Peter and Josi's Newsletter

Thursday, 26 August 2021

Peter and Josi's - Newsletter August 2021

We are celebrating Dorothy’s 13th Birthday

Peter and Josi’s Newsletter - August 2021

Dears Friends,

Greetings again! Thank you to all for your prayer and support. The schools in Brazil returned after holidays in early August. We continue and have a lot to be thankful for in spite of all the news. There are many challenges not just with covid but with many people having lost jobs, and the economy suffering and high prices.We live in challenging times! Below a photo of a recent visit to the mangroves and distributing food parcels. A charity kindly donated 80 food parcels for us to distribute in the mangroves. We thank the Lord for His provision and the joy on the faces of all who received!. A video of our visit to the mangroves with friends and volunteers helping - Video

Education

In July Josi was teaching with Zoom to a group of teachers with YWAM in Africa. The work of education is a great responsibility - the future of any nation is judged by how well children have been taught and invested in. And as we reflect on the challenges here and for Christian teachers also have to face around the world let us remember the scripture. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” Ephesians 6:12. A curious phrase “Follow the money” rings true when we see the trail of money and vast amounts of finance poured into literature, media and education to capture the minds and hearts of children. If anyone doubts there is a devil or spiritual battle going on, just need to look at what is happening around the world and see how children are targeted by the enemy. Lord Jesus, come quickly!

The Church's Response?

Since the pandemic the world has changed a great deal with new phrases and words, ideologies of division appearing with anti Christian agenda….even making inroads in some churches and denominations. . There is so much need for Christian’s to stand firm during these days and make sure the true version of Christian history isn't cancelled.

If churches in the western world wish to maintain a bright and faithful testimony - Those still faithful and follow Jesus Christ must mobilise, or the future will look very grim. If we look at the example of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation, all were located in what is today modern day Turkey….what happened to them ? There is a great need for the true church today to be mobilising, and take seriously the warnings Jesus spoke to the seven churches.

Drifting along is not an option.

Museums with a Biblical Worldview

One way to maintain a fixed public witness is establishing museums with a Christian worldview, which reminds the world of the greatness of God and how He has blessed nations who obey Him and reverence His Name. Already many secular museums are making drastic changes in the way history is presented because of the rise of cancel culture. What can Christians and churches do? If you or your church would like to plant or start a local museum where you live with a Christian worldview, know of a disused church or even donate one. Maybe they can be turned into a museum.. It could be a Bible or art museum, or even a museum specialising in local history from a Christian worldview. Please ask, I would like to help - a display of historical Christian art can easily be made available for exhibition.

The Broad and Narrow Way

Since our last newsletter and sharing about videos made about the Broad and Narrow Way picture. There are two - The shorter one is Gawin Kirkham with the History of the picture and Charlotte Reihlen with the Explanation which is about 40 minutes.. I received very encouraging feedback. The Field Operations Manager (General Secretary) of the Open-Air Mission, Mr JP Earnest. Was very appreciative and thanked me for the work on the videos and was glad the picture was still being expounded. Gawin Kirkham was Secretary of the Open-Air Mission 129 years ago and the mission is still very much active and preaching the Gospel in the open air today. To find out more about the Open Air-Mission and their valuable work please visit - www.oamission.com

Lilias Trotter

Algeria 1928, an elderly missionary lay dying and was surrounded by friends and fellow workers at a Mission she had founded 40 years previously, her mind was still clear and spirit still strong even after weeks of suffering. As the end drew near, she looked out of the window, and exclaimed - ”A chariot and six horses!” Someone close by asked ‘You are seeing beautiful things,” and this dear missionary looked up with joy and said - “Yes, many, many beautiful things!” Those remarkable, amazing last words were spoken by Lilias Trotter.

The Bible says "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants." Psalm 116:15.

Lilias Trotter lived a remarkable life, pouring it out in service to her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and Lilias, modeled what it is to be a true follower, an example of someone who lived in the light of Eternity. Her amazing story only really came to the attention of the wider public in the last 6 years or so. Lilias was also a gifted painter, and may well have become an acclaimed artist if the famous art critic, John Ruskin had succeeded in persuading her. But Lilias had another vision for her life - A very wonderful documentary and film was made and released in 2015, and very worthwhile to watch, It shares the story of this remarkable lady, and her journey, mission and art. A link to the film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g0VXJ7fiq4

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Video News update and the To do list!

Click on the link above to see the latest news video - 11 minutes 28 secs long.

Prayer and Thanks!

Praise the Lord for continued health, strength and provision!

Pray for the school and project, the need for safety and maintenance etc. Please see video.

Please pray for the Bible Museum and for partners. If anyone has suggestions or thoughts please contact us.

Please continue to pray for more volunteer staff and for evangelism.

Please pray for a new laptop which will be used for graphics and video editing - R$7,000 - about a thousand UK pounds.

Please pray for a visit the UK, hopefully we can stay longer next time. We don't want to leave it another 11 years to pass by! We know it's a challenge to raise the finance...and need to share.

And finally by all means do visit my online gallery shop. Worthwhile for anyone looking for unusual gifts and products petermill.redbubble.com

With our best wishes and prayers

With our love - Peter, Josi and Dorothy

For those who would like to help financially my bank details are as follows.

Giving through Stewardship

For those who kindly wish to support us in missions with YWAM Brazil. We are registered with give net - Stewardship Services in the UK. Monthly and one-off donations can be easily processed with Debit and Credit cards - please visit the link below to see our giving page. Give net has made some recent updates which should make this easier - for those who wish to remain anonymous, give net makes this provision. For people outside the UK who wish to give - the payment process allows International donors to opt out of UK Gift Aid system. Stewardship Services are a Christian organisation serving charities and missionaries from the UK.

For those who wish to pay through STEWARDSHIP We have an account at https://www.give.net/20089559 Before confirming any gift on give.net you will be asked whether you wish to remain anonymous. If you choose this option your personal details will be will not be made known. If you have any questions please ask for details Donations may also be sent via Western Union which we are able to receive here.

Peter and Josi Millward, Rua Pintor J. Figueiredo No. 805. Praia Iparana. Caucaia, Ceara. CEP. 61.627-250. Brazil. https://www.facebook.com/escolacristaaguaviva *Please note the email address is the current one I use

Tuesday, 8 June 2021

Peter and Josi’s Newsletter - June 2021

Dears Friends,

Greetings again! Thank you to all for your prayer and support. We are now in June, and Escola Crista Água Viva school has been open for a few weeks now Praise the Lord!. Our pupils returned, although not as many as at the start of the school earlier this year. Many parents have struggled with employment.and losing jobs. Covid is still high. Although not as high as it has been. All we can say is that it's been a very gruelling time, and Brazil is still in the grip of this Pandemic. Thankfully I had the 1st vaccine dose a few weeks ago and Josi had her 1st last week. And gradually the population is being vaccinated, so hopefully sooner or later the pandemic will end.

Word by Heart

In April we had Nathan Cardim, a student from Word by Heart who was on his practical and visited our base, so we were more than happy to welcome Nathan and have him present Word by Heart to our school. Word By Heart is a YWAM school that trains students to memorize whole chapters and books of the Bible and present scripture in a dynamic way. I also got to paint a picture to - I suppose you could call it - Word by Art! We all enjoyed Nathan's presentation and heartily recommend the Word by Heart ministry.

A short video

of the presentation at this link

News from Josi

I continued working with the community, school and project. Also Christian worldview training in education and the arts.

In this time of pandemic, our work has been done with the community in the following way: We have helped with counseling with the children and families, helped with food baskets, and the purchase of medicines for covid 19. Families with covid go to the health center, the doctor gives the medicine to help fight the symptoms of covid, some of the medicines there are at the health center they receive, but others do not have them, they need to buy it to start the treatment to fight the symptoms of covid 19, so we help with purchase of medications. We help with the children's activities, printing the activities that the municipality's school pass on to them.

In this month from April to until now in June there have been many people infected with covid 19 in the community, so we have been trying not to meet with the group, we attend parents separately and through the whatsapp group we have, trying to help them with their needs, as far as possible.

At school, many parents who worked or did odd jobs are unemployed, but we continued with the children. We have 50 children from 4 to 13 years old in school, many are not given any payment to the school, we have lived a miracle every day, with a little money we give to the teachers who work with our school, they are people from the community who also depend on wages to survive.

We have been training teachers and educators on the biblical worldview of education and the arts for community transformation. We have fruit from our work, children who were from the first group of children years ago being reached through ministry here in the community, are now adults and work discipling others and teach in the school. Here in the community, we reach many families and children through art and the Crianças do Rei Project.. Also the vaccines are being rolled out now. But the hospitals are close to collapsing with so many Covid cases. Please pray for Brazil and the government.

The Broad and Narrow Way - Peter

Since our last newsletter I discovered the possibility of creating videos presenting the History and Explanation of the Broad and Narrow way picture. For a while I knew about Text to Speech software, but wasn't all that impressed, that was until now. The software has come on in leaps and bounds, and it is surprising to hear the results. When I realised I could make realistic speech from just text it threw open all kinds of possibilities - And so I embarked on my first video project with the software which is over 19 minutes long The History of the Broad and Narrow Way by Gawin Kirkham. <<< To watch the video click on the highlighted link. The improvements to the software are due to A.I. Artificial Intelligence. For a long time I wanted to make some kind of video about Gawin Kirkham’s History of the picture, and had thought about using 3d years ago, but never developed further than a few still images. But now many things have come into place, and narration is a very important part. Also finding old pictures was challenging so I adapted old illustrations, photoshopped and created original sketches when I wasn't able to source suitable old pictures to follow the narration of the history. I also made the videos in Portuguese, French and German. Google translator is very useful, but one needs a native speaker to check narration afterwards.

I struggled a bit with the French version...but I was surprised how well the German and Portuguese versions were received and I didn't have to reddit.

Also completed the Explanation of the Broad and Narrow Way by Charlotte Reihlen with her 1st Edition lithograph - over 40 minutes long. <<< To watch the video click on the highlighted link above.. By all means please give feedback! It's a new venture and gives many ideas. I hope to develop learning activities and Bible study material to go with the videos too. Producing the videos has given me many thoughts about producing teaching material which is easily accessible. The old ways of teaching and education are undergoing something of a revolution at the moment. The pandemic has only accelerated this with teachers and schools having to adapt to technology and new teaching methods online..

Charles H Spurgeon - Surf School

Recently I was reminded of Charles Spurgeon phrase “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” I have to confess - an image of Charles Spurgeon, with a surfboard springs to mind! ....and so I decided to look at the phrase with a surfing theme in mind! They say Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal is where some of the biggest and perhaps most dangerous waves in the world can be found, only the most experienced and talented attempt to be towed out with jet skis and wait for these enormous waves to come barrelling down and attempt to ride. As well as training, they are prepared in their minds and braced for these kinds of waves. But what of the trials of life? We all face from time to time - how do we face up to them? And its this wave that Charles Spurgeon is talking about - And Spurgeon certainly had a few throughout his own life. But he had learned to embrace and kiss the wave that threw him against the Rock of Ages......he knew the importance of recognising the Rock of Ages during the storms and trials ....submission to the will of God, accepting His grace and mercy - can turn whatever trial we are going through - to victory. The trials we go through are marked with destiny and Eternity in mind. One example from scripture - Joseph in Genesis 50:20 - "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

. Prayer and Thanks!

Praise the Lord for continued health and strength!

Praise the Lord for His provision. (We give thanks for all the provisions and blessings throughout 2020!) For anyone in the UK who would like to give regularly we have our new Stewardship support forms. Please ask for details.

Pray for the school and project, the need for safety, health and quarantine

Please pray for the Bible Museum and for partners. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts please contact us.

Please continue to pray for more volunteer staff and for evangelism. (We give thanks for answers to prayer)

With our best wishes and prayers

With our love - Peter, Josi and Dorothy

Giving through Stewardship

Peter and Josi Millward, Rua Pintor J. Figueiredo No. 805. Praia Iparana. Caucaia, Ceara. CEP. 61.627-250. Brazil. https://www.facebook.com/escolacristaaguaviva *Email: jocumpraia@gmail.com *Please note the email address is the current one I use

Sunday, 14 March 2021

Peter and Josi's Newsletter March 2021

Afternoon visit to the Mangroves - Crianças do Rei project

Peter and Josi’s Newsletter - March 2021

Dears Friends,

Greetings!

The year 2021 has arrived and we are already in March! Quite a lot has happened since our last Newsletter December 2020. We do thank all of you who pray and support us throughout 2020, and grateful for all your kind messages and friendship.

Earlier this year - 2021 The school opened again and we had about 50 pupils enrolled, but we had to close because we had a case of Covid with one of our teachers, then a pupil tested positive. We took the prescribed measures and isolation and were preparing to open again after quarantine for the school. But the Governor for Ceara closed all schools including private schools. Last year was extremely challenging even though we provided pre recorded video classes for pupils to study at home. But parents struggled to motivate children to study as days of lockdown turn to weeks and then months. So this year we decided to develop live video classes so pupils can interact with their teachers and fellow pupils online. The link above shows a short video and each teacher in their classroom during school hours while children stay at home to view their classes online. Our team of teachers are very enthusiastic about this. So we hope and pray the pupils will be too! By the end of last year, we had lost many pupils. Many parents lost jobs and work….. And this latter situation continues this year with parents losing jobs. It's getting serious for many, and with this also comes much increased inflation since last year. With the lockdowns and disruption many businesses are finding it hard to keep afloat. We don't know what the next few months will bring, but the government will need to take care of all those who don't have income. Issuing lock downs and trying to keep everyone at home only works when people can have food and able to pay their bills. There is a great need for food distribution….and wonder just how families are going to cope. The vaccines are being rolled out now. But the hospitals are close to collapsing with so many Covid cases. Please pray for Brazil and the government.

Crianças do Rei

A few weeks ago two volunteers came to our YWAM base, they had been recently with YWAM South Africa, They stayed about a month, but they made a wonderful difference to part of the property which wasnt being used and needed renovating. We are so glad they came to help. Below is one of the places they helped renovate and we can now use for the Crianças do Rei project. Josi is serving the soup.

A short video of Ministry in the Mangroves -The video is Unlisted on Youtube, and can only be viewed with the link below and those you share with

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqKrhuS5Cm4

Dive into the Bible - A very deep pool, no one knows it's full depth, only God, yet its safe for toddlers to paddle and enjoy...in fact learning to swim in the Bible pool is the best thing children can do growing up, with eternal blessings for all who enjoy its benefits and find the Pearl of Great price found within its depths. Many wise merchants have been known to sell all they possess, that they might obtain this one unique precious pearl. Have you swam in this pool of no regrets? Whatever situation you are in, take a swim in the Bible pool, don't give up, when you find this precious and valuable pearl, seek to obtain it - because you wont regret it! “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46.

. Prayer and Thanks!

We give thanks and praise God for the many answers to prayer for construction and renovations and those who help. The maintenance of the school and base is an ongoing work and currently one of the projects we are working on is completing a small soccer pitch, which can be used for different activities. We need to raise funds for suitable fences and gate and repair and raise boundary walls.

Praise the Lord for continued health and strength!

Praise the Lord for His provision. (We give thanks for all the provision and blessings throughout 2020!)

Pray for the school and project, the need for safety, health and quarantine

Please pray for the Bible Museum and for partners. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts please contact us.

Please continue to pray for more volunteer staff and for evangelism. (We give thanks for answers to prayer!)

With our best wishes and prayers

With our love - Peter, Josi and Dorothy

Giving through Stewardship

An update - For those who kindly wish to support us in missions with YWAM Brazil. We are registered with give net - Stewardship Services in the UK. Monthly and one-off donations can be easily processed with Debit and Credit cards - please visit the link below to see our giving page. Give net has made some recent updates which should make this easier - for those who wish to remain anonymous, give net makes this provision. For people outside the UK who wish to give - the payment process allows International donors to opt out of UK Gift Aid system. Stewardship Services are a Christian organisation serving charities and missionaries from the UK.

Monday, 7 December 2020

Peter and Josi’s Newsletter - December 2020

First day back - December 2020 - Escola Crista Água Viva

Peter and Josi’s Newsletter - December 2020

Dears Friends,

Christmas Greetings!

The year 2020 must be one of the most unusual.....and it still isn't over!

For our school it has been a very challenging time, many private schools in Ceara already closed as they struggled through the year financially, It's been a very confusing time, even with reopening the school, we hear of schools who did open and then have to close because of cases of Covid….. Now Ceara is with a high number of cases of Covid….and may well go into another lockdown. But at the beginning of December our school opened again. We lost a lot of pupils...but maybe now we are open, things hopefully will gradually return to normal although we still need to observe distancing and masks etc.Thank you to all for your help, support and prayers!

In the month of November we hosted a team from Fire and Fragrance Discipleship Training School. It was a very encouraging time and the team got to visit many needy places here for prayer and outreach.

Recently we have been evangelising with art in the city and locally, and made a small video in portuguese https://youtu.be/qlOE7FrOYQE

To help churches find out about the kind of evangelism ministry and training we do. We also produce flyers to hand out for interested passers by. Part of the text of the flyer in the video is below - English Translation.

Eternity......Eternity, is ringing like a bell....Its chimes and echo enough to make me stop one morning last year and sketch a picture like this.....My prayer is it will make all to hear the ringing bell of Eternity ......its chiming for you and for me ....are we ready? Have we made our peace with God? If we died tonight...where will we spend eternity? Some may recognize the esteemed gentleman who writes "Eternity" on the bell. ...this man is perhaps the greatest Graffiti artist who ever lived and yet he could hardly write his own name.....he spent 35 years writing "Eternity" on the sidewalks and pavements of the city where he lived, and for years know one even knew who the writer was. We are well reminded of the scripture "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast in His presence. 1 Corinthians 1:25 -29

Vaccine - 2 Chronicles 7:14

The world is changing rapidly before our eyes now, politically and in so many ways. Many things have come to the surface this year we could never have imagined, we are seeing division, intolerance, polarization, extreme ideas - what was before unseen and hidden is now in full view. New names, words and phrases have come into use for a narrative few of us would have understood a year ago. Taking the knee and Cancel Culture, to name but a few. Much of the Press is no longer a neutral public service… but have agendas other than just the news. Listen to the cancel culture talk of Free Speech, then watch them coerce people into taking the knee... Where did this soft version of totalitarianism come from? Much of the free world has enjoyed a period of relative peace unparalleled in previous generations, a hard won peace on the backs of those who fought and died resisting tyranny during WW2, but above all we have to thank the Lord answering prayers of the faithful generation of Christians and Churches. The Salt and Light of their generation. Sadly, it appears, many nations today are turning their backs on God. At the same time, increased persecution of Christians and attempt to silence those who stand for Bible values…..We can perhaps remember one example earlier this year of religious intolerance - Franklin Graham banned from some Stadiums in the UK, he was accused of hate speech. It is interesting to reflect - because strangely enough it wasn't too long afterwards, all stadiums were being closed - to everyone, but for another reason - Pandemic! Before the pandemic really got started. In February, I woke one morning with a dream (The link to the dream) So should we really be surprised the Lord is shaking the nations? Who can blame Him? They say there is a vaccine for Covid, but the vaccine will not work for a virus which has been around much longer and more deadly - Sin. Have the nations looked at the vaccine God has provided for sin? if they continue ignoring His vaccine, what will happen? But we the people of God, if we fulfil the conditions He sets for His people...We shall indeed have hope for our land "if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Bible Museum

Since our last newsletter, with the school being closed made me think about what education means and the challenges education faces. A while ago (Last year) we visited a city further up the coast, where we came across a small permanent museum run by Christians. It was very good and very well presented. They made the most of the local history to make a very interesting and thought provoking exhibition. And with my interest in restoring and collecting old Gospel pictures…….it got me thinking, perhaps we should look at creating a museum - for the Bible. A Bible Museum is much needed and should be a good way to help children and young people learn about God’s Word. So this will be a long term project we can plan. We should have enough space without affecting the school. I have enough interesting artwork to make displays, all we would need is to create a chronological exhibition and hopefully acquire artifacts and old Bibles. Displays can be changed to feature Pilgrim’s Progress and notable historical figures, plus testimonies of Christians today. There are so many different ways to present the Bible and how it has impacted people's lives through history. If it is well done, hopefully many schools and churches may like to visit. Please pray…..Should anyone like to help please contact us.

Restoring and Republishing Gospel Pictures

Earlier this year I was able to restore and republish an old lithograph - Baptist Messenger Memorial Portraits. 75 portraits of well known Baptist preachers, including John Bunyan, Christmas Evans, Dr John Gill, William Carey. The lithograph covering a period of Baptist history. When I have completed researching I expect I shall have a better idea of the date of the lithograph. Also I want to plan another picture based on this, featuring all the preachers surrounding the United Kingdom. with the scripture "The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil." Psalm 125:3 Even though the preachers have gone before us - this is the land where they once lived, walked, preached and prayed for......land allotted to the righteous. ..I bought the old picture because of its significance. We need to encourage the church throughout the UK of God's mercy in previous generations and remind the UK of its inheritance in the saints.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3

. Prayer and Thanks!

We give thanks and praise God for the work on construction already completed for the 3 new classrooms. Please pray we might quickly raise the necessary finance to complete Praise the Lord for continued health and strength!

Praise the Lord for His provision. And for all who help and pray for us throughout 2020!.

Please pray for the school Escola Crista Agua VIva and project Crianças do Rei - For provision, the need for safety, health and quarantine

Please pray for the Bible Museum and for partners.

Please pray for more volunteer staff for evangelism.

With our best wishes and prayers for Christmas and the New Year!

With our love - Peter, Josi and Dorothy

Giving through Stewardship