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JAMIMY. MUSI 1888

"Things Are Great In '88'

Many times people have asked us, "Where is Portugal? Isits capital Madrid?" Other such questions are common as we share with you, our supporters. What a joy it is to find those who have studied, or have remembered their geography and locate it correctly. My answer usually is,"Go to New York City, hang a right ifyou live south of New York City, or hang a left if you live north of New York City and go till you strike land." Most know that it ison the southwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with Spain and the Principality of Andorra. The picture describes the most "Western Point" of the European Continent, where this monument was erected to commemorate the spot. The Portuguese epic poet, Luiz de Camoens, describes it in this way in his famous poem about the discovery of India,"... here where the earth ends and the sea begins." It is exactly 38 47 (North) latitude, and 9 30 (West) longitude, and ] 40 meters
above sea

'

RocaJK- ' could conceivably arrive at the Cape of the Rock or slightly
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f0 S T*i4 4JSOfmt N r* L TO
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Ifone would follow my advice and begin in New York, one

above it.

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this one promises to be one of the best yet. The Church at

as we begin this year, our whole ministry team agrees that

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JjHyl evident. God is adding people to the group here. The Faith
Thank you, supporters, in this work. Several recent visitors have
different people will be an added boost tothis venture of faith.
that we will continue to express this love as before.

beginning to push our meeting place to the limits. Sunday School attendance and participation is excellent and growth is
Promiseshavedoubledoverthepastyear. Prospects are bright for the new work in the Montiio area. Projected visits from

Carcavelos isgrowing in many ways. The services in the AM are

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echoed one phrase:'This is a Church that loves people." Pray

Bible Institutes
ii^Sk We are blessed by having two good Bible colleges that havea
visionfortheworldondprepareworkersforthekingdom. Mt.Hope
BibleCollege, affiliated with the Assembly of God, USA, has been a

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blessing to us. Theirwarmth and desire to see "the unity of the body"
special events.

visibly manifested is on inspiration. Dickhas taught twice a year for

them for several years. The facilities are made available for retreats

Harry Osland, Director,spoke to our congregation recently and brought some students who also taught in Sunday School classes.

One young lady gave her testimony about how Jesus touched her lifein a convent and brought her to the living

The Portuguese Bible Institute is a non-denominational

school where Edilson is finishing up his last year of prepa-

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ration. Fabiano Fernandes, Director of the School, and

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three students, including Edilson, shared with our Church

andthe SundaySchool recently. We arethankful for their

existence and vision for Portugal.

God will raise up 5 families to help with the initial

phase of thisnew work. May we be intune with God's will and timing for this. Pray for thisas you
read this newsletter.

Bsptism
There is no better time for rejoicing than at a baptism. Manoel Fragoso, a 66-year-oid man, was baptized recently with much rejoicing from his wife and family. We have known him for 16 years and have prayed about him during this
time. God has become real to Manoel and the

promises of Jesus are more precious. The Holy

spirit has been working inthisfamily; to God be the glory. Pray for the rest of the family that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their need for God. Pray for the Fragoso family.

Special Blessings
During these years we have been blessed with special people who have worshipped with us from time to time. Irefer to the Wycliffe BibleTranslators. Theirmain task while here

is to learn Portuguese. andJoyceWilsonwer^

Wycliffe.

7/ie Richard McCurran family.

CliurGli Fell(

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with Fabio and Tiago.

works with the youth and small groups, is pictured

Walter and Ana Cristina. Normally, Iam taller than

Our church family is varied, different, but like many congregations in other ways. Edilson, who

Pictured belowleft are two ofouryoung adults,

Edilson, center, with Fabio and Tiago.

wife of Erik, who ministers to the church

Sarah and Imet Ginny (Loft) halfway when we

took Rebekah Morris to livewith her grandmother. She had spent a few weeks with us. Sida,
in Alcantarilla, come with Ginny.

Walter, Dick and Ana Cristina.

Dick & Ginny with Rebekah Morris and Sida.

Prayer Requests
1. Pray for Edilson as he finishes his last year in Bible College.
2. 3. 4.
5.

Pray for Noemia Santos as she continues her 2nd year at Johnson Bible College and for the group conning with her this summer. Pray for our small groups as they begin and continue on. Pray for Cristina Beach who will be with us from the USA. Becky Sitzes, her mom and dad
and friend as well.

Pray for the missionaries to have the strength, wisdom and discernment for the tasks
here.

New E-MeD Address

Our new E-Mail address is: nD21 fl@mail.teleDac.Dt or cibertia@mail.teleDac.Dt

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r/,

VOLUME XVII

APRIL-JUNE 1998

NUMBER 2

Past and Present

In a recent swing through Cascais, Sarah and I dropped

by the house where we held our first meetings almost seventeen years ago. This house was one of hundreds that the

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returning ones" to live in unti! better housing could be found

Portuguese government had leased for the "Retornados -

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for them. After the coup in 1974 in Portugal, one million from Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Mozambique, as Portuguese citizens, chose to come to

Portugal to live rather than stay in the former colonies under Communist regimes. Lew Coss had made thiscontact before we arrived and had had several meetings withthe expatriates. More than 50 people livedhere, shared the meager quarters, and hoped fora house and a better life. Regular weekly Bible studies and services were held and eventually a Sunday afternoon meeting was arranged in a different place. TwoV.B.S. were held inthe driveway. Several people accepted Christ and were baptized into Him. They formed a nucleus of the first church begun here. All are now

scattered to the four winds within Portugal. We praise God for the "first fruits" and for those faithful
ones who still sen/e the Master.

to re-establish their lives there. Ricardo Marques, one such young man, expressed this wish and is now being able to fulfill it. He is returning to the southeastern area of Angola where he will begin a farming nucleus for 100+ people. Floriano Ucuahamba, a former Angolan pastor, is
pictured with Ricardo and Dick. Floriano had been instrumental in

Al expres eda firm desire to return to theircountriesone dayand

Recent Visiters

aiding Ricardo inthisundertaking. His organization iscalled "Movimento de Paz para Angola," or "Peace Movement for Angola."

New missionariesworking in Iberia are always a blessing. It's hard to soy that Bill and Jackie Brant are new missionaries after their years of service in Africa. We were pleased fo have them visit with

Jackie Sutheriand, Becky Sitzes, Phyiiis

BIN &Jackie Brant and Rob &Cindy Shooff Sutheriand, Judy Ziegier, Sarah &Dick Robison
ChiristinoBeacii

us, along with Rob and Cindy Shoaff, who are beginning their work in Fuen-Girola, Spain. May God
richly bless them as they witness among the Spanish and Arab people in southern Spain. Becky Sitzes and her mom and dad, Jockie and Phyllis Sutherland, along with Judy Ziegier, were with us for a few days and were able to visitseveral areas of Portugal and Spain and to see the work.

We felt blessed to have them here with us and to give us a boost. Becky had been here previously
as an intern.

Christina Beach, from Moulton. AL, and an intern from Springdale College in England, spent five weeks at the church. This is part of her program at Springdale. She is the first intern from there to come. She contributed to our program admirably. She fit in very well with the youth and helped Sarah prepare teaching materials as well as preparing innumerous overhead transparencies. Thank you, Christina, for coming. God bless you in your further studies.

EasterCaleDratlon
Several years now the church meets at the Carcavelos beach on Easter morning to cel
ebrate the resurrection of our Lord and cel

ebrate the Lord's Supper together. Twenty-five people were there to praise and to worship God, the creator in the beauty of His handi

work. All returned to the church for breakfast.

During the week preceding Easter, one night was given to a re-enactment of the "Last Supper" of Jesus with his disciples and the commemoration of the Passover supper. The youth portrayed the event with
a narration of the various moments of the Passover
Feast.

Kids, Adolescents &Youth

In recent months God has blessed the church with a great increase of kids, adolescents and youth. Anna and Christianne Fife have been teaching the "little ones" in Sunday School which

can vary from 5-12. Three of the kids who come speak only French. They are from the Church of Christ of Zaire. Since we have bilingual youth in the church, they help out with the French speak
ers.

The adolescent class, which Sarah has been

teaching, has grown considerably. It can aver age 7-16. One of the reasons is the special effort
given to them by Deborah Fife. She has worked

with them In mimes, drama and special music. Edilson has done an excellent job of ministering to and teaching the youth. Beyond the

regular meetings, he has them with him during

the weekend from the Bible Institute. They watch TV together, go to special events together, and discuss their problems together.
The church has entered a 6-man soccer

team into the Evangelical Church League. Right

now we are into the final phase of the tourna ment. The last victory was 6-2. Paul Santos has

been spearheading this work. Pray for the team

that they may show forth the love of God.

Fetish Burning
A few weeks ago one of the women who was being
evangelized, decided to get rid of some idols and fetishes
that she had in her house. Robert, Dick and Wiison were there

to help break and destroy and burn up these articles.

iHewCiiurcliBs
Braga and Montijo are the two new cities where we are planting churches. In Broga, Carlos Rebelo and his daughter. Carlo, are leading in this effort. Pray for them and the "City of Bishops" in

northern Portugal. Montijo, on the other side of the Jagus River, is the

other area where the Carcavelos Church isplanting a new congregation. The Robisons, along with Edilson, Wilson and Elsa. (on the front right side of the picture) are assisting in this work. Pray for living quarters for the worker, Edilson, as he finishes up his 3-year course July
4th and assumes a leading role in this effort.

Furlough Plans
Itisabout that time again. The Robisons plan to be in the USA from the middle of September until the first part of January '99. We can be contacted here in Portugal through our E-Mail and/
or through snail mail. We will be locating at 1214 Hendron Chapel Road, Knoxville, TN 37920. Pray for us as we do the work that needs to be done before we leave. Pray for Robert Fife and

Edilson and Floriano during our absence. Let us hear from you. as we want to make reports to
all of you while there.

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.Jim

VOLUME XVII

JULY - SEPTEMBER 1998

NUMBER 3

Mission AccomplishBd! Journey Haif-Way Finisiied

About two years ago, in a conversation with Ruth
Santos, a mennber of the Christian Church in Carcavelos.

Portugal, I challenged her to bring a group of students to Portugal to work with her and the church after her sophomore year at Johnson Bible College. She has
done that and the Church has been blessed. The students from JBC have contributed to the edifying of

our church and especially the young people and in

their time here have stretched their faith to the point of

making some life-changing decisions themselves, as to

their future for Christ,

two years at JBC. We Ruth and Edilson continue to pray for her, her plans, and her.future. While here she was able to attend the graduation exercises of Edilson Bandeira. He finished his Bible

Institute Studies on July 4th, and is now engaged in working with the new Church in Montijo. Pray for him as he begins full-time in this new area. Edilson has finished
his course of studies. Ruth is halfway through her

studies. Please keep these and other young people

from Portugal in your prayers.

"For This Reason - Por Tal Razao"

up the "For This Reason" group from Johnson Bible College. They had spent 2weeks in Spain working

Robert Fife and Iwent to Malaga, Spain to pick

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with Eric & Siro Gutierrez and Ginny Loft in

who drove us there ond then back to Carcavelos,

:q Alcantarilla. We were able to obtain a16-passen- |y

Portugal. Remar is a drug rehab organization that

^
,

was begun inSpain and now has spread throughAfter spending an enjoyable day with Bill &

Jackie Brant, our plans were diverted to Morocco, North Africa where we were able to take the group, as well as Bill Brant to visit three cities -- Ceuta, Tetuan, and Tangier -in one day. Bill Brant made excellent arrangements for all. It will be impossible for me

. .. ... j
-

to relate all that the group did while here,

edition of this year I will try and finish it.

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jng the channel, it was decided to visit "The Rock." If you haven't seen this place, it

Since we had a few hours before cross-

"might be hard to understand" why "this is

ailed "The Rock." All but two of the g oup, plus Eric, posed for a picture with Gibraltar

XI uii J 3

^ Jl ^ On a pre-arranged signal, our fabulous & tour bus stopped, and we were ushered on to the side of the road where the "ships of thedesert"werewaltingtorus. Two"Camellite preachers" were able to mount up

for the pictures. My camel

groaned and complained . and would have spit in my

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didn't disclaim to him. There is strong evidence to the contrary.

While in Tangiers, we were taken to the winding streets and

various stalls in the center of town.

One of the group, guess who, was dressed up as a local

young lady with all of the finery. An abrupt halt brought us up to another friend of the guide who was a snake charmer. Sarah McKee and Andy Clark were two

^ \
lough for more details.)
sense of relief.

'

fl

^ snake was harmless. (See

me on fur-

As we traveled back to the border of Morocco, I felt a

There seemed to me to be an enormous

pressure on us while we were there. (More

about this on furlough.) We passed through the checkpoint where this last picture (at

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right) was taken in Morocco.

Donalds
in Mala-

hit Mc-

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ga where some of

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our garb purchased in Mo

rocco while others chuckled.

In Monforte, Portugal we stopped at a paleo-Christian church ruins and its baptistry. The archaeologist claimed to date this church and baptistry from the IMV Century A.D. The whole group was able to en-

Before you move, please send the mailing label with a copy of your new address to

ADDRESSES
Missionaries:

MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Box 13111, Knoxville. TN 37920-0111.

Mission Services Association PO Box 13111

Non Profit Org.

37950-9998

U.S. Postage Paid

Knoxville, TN Permit #374

Knoxville. TN 37920-0111

Dick & Sarah Robison

Rua Por do Sol, 29

2775 Carcavelos

Return Service Requested

Portugal
E-Mail: np21fl@nriaiLtelepac.pt
or

cibertig@maiLtelepac.pt

Forwarding Agents:

Phil & Dot Wiltshire

4824 Westbourne Dr.

Powder Springs, GA 30127

Telephone: 770-943-4668

ter into the pool. The day after we arrived in Portugal, the group and sev
eral from the church went for a retreat at

Mt. Hope Bible Insti tute. (Acontinuation of the group will

come in the next Pio-

meant Visitors
Visitors are always welcome at Rue Por do Sol, 29 Carcavelos, Portugal. The year 1998 has been one full of blessings that we have received through our visitors who have

come by our way. In our last Pioneer we mentioned about having Christina Beach with
us as a summer intern. She returned with her brother, Adam. They came to visit "EXPO,"
the International World's Fair that is in Lisbon this summer.

Jamie and Dana Parish, from Sevierville, Tennessee and Smoky Mountain Christian ChUr^,~were with us as well". It was good to be able to visit and share with these, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to moke new friends. May God bless these who have
been with us.

Adam and Christina Beach

Jamie and Dana Parish

Evangelistio Group From Brazil

Altiere Lima and his wife, Eunice, and six young people from Sao Paulo, Brazil, came

to share the gospel with Portugal and were able to witness to several young people in

Montijo. The group had made plans to come and give of their time and effort in evangeliza tion while here. Young people from Montijo were challenged to give their lives to Christ through their efforts. Thank you for coming and sharing!

Furlough Plans
It is about that time again. The Robisons plan to be in the USA from the middle of

September until the first part of January "99. We can be contacted here in Portugal through our E-Mail and/or through snail mail. We will be locating at 1214 Hendron
Chapel Road. Knoxville, TN 37920. Pray for us as we do the work that needs to be done before we leave. Pray for Robert Fife and Edilson and Floriano during our absence. Let us hear from you, as we want to make reports to all of you while there.

TheSF

November

preducUon
of the

12-15,1998
Convention

Hatienai

MissiDnarv
Convention

Center, Cincinnati,
Ohio

J*

VOLUME XVI!

3Asthisyeardawstoa close,wecountailof
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1998 NUMBER 4

88 Sure Was Great'

our blessings that have come our way in Portu gal. The "greatest gift" that has ever been

offered is Jesus, the Christ, and we wish you a blessed Holiday season. May Jesus be the cen ter of all of our thoughts, actions, and activities.
Visitors to our house and mission work have

been a source of constant inspiration to us personally and to the brethren here. May God keep these special blessings coming this way. Martin Sanders, veteran missionary in Co lombia. was a special treat for the youth and the
church as a whole. dedication to God's Martin, his music, and his

sonal sharing with the

work shone through his jj^ presentations and per- Jp)

well. His unique man-

youth and adults as

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^

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ner of playing the Colombianmusic including the words, rhythm,

and expressions made a lasting impres-

How about "a little" coffee?

"For This Reason" - (continued]

As promised in the last Pioneer, a few more pictures of the group's activities while among us in and around Carcavelos, Portugal. One of the main reasons for the excellent contribu
tion to our work was the leadership of the group exemplified by Prof. Norman Dungan. The church expressed their thanks by presenting

Three areas were targeted for open-air evangelism. Carcavelos is where the main church is located. Thursdays are market days in Carcavelos. Puppets, clowns, and mimes were used to present the gospel. A 3-day V.B.S. was held as well. Several S.S. classes were taught and three students preached. Several more gave testimonies

Montijo
second

area for the group to work. To arrive there they caught

the train to Lisbon. After a 12-minute walk, they arrived at the "ferry" which took them across the river to the public park of Montijo. A 3-day V.B.S. was held in the park and mimes, puppets, and clowns were used to attract the youth. The group played soccer with the youth as well. Edilson Bandeira is leading here with the youth with Dick & Sarah to open a new congregation among the 130,000 new houses that are to be built soon.
(See photos at right.)
"Quinia das Palmeiras" was the third area where the

group worked. A 3-day V.B.S. was held with mimes, puppets, clowns and recreation were used to present

the claims of Christ. This is the area where Ruth grew up.
f5ee photo at right)

A final picture was taken of the group at the Lisbon airport. Five of the nine students in the group have given
their lives

name is to be praised. Many debate the value of "short mission trips." This group has restored my beliefs in this type of
endeavor. Thank you, Ruth Santos,

Johnson Bible College, and the families and churches who supported this en
deavor. (See phofo at left.)

Braga,Portugal
Before leaving Portugal, Sarah and I made a trip to

Braga, Portugal to visit Carlos Rebelo and Carla, his

daughter, who are laboring to start a new congrega-

it has a long history of traditional Roman Catholicism.

tion there. Known as the city of "Bishops and Cardinals,"

God is blessing these initial efforts. Ana Martins is oneof

the newChristians there. Carios is highly recommended

^|

^
I

to lead this new work. We are trying to raise $600 a month new support that is called "PROJECT 600." One-half of the goal has been
reached, so we are seeking an additional "$300 more. These funds will be used to

support Carlos and Caria in Braga and Edilson Bandeira in Montijo. Would you be willing to help underwrite this amount or a part of it? The church in Portugal is matching this amount as well. Pray and give to this project.

Wedding
Dick united Jennifer Robison and Jason Barnhart in

marriage on October 10th in Fayetteville, North Caro lina. Jennifer is the daughter of David and Toni Robison, residents of Hope Mills, NC. They were married 21 years ago by Dick. It was a great privilege to perform this wedding for our oldest granddaughter.

Before you move, pleose send the mailing label with a copy of your new address to
MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION. PO Box 13111, Knoxville, TN 37920-0111.

Mission Services Association

Non Profit Org.

37950-9998

Missionaries:

PO Box 13111 Knoxville, TN 37920-0111

U.S. Postage Paid

Knoxville, TN Permit #374

Dick & Sarah Robison

Rug For do Sol, 29

2775 CorcQvelos

Return Service Requested

Portugal E-Mail: np21fl@mail.telepac.pt

or

cibertig@mail.telepac.pt

Forwarding Aaents: Phil & Dot Wiltshire 4824 Westbourne Dr.

Powder Springs, GA 30127

Telephone: 770-943-4668

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