Dr. Sandy Simmons

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy New Year to each and every one of you! I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your prayers and contributions to my ministry in Brazil during the year of 2009. Many wonderful things happened during the past year, and your faithfulness played a large part in it. May your 2010 be a wonderful year of blessings from the Lord and great service in His Name! I am currently on a short furlough in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a guest of Ardmore Baptist Church, staying in their mission house. I will be here between the dates of December 22, 2009 until February 25, 2010, a furlough of just two months. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to take a few days off and get a little rest, but I will be going back to Brazil before you know it!

The month of December was very, very busy for me, as it always is for musicians in the Lord’s service. The Fepar University orchestra and the English Congregation choir of First Baptist Church Curitiba teamed up for three evangelistic performances of our Christmas Cantata. The music was a combination of favorites from past cantatas, chosen according to the text that led us through the Christmas story and the meaning of Christ made man. The narration was written and presented by Pr. Acácio Nascimento of the Champagnat Presbyterian Church. His wife, Cíntia, read the English version, and he read the Portuguese version and preached. The first performance was in a shopping center, where many people gathered to hear. The second was at the English service of First Baptist Church. The third and final performance was at a remote mission of First Baptist way out in the suburbs that is still meeting in a large tent, because they have no building. All three performances went very well, and the Gospel was preached to many people who had not heard it before.

The handchime choir of Champagnat Presbyterian Church also gave three performances, as did the Recorder Consort of Fepar University. The recorder group played at a locale that is one of the most interesting in Curitiba. It is called the “Bosque de Jesus” or the “Jesus Woods”. It is a small park run by a group of evangelical women who work with troubled peoples, especially the youth and Indians. They offer a special Christmas service to the city of Curitiba each year, with a drama presentation of the birth of Christ, and an opportunity for people to hear the Gospel through preaching and music under a canopy in the woods. It is a lovely place of peace and rest, and it was our privilege to participate in this time of worship and evangelism.

The student recital was also in December, the auditorium was full, and spirits were high as some students played for the first time before an audience. Thanks to the generosity of some of you, I was able to give Bibles to many of those students who did not have one before. Please pray that I might have more impact on the lives of my students. The hardest to reach are the medical students who have so little time to just chat. Many of the students come in from churches, through the extension department, wanting to develop their skills as musicians to use in their churches. We have long conversations about spiritual growth, the appropriateness of certain kinds of music in the church, and the application of Scripture in the music ministry. I really need your prayers for wisdom as I deal with these students.

You remember George, the Japanese artist who came to the Lord through our cell group. He is still very active and growing as a Christian. The cell is on vacation until I return from furlough at the end of February. Please continue to pray for George, that he will remain firm in his newfound faith and continue to follow Jesus. George is so thrilled by his new relationship with Christ that he just wants to give all the time. He does not have much money, so he gives paintings and vegetables from his garden. I have been the beneficiary of two paintings and some wonderful greens. Thank the Lord with me for the change that has come about in his life.

Ezequiel continues to serve the Lord, as well. I saw him just before Christmas, and he was still very much on fire for the Lord. I was able to give him a shirt and food for his family as a Christmas gift; it was the first one he had ever received. He told me before I even gave it to him that he was so grateful to me, for I had led him to the Lord who had changed his life and the life of his family. Ezequiel is a good friend now; he helps me distribute Bibles and tracts, and I give him a little money for the work. It is not much, but it furnishes him with lunch sometimes. The poverty in which he lives is more than most of us could ever imagine. But he is out there working every day, carrying people’s groceries, helping load and unload trucks, and helping people change tires—small services that are of great help to those who need it. This is the way he earns his living. Ezequiel was a victim of the Swine Flu, but he survived. However, his health has taken a downward turn as a result of the flu, and he has respiratory problems that have lingered for months now. Please pray for his health and safety as he works on the streets, and praise the Lord for his desire to share the Gospel with the people he meets.

Bruna has come home from Madrid and is back in Curitiba. She will be studying music theory and history with me this semester, as well as cello. It will be good to have the opportunity to work with her face-to-face and attempt to bring her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Please pray for Bruna and her mother, who are both still seeking but have not yet accepted the Lord.

My work load with the FATI program at Fepar University (Open University for the Aged) will more than double next semester with more opportunities than ever for witnessing to them. The last time we met I was able to share with them about George’s salvation experience. Many of them had never heard anything like that before. Some of them looked troubled, some looked puzzled, but some of them simply rejoiced that George had found the life he needed. All of them know that I am a missionary and that I am going to share Jesus with them. But they also know that I love them, and they love me, too. They permit me to say whatever the Lord leads me to say, even if they don’t want to hear it, because they are loving women. Please pray for this group of nearly 100 women. Pray for my stamina in the time period that I have to work with them each week, for it is very demanding work and requires much energy and preparation.

I wish to ask special prayer for my cell group which meets in my living room every Wednesday night. I have witnessed tremendous spiritual growth in the participants over the past six months, and three of them feel called into full-time Christian service. This is a very special group of people, mostly in their late twenties and early thirties. Pray that the Lord will grant me wisdom in my work with them, and that they will continue to grow and have a hunger for the Word.

I was privileged to come to the U.S. in December with six Brazilians, all of whom either sing in my choir or play in my orchestra. Two of them were invited to play cello and oboe with a local harpist (the daughter of former IICS missionaries Dr. Jim and Rosemary Davidson) for Christmas services at three churches. I had written the arrangement for them, and it has resulted in a commission from the music ministry at Ardmore Baptist Church to write music for harp and strings. Please pray for me as I seek the inspiration from the Lord to write this music. He is the Author, I am the pen.

Once again I want to thank you for your faithfulness in giving, your love and expressions of encouragement, and your daily prayers on my behalf. You have such an important role in this ministry, and without you I simply could not do it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Remember, should you need to contact me you can always reach me at this email address: ssimmons@coopstudies org. If you would like to send a gift to this ministry, you may send it in my name to IICS, P.O. Box 12147, Overland Park, KS 66282.

I will be leaving to return to Brazil on the 25th of February. Please remember to pray for me as I rest and resupply for the ministry. May the Lord bless you all!

Your missionary on the field, serving the Lord through music,
Sandy Simmons