Railson & Heidi Gil

Christian missionaries in Pará, northern Brazil.

Railson, native to Pará, is called to developing projects which exemplify the Kingdom in practical ways, specifically through communications development and digital integration (that is, making computer technology available to disadvantaged classes). Heidi is a pediatric nutritionist and English teacher from Oregon, USA. She enjoys putting the Gospel into practice as she counsels nutritionally needy families. Our gifts bring us into contact with people of all levels, which often leads to house visits and impromptu gatherings around the Bible. We love it when God surprises our unsuspecting visitors with the tangible sense of His presence! Here you will find our current and past newsletters as well as photos of our family and region. Have fun exploring our site!

• Letter To Our Supporters

  Filed under Family
  Feb 12

  Dear Supporters,

  We praise God for the privilege of serving in Brazil. Each year our desire grows for seeing our poverty-stricken region changed through the knowledge of Christ and the demonstration of His power. As time has passed, our vision has grown and matured in many ways, as has our faith. And these are definitely times in which we need to exercise great faith.

  Nobody has been left unaffected by the international financial crisis. Some aspect or other of it is daily on the Brazilian news, even out here in the middle of the Amazon basin. But that doesn’t discourage us. Since the reality is that we are citizens of heaven, we can be grateful that our financial security doesn’t ultimately lie in earthly financial institutions and investments. We can all attest to the fact that we have been through tough times before, and I’m sure we have all come through amazed at how God has provided as to preserve His purposes in our lives.

  Many people don’t realize that rough financial times are especially difficult for those overseas who are dependent on the dollar. Simple plans that would otherwise be easy to carry out, like buying office supplies, providing emergency food, and giving rides, begin getting tangled up. In our case, a vacillating exchange rate coupled with inflation and the uncertainty of total monthly contributions drastically affects our income from one month to the next.

  In times of financial constraint, missionaries need to be especially resourceful in order to meet their budgets. For a number of years, Railson and I have been looking to ways to diversify what we do so that we will not have to be as dependent on the dollar as we are currently. So, in the last few months, we have aggregated towards our tentmaking efforts: technical sales, nutrition, and the new one, taxi service. But in the sales arena, even with a lot of extra effort, Railson’s sales remain low, mostly due to the declining Brazilian economy (a lot of people want to buy, but can’t). He is currently attaining about half of his normal sales.

  In terms of nutrition work, I have been unable to be employed (except voluntarily) in health with the federal health system for the past few years due to the fact my work permit has sadly not arrived yet. (We discovered the cause of an 8-month paperwork delay and were able to resolve it ourselves in 48 hours, but, disappointingly, the whole process has to be re-sent.) Even so, I am taking a leap of faith in setting up a small practice in a doctor’s office beginning in March. If all goes according to plan, I should expect to see 10-12 patients (that is, those who are able to pay) per month. This at least should help buy groceries.

  In terms of taxi service, we have acquired a used vehicle which has permission to be run as a taxi 15 days per month. That, besides providing safe transportation for our family (something which we have never before had), brings in enough cash to pay the installments on the car, purchase fuel (very expensive here), and pay the driver, but is not very lucrative in itself.

  Unfortunately, despite these efforts we have been slipping further behind each month since November, 2008. In lieu of that, we are opening up our situation with you, our supporters, in the spirit of teamwork. By putting our heads together we can come up with solutions. We do not want our effectiveness in ministry to be hindered any further by lack of funds.

  Our situation this month, February, will be very serious if things don’t improve quickly. We are currently finding it difficult to be able to buy enough food, and we are far behind on a number of important payments. (We do not think that having our power cut would exactly be the best of testimonies!) The Lord has better plans for us.

  Since our supporters have always shown themselves to be responsive and generous, even in the tightest of times (something of which we are very proud of!), we invite you to take a look at the following list of suggestions to see if there is one that fits in with your personal giving intentions.

  1. Invite your home Bible study group or prayer circle to sponsor our work. Even an offering of $10 a month from the group can really make a difference at this point. Divided among a few members, the amount is accessible for everyone. Challenge your members to “give a latte to missions.” If each one gives the price of a good cup of coffee, we’ll be going places!
  2. Increase the amount of your current donation by a few dollars, if possible. Sometimes people underestimate the significance of a few dollars. But in our case, every last dollar is sent directly to us.
  3. Sponsor projects or special purchases: Bibles and literature, nutrition clinic, etc. For instance, I am in need of a software program that costs about US$285 for use in the clinic. This will in turn help us earn money for missions. Additionally, we could use about US$300 immediately for music, Bibles, study aids, and excellent translated literature from authors like Bill Johnson, Max Lucado, Rick Warren, etc. For other ideas (and there are lots of them) get in touch with me.
  4. Introduce our cause to your friends as you have opportunity. Invite them to help support us.
  5. If you have experience with web design, you might like to help us create a more effective web presence than the one we currently use, teach us how to format our newsletters for more streamlined distribution online, and set up a method by which people can donate online. We need your expertise!!
  6. Our second business, Priminet, is officially registered as an importer. However, it is currently inactive since we do not have capital enough to open an office and invest in purchases. If you or someone you know works in the sales/exporting area and would like to exchange ideas with us, get us hooked up. This could be mutually beneficial.
  7. We once had a supporter send us some of the proceeds of the sale of her house. That was radical!! Of course not everyone can afford to send a large one-time gift, but if you can, we can truly put it to good use! Large gifts help us make large jumps forward with projects.
  8. Any accountants out there who can help with our international tax questions?? We have experienced a lot of difficulty finding an accountant who is willing to keep in touch with us long-distance. I really don’t think it could be that difficult! Our situation is fairly simple. We just need someone competent who can donate their time, give us some pointers online, and help us file.

  We are grateful for your commitment to missions and specifically for your commitment to us. As you know, this letter is by no means intended to pressure anyone into giving. Simply, wisdom speaks of the importance of making our needs known. After all, we are asking in favor not only of ourselves, but also of a world which calls itself Brazil.

• Back to School

  Filed under Family
  Feb 12

  Tim & Sarah are back to school (relief!). The Brazilian school system changed last year, adding an extra year to primary education, which had the effect of making Sarah jump ahead a year, at least in terms of what the grade level is called. So from now on she and Tim will be a year apart in school since Tim will continue on the old track and Sarah on the new. It’s actually nice, Sarah is in first grade and Tim in 2nd, but instead of Tim being done with primary school in 8 years, he’ll have an extra year tagged on the end. In any case, it’s a move in the right direction for the school system & quality of education.