Bom dia,

We are a family of four from Austria who graduated from Livets Ord Bible Center in 2023/24. After Bible school, we moved to a small Portuguese village called Casais in the south of Portugal to serve people with the Gospel.

At the beginning of May, we had the joy of welcoming a team of six first-year Bible school students from Livets Ord. The team consisted of Samuel from Norway; Benjamin, Elias, and Rebecca from Sweden; Kevin from Taiwan; and Justyna from Poland.

Each day began with prayer and worship together in our home. During outreach walks around the village, we spoke with people about Jesus and invited them to our church services.

One especially beautiful moment was when the students visited our daughter’s school. They played with the children, made them laugh, and one of them shared how simple it is to talk with God and pray. It was very special for our daughter to experience this at her own school.

With the help of a befriended couple, we were also able to host two church services in our home. Both times, visitors from the village came. The couple helped us with Portuguese translation and even brought lunch for us one day.

It was especially touching that the students learned worship songs in Portuguese so they could worship together with the local people. During each service, one of the students also shared a personal testimony about their life with God.

Besides all the ministry activities, we enjoyed precious fellowship together through game nights, a barbecue evening, and a movie night.

Another special milestone for us was being able to buy 15 chairs for the second church service, making it much more comfortable for our visitors.

We also noticed that many of the villagers who attended the services were people we had already spent time with and built relationships with beforehand. Once again, this reminded us how important relationships are here in the village — and that the work here is already bearing fruit.

The most beautiful part for us as a family, however, was how much time the students spent with our children. They played with them, made them laugh every single day, and quickly became an important part of our daily life. Our children did not want them to leave again. So precious!

We are very thankful for this special time and for the partnership with Livets Ord.
Patrick and Johanna
with Malia and Elea