7

Dale Mason

Operation Amazon
P.O. Box 857

Evansville, Wyoming

82636

Dear Ones in Christ:

We are very sorry for the lack of communication since Dale and Huey went back to

Brazil. But there has been a lack of letters getting through. We have just re ceived a letter from Dale on what has been taking place. They are having a hard time trying to get the house done. They now lack 3 doors, there is no 'loor as yet, no plumbing or wiring installed; but worse yet, no money ^

overdrafts trying to get a house built. After Dale got back he had the opportunity
They are concentrating on finishing the kitchen and a bedroom. By January ist^ $13,710.75 had been spent on the house. Since January 1st $1,885.00 has come in for the building fund so Dale has been using his living fund to build on. We never think of our blessings in America of being able to borrow the money to build or buy, but to borrow in America to build in Brazil 1s rather hard to do. Yet for another $10,000.00 we can see to it that they can have a house to live in. Pray
about it.

account has been overdrawn the last 2 months with March having $1,300.00 in

to start a new work and see several immersed into Christ for the remission of sins.

Also they have another problem and that is a car. They have a lot in Grand Junction,
Colorado and are in hopes of selling It to buy a car. Their car is rusted out to the point that it 1s literally falling apart. You can stick your fingers
the other and it fills the floor with water.

and the trunk fills up with water. The spare tire compartment has rusted away and the fire wall has a big rusted out place in it and is cracked from one end to

through it almost anywhere. The trunk has rusted to where it will not stay shut

needed to get around to the teaching calls or for preaching Christ. In America this would be easily remedied. Yet, this is not so there. There is a great need
$5,000.00 is needed for a new car.

The body is gone and another car is

and we need to pray about it.

We praise God for the offerings that have come in. The General Fund has been in

good shape with $2,413.16 given in March, $1,362.93 in February and $2,700,00 in
When it takes $2,000.00 a month to l^ve on this is especially true,

January. Yet when a house is being built it doesn't take long to spend $6,475,00.

God has been good to us In America but in that goodness He has left us with the responsibility of preaching the word- to every creature. We need to do so. If this work is done by the mouth of another it is right that we should support them
In It. The fields are white unto harvest and the laborers are few.
you each In his watch care.
In His Service,

laborers we send to the harvest will be taken care of. May God bless you and keep

Pray that the

Merlyn and Charlene Dunn Forwarding Agents

OPERATION MJVZON

Dale and Huey i:ason

Box 857

Evansville, Wyoming 82636

October, 1979

10i mj
V\V

Brethern 5

V/e i-eed Your Creative Thinking!

As a kid growing up in the cow towns, mining camps and farm communities
of the west, most of the folks X knew thought it was a good idea for every
town to have a ChurchTiost felt that everybody aught to go to Diurch and

Sunday School. I think that is still a good idea As a result of that attitude, I saw several new congregations begin, when I was a youngster. In my brief life time, there have been startling changes in the twons l^iany of them have had population eruptions of volcanic of my youth proportions A visit "back home*' after a doizen years of living in the
jungles of Brazil smacks me with the truth that once you have been away,

you can never really ever go "back home"

only exists in your minds eye

Its not there any more-it

In conversation with my brethern, who have not been away, I*m impressed with the fact that they are not aware of some of the changes that so startle
me. But when it coaes i3o the Church and hissionary Evangelism all of us are

aware that we can no longer go on thinking as we did when we were kids

It

is evident that "a Church in each town" just will not meet the need of the
expanding population out west .

In talking with my brethern about missionary evangelism needs in Brazil

and other foreign mission fields of tiie world, I sense that the Church of the
New Testament must become more vividly aware of those needs and the opportunities they open up to the Church. I'm not talking here about the personal needs of

the missionary, but of the evangelistic needs of the country in which he works.
It is true, as many are saying, there is pressing need for the Churches in the US, to become more aware of the evangelistic need and pportunities in the U.S.A..and to come up with an answer of how to resolve the problem

of planting Churches Jesus will not let us forget that the need for evangelistr is not limited to the U.S.A , so the Church has a simultaneous resposibility
to resolve the missionary evangelistic need in foreign countries^

The present missionary endeavor being carried on by the restoration Chmrches of the New Testament is praise worthy and must be continued, isut in the face of the worlds present need ifipr evangelism all of us know that our
present efforts do not even have the smell of being adeijuate. We must have

an increase of creative thinking and creative exacution of those thoughts to more adequately meet the present and futxire missionary evangelistic needs
both in the U^S.A.and in foreign countries

Let me talk about the subject frommy point of view from the place where
I work for the Lord, with His Church in Belem, Para, Brazil in South America. Our little Jungle village is set n the finger tip of a peninsula where

two big rivers flow into the mighty Amazon near its mouth. Sometimes it surprises people to finwi out that we work in a population af abut a million
people,

Our population concentration consists of many towns, villages and housing

developments that flow out from the city proper of Belem,

population concentration, that does not mean that everyone thinks of himse.I.t
This -jcan do 51^"' The people fi'OJn the

While it is a

as being from the city of Belem or belonging to it in anyway. is constructed alongside.

located there

a problem for a Church existing in a village when a new housing

a part of the village community, so will have nothing t*^ do with a C'fivi-n
The village community looks on the new

In the population concentration of the Belem area there are definate Geographical areas where Churches must be raised up. For examples there are at least 30 new Government Housing Developments that have no l\ew Testament Churches,
and most of them have no Churches of aA.y kind.

In addition, there are probably more than a hundred areas where ^uaters have moved in and set up humble housing, that have created large villiages
overnight Very few of these have New Testament Churches

Town area, none have succeeded.

are vertually unchurched. .

Although several attempts have been made to start Churches in the Down

Also the vacation spots surrounding the city

DREAM WITH I'iE

NOW

JUST

FOR

A hOiT,

Let's suppo"se that someway within the next five -years we were able to see a
Church raised up in each of these geographical areas,
WHAT WOULD BE LEFT TO BE DONE? '
1

Well, in" our area, where there are definate ci,ass levels in the culture,
the lower class is uncomfortable in the presence of someone from the upper

class. A person from the upper class might be able to evangelize those of the lower class but a person from the lower class would seldom be able to reach
those in the class above him. This means that in any geographical area where

there are population concentrations from a different class level; it would nec essitate a separate congregation for each class to sucessfully evangelize that area, (Saying that, it shouldn't be that way doHsn't change the fact that they just will not mixir they are not comfortable together)
Beyond the class problem there are racial differences. One of the

fastest growing mission works inour area is being carried on by "Unevangelized Fields ihission", among the Japanese immigrants. This work is being carried on by Japanese speaking missionaries, host Brazilians in our area resent the
Japanese so that they do not feel welcome among Brazilian Christians.

The Wycliff Bible Translators, who work among the many Indian tribes by way of their ovrn tribal languages are doing a notabley successful piec* of miRp.lon work, hy good friends, A1 and Sue Graham of the Satare tribe, have seen seven nhnrciies spring up recently among the different villages of this tribe.,

A1 Graham and I began attending the two Jewish Synagogues in Bele'm on

Satur- day mornings Ve know of no one else who is trying to reach the Jews of Brazil for Christ . We are looking for a way to get a Church started among these people. The Jews are a separate people who will have to have a seperate congregation of their own if they are ever to be successfully won, I am presently trying to see how a Gentil can begin such a work. While in

San Francisco a few days back, I spent some time counciling with some Jews who
are having some success in winning their own people to Christ. So, you can see that we not only have a problem to resolve5the problem of
making effective, productive contacts in each of these areas but Who are we

going to start with?

Hovr are we going to reach him with the gospel?

How

are we going -to m^ke him productive so the congregation can grow?

Another problem to be resolved, is where is the leadership for these Congregations going to come from? Is it going to come from the corgregations

with the gumption to go to a foreign country, learn a forei n language and

that already exist in the area? Our experience would answer "not likely". For example, if we had a hundred qualified leaders right now, it would not be too many to meet the evangelistic needs of the city of Belem, How many leader could we recEiiit from the USA? How many from our Bible Colleges and Seminaries? How many from the families in the pews? Husbands and wives

work with the souls of a foreign culture? How'many from "among the retired "" ministers, bisiness men, farmers and others? Recantly, Brother Bob hyers with his wife Doris, left a successful minliti*y in CoonRapids to come to Brazil and give of the best they have for the haster oiia foreign field. They have made this commitment after already having

wiiML.-ii.jo in every new area where houses are going up adequate land? That miflr'it ana then help them put up a building? The longer we wait, the higher the mice
^^he proWom as bccst they can, when the time comes? Ci* is it true as seme say,
ca:i t jiavc a Church vSOeso you h.-^ve a pi:t thecj In"?
we cono.eiiix-iiic iwi atavting; and let them rtsso.lve

of new

the half century mark of their lives. How many more can be rei^'ui+ed Kith that k.ind of courage for meeting the nood of m-issionai'y evaii^eliism out there? A VERY PRACTIOAT.-rnoBLEh TO BE RESOLVED-is how are a multiplying niijuber
to be housed? Should we malte an effort to acouire for

I'ioneyi

Should we wait until a small consrctmtion alrendy exists

TBere must be some CREATIVE THINKING in the area of housing new congregations
to resdlve this need

I am impressed by the way my forwarding agent, herlyn Dunn, has responded to this problem in beginning of the new Vista West congregation in Gasper Wyoming
Tffifey bought a good sized peice of land in the new housing development, them sold enough building plots to pay for the property on which to build the Church. This is something that can be imitated in simular circumstances. V^e need more

creative thinking like this to resolve these very practical problems in the
exxpansion of the Mew Testament iCIgurch inour time,.

As you note the needs we fiave in missionary evangelism, you may see that
much of what has been said can be applied to the Place Where You Live, Is your

local Church making an effort to reach out geopraphically to the unchurched neighborhoods of your area? Do you need to make provision for reaching some class or age group? Do you have a plan for providing leaders for these potential Congregations? iJhere are they going to meet for i&orship? How are you going t*
expand this local effort into an international ministry to reach into the _ _
foregin countries of the world?

What practical help and coulncil are you going to give your missionaries, ^o help them resolve the problems they are facing so far from home in sueh Impossible surroundings? Are you going to go stand by his side, kneel faces hourly? Is it too much for one man to resolve Alone
jointly by the whole Church?

with him im prayer and help him shoulder the weight of the Unresolved, that he
even with the

tjord's help, when the responsibility has been given by the Lord to be shared

The idea I hcui for missionary evangelism as I was growing up doesn't fit ^'he world's need any more, (if it ever did). Remember? "One trained man settling
down to one quiet pastorate where everyone in the congregation becomes his ?iend, or not too troblesome enemy." That old idea is never going to

resolve the problem of seeing a church raised up everywhere there is not one
in this old world.

the Universe said, "iiake Disciples of all Nations",. He, Jesus, has never given a different order that supersedes that command. l-assions is not an
option, it is the reason for the Church e:jsting. .

Dale, don't ever loose sight of the fact that the Supreme Commander of

to resolve the needs we have mentioned and we will see that this information is
shared with our missionaries in Brazil. Address your letters to t
Creative Evangelism Operation Amazon

Please send information frofiE^iaSVMxSg^ffiSMSi''jthat has been successful

Caixa Postal 1375i Belem, Para, Brasil 66000

The Iiarvel of microwave telephone broght my s<ep-mothers voice

fxcia the coast of Calif'orr.ia to the Belem Border of the Amazon jungle ,

TEfe doctors have done all they can.

"Your father is very sick He has been unconscious for 3 weeksnow^

He is not responding -to the medicine

iiy heaxt sagged sadly as she shared how he had contacted double pneumonia fell unconscious on the floor of their San Francisco apartment and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. . x n "I'm calling because the doctors have said they don't exjiect him to live. Son, will you pray for your dad? The doctor says thaf's the only hope now.
If he makes it through, it will be a miricle!"

Some weeks before, we had applied for permission from the Brazilian government to leave the country in hopes that we could go to the U.S.A.. ^ to attend our daughters, Joyce's wedding to Bruce Helm. At the time of mom s
call there wasn't much hope that the government permission would come

through or that if it did; we would haye_the money to make the tripk

Here's the good Kews % IHiie government granted permission to leave Brazil

Our prayers and the prayers of many brethern were answered on behalf o-jmy dadthat God would grant him a recovery to health for the purpose th.'it hw would have another chance to repent of his sin and follow" the lord I was there when he went home after eight week;^; six: of ^
intensive care. Oh, how I long for him to say yes to Christ

Vfe had the pleasure of performing Bruce and Joyce's wedding cerejnony on beautiful Casper mountain in Wyoming, ^

God supplied money to make the trip through His children, who love us,, .

the U. S, A. and we can never THMK rou enough for your

Dur trip possible. Thank -UI. oT YOU -ftrojn the bottom of

\'Ie have enjoyed our visit with the Churches during this brief ti^ ^
-maae
iiearts. .
In His -love,

Sincex*ely,
and Hwfij fjason