“For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations” (Psalm 22:8)

May the peace of our Lord be with you all!

How good is to know that the Lord our God is God over all peoples, languages ​​and nations. How good to know that he does not want to be God only over the United States, but wants to be called Lord among all peoples. The truth is, because the Kingdom is His, there is no discrimination or any form of prejudice that could stop someone from calling him God and father. The Kingdom is His and that is it.

We are His servants if only we obey. In our obedience, we declare to the nations, peoples and languages ​​that all are welcome to know the love of this God who has revealed himself in the person of the Son. “Let thy kingdom come, and thy will be done. ”

The Kingdom in Albania

On July 11, we were in Albania to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the first Baptist Church founded in Albania – Kisha Baptiste Lajmi i Mire (Good News Baptist Church).

This church was founded by us 25 years ago, Today it has about 80 members and is pastored by Rev. Edmond Palucaj, the first Baptist pastor to be ordained in the country.

It was a very beautiful celebration. We have had brothers and sisters of various denominations with us and founding members who now live in other cities and countries.

We were invited to preach the Word of God in this special occasion, which we did with enthusiasm and dexterity. The shared bible text was Hebrews 12: 2 “Looking unto Christ the author and finisher of the faith”.

We encouraged our brethren to stand firm in the faith and have Christ as the compass of their lives. It was a very special moment for all of us.

We want to thank the Churches that have been so faithful to us during our time in Albania. Without the financial contribution, prayer and encouragement, perhaps we would not have churches today planted in Albania. We would also like to thank International Ministries – IM, for all the support offered to us whether it is pastoral or logistical. We have always been able to count on you.

The Kingdom in Tanzania

Our projects in Tanzania continue to go very well. We are developing 8 projects in the Kikavu community in northern Tanzania. With about 12,000 inhabitants. This community had no access to any health service until we took on a small building in the community and turned it into a Surgery. By then the inhabitants of Kikavu had to walk for about 10km to access any health service. The situation in the community was distressing. The infant mortality rate is very high. 12% of children die before they reach 3 years of age and life expectancy is around 40 years.

Our projects are in: Clinical care, Medical centre for mothers and children (under planning), community care (including nutrition and disease prevention), oral hygiene, malaria prevention, medical centre for diabetes treatment, support for the local school (including school meals and oral hygiene) and social empowerment.

The projects have had a very large impact on the life of the local community. For example, we received in 2016 from the Tanzanian government, the award as the cleanest village in the Country and the weight of new-born babies has increased significantly due to our prenatal program

In November, we will be making another trip to Tanzania to follow closely the development of the projects.

The Kingdom in Great Yarmouth – United Kingdom

It has now been 8 months since we took over the Portuguese-speaking congregation in Great Yarmouth.

The city of Yarmouth is home for more than 3000 Portuguese speaking people from various place in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. They are immigrants who come to the city looking for a better quality of life but with no hope for the future.

We are offering hope to them through Jesus and as a result the work has gone from strength to strength to the glory of God. When we arrived, we had about 20 adults and 8 children, we are now about 50 adults and 15 children. God has been very good. Soon we will be having baptismal classes.

Prayer Requests

• Pray for this year World Mission Offering. Pray for our churches to be generous on their giving.
• Pray for us, that the Lord may strengthen our hands and firm our knees so that we may continue to proclaim the gospel of Christ wherever we may go and be.

Jorge & Hermelinda Damasceno

IM Missionaries