Railson & Heidi Gil
developing Brazilian community, building the body of Christ
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!
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Jan 11
2012 is here!
Let’s all walk closer with Jesus than ever before, think more like Jesus than ever before, and allow His dreams to unfold in our lives throughout the year. We hope this will be our predominant roadsign:
Please continue to hold Brazil in your prayers in 2012.
As we write, the nation is experiencing the hardships of challenging climatic conditions: drought in the south and northeast, and torrential flooding in the southeast and mid regions.
116 cities have declared a state of emergency due to flooding, while another 106 have declared a state of emergency due to lack of water. Govenment aid is slow to trickle in.
Around 15,000 families have been forced to leave their homes.
Dozens of residents of the states of Rio and Minas Gerais have been killed or are missing as a result of landslides. Our hearts go out to their families.
In the dry regions, many farmers have lost 100% of their crops (corn, soy, watermelons, etc.) due to drought and flash hailstorms. Every night, we hear the tearful accounts on the news. Times are desperate.
We constantly wish there were more we could do to help. So that’s where we try to keep our dreams in action. We are going ahead with the vision God gave us for business which directly profits the misfortuned. We still have a lot to work out logistically and financially, but things are definitely coming together. Special thanks to those of you who have partnered with us in Priminet.
In difficult times, true consolation comes from being rooted and grounded in Christ.
The church has grown significantly this year in the areas of worship and evangelism. There were several retreats and conferences in 2011, together with the leadership from the city of Macapá, which helped create a sense of unity and corporate vision. Church membership grew by about 300% in 2011, so we praise God for that.
Blessings for the New Year,
Railson, Heidi, Tim (11) & Sarah (8) -
Jun 9
Church Plant Update
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly a year since Pastor Manoel and his wife, Roseth, came in to town. Their dedication to the church plant has paid off in full. We started with about 6 members. Look now! Standing room only. We appreciate your prayers for this effort. Although we don’t like to get hung up on numbers, we can eventually forsee a church of about 3000 for the Monte Dourado/Laranjal area, so that is what we are believing God for. We (as a church) are in tremendous need for musical equipment and articles for children’s church. If you would like to become more involved, get in touch with us.
Pastor Manoel generally preaches at the Sunday night (main) service.
There are often times for personal ministry during or after the service. Although this is new for many people, they are usually really open and responsive.
Nutrition Outreach
Mother’s Day occasioned a surprise opportunity for nutrition outreach this month. Our children’s school invited me to speak to about 60 mothers of three-to-seven-year-olds about the importance of proper nutrition. Although I always like to speak on nutrition, I thought it was especially appropriate to address moms on this date. Mothers are, after all, the first nurturers of their offspring; they all have at least some degree of nutrition intuition. My job is to supply them with reliable information (food myths are common here). It was neat to be able to link spiritual nutrition into the topic of physical nourishment during the talk.
As of date, plans for nutrition intervention to the Planalto district and to a village in the interior have been put on hold due to lack of financial resources.
We deeply appreciate your continued prayers and giving.
Blessings,
the Gils -
Mar 17
It is March 17. Did you know that St. Patrick is said to have used the 3-leafed shamrock as an aid to teaching the polytheistic Irish about the trinity?
We would like to share an update with you all, particularly to ask for prayer for a few key areas.
1. Nutrition Outreaches
More doors are opening for ministry in this area. Two churches have approached me with respect to health-evangelism. The first has invited me on a boat trip to some needy areas in the interior of the Almeirim area. If all goes as planned, we will distribute emergency food, conduct nutrition evaluations, pray for a lot of people and probably have a message/service. The other is with the Paz church we are involved in, and will be an on-going health evangelism ministry in areas generally near church home fellowships. As we begin to work in this dimension, we ask for your prayers, for guidance and for financial providence.2. Milk Program
When I was laid off from my Porto de Moz job in January, I truly felt the Lord’s hand in it even though it created a significant financial hardship for us. On the 3-hour van trip back home the Lord filled my head with dreams of conducting nutritional interventions in Almeirim, as I did in Porto, without having to rely on the local government for funding. After all, shouldn’t the Body of Christ be able to do it better than the government? One of the most effective nutrition interventions is known as the Programa do Leite (Milk Program). Conceptualized by the World Health Organization, it is targeted towards nutritionally needy children 0-5 years and undernourished pregnant women. By our figures, initially, we could significantly improve the nutritional status of 350 debilitated individuals while sharing Christ with them for about $3600/month. Get the word out! If we start hearing back from individuals and organizations interested in sponsorship, we can begin to put our plans into action. We have the contacts, the space, the practical experience and the desire. We just need guaranteed financial coverage.3. Igreja da Paz
The local church of which we are a part is a blessing. We are renting an old building much like an school house right beside a repair yard for heavy duty tractors and trucks. (It’s cool to see the sparks and flashes from the welders’ work as we are worshipping!) Each Sunday sees new visitors. We are constantly doing fund-raisers for buying stackable chairs, as they get filled up as fast as we buy them. Pray for pastors Manoel and Roseth, a visionary young couple from Macapá who are giving their all to see the church fit and well fed. They are living at the church, which as we know from experience, can be exhausting. The building is hot and dusty (from the constant traffic on the dirt road outside), so pray for their health & stamina, as well as possibly for a different place to live.Thanks to all who have given sacrificially to Brazil through financial support of our efforts. We are grateful to God for you and trust Him to return the blessing!
We want to remind you that if you would like to donate, you can now give electronically through Paypal.
More, Lord!
Heidi Gil (for Railson, Tim & Sarah, too) -
Oct 25
Praise God! I am back to working in Clinical nutrition at the local public hospital. Since my permanence was granted in March, I have a little more leverage to begin recognized service, even though my green card hasn’t come yet. So, I took advantage of few strategic relationships I had developed, including with the hospital director and the current nutritionist. While the other nutritionist manages mostly food service and patient diets, I do outpatient consultations. Word has spread throughout the community and demand has grown. I may soon have to add a third day to my work week.
My work is still volutary, which gives me a certain satisfaction and conveniently keeps me out of the political bureaucracy rampant in Brazil’s socialized health system. For the time being, our sponsor’s donations are enough to subsidize this work.
Our satisfaction in health care is two-fold. First we are able to aleviate individual’s health issues to some degree, and second it gives us many, many opportunities to share the gospel. Having access to the hospital wards puts me in contact with people at all levels of trauma. Last week I prayed for a child who had to have blood transfusions while recovering from malaria and for a 10-year-old with Reyes Sindrome, a health complication for which our hospital does not offer any specialized treatment. I also get to share Jesus in a relevant way to other hospital staff, and even those in administration at the government level.
You may note from the photos that the local hospital and heath posts are by no means luxurious. But they do offer basic doctor’s examinations, first aid, and, interestingly enough, nutritional surveillance. The hospital in Monte Dourado is in disrepair, mostly due to corruption. It lacks medications, many surgical items and even food at times, a definite consternation for us nutritionists. Still we are hopeful that with the newly elected government, this situation will improve.
By way of explanation: You will not see photos of patients or the inside of the hospital very often in our Space. This is because we want to protect the privacy of the patients, and we do not want to unintentionally take on a journalistic image inside the hospital. People may become suspicious of us taking photos if they do not fully understand the philanthropic reasons behind what we do.
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Laranjal Under Water
Filed under CommunityApr 11After about a week of panic among affected families and shop oweners, the waters are finally receeding. But the rainy season won’t be over for another month or two yet. The Laranjal do Jari is the city in the State of Amapá which lies directly across the river from us, and is home to some 45,000 residents. Lest anyone should worry, although we are geographically very near the flood, we are in no danger, since we live on the high, rocky side of the river. We, along with other residents of Monte Dourado, have been involved in clothing and food drives for the victims of the flood all week, and especially thank those of you whose donations “happened” to come at just the right time. Flooding is not uncommon in the Laranjal; houses are built on stilts in areas subject to seasonal flooding. But the amount of precipitation this year has exceeded even that of 2000, which also produced a sizeable flood, and hasn’t stopped yet. Many homes in areas considered well out of flood zones have been affected this year. On the bright side, we are grateful for contact with residents of the Laranjal which the occasion has afforded us, and always look for doors of opportunity to share the Gospel.
