A Necessary Sacrifice

            I traveled to Patos, on Thursday and arrived back in João Pessoa the following Wednesday night.  Here is a summary of what happened:

• I went to teach a 15 hour class to the members on "Letters To Asia Minor" (Galatians, Ephisians and Colossians).  The class went well and was encouraging. 
• We visited several members of the church in Patos. 
• We also visited family members of Michel's co-workers who live in Patos and Santa Terezinha, a small town about 30 minutes outside of Patos.  Michel is a Christian who works at a Chinese restaurant in João Pessoa and he was on vacation. 
• We visited three families in Pombal, about an hour from Patos and held a worship service in the home of the two Christians (father and daughter) that live in this city of 60,000. 
• We drove another hour to Cajazeiras to visit the church and the evangelist that works with the Right Step Program (soccer school for young teenage boys). 
• We also passed through Sousa to visit the Dinosaur Valley Park, although interesting, I was not very impressed with the set-up.  I have driven by so many times and have never stopped.  I did this time because Michel was on vacation and I thought he might enjoy it.  There was some adventure.  Joe McKinney was stung by a red wasp, to which he is allergic.  We were unable to determine if the wasp was pre-historic or not but I think it is safe to say that I am older the red winged culprit.

            While in Patos we also had a PORmissões meeting.  This meeting was to be a follow-up meeting from August.  I learned of the churches dismotivation with beginning a congregation in Pombal because of the lack of influence that Ezequiel has on his own street.  I began the meeting by asking where we were with our plans, then moved into what difficulties are we facing, how can these difficulties be overcome, are we willing to do what is necessary to overcome them and then what do we do now.  After trying to show them that difficulties exist in everything and to move forward we need to decide if we are willing to sacrifice to overcome them, the men were once again motivated to continue with the plan to establish a congregation in Pombal. 

            Luciano, the evangelist in Patos, myself and Michel went to Pombal to talk with Ezequiel and motivate him.  We talked for a few minutes and then took him out to visit others.  He had one contact already set-up to visit.  We visited two other contacts that Ezequiel's daughter Jessica wanted us to meet.  Jessica's friends came to the worship service and seemed to be interested in learning more. 

            Please pray for these three cities, Patos, Pombal and Cajazeiras. 

·       Pray that God may stimulate the Christians to love their neighbors and share the Gospel with them;

·       Pray that the Christians in these cities may grow in maturity in Christ;

·       Pray that God may give us all wisdom to carry His message of salvation to the entire state of Paraíba by walking through the doors that He opens.

Time To Go

  

This last month and a half I have spent in João Pessoa.  I have not traveled to the interior but there is plenty to do here.  I taught a three week class to the members of the church on "Letters to Asia Minor" (Galatians, Ephesians & Colossians).  I am teaching Sunday School on "Contentment", looking at how Jesus, the apostles and the first Christians thought, taught and dealt with the material wealth that God entrusted to them.  We moved into a more personal and practical aspect this past Sunday and began working on our own personal budgets, living below our income to be able to serve more and not live in debt as so many do here.  I preached the Sunday after Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16) on how God told Moses what to do on this day, what the Jews do today and how Jesus fulfilled this day for all Christians and that the forgiveness we have in Christ is complete and forever as long as we remain faithful to Him.
     Now that my class is over, Sunday school is moving into the direction of working more closely with those who desire to live free of debt and serve God with what He has given them.  I will begin traveling again.  This week I am going to Patos to teach the same class on "Letters to Asia Minor" to evangelists and other members from different cities, meet with those involved in the PORmissões plan (reaching every city in the state with the Good News); we are working on establishing a congregation in the city of Pombal by August 2012, visit one or two other cities close by and go to Cajazeiras to meet with the evangelist living there. 
     Please pray for this trip, especially the PORmissões meeting; our planning and execution of the same. 

May God be praised for allowing us to serve Him.

The Process Of Coming To Christ

     Beliza is a wonderful teenager who was invited to a youth camp last year by Iago, a Christian who, has left the flock. She immediately made a lot of friends began attending some Church meetings and our Monday basketball games.   Iago's sister, Leylane, who is the wife of my brother-in-law, began studying the Bible with her.  After many months she decided to give her life to Christ.  Her mom, who I do not know very well, came to her baptism and cried saying that she had prayed for years for this day to come. To me, it is interesting that it took years of prayer, an invitation from lost sheep, a Christian camp, basketball, friendship, Bible study, and who knows what else to bring Beliza into the arms of Christ. I know that all these people and things were important, even the basketball, because it allowed us to spend quality time with her. You can learn a lot about a person while sitting on a bench. Truly it is hard to know all that God does to win us over and keep us close. Thank you Lord!

by David