Dr. Sandy Simmons

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy New Year to all of you! What a wonderful year was 2008 for the work in Brazil! All of this good work was because you were willing to participate with your prayers and your gifts. Thank you so very much for your generosity and love during this past year. May we have many more years ahead to share in this joyful ministry!

The time of year from Thanksgiving to Christmas is the busiest time of year for musicians, and this time was certainly no exception. We had recitals, concerts, and Christmas presentations everywhere. There were many wonderful experiences during this season, and I would like to share some with you.

In late November I was in class with my elderly ladies group that I teach at the university through the Open University for the Elderly project. We were rehearsing with the handchimes for our presentation on the recital only two weeks away. Someone came through the room while we were practicing and left a door open. The wind was rushing through and blowing the music off the stands, so one of the ladies, Miriam, decided to close the door (Miriam is the lady from my last newsletter who Dr. Davidson teaches piano, and we gave her the words to a hymn that she was learning on the piano). She missed the step up to the door and fell so hard! She broke her shoulder and had to go to the hospital. I prayed so hard for her during the next week. On Thursday, our class day, she was back! Her arm was in a sling, but she was back, wanting to play with at least one hand. I was so grateful to the Lord that I gathered my ladies around the table and told them I thought that we should pray together and give thanks to the Lord for bringing Miriam back to us. We sat down and held hands, and I prayed with them for the first time. None of them are Christians, but they were willing to let me pray. As I finished the prayer, one of them spontaneously began to pray, perhaps for the first time in her life! When she finished, they all spontaneously began to pray the Lord’s Prayer. It was a cherished moment and one that showed me that they are open and hungry for the Lord. Pray with me as I begin the new semester in February, that I will faithfully present Jesus to them, and that they will continue to feel the hunger and the need for Jesus in their lives.

The Fepar orchestra gave two Christmas performances this year, and both were received wonderfully with full audiences. The Gospel was proclaimed at both of them. We are very careful to do that at every concert, but the Christmas season is a particularly good time to make the Christ in the manger of Bethlehem real to the people who come to hear us play. We joined forces with the Fepar choir and the handbells from First Baptist Church, and played and sang the wonderful tidings of Christmas.

I participated in the orchestras of two churches for their Christmas presentations, and attended a third one. I played French horn in the orchestra of my own church, First Baptist of Curitiba, for five of six performances. So many people came forward at these presentations to give their lives to Jesus that I lost count! The presentation at First Baptist is one of the biggest events in town, and we averaged 4,000 in attendance each night. The price for a ticket is food for the poor, and the church this year was challenged in a special way. Our neighboring state, Santa Catarina, suffered terrible floods all over the state during late November and early December. Thousands of people lost their homes and all that they owned as tons of water poured into their streets and houses from heavy rains and mud slides. So, this year’s Christmas presentation was an opportunity to gather food and clothing and even toys for the victims of the floods. One of my former students from the Baptist seminary here in Curitiba is now the minister of music at another Baptist church on the outskirts of town. He invited me to play cello in the single performance of his Christmas presentation. The church was totally packed, with standing room only, and most of them were visitors. Not having much room on the podium with such a large choir and orchestra, the drama that was accompanied by the music was simple, about a construction worker remodeling the church. During this play he finds Jesus in a very moving moment, then immediately begins to share his new faith with his fellow workers. At the end of the presentation, people were invited to accept Christ as their Savior, and very many of those visitors gave their lives to Jesus right there. It was a beautiful moment. After the last performance on the 23rd, I packed my suitcase and went to Brasília to spend the next couple of days with missionary friends. One of my former students from the Rio seminary is the minister of music at their church. We went to the performance, and it was wonderful, too. Again, people gave their lives to Christ at the end of the performance. Please pray with me for the follow-up ministry to all of these new believers. Pray that they will find a church home and grow in the Lord, and that people will be willing to mentor them and help them focus on Jesus through the years ahead.

Please continue to pray for Bruna and her mother in Spain, who both need to know the Lord. Also, continue to pray for my students at Fepar University:  Eros, Felipe, and Fabrício, who have been exposed again and again to the Gospel, but have never made a decision for Jesus. Then, let us remember Simei, a young minister of music who studies cello with me. He shares with me the difficulties and frustrations of working in a small church, and we have many special moments of prayer and counseling together. Pray that I might have the wisdom and leading from the Lord in all that I say to him. I would ask also that you pray with my colleague, Dr. Jim Davidson, and me that we might meet the challenges of the new semester with love and the Word of Christ for our students. Pray for our performing groups, the Fepar choir and orchestra, that we might always be focused on our mission to take Jesus to the lost, and that we might grow in number and strength.

My Sunday School class in English is one of my greatest joys in my ministry here in Curitiba. As we begin a new year of studies from the Bible, please pray with me that the Lord will continue to supply the lessons, enrich our knowledge of His Word, and draw those who attend the classes to Himself. We always have visitors, and most of them are just in and out. Pray that we might have the wisdom to reach out to them and bring them into the class to stay. Also continue to pray for the Encouraging Word ministry, as I still send out a Bible verse and devotional thought each morning to more than one hundred people. I trust in the Lord’s promise that His Word will not come back void, and that people will come to know Jesus personally through this ministry.

Thank you again for all your prayers and contributions in 2008!  How very much we cherish you and love you for sustaining the ministry and keeping us on the field! May your new year, 2009, be the best of your lives as you walk with the Lord and enjoy rich fellowship in Him. May He protect you from all harm and guide you in your Christian growth.  Remember, you can participate in this ministry through your prayers and by sending your contributions in my name to IICS, P.O. Box 12147, Overland Park, KS 66282-2147. You can always contact me through email at ssimmons@coopstudies.org.  Thank you so much for a wonderful year in 2008. I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us here in Curitiba in 2009!

Your sister in Christ, Sandy