done as church planters are still possible, but some, because of John’s tetraplegia, are not.<span> </span>Baptist Mid-Missions and many of the individuals and churches that we represent counseled and advised us that teaming with another missionary would be the path to take.<span> </span>After many months of letter-writing, searching, and praying, we praise the Lord that Terry and Wendy Broyles invited us to work with them.<span> </span>Even though we are many miles away, Terry and John have been able to put <u>up</u> the walls of a building, and as we write, the roof is going on.<span> </span>We are looking forward to ministering in that neighborhood and worshipping God in that building.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"><img src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.3&disp=emb&view=att&th=112b0730182b56be" height="189" width="228" /><span> </span><img src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.4&disp=emb&view=att&th=112b0730182b56be" height="191" width="218" /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Up in the Skies</span></u></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">On May 30<sup>th</sup>, at 9:30 p.m., we will be taking off from O’Hare airport in Chicago.<span> </span>After 10 ½ hours of being UP in the skies, we will arrive in Brazil.<span> </span>Bev recently spoke with a lady that has been a stewardess for many years.<span> </span>She told Bev that in all her years of experience she has only seen two tetraplegics flying, and neither one was a good experience.<script><!-- D(["mb","\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>Our family has been praying.\u003cspan\> \n\u003c/span\>We are not looking forward to the trip, but we are looking forward to \narriving.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>We know God will be with us and that you will be \npraying.\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>\u003c/span\> \u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cu\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Lift Up\u003c/span\>\u003c/u\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>Your prayers have not only been \nlifted \u003cu\>up\u003c/u\>, but answered.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>What man and medicine stated \nas impossible, has become possible.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>God has answered your \nprayers.\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>We have scheduled to send you our next letter from \nthe mission field!! Our family cannot place into words the joy, gratitude and \nthanksgiving that we have for you at this memorable moment.\u003cspan\> \n\u003c/span\>We invite you to return with us to the throne of Grace, not to ask, but \nto praise and honor our Lord, as the healed leper did in Luke 17:15&16. \n\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>\u003c/span\> \u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>KEEP LOOKING \u003cu\>UP\u003c/u\>!\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial\"\>John and Bev \nLeonard\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\u003c/div\>\u003c/div\>\n",0] ); //--></script><span> </span>Our family has been praying.<span> </span>We are not looking forward to the trip, but we are looking forward to arriving.<span> </span>We know God will be with us and that you will be praying.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Lift Up</span></u></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">Your prayers have not only been lifted <u>up</u>, but answered.<span> </span>What man and medicine stated as impossible, has become possible.<span> </span>God has answered your prayers.<span> </span>We have scheduled to send you our next letter from the mission field!! Our family cannot place into words the joy, gratitude and thanksgiving that we have for you at this memorable moment.<span> </span>We invite you to return with us to the throne of Grace, not to ask, but to praise and honor our Lord, as the healed leper did in Luke 17:15&16. <span> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;"></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">KEEP LOOKING <u>UP</u>!</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;">John and Bev Leonard</span></p>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-27639130830552731312007-03-31T21:32:00.000-07:002008-12-10T11:25:33.583-08:00Official Medical Clearance<a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wW3c0R4ytbW6mU-8EbvjLoukERvMr6NpgzznJR6-lRfyotJdzHq2OyaM4iVDl6LNqyEmwub4KB6kicxvs88t9EpGPl9fBAkbHgY73gSqY9ULFuBRmSRXC5CETh-L8sgxnfj6sg/s1600-h/leonards.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wW3c0R4ytbW6mU-8EbvjLoukERvMr6NpgzznJR6-lRfyotJdzHq2OyaM4iVDl6LNqyEmwub4KB6kicxvs88t9EpGPl9fBAkbHgY73gSqY9ULFuBRmSRXC5CETh-L8sgxnfj6sg/s320/leonards.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5048816470249612834" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="font-family: arial;">Dear Prayer Team,</div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;">Thank you so much for your prayers!! Just this past Wednesday, March 28th, John received official medical clearance from the staff (pictured above) at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado!! When John asked the question, "Can I go back to Brazil in May?" at our final conference Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Maureen Preston (see above--blue jacket) responded, "I would say, have at it!!!" We were overjoyed to hear those words, to say the least!! They did a thorough check-up on John--tried everything to find something that wasn't right, but once again, the Lord was good and they gave him a "clean bill of health." Please thank the Lord together with us for this wonderful answer to prayer.<br /><br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;">Continue to pray as Jerrod and Bev will make quick journeys to Brazil to take care of visa documentation, and also make sure that all is in place for our move to Brazil in May. They will travel separately since we both help out a lot with caring for John.<br /><br /> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;">We greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf for safety on the roads and also for strength for our speaking engagements. All of our meetings have been such a blessing--it would be hard to pinpoint a "highlight" since each one was unique and God continues to use John for His glory. Our schedule is slacking off now somewhat and we will be able to concentrate more on packing/preparing for our trip. Although it will be different, we are confident that the Lord will see us through and give us wisdom as we go forward with this endeavor. Our plans are for the entire family to go down to Brazil together, and then the boys will be coming back after a week's stay. They will help us get moved and all settled in.<br /><br /></div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: arial;"><span>Here is what our up-coming schedule looks like:</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: arial;"><span></span> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: arial;"><span>April 10—Bible study at Employer’s Mutual, Des Moines, IA</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: arial;"><span>April 11-13—Conference—Tabernacle Baptist, Coralville, IA</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: arial;"><span>April 15—Floris Baptist Church, Floris, IA</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: arial;"><span>April 16—IARBC conference, First Baptist Church, Creston, IA</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: arial;"><span>April 22—First Baptist Church, Creston, IA</span></p> <div style="font-family: arial;">April 29--Senior night for Jerrod--Saylorville Baptist Church, Des Moines, IA </div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;"><br />You are a vital part of our ministry!! Thank you!</div> <div style="font-family: arial;"> </div> <div style="font-family: arial;">Sincerely in Christ,</div> <div style="font-family: arial;">John and Bev Leonard<br /></div>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-40298532084321236742007-03-05T12:56:00.000-08:002007-03-19T20:47:23.416-07:00March Update & Schedule<div>March 2, 2007</div> <div> </div> <div>Just a brief note to let you know what is going on with the Leonards. As we write this letter, we are looking outside at the snowstorm/blizzard the Lord has sent our way. It is beautiful!! It has made us slow down a little and get lots of things done here at home. </div> <div> </div> <div><strong>OPPORTUNITIES</strong></div> <div> </div> <div>Let us tell you of a few of the chances the Lord has given to us to reach out to others. A month ago, we were in Kansas City, KS where John spoke at Olivet Baptist and one person went forward for salvation along with nine others who made various other decisions. The weekend following that, we spoke at a sweetheart banquet at Jeffers Baptist in Jeffers, MN. The people of the church used this as an opportunity to reach out into the community, and many unsaved came and heard John's story and also the clear plan of salvation. Afterwards, both John and <span id="st" name="st" class="st">Bev</span> had opportunities to answer more questions and further explain the Gospel to several. In Harlan, IA at Grace Baptist, a man came up and talked to John afterwards about salvation, and we are not sure whether he has accepted Christ as Savior or not. We also saw the Lord work in the lives of many at Grace Baptist in Chariton, IA last week in the morning service and then again at Sweet Springs Baptist in Huntsville, MO in the evening. On Wednesday night, the Lord gave us the opportunity to speak to a JOY club at Faith Baptist in Cambridge, IA. What a thrill it was to see three adolescents stay afterwards and talk to their leaders about receiving Christ as Savior! Besides this, <strong>we are asking prayer for two individuals who have been attending the Bible study we have at the D.O.T. in Ames every other Wednesday. They are Stan and Yvonne</strong>--we feel they are very close to coming to know Christ. </div> <div> </div> <div>The Lord has also been using our kids in His work. Jerrod was on-line recently talking to one of his friends (Chaz) from work when he began to ask questions about "spiritual matters." He was able to lead him to the Lord, and is now discipling him. Also our neighbor girl, Laura, has been attending youth group and we feel she is very close to being saved. <strong>Please continue to remember our family as we seek to continue spreading the truth of God's Word to those around us.</strong></div> <div> </div> <div>TRAVELS</div> <div> </div> <div>Continue to pray for our travels. This is a brief summary of our up-coming schedule.</div> <div> </div> <div>March 4--Harvest Baptist, Williamsburg, IA</div> <div>March 11--Faith Baptist, Prairie City, IA (A.M.)</div> <div>March 11--Rapids Street Baptist, Adel, IA (P.M.)</div> <div>March 18-21--Holmes Baptist, Clarion, IA (missionary conference)</div> <div>March 23--State RBC Association meeting, South Holly Baptist, Centennial, CO</div> <div>March 25--Rustic Hills Baptist, Colorado Springs, CO (a.m.)</div> <div>March 25--Calvary Community Baptist, Northglenn, CO (p.m.)</div> <div>March 26-30--Craig Hospital, Englewood, CO (medical evaluation)</div> <div> </div> <div>As you can see, we have a full month, and are asking that you will partner with us and <strong>pray not only that the Lord would continue to use us, but also for safety as we travel. Pray also regarding John's check-up at Craig Hospital, </strong> <strong>which will be the final medical clearance for us to return to the field of Brazil on May 30th as we desire.</strong></div> <div> </div> <div><strong>FAMILY</strong></div> <div> </div> <div>Josh is studying now at Faith Baptist Bible College and seems to be adjusting quite well. Since he had been "out of the education loop" for awhile, he had a bit of a hard time academically at first. As far as we can tell, things are going better now, and we are thankful that the Lord has given this opportunity for him to grow both spiritually and emotionally. He will be home for spring break this coming week. Jerrod has been growing spiritually since he has begun to disciple his friend, Chaz. We find him coming to us to ask Biblical questions, which makes us very happy!! Jonna and Jeanne are also being more faithful with their daily devotions and are growing in their walks with the Lord. Please pray for the following requests for our children. </div> <div>-Josh--for continued spiritual and emotional growth...also for physical strength.</div> <div>-Jerrod--for continued spiritual growth and that the details of his studying at FBBC in the fall would be worked out.</div> <div>-Jonna and Jeanne--for continued spiritual growth and that they would be able to adjust as we go back to the mission field of Brazil in May.</div> <div> </div> <div><strong>THANKYOU!</strong></div> <div> </div> <div>Thank you to our team for your prayers for us!! They mean so much.</div> <div> </div> <div>Sincerely in Christ,</div> <div>John and <span id="st" name="st" class="st">Bev</span> Leonard and family</div>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-72491196751550710322007-01-04T15:12:00.000-08:002008-12-10T11:25:33.967-08:002006 Review, 2007 PreviewMinistry<br />The year 2006 is now history!! We praise the Lord for the many blessings He has given to us. The most exciting part of 2006 was all of the speaking opportunities we had. There were engagements at missionary conferences, camps, churches, Bible studies, AWANA clubs, VBS's, state and regional meetings, radio and TV stations, banquets, Bible colleges, missionary headquarters, weddings...the list goes on!! Praise the Lord for each opportunity He gave to us to proclaim the greatness of our Lord to others. As we mentioned in our last up-date, many have come to know Christ as Savior, and others have dedicated their lives to the Lord. Still others have made major changes in their Christian lives, and nearly all have been challenged by John's example. What a joy it is to see the Lord changing hearts and lives!<br /><br />One other item of praise is that the Lord allowed us to meet ALL of our commitments last year. Bad weather came, but the Lord seemed to clear the roads when it was time for our meetings. Our van broke down, but not once when we were out on the road going to or from a service. John had a few "down moments" when it came to health, but never when it was time for him to preach God's Word. (At our most recent medical appointment, the doctor called John's health "remarkable.) Words can't describe how thankful we are to our Lord for His care for us, and also to you, our prayer team for your prayers on our behalf. Let's praise the Lord together now for His goodness.<br /><br />Brazil<br />Recent contacts with Brazil have let us know that our church in Graciliano Ramos has been going through a difficult time. A prayer request would be that the Lord would undertake in a miraculous way and that the work would continue to go forward for His glory. We have heard good reports from the other churches in Juazeiro, Barro Duro, Rio Largo, and Coqueiro Seco. Continue to remember the work at the fishing village (Coqueiro Seco). Our plan was to spend the rest of our lives there at that work, so there are some great needs there. However, Pastor Andre and Deborah are doing a good job and the work is growing. Believe it or not, just now as we were writing this up-date, a young girl from Coqueiro Seco sent this picture through to us. The ladies did a special number at the New Year's Eve service which was a true blessing. It was especially thrilling to see the newest convert, Jackeline, (at the far left in white) singing and participating. Thank you for remembering all of our works in prayer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHszExaeBRrqiXSBBomdw4P-IOPkQCTZgxV8sPGhi9_TXl4ku-28B8gqMjHjA8wPZDM55qSA8tS-Ily2eYLAqTerJ54aUUjMbd0qAKrOIJwPcVmMnZIkdx1FGHxMEiwXd22Bq74w/s1600-h/leonadrs+brazil.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHszExaeBRrqiXSBBomdw4P-IOPkQCTZgxV8sPGhi9_TXl4ku-28B8gqMjHjA8wPZDM55qSA8tS-Ily2eYLAqTerJ54aUUjMbd0qAKrOIJwPcVmMnZIkdx1FGHxMEiwXd22Bq74w/s320/leonadrs+brazil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5018637352268349234" border="0" /></a><br />Future<br />The year 2007 is one that we are really looking forward to. Our plans are to head back to Brazil in May. Although the Lord has changed our location, we are still very anxious to be able to be used of Him to reach Brazilians with the Gospel of Christ. Our schedule between now and May here in the States is very full--especially on the weekends. We also have a trip to Craig Hospital in Colorado planned near the end of March. Pray with us that John will get a good report and that nothing would hold back our goal of getting back on the mission field soon.<br /><br />Family<br />The family is doing well. Our Christmas was great. We were honored to receive many visitors from both sides of the family and also lots of friends. Josh finished up at the School of the Blind and came home with a beautiful cedar chest he had made blindfolded! What a great Christmas present!! He has his suitcases packed and will be heading over to Faith Baptist Bible College tomorrow. Orientation starts Monday and classes on Wednesday. Jerrod will be finishing up his last semester in May, working at Hy-Vee grocery store, and also attending FBBC in August, the Lord willing. Jonna is a sophmore at Ankeny High, and continues working at McDonalds. Jeanne is an 8th grader at Northview Middle School. Thank you for your continued prayers for God's work and also for our family.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRruLB3decYrwqElBQzQNlXuJW8IliqBSAwH2qNat6qD_yYt29vHtw6xA-m3OHqo9dGsDubaSZwwp0x96CZBw85Nq7NKTUqohwXwBd3KLuL8VZp-gNIPoLRgXIKAjOyP5lztD0mA/s1600-h/leonards+2007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRruLB3decYrwqElBQzQNlXuJW8IliqBSAwH2qNat6qD_yYt29vHtw6xA-m3OHqo9dGsDubaSZwwp0x96CZBw85Nq7NKTUqohwXwBd3KLuL8VZp-gNIPoLRgXIKAjOyP5lztD0mA/s320/leonards+2007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5018637906319130434" border="0" /></a>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-33540755369801955062006-09-24T17:24:00.000-07:002006-10-02T06:57:55.733-07:00PicturesDid you notice that John wrote the August 28th up-date using the new voice-activated software that the Lord gave to us? He is also now feeding himself and is making great progress in his therapy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/1600/clip_image005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/320/clip_image005.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We thought we would share with you some of the pictures that were taken of the youth camp in Clear Lake, IA that John spoke at recently. Over 500 kids participated. To “break the ice” each day before the missions hour, he had the teens volunteer to eat “interesting foods” so that they would better be prepared if the Lord called them to the mission field some day!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/1600/clip_image004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/320/clip_image004.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Here is a picture of all the young people that went forward the last day to say that they felt the Lord calling them into missions. There were approximately 35 girls and 15 guys. We had the privilege of talking to them and praying together as a group. Below is a closer picture of John praying with the guys.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/1600/clip_image003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/320/clip_image003.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1227/1762/320/clip_image002.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1157114864685348162006-08-28T01:23:00.000-07:002006-09-01T05:47:44.686-07:00Greetings!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2338/1306/1600/leonards.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2338/1306/320/leonards.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>We praise the Lord for the opportunities that He is giving us to serve him. We had various prayer requests and God answered them all. We prayed for the young people who would be at the camp during high school week that their hearts would be ready and receptive.We also prayed that we would have strength to fulfill all our speaking obligations. Fifteen salvation and 50 missions ministries decisions were made.<br /><br />Participating in the Baptist Mid-missions North American field conference was also a wonderful experience. We shared with them how that our Lord has given us strength and allowed us to be fruitful in times of great trials. The main verse we used is found in Second Timothy chapter 1 verse seven "For God hath not given us spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind."<br /><br />During family camp, for the missions hour we used the life story of Brazilian believers to help us illustrate the message and theme for the week "turning the world upside down." We also had a Bible study with the young people every morning. Bev and I greatly enjoyed sharing with 51 young men and ladies.<br /><br />Between now and when we will be medically released for our return to the mission field of Brazil (April, 2007) God has given us many opportunities to speak, share and minister.<br /><br />We spend much time communicating with our churches in Brazil. Through your prayers God is giving them strength to face every challenge.<br /><br />This is the first letter I have personally written since I was injured and am thrilled that I'm once again able communicate with you.<br /><br />Thank you so much for your prayers. Be certain that our God will bless you for your time spent with Him.<br /><br />Until next time:<br />Missionaries John and Beverly LeonardDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1153106173485118162006-07-15T10:30:00.000-07:002006-07-16T20:16:13.530-07:00Your prayers continue to be answered!Your prayers continue to be answered! Just this passed week we were honored to receive an invitation from the Terry Broyles family to team up with them and continue our church planting ministry in Brazil. They are located approximately one hour from one of the best hospitals in South America. Once again, we ask that you praise the Lord together with us for this answer to our prayers. The ministry they have is going well, and their desire is to eventually reach out into other nearby areas. In our next few up-dates, we will be giving you more details of the work there.<br /><br />John has a great desire to continue to be used of the Lord here in the States while we wait for medical clearance which will be at the earliest April, 2007. How grateful we are for continued opportunities of ministry! Next week, July 24-28, we will be the missionary speakers for senior highers at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp in Clear Lake, IA. Pray with us that God would use us to reach into the hearts of these teens for salvation, dedication, or full time Christian service. We will then be participating in a Baptist Mid-missions conference at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, IA July 31-August 3rd. Next we will be the missons/teen speakers for a week of Family camp at IRBC August 5-11. After that, we will be speaking at various churches on the weekends, be involved in missionary conferences and also teaching Bible studies during the week. Continue to pray for safety as we travel and most importantly, that the Lord would use us mightily.<br /><br />The family is fine--Josh is continuing with his course at the Department for the Blind here in Des Moines, IA. Many times he comes home on Sunday to spend the day with us. He seems happy, but that is not unusual!! Pray that he will finish his course in time to attend Faith Baptist Bible College in January of 2007. Jerrod's Hy-Vee garden center job is through--it was seasonal, but now he is working at the Hy-Vee grocery store. Soon he will be beginning his final year of high school at Ankeny High. He (along with Jonna and Jeanne) plan to attend the senior high week at IRBC with us as well. Jonna is still working at McDonalds and is doing fine. She is a sophmore and will be at Ankeny High this year. One of the birthday presents that she asked for back in March was a day at Adventureland Amusement Park here in Des Moines. She will be headed there this coming Monday and is very excited. Jeanne just got done mowing the lawn. She volunteered to do it since she wanted to "get some sun." She got it all right!! It is nearly 90 degrees out there and it is 11:00 a.m! We told her she needed to get up earlier--maybe she will learn next time!! She can't wait for school to start, and will be in 8th grade at Northview Middle School.<br /><br />We have been in contact with our churches in Brazil and enjoy hearing what the Lord is doing. The youth group has been a special blessing and many of the children or adolescents have grown up and are now a vital part of the work there. We are including a picture and a brief history of a young man and young lady.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2338/1306/1600/rodrigoandadriana.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2338/1306/320/rodrigoandadriana.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is Rodrigo who comes from a family of political activists. His aunt is the president of the C.U.T. which is the far left of the communist movement in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. When he was in high school, a friend of his named Washington invited him to some special meetings at our work in Graciliano Ramos. The message he heard there opened many questions about religion, salvation and eternity. He sat down with John, who sought to answer all his questions from the Word of God. He did not get saved, but continued to go to church and ask more questions and get the answers from the same place--God's Word. One night as the invitation was being given, he finally surrendered his life to God and accepted Christ as his personal Savior. Since then, he has finished high school, gone to college, and is now practicing dentistry. Thank you for your prayers which enabled us to reach this young man for Christ.<br /><br />This is Andrea who met Rodrigo while attending university. Before he invited her to go to church to hear about the Living and True God, and accept Jesus Christ as her Savior, she knew little about salvation and eternity. Her focus and direction was to participate in activist marches and sit-ins. They would block off main highways and disrupt traffic for hours. She praises God for those who were sent to her part of the world to tell her about salvation, hope, and eternity.Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1150466792694016072006-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:002006-06-16T07:06:32.730-07:00Back on Iowa SoilThank you for your prayers for our trip. We are now back on Iowa soil and happy to be here! But what a wonderful trip the Lord gave to us. First Baptist in Edinboro, PA, was where we began our speaking engagements, and we were blessed by being there with those folks on Sunday, May 28. On Tuesday, John spoke at the staff prayer time at Baptist Mid-Missions in Cleveland, OH. We also met with our president, Dr. Anderson, our field representative, Mr. Peters, and our financial advisor, Mr. Beckman, to begin to talk through some of the details of our possible return to the field of Brazil sometime early next year. On Wednesday evening we spoke at First Baptist Church in Bluff City, TN. This is John's sister, Naomi's church, and it was a joy to share with them all that the Lord has done. Thursday was an exciting day since John spoke three times at the jail in Blountville, TN where Naomi's husband, Kent is a chaplain. We praise the Lord that five inmates were saved that day!! Kent has a wonderful discipleship program going there, and he has already begun Bible studies with these men. Saturday took us to John's nephew, Jonathan's wedding in Greensboro, NC. John was asked by the bride and groom to participate by giving the clear plan of salvation to all who attended, and he did a great job. The ceremony was beautiful and God-glorifying. On Sunday we spoke there at the church in Greensboro (South Elm St. Baptist), both in the morning and in the evening and once again were blessed and honored to be used of the Lord. The following Wednesday (June 7th) we arrived in Moberly, MO to participate in a VBS. What a joy it was to be able to share not only with the children during the week, but also with the parents at the closing program on Friday evening. One child accepted Christ as Savior and one lady who claims to be an atheist was at the program on Friday evening. John said that she listened intently when we presented the Gospel, and we continue to pray that the Lord would soften her heart. We topped off our trip by speaking at Bev's "home" church, and also the church where we were married, Victory Baptist in Marysville, KS. Bev is wondering what she liked best...seeing all her family members/friends, the worship/singing time before John spoke, or the DELICIOUS pot luck after the service! (The "home cooking" there just can't be beat!! Of course, she is just a little prejudiced!!) Again, remember to thank the Lord together with us for the safety and health He gave to us on the road and also the blessings of the Lord's work. He is so good!!<br /><br />John's mother and sister and nephew, Jason are here now. Naomi will have to leave on Friday, but John's mother will be staying awhile. She has already enjoyed attending Jonathan’s wedding (Naomi’s son) and Rebecca’s wedding (Elizabeth’s daughter). Next week she will be having tests nearly every day. This is part of her treatment for thyroid cancer. She plans to be here for at least a month, and we are happy to have her here.<br /><br />John received many cards and letters for his birthday from Brazil. It was so nice to hear from many of them and also to get up-dates on the work down there. One of the most important pieces of information we found out is that many of the children/young people that were reached while we were there are now dating (many of them seriously) and are being an godly example to many. We are thankful for the Source of Light Bible course on Love, Dating and Marriage that we were able to do with many of them when they were adolescents. Continue to pray that they would stay strong for the Lord and some day be the leaders in our churches. We just received and plan to pass on to you in the near future the pictures of these couples with a short history of each one. We amazed to hear that the Lord has brought together couples there in Maceio! What a blessing!<br /><br />The kids are fine—Joshua is adjusting and progressing well at the School of the Blind. He has filled out forms for college and continues to make preparations for this next phase of his life. Jerrod is still working at the garden center and Jonna is at McDonalds. They were such good kids while we were gone (what we don't know won't hurt us--right?). They did manage keep the garden watered, lawn mowed, house "half-way" cleaned...etc. so we were glad. Jeanne is VERY glad to be home. She is not going to miss traveling at all--especially loading and un-loading the car!! Of course, we enjoyed having her--it made our lives easier.<br /><br />Your prayers are being answered--John's continues to get stronger and is being used greatly of the Lord.Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1147784339383072292006-05-12T10:01:00.000-07:002006-05-16T06:03:35.646-07:00Some Pictures from BrazilWe are gearing up for another trip beginning May 25 and going through June 12th! Our travels this time will take us as far east as Pennsylvania, and as far south as North Carolina. The Lord willing, we will be speaking in the churches, participating in a VBS, attending the wedding of John's nephew, Jonathan, and visiting supporting friends and families. This time, Jeanne plans to go along with us, since the kids will be done with school. Jerrod and Jonna will be staying here in Ankeny so that they can work. Both of us are glad to have Jeanne along since she can help out loading and unloading the car, helping John with needs as we go down the road...etc. It will be a long trip, but we are anxious to see what God will do not only in the lives of those to whom we minister, but also in our own lives. As we travel from church to church, it is amazing the way that the Lord has used His people to change us. In other words, instead of us encouraging others, they are encouraging us!! But we do thank the Lord so much that He has allowed us to continue the work that He began many years ago. A pastor recently shared something with us that he had learned..."Illness does not stop our ministry...it just re-directs it." That stuck with us, and while we realize that our ministry probably will never be exactly the same as it was before, God is still using John greatly, and for this we are grateful. We ask our prayer team once again that you will pray earnestly as we travel--especially that the Lord would bless our ministry, and also for safety and protection on the roads.<br /><br />We are excited to be able to share some pictures from Brazil with you!!<br /><img height="338" src="http://www.ahhyeah.com/johnleonard/pict0024.JPG" width="425" border="0" /><br />Pastor Lelo, the man who is directing the work in Graciliano Ramos, Maceio.<br /><br /><img height="318" src="http://www.ahhyeah.com/johnleonard/Sunp0024.jpg" width="425" border="0" /><br />Pastor Andre and his wife, Deborah working at the church in Coqueiro Seco where the incident with John occurred. Both Andre and Deborah were saved under the ministry we had in Maceio at Graciliano Ramos years ago!<br /><br /><img height="318" src="http://www.ahhyeah.com/johnleonard/Cnxt0011.jpg" width="425" border="0" /><br />Baptism on May 7th, 2006 at the church in Coqueiro Seco.<br /><br /><img height="340" src="http://www.ahhyeah.com/johnleonard/Pict0083.jpg" width="425" border="0" /><br />25th wedding anniversary of Lourdes and her husband, Jose. Jose is a man that we have prayed for for years. He still is not a believer, but consented to have their anniversary celebration in the church. Please pray with us for his salvation!<br /><br />God continues to work in lives in Brazil, and we are thankful for your prayers.<br /><br />Our Bible studies at the Ames Department of Transportation have been a true blessing. Some who attend have never received Christ as Savior, but are eager to learn truths from the Bible. Recently, one of the regular attendees who is a believer asked us to stay afterwards for counsel. We praise the Lord for these opportunities to be used of the Lord. Continue to pray for this study.<br /><br />We are looking into the possibility of John doing some continuing out-patient rehabilitation here at Iowa Methodist. He just didn't feel like he was quite ready for this before, but now seems to want it, so we are thankful. His arms have gotten stronger, and he is gradually able to do more than before. He is now able to back onto the lift of the van, activate the lift lever to lift himself up, back on into the van, and shut the door! We are still waiting for his voice activated software to arrive along with the special mouse that he will need, which will allow him to use the computer on his own. Pray with us that soon this equipment will be provided for him.<br /><br />Our biggest prayer request continues to be that the Lord would clearly reveal to us exactly where he wants us to be in the future. We still feel strongly that He is leading us back to Brazil, but we need to know the location. Pray with us that soon we will know the direction that we are headed.<br /><br />Where would we be without your prayers?! Thank you again for your faithfulness!<br /><br />John and Bev LeonardDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1145104532457240832006-04-13T14:25:00.000-07:002006-04-15T05:35:32.473-07:00We're Back!!WE'RE BACK!! We are thankful to the Lord that He enabled us to make the trip from Iowa out to a supporting church in Wilson, KS, on to Craig Hospital in Englewood, CO, on out to two of our supporting churches in Arizona, and back again to Iowa!!! When we pulled into the driveway here in Ankeny, IA at 8:00 p.m. last (Wednesday) evening, the first thing we did was to bow our heads and thank the Lord for His goodness to us, and now we are thanking YOU (our prayer team) for your prayers. <br /> <br />One of the first things that we noticed when we arrived was that our house was still "in tact" even after 13 days of three teenagers living inside of it with only "daily phone call" parental authority. Of course, we are GRATEFUL to Megan O'Leary, the daughter of John's cousin, who graciously consented to stay with them and try to keep things somewhat "under control" while we were gone! Actually, things went along very smoothly (at least they SEEM that way!), and it truly was great to see our kids again. Josh has spring break coming up and plans to be here this weekend for Easter. Thank you again for your prayers for our family.<br /> <br />Many have been wondering about our stay at Craig Hospital, and what we found out from them. We were really impressed with their competent staff, and they certainly gave us lots of helpful information concerning John's rehabilitation time that he is going through right now. The staff conference at the end of the week let us know that they felt we received excellent training and care here at Iowa Methodist Hospital (Younker Rehabilitation), and that the progress John has made is quite commendable. The tests that were ran showed that he is in very good health--no signs of any specific problem areas, which is great. We asked them if there was any type of surgery or procedure that could be done to help John get more movement at this time, and they said that there was not at the moment. They went on to say, however, that there are lots of research projects going on right now, and if anything came up they would let us know. We are so grateful that the Lord lead us to Craig, since they are on the cutting edge of all of the latest SCI (spinal cord injury) information, and just by being a patient there automatically qualifies John for further treatment, if something should come up. Another very positive thing that happened was that we also got medical approval to head back to the mission field of Brazil around next year at this time. Their only recommendation was that John come back to have a check-up before we go to the field just to make sure all is well, and also wanted him to come back to Craig for periodic check-ups after that. <br /> <br />The work in Brazil continues to go forward. Pastor Lelo and Andre have informed us of five salvation decisions in recent days. These people are being disciple and prepared for baptism. Some of the children that we lead to the Lord many years ago are dating and one of the couples recently got engaged to be married this up-coming October. The congregation in the town of Igaci is struggling. Pastor Cicero (the Brazilian pastor who came out of retirement) has decided he can no longer lead this small flock because of persecution. It is a great sacrifice on the part of our churches, but they have told us that they are not ready to give up, but will continue the work. Please pray with us as we seek direction from the Lord in who should take over the ministry in Igaci. <br /> <br />We are grateful for your prayers!!<br /> <br />John and Bev LeonardDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1144208574772704592006-04-04T20:26:00.000-07:002006-04-04T20:45:46.856-07:00We made it to Craig Hospital in Englewood, ColoradoDear Praying Friends, <br /><br />Just wanted to write a quick up-date to let you know that we made it to Craig Hospital in Englewood, (near Denver) Colorado on Sunday night. Yesterday was a very busy day, as was today. They have kept us hopping with lots of different appointments, and all of them are proving to be very helpful to us. Please continue to pray for us during these days. Our final session will be Thursday afternoon when the entire "team" gets together with us and lets us know what suggestions they have for us for the future. We are also asking that you remember to pray for us on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as we will be making our way out to Mesa, Arizona where we have a meeting at Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday morning and then on to Prescott Valley to Open Door Baptist Church for the evening service. The Lord willing, we are planning to be back home on Thursday or Friday. Our three youngest, Jerrod, Jonna, and Jeanne, stayed at home in Ankeny so that they could go to school. John's cousin's daughter (Megan O'Leary) is staying with the kids. Joshua is at ISB (Iowa School of the Blind) and seems to be adjusting well to his life there. The course he is taking is for six months and he then plans to go on to FBBC--most likely in January, 2007. Thank you for your prayers regarding our time here at Craig, our travels, our meetings in the churches, and also for our kids. <br /><br />Our churches in Brazil have continued to keep in touch with us. We are highly encouraged at all of the reports of decisions for salvation, baptisms, and special planned events. Our next up-date will include a more detailed up-date along with some pictures of the work. Thank you again for your faithful prayers. God is hearing and answering!!Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1141354681103447122006-03-02T11:14:00.000-08:002006-03-02T19:04:21.943-08:00We truly believe that the Lord is hearing and answering your prayersIt has been awhile since we have up-dated everyone on how things are going here at the Leonard home. It seems that we are still "recovering" from our bouts of sickness that we have had--fortunately, John did not get what the rest of us had, and we truly believe that the Lord is hearing and answering your prayers for his health. The doctor also insisted that he take his flu shot, and now we are so glad that he did that! Bev, Josh and Jeanne had light cases of the "creepy crud," but Jerrod and Jonna were down for almost a week!! It was not good--especially since we depend on them a lot for helping out with John. Jeanne ended up getting some "new training" since she usually does other things while Jerrod and Jonna get the "bulk" of helping with transfers, turning...etc. She really surprised us all with how strong she was!! I think she surprised herself! We even needed to go to a meeting in Rochester, MN with just the three of us (John, Bev, and Jeanne) since the others were "out of commission," and we "prayed our way through" the overnight stay...getting John dressed in the morning, getting him into the chair, etc., but God was our strength and once again He helped us through it! Like always, all "difficult situations" turn into "good," since we found out that our little twelve year old could do more that we thought! We are not sure SHE is so happy we found that out, since she gets called on now more than she did before!! But we praise the Lord for His goodness.<br /><br />Yes, we have had some blessed meetings since we last wrote including the one at First Baptist Church in Grundy Center, IA, another at Calvary Baptist in Rochester, MN, and this past weekend at Volga, IA. The Lord willing, this coming weekend (March 5), we will be at Calvary Baptist in Adrian, MO, so we are really looking forward to that. We will make out our schedule and put it at the end of our letter so that you can see where we will be in up-coming days. Isn't the Lord awesome? We were able to be out each weekend in February and March is full, and April doesn't lag much behind. Your prayers have sustained us, and we so much appreciate your remembering us. Don't forget to thank the Lord for what He has done, and also please remember to pray especially for safety as we travel. John's "back seat driving" was kind of a bother to Bev at first, but now she is kind of glad for him since he is sure to keep her alert and awake as we go down the highway! She has kind of gotten used to his little "Watch out for that curb!" and "Crazy woman driver!" comments (most of them for a good reason!) But she is gradually improving--the van is larger than what she is used to, so things can get a little "out of control" at times!! Continue to pray not only for our safety, but also for our patience with one another.<br /><br />This week has been really busy...Monday night we had the privilege of having Heyder and Katia in our home again. They are the Brazilian couple who have been attending at Saylorville. Heyder came to John recently and had some questions about the Bible. John told him to bring his portuguese Bible and come over for a time of study at 7:30 Monday evening. They have been such a blessing to us--they were saved in Brazil, but are "young Christians" who are anxious to grow and learn more about the Lord. Continue to pray especially for Katia, who is homesick for Brazil. Thank you also for your prayers for Annette, Bev's friend whose husband was shot and killed some years back here in Des Moines. Our first visit went well--both Annette and Bev "traded stories" of what happened to their husbands...they cried together and there is certainly a special "bond" that between themselves. She is definitely Buddhist--she showed Bev her "room" where she goes to pray every day--has a picture of her husband on the wall with candles, colored lights and statues all around. She is so sincere, and it will take a lot to reach her, but we know our God is able. Since the first visit was close to Valentine's Day, Bev gave Annette a special "chocolate valentine" with a tract inside, and was also able to tell her that God had been my strength through these difficult days. She then asked if she could meet John, and Bev gave her directions to their home thinking that perhaps they wouldn't hear from her again. But she called Monday night, and asked if she could come for a visit on Tuesday night!! We were so thrilled!! And the perfect opportunity opened up when she asked John what he did for a living. He told her he was a missionary and she said she didn't really know what that was, so John explained it to her, and of course, got around to telling her that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and died for us so that we could have eternal life if we would only accept Him and have a PERSONAL relationship with him. She listened carefully and politely, but kind of changed the subject after. But how we praise the Lord for this opportunity. If that wasn't enough, we were also able to go to Ames to the Department of Transportation for a time of "Bible study" yesterday (Wednesday). One of our friends from Saylorville asked us to do this since the missionary that started it (Russ Matthews) has gone to the field, and we would just take over where he left off. Yesterday was more of an "introductory day" when John gave his testimony and we showed our DVD which talks a little about our work and also what happened to JOhn. It was a great day--the study is only for a half an hour since the workers there at the DOT are doing it over their lunch hour, but they were such a blessing to us! They asked us to come back, so we are thinking of doing it perhaps every other Wednesday. Today (Thursday) we are playing "catch up" on letters, e-mails, laundry...etc., since tomorrow (Friday) we will head out to Iowa City to see how Josh's hip is doing. He is REALLY hoping and praying that he can get rid of his walker--it has been three long months. We ask that you pray with us that this time his hip healed well and that he can now get on with life a little. Then on Saturday we will head to Adrian, MO and Sunday we will speak there, so that pretty much lets you know what this week was like.<br /><br />We have been in touch with a group of four people who went down to stay in our home in Brazil for a couple of weeks. They seem to have been enjoying their time there. Of course, they got "invaded" a little since our churches in Maceio had a "Carnaval (like 'Marti gra') retreat" out at our place beginning last weekend and going through this WEdnesday. This is something the believers do down there as a "substitute" for all that is going on at that time--about five straight days of worldly, riotous living. We take advantage of the time to have Bible teaching, social events, fellowship...etc, and in the past, we have seen many lives changed (including some who have been saved) as a result of this ministry. We are anxious to talk to Pastor Lelo to find out how it went. He tried calling us yesterday when we were out, and we tried calling him this morning, but were not able to reach him either. But how thankful we are for this opportunity. The group that went down was planning to have a few projects there as well including painting, and just helping out however they could while being there. I believe they come back this coming week. Thank you for praying for them.<br /><br />The Lord has been working in our hearts regarding our future. There are lots of opportunities to minister here in the States, of course, but we have not done away with the possibility of heading back to Brazil. This is actually the most important prayer request that we are asking our prayer team to join us in. If we did go back, it would most likely not be before the year 2007 sometime. We want to be sure that John is doing very well physically and that he is as far as he can be in regards to his therapy. We are placing our desire to return to the field before the Lord, and asking Him to either shut the doors completely or open them wide. We are seeking His face regarding this decision, and ask that you do the same. Of course, the re-evaluation that we have at Craig Hospital in Denver will help us out with this decision as well. This is coming up on April 2-7th, and we are much in prayer regarding this time.<br /><br />Thank you once again for your prayers on our behalf. <br /> <br />Here is our schedule for the up-coming two months:<br /> <br /><u>March 5</u>--Calvary Baptist, Adrian, MO<br /> 12-Pioneer Baptist, Louisburg, KS (a.m.)<br /> 12-Calvary Baptist, Ottawa, KS (p.m.)<br /> 17-26--SPRING BREAK FOR OUR KIDS<br /> 18--Bev speaking at Regional ladies' meeting<br /> 19--Liberty Baptist, Bentonville, AR<br /> 20--JOSH TO ISB (IOWA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND)<br /> 25-26 Berean Baptist, Marysville, KS (a.m. of 26th)<br /> 26-Victory Baptist, Ossawatomie, KS (p.m)<br /><u>April 2</u>--First Baptist, Wilson, KS (a.m.)<br /> 2-7 CRAIG HOSPITAL- ENGLEWOOD, CO<br /> 5--Hilltop Baptist, Colorado Springs, CO<br /> 9--Calvary Baptist, Mesa, AZ (a.m.)<br /> 9--Open Door Baptist, Prescott Valley, AZ (p.m.)<br /> 16--EASTER SUNDAY<br /> 30--Faith Baptist, Iowa City, IADouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1139667311030415372006-02-08T21:29:00.000-08:002006-02-11T06:16:50.826-08:00What a great day the Lord gave to us...Dear Praying Friends,<br />What a great day the Lord gave to us on Sunday! We had the privilege of being at Grace Baptist Church in Chariton, IA the entire day, and it truly was a blessing. This was the first time since John's injury that he was able to speak in both the morning and evening, and we were so thankful that it went well...just needed one "water break" in the morning, but other than that, things went very smoothly. We thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue to remember us in prayer as we minister in our churches. The Lord willing, this coming Sunday morning (February 12th) we will be speaking at First Baptist in Grundy Center, IA and the following (the 19th) at Calvary Baptist in Rochester, MN.<br /><br />We were so excited to hear back from Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado yesterday!! The first opening that they had for us was the week of April 2-6. The plan is to have a one-week "out-patient evaluation" there. Pray with us that the doctors will discover something that can help John even more than he has been helped already. The Lord willing, after the evaluation, we will head on out to our two churches in Arizona (Mesa and Prescott Valley) to speak there on Sunday, the 9th of April. Please begin to pray with us regarding this entire endeavor including safety as we travel and also for the Lord to use us as we speak in the churches.<br /><br />Continue to remember our churches in Brazil in prayer. Things seem to be going well at the work in the fishing village as Andre and Deborah have done a great job at making a few changes that needed to be made. VBS is coming up next week, so they are very excited. We will let you know how things go there. Also remember to pray for Pastors Lelo, Paulo, and Lenilson as they continue to work in the other churches. The Lord has provided a retired missionary to work at the new congregation in Igaci, which has been a blessing. Those believers are meeting in a very small rented building, and we have told them that if they are able to get funds together to buy property, we will help them out with the church building. Continue to remember the believers in Brazil. Just today, one of the ladies from the work in Graciliano called us to talk for awhile. Even though my portuguese was a little weak, it was still super to hear from her!<br /><br />Thank you for your prayers for Heyder and Katia, the Brazilian couple who has been attending Saylorville Baptist. We have been able to minister to them some--not as much as we would like, but we had them in our home and went to theirs as well. We also try to keep in contact with them via telephone. Katia is missing Brazil, so we are trying to encourage her...we know what it is like to be in a "foreign land," far away from family...etc. She is also participating in the ladies' Bible study that is starting this evening at Saylorville Baptist. Bev is planning to sit beside her and try to "translate" anything that she doesn't understand. Continue to pray for spiritual growth in the lives of Heyder and Katia.<br /><br />We praise the Lord for the contact we have had with a lady called "Annette Banh." One of our friends wrote to us to see if we could get in touch with her since her husband was the victim of a shooting here in Des Moines in recent years. The Lord has burdened our friend for her and several have tried to witness Annette in the past. From what we understand, she is a Buddhist, and we will be going to her house tomorrow (Thursday) evening to get to know her and try to talk to her about the Lord. We would appreciate your prayers for us as we talk to her, and are excited about this opportunity.<br /><br />We are thankful that our family has continued to enjoy good health. John has been doing well, and the kids have, too, with the exception of a few "bothersome" colds that the girls have had. The Lord has been so good, and once again, thank you for your faithful prayers.<br /><br />With grateful hearts,<br />John, Bev and familyDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1137942998482609932006-01-22T06:43:00.000-08:002006-02-09T09:50:01.440-08:00Missionary Injured In Brazil Talks Of Recovery<span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.kcci.com/news/6255683/detail.html">Kcci.com</a></span><br /><br />Leonard Wants To Return To Mission Work <a href="http://www.kcci.com/news/6255683/detail.html" target="_blank"><br /><img height="180" alt="Click Here for the Original Story on Kcci.com" src="http://www.ahhyeah.com/johnleonard/john_kcci.jpg" width="240" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Click photo for original story including video.<br /></span><br />DES MOINES, Iowa -- A missionary from Ankeny was gunned down last July as he greeted people at his church in Brazil.<br /><br />John Leonard defied predictions that he wouldn't survive. Though his life has changed forever, he hasn't stopped spreading the word of his faith.<br /><br />Leonard listened to the latest news from Brazil, a place he has called home.<br />"(I) never had a reason to feel unsafe," John Leonard said.<br /><br />Leonard grew up in Brazil, living there with his missionary parents. As an adult, he and his wife, Bev, have also served as missionaries, starting five churches and working to change the lives of the people there.<br /><br />"We saw many people come to meet God and change that way in their life, also," Leonard said.<br /><br />Last July at one of his churches, two men came looking for him and opened fire.<br /><br />"The reason why or who did it has not been discovered yet," he said.<br /><br />Now, he's paralyzed and must use a wheelchair. His family and his faith sustain him.<br /><br />"We all know that God has a purpose," Leonard said.<br /><br />His son, Josh, was there when his father was shot. At the time, the Leonards had just returned to Brazil after a trip to Iowa to bring him home. Josh has a brain tumor and had an accident.<br /><br />"I had a seizure and fell down some steps, broke my heel, wrist and hip," Josh Leonard said.<br />The family's ordeal has definitely tested them.<br /><br />"You think, 'I could never take this.' The Lord always gives you exactly what you need," Bev Leonard said.<br /><br />"He's the only one who brings anyone through anything," Josh Leonard said.<br /><br />Mission work can be dangerous as a new movie called "End of the Spear" shows. It tells the story of five missionaries who are murdered in Ecuador.<br /><br />Leonard said even with all he knows, he doesn't regret anything.<br /><br />"If God makes us fit to go back to Brazil, we'd be back in a heartbeat," he said.<br /><br />Leonard and his family will soon be going to various churches to talk about his ministry in Brazil.<br />Leonard's churches are continuing to operate. He has family members in Brazil as well.Douglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1137815930831986622006-01-20T08:17:00.000-08:002006-01-20T19:58:50.866-08:00Our lives continue to be busyJust a note to up-date our faithful prayer team and to thank you for lifting us up before the throne of God. John has been enjoying some good days health-wise, and we praise the Lord for this. No more infections, and he has been feeling well. He also has been trying "new things" such as getting his hand up to his face to scratch (he can do this best while lying on his back in bed), going off by himself in his chair while shopping (he has disappeared on me a couple of times and sent me into "mini-panic mode"), and once again, speeding around even faster than before. One of our Brazilian missionaries suggested to me that we use some "lombadas," (portuguese for "speed bumps"), to help slow him down a little! For awhile, John didn't even want to hear the word "hospital," so we have not pushed too hard the idea of more intense rehab. However, we have felt more and more in recent days that the time has come to make contact with Craig Hospital in Colorado where we are planning to go for a one-week evaluation. This will most likely happen sometime in March, and we are praying that the Lord will give us wisdom to find the right doctors and the right time to do this. Please pray with us regarding this matter. It will basically be a "second opinion" on John's condition at one of (if not THE) best SCI (spinal chord injury) hospitals in the nation. We would only go back out there if they feel they could help John significantly more than what he could be helped here at Iowa Methodist.<br /><br />Our lives continue to be busy. John has some dear "Aunts" and one of them, Aunt Janet McClanahan (missionary to Brazil) came to spend a few days with us this past week. It was a real treat for all of us! Then yesterday, John's Aunt Marabel Kersey came over for the evening meal and brought with her a very interesting guest--"Dr. Kim" (her name is more complicated than this) from South Korea, who is currently training parish nurses in South Korea, among other things. John had a big day yesterday, since he had an interview with channel 8 yesterday morning, and then in the afternoon, a lady came from ISU vocational rehab. We were so pleased, since she is getting him all set up with computer software and adaptations which will enable him to do absolutely anything he desires on the computer. He was pretty excited to see how the computer could "understand" his voice and type as he talked! He also was able to control things with his right hand by using an oversized "mouse." They were just testing it out yesterday, but hopefully within one month, he will be all set up. Who knows, John may be the one to write the next up-date!!! Won't that be neat? Please remember to thank the Lord with us for this wonderful gift.<br /><br />John talked to Pastor Lelo and Pastor Andre yesterday. It was great to hear the kids making noise in the background at the church. This is VBS week (that's right--it's summer in Brazil!) there at Graciliano Ramos, so it was exciting to hear about it--LOTS of kids, it sounds like, and things were going very well. The church in the fishing village will wait until the second week in February to have theirs, since Pastor Andre is just getting "on board" and trying to organize everything. Your prayers for the churches in Brazil are appreciated.<br /><br />Josh received his "orientation papers" from Iowa School of the Blind last week and his official first day will be March 20th. He is excited...Bev tested him yesterday on his Braille, since he claimed that he had been studying. It does seem that he is doing pretty well and knows about half of the alphabet. His teacher should be here again next week to teach him the rest. His hip is healing nicely, for which we are thankful.<br /><br />Jerrod has applied for a job and is driving quite a lot. We talk seriously to him every time he goes out of the door about being careful, but it still makes us nervous. Continue to pray for protection as he takes the girls to and from school, and sometimes to church as well. Jonna had her first soccer team meeting, and that sent her on an "exercising kick." Since Bev doesn't like her running by herself, she goes with her, which slows Jonna down quite a bit!! But we have enjoyed it nevertheless. Jeanne started going crazy doing things she never did before--cleaning mirrors, going out of her way to do things for her brothers and sister, helping out with meals without being asked... We were all very pleased, of course, and then we realized where she was going with all of it. Last week sometime, she had asked if she could go to a church slumber party that she was REALLY wanting to go to this evening. Her dad had then proceeded to talk to her about how she was not being very responsible these days and how she needed to make some improvements in her behavior. Oh well...even though she had obvious "ulterior motives," at least she was trying to get better, and I think she somehow gotten through to her dad's heart--at least the last I checked, she was going tonight. Of course, we were quick to tell her that her little "strategy" will NOT work every time!<br /><br />God is hearing and answering your prayers--THANK YOU!<br /><br />With grateful hearts,<br />John and Bev Leonard and familyDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1136924228677881162006-01-08T10:01:00.000-08:002006-01-10T12:17:08.680-08:002006 Continues to Fill UpJust a quick up-date... Thank you so much for your prayers... John continues to do well health-wise, and we are so thankful. He has been asked to do a Bible study at the D.O.T. in Ames, and he is excited. We are not sure of the starting date, but are thankful to the Lord for this opportunity--especially since some who study may not be believers--a great chance to reach out to the unsaved. Our schedule for 2006 continues to fill up, and we praise God that our furlough plans will be able to continue. We are anxious to visit many of our supporting churches in the up-coming days. This Friday evening, we have invited "Heyder," a Brazilian young man who has been attending our church (Saylorville Baptist), and his family over for dessert. They are believers, but we want to try to have fellowship with them to encourage them in their walk with the Lord. We heard that his wife is missing Brazil, so we will do our best to speak Portuguese the entire evening, plus serve them Brazilian coffee (we have a good supply!...etc.) We remember how it is to be in a "foreign" country and be missing our homeland. Please pray with us that we will be a blessing and encouragement to them.<br /><br />Josh is doing well--got a good report from the doctor for both his hip and also his tumor. We were especially encouraged by the MRI for his tumor, since we have been doing the tests every 4 months and now they are saying we can wait until June (six months). The doctor said that there is a good chance that the tumor will not grow back at all. We were thrilled to hear this, since no one had ever said that to us before. Because of his hip surgery, Josh was not able to stay at the school of the Blind the beginning of this month as planned, but is busy learning braille here at home, which will "hurry up" his course there. A lady comes out from the school once a week to teach him. It looks as if he will only be able to attend FBBC in January, 2007 rather than August of this year, though. Continue to remember Josh in prayer.<br /><br />Jerrod, Jonna, and Jeanne are back "in the grind" at school. Jerrod will begin to take the kids to school tomorrow since he now has his official license. He is very happy, and John and I are pretty nervous about the whole thing. It will help us out having him drive, since he can run errands for us...etc., but we have stressed to him the importance of driving carefully. He is saying that he is going out tomorrow to look for a job, so please pray with us for Jerrod and especially for his and the girls' safety. Josiah, our nephew, just left to go back to FBBC tonight since his classes begin tomorrow morning. We have enjoyed having him here during his Christmas break.<br /><br />Thank you for lifting us up before the Lord!<br /><br />With grateful hearts,<br />John and Bev LeonardDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1136924048241249162005-12-27T10:01:00.000-08:002006-01-10T12:17:34.880-08:00Yes...2005 is Winding DownGreetings to our prayer team! We are amazed at the number of people who have written to us letting us know that they regularly check this site for up-dates. Thank you to all of you for your continued concern for John and us and most of all for your faithful prayers. It is no wonder that many times John and I go to bed at night thinking, "How can we be feeling such peace and contentment in light of all that has happened this past year?" Then we remember our prayer warriors who have continued to lift us up before the throne of grace, and we are not (or shouldn't be!) surprised. We simply cannot thank you enough for bringing our praises and prayers before the Lord.<br /><br />Wednesday of last week (21st) was very special. We had to be on the road by 7:30 a.m. so that we could leisurely make our way up to First Baptist Church in Grundy Center, IA for speaking engagements...John with the men and Bev with the ladies Bible studies. The blessings of the day were numerous, but one of the greatest ones was the BREATHTAKING drive up there. It had snowed a lot and the trees were also totally coated with ice crystals. In the sunshine, it was just a "winter wonderland" and a great way for us to prepare our hearts and speak of our awesome Creator!! Had we not been asked to speak there, we would not have enjoyed that drive so much, since we rarely get out in the country, and there also was not nearly as much snow down our way. We are still thanking our Lord for giving us that added blessing. It was also awesome to see the way that the Lord is working there in Grundy Center. Mrs. Nemmers (Pastor Mike Nemmers' wife) had her living room all "decked out" with Christmas ornaments...lights...etc., and best of all, "packed out" with probably 20 or more ladies (some of whom were not saved)! What a wonderful time we had there with them, and thank you so much for remembering to pray. John also thoroughly enjoyed the time he had with Pastor Nemmers and some of the men of the church. Bev was the official "photographer" upon her arrival to pick John up at the church after the study. John, Pastor and guys all posed for a picture in front of the Christmas tree in the foyer. A blessed time was had by everyone, and we are once again thanking our Heavenly Father for this opportunity to be used of Him for His glory.<br /><br />John's sister, Naomi, was here for almost a week and her visit really gave us a good "boost." She didn't come to relax, but to help us out and encourage us, and that she did!! It was a blessing for her to be here and hard to see her go. She says she will be back in March when they have their spring break. She is a teacher at a Christian Day school in Tennessee.<br /><br />Our Christmas was great--so meaningful to all of us--just the fact that we could all be together as a family meant a lot and we continue to thank the Lord for this. We also felt very blessed by the number of cards and wonderful notes we received...as well as the generous gifts--many that we will not mention here, but the Lord knows how deeply we were touched by them. One special blessing that we cannot neglect to mention was that one of our supporting churches, "Calvary Baptist" in Rochester, MN, "adopted us" and delivered right to our doorstep gifts for each member of the family. How honored we felt, and God used them to make our Christmas one of the most memorable and meaningful ever!! Thank you especially to Calvary Baptist, and also to each of you for the wonderful gifts which made us remember the true meaning of this marvelous time of the year.<br /><br />Yes...2005 is winding down, and we want to take this opportunity to thank someone very special whom the Lord has placed in our lives. His name is DOUG PORTER, and he is the man behind this entire "prayforjohn.com" site. How could we ever possibly thank him enough for all that he has done for us?!...and all so unselfishly. If you talk to him, he acts as if he has done nothing, and yet, we know that our Heavenly Father has seen everything that He has done. Thank you, Doug, for all your help with this, and also your dear wife, Brooke, for standing behind you, and the blessing that both of you have been to us.<br /><br />We now look forward to a new year--2006!! We haven't decided if we will be going anywhere on New Year's Eve...many of you know that John and I were married on December 31, 1983. On July 3rd of this year, the words that we said at the altar 22 years ago, "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health," once again came to our minds, and suddenly took on new meaning. How thankful we are that John's father, Jerry Leonard (now at home with the Lord), wisely insisted that we memorize our vows and repeat them occasionally over the years. God has truly been faithful, and to Him be the glory--great things He hath done!<br /><br />With grateful hearts,<br />John and Bev Leonard and familyDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14435531.post-1133912045290250752005-12-06T15:32:00.000-08:002005-12-06T15:34:05.306-08:00Will you pray with us?We are asking that our prayer team pray for John who has a "hard to get rid of" bladder infection which has been hanging on. The oral antibiotics which he took for 10 days did not totally fight off the bug, and he is now taking IV antibiotics (gentamicin) once a day to see if it will knock it. The doctors warned us while we were in the hospital that John would be at risk for these infections, since he had one during his stay there, so we were not real surprised when it happened, although we were disappointed. Please pray that these antibiotics will take care of the problem, and also pray that the infections would not come back again.<br /><br />We continue to stay in close contact with our churches in Brazil. This past Saturday morning, about 15 people from the work in Coqueiro Seco went to Pastor Lelo's house so that they could talk to John and our family for some brief moments via SKYPE. This was a real blessing--although difficult. It was the first time since the incident that we had talked to them, so there were quite a few tears. It was hard for all of us--especially when John talked to Nene, a young man who John had lead to the Lord way at the beginning of the ministry there-- a real leader in the church (also the caretaker of the church property). He said a few words of greeting to John, and then there was a long pause. We all had a little "cry session," and then both of them gained their composure and continued the conversation. Nene said, "Don't worry, Pastor John, we are continuing on with the work and the Lord is blessing." He then went on to tell us of the mother of one of the AWANA children who accept Christ as Savior the Wednesday night before. We learned later that a young couple came to know Christ also on Sunday evening. Praise the Lord for His goodness! Continue to pray that that village would be reached with the Gospel. Also remember to pray for Andre and Deborah who have accepted the call to be the pastor of this work. Andre was involved in the work there even as a seminary student. He asked if he could help us out during his vacation times and he had a real burden for the people there. We are praying that the Lord would really bless the work under his ministry. Will you pray with us?<br /><br />We praise the Lord that we were able to visit our supporting church in Chariton, IA, (Grace Baptist) the Sunday before last. John was able to give a short word of testimony and thanks to them for all they have done for us. The service was excellent, and it was great to see many dear friends whom we had not seen in awhile. Thank the Lord together with us for this opportunity to minister.<br /><br />Bev is asking prayer as she will be speaking to a group of ladies in Grundy Center, IA on Wednesday, December 14th. It sounds as if the Bible study they have going there is very exciting, and Bev is anxious to be a part of it--even if it is only for a day. Pray for her as she prepares and presents what the Lord is laying on her heart.<br /><br />Josh came through his hip surgery well last Thursday. He will most likely be coming home sometime this week. It sounds as if he will need three months of using a "wheeled walker" which he is not thrilled about, but hopefully this time the surgery will work and he can get on with life. He may not be able to go to the School of the Blind right away in January, but pray with us that he will be able to go at least in March and still attend FBBC in the fall. Thank you for praying for him! God heard and answered!<br /><br />The kids are in the Christmas spirit. Our tree is up and they even put some outside lights up as well. The only thing is that I have not seen any "want lists" yet. I am not sure if I did a rotten job of Christmas shopping last year, or if they are just plain out-growing the "present idea." Jerrod was heard saying, "I think Mom could just give us the money and let us do our own shopping." Josh is saying, "I don't need anything." Jonna and Jeanne are kind of silent on the subject, so it seems like there is still hope that they will come up with some sort of a list. It is amazing how quickly the kids grow up! I am ashamed that I didn't enjoy them like I should have when they were younger. But it is great to have them old enough to help out a lot around the house. We are trying to enjoy them and appreciate them. That is pretty easy--most days, at least!<br /><br />Your faithful prayers mean so much!<br />With grateful hearts,<br />John, Bev, and familyDouglas Porterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13273379242066713019noreply@blogger.com0