Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - With Plastic

 

I traveled to Recife with a carload of people to a leaders retreat called ELICAMP (Encounter of Leaders in the Field).  Some unexpected things happened.  The first thing is about Nicholas, my 13 year old son.  He loves to play soccer and was invited to play with the Right Step program from Cajazeiras.  The program was coming to Recife to play against a professional soccer team.  You may be thinking, he must be good to play against professional adults.  If that is what you were thinking then you were wrong.  He is good but - come on people.  He was going to play against people his own age that are a part of the, let's call it, the very minor leagues.  The day we arrived in Recife, Café called me to tell me that the trip had been rescheduled.  So here Nicholas was, a 13 year old among men who would be listening to lessons on how to have peace in your; (Spiritual life, Finances, Congregation, Family and Ministry).  Nicholas teared up when I told him that he was going to have to stay with me the whole weekend.  He ended up having a lot of fun and he sat through all of the lessons and listened attentively.  He even pushed the button to pass the slides while I was teaching my class on "Peace in Finances."  We took advantage of our time, and I helped him prepare his first Sunday School lesson he taught to the young people the same Sunday of that weekend.  Everyone said he did very good. 

The next interesting thing was the result of my class.  I had four hours and 20 minutes of class time to cover twenty hours of material.  I hit the high points, the main one of the whole course being?  Do you remember?  Contentment!  Everyone really seems to love that lesson, and I think it is because it does not matter how much God has entrusted to you at this moment, whether it is a lot or a little, we all need to be content and invest in His Kingdom.  I also got into Dave Ramsey's material on how to administer your finances, and two people handed me cards while I was teaching.  No, they were not "thank you" cards or "get well soon" cards.  One was a membership card to Sam's Club - my dad will love that.  The other was a credit card.  This is the first time that has spontaneously happened while teaching this course. It is exciting to see people understanding the biblical teaching about contentment, that is, to serve God better, trusting Him and not a piece of plastic.   

 

P.S.  - I heard the next day that some broke their credit cards in their rooms that night.  I don't know how many, but I was glad to hear it.   

Please pray: 

• that God may always be the one in whom we trust for our needs and that we may be thankful to Him for His Mercy and Grace; 
• that the church in Brazil may mature to support its own workers, missionaries, preachers and elders; 
• that each Christian may administer well what God has entrusted to him/her by investing in God's Kingdom in the many ways that is possible. 

One Frustrated Missionary

 

Joseph and myself traveled together, he stayed in Patos and I went on to Cajazeiras.  Joseph taught the book of Isaiah in an intensive class to SEARA (Servants Sent To Announce the Kingdom of Love).  While in Cajazeiras, I taught around 15 people the first night about hell.  I asked them if they wanted to go to hell, what they thought hell would be like, and who was going to be there.  We read Revelation 21:8 and spent quite a bit of time discussing what type of people would be in hell.  After a little over an hour class, one of the students commented about Jesus, as if to say, do you not believe that Jesus saves us from hell.  I was happy with the comment because I felt like I was getting through to someone.   

Most of the kids that were there are a part of the Right Step program where they play soccer and have Bible studies, but most of the boys seem more interested in soccer than in learning about God.  Knowing this, I gave them a decision to make so that I could have a better idea of what they really believe or want.  Since everyone raised their hands when asked if they believed in hell and did not want to go to hell.  You would think that they would be interested in learning about heaven, who will be there, and how to get there.  The decision I gave them was, if they really wanted to know about heaven and how to be sure one could get there, to come back tomorrow.  "If you really don't care and don't believe, then you don't have to come back tomorrow."  I explained that I wanted and hoped they would all come back.  Only three of the young people showed up the next day and they are already Christians.  I tell you this because I am frustrated with the lack of interest.  We all know it exists and there may have been some circumstances that prohibited someone from coming but not all of them.  It saddens me greatly.  I would love to see these teenagers in Christ.  I can not force them.  I am saddened and frustrated because of all the work and effort not by me but by Café and Leila, who work with them almost daily.  How great is God's mercy and patience with us all, the only difference between myself and these teenagers is that I finally came around to believing.  Some, maybe a lot, of these teenagers will never truly believe. 

 

Please pray: 

• that God may continue to be patient with these and others who do not believe around the world; 
• that God may bless Café and Leila with love and patience for the lost, as well as myself; 
• that God may bring these boys and girls to believe in Him fully.

Jeremy Newlin shared these files from Dropbox:

jpg Cajazeiras - Nov -2013.jpg

jpg Cajazeiras - Nov - 2013 B.jpg

Alagoinha - Whole Heartedly

On a bright and beautiful Sunday afternoon, I travelled to Alagoinha, about one hour and thirty minutes from João Pessoa to meet with the church and teach on worshipping God through our finances. Instead of the usual sermon, I taught more of a Sunday School class type lesson on how Jesus, the apostles and the early church dealt with money.   

Most of the Christians in Paraíba either came from the Catholic or denominational doctrine of tithing and free will offerings.  Yes, the Catholic church does tithe now.  Free will offerings are seen as giving the left overs.  Completely different from what the Bible teaches.  So how do most Christians give to the work of the church here in Paraíba?  They usually fall under one of the two categories that I described above.  Can you guess which one most of them fall into?  I bet you can.  Why is it that Jesus, the apostles and the early church dealt so much with the money topic?  I think it must have been a problem then, too.   

I have taught quite a bit about this subject over the past two and a half years.  The truth of God's Word is sinking in the lives of some brothers.  It is satisfying to be a part of moving someone closer to God and away from the World.  We are all still learning but the journey itself is exciting.  We are on our way to meet God face to face. 

I was asked to teach this same course at ELICAMP (a leaders retreat for the congregations of the northeast of Brazil).   

Please pray: 

• that the Lord's church in Brazil will live contently with what God has given each member 
• that each member will live the truth in our Lord's Words "It is more blessed to give than to receive." - Acts 20:35 
• that each member will give themselves "whole heartedly" first to the Lord.   

There is Power in God's Word

          The month of August has come and gone as a blur and we are almost half-way through September already.  I have only been back in Brazil for seven months, since our last visit to the States but it seems so far away.  So much has happened; so many trips, classes taught, meetings and baptisms that it is a blur.

            In August there were 9 baptisms throughout the state, that I know of.  Three of them were in a small town called Emas.  The evangelist, Givanildo, has lived in this city for several years and the church has grown very little.  I began studying the Bible with Givanildo by phone once a week, every week and he began teaching more people in his city of Emas.  This past month, three people were baptized and more are studying God's Word. 

            I do not believe that my studying with Givanildo was the cause of these three baptisms but I have "seen" or should I say heard a change in his voice and the subjects he talks about.  I have seen him more often on my trips to the interior, where as before, he would hardly show his face, I have grown closer to him and he has helped me to grow in my relationship with Christ.  He is a very humble person with a great desire to serve God.  He is now seeing evidence of the service he is giving.

            This article was written to celebrate the power of God's Word in our lives.  Read it. Study it.  Live it.  It will change your life and the lives of some or all of those around you.

 

Please pray:

• for the maturing of your three new brothers and sisters in the city of Emas;
• for Givanildo's love to study and live God's Word to continue to grow;
• for the congregations throughout the state of Paraíba and their growth.

On The Road Again

I know I have not written or sent any news in the past couple of months.  I am alive and doing well.  I have been very busy and have not taken the time to sit down and write about what has been going on.  I am sorry for not writing.  I will try to catch you up on the main things that have been going on over the past three months.

I travelled to Patos this past weekend to teach a course on Minor Prophets and to meet 

with the evangelists throughout the state. Twelve members of the congregation in Patos 

participated in the course, two of these had left the church and have recently come back and are 

eagerly seeking fellowship with other Christians. The meeting with the evangelists had a 

representative from seven congregations.

The Minor Prophets bring a message of judgment and salvation with a tone of wrath and 

love. Not one of the students present had ever read all of the Minor Prophets. There is a great 

need for teaching and motivating the Christians to spend time with God and also with His Word. 

I want to thank Joe McKinney for allowing me to use his notes and study on the Minor Prophets. 

What a great help his material was to this course! We talked about the historical contexts of each

prophet and the people to whom he spoke. We read just one complete chapter from each of the 

books; I had only 15 hours to teach all 12 books. We talked about the practical lessons one can 

gain from each book and how these prophecies apply to the church and to our lives today. 

The meeting with the evangelists from different congregations went very well. I read 

Psalm 19, we spent five minutes in silence to meditate on the Psalm, we prayed and sang verses 

7-10 and 14 from the Psalm. We then moved to talk about each evangelist's plans for his 

congregation and the communication with other congregations throughout the state. The women 

of Patos have been travelling to different congregations to visit and encourage the women in 

other smaller congregations. It is from their initiative and their showing great joy that even 

others, though not receiving a visit, are being encouraged. The evangelists are phoning one 

another, the next step is for them to begin visiting each other. At the end of the meeting, I asked 

for two volunteers to set up, plan and direct the next state-wide meeting. We are also planning a 

weekend together at the beginning of next year.

Please pray:

• that God take His rightful place in the Christians lives who studied the Minor 

Prophets;

• that the congregations spread throughout the state of Paraíba may be 

blessed by God to grow in love for one another;

• that the love we have for one another may spill over into the lives of people 

who do not know God.

Youth Group and Parents

What does the youth group and parents have in common?  O.k., the youth, but besides that?  Not much nowadays.  I remember when I was growing up there was no youth minister to take care of the teens at my congregation.  The parents did it.  They planned the activities and stayed with us as we learned about Christ.  They opened up their homes and had devos that they gave and taught us to do the same.   

I am not saying that having a youth minister is a bad thing.  Here in João Pessoa we have a good group of young people.  We have had some individuals couples spend time with the youth but our youth needed more involvement from the adults, the parents.  The parents were the ones who saw this need so We, the parents started meeting in August with the youth group.  We sang and prayed together.  The youth would have their Bible study and the parents talked about raising kids and difficulties we are facing as parents, among other things.  The parents have enjoyed their time together.  The youth don't feel like the parents are cramping their style.  Everything is good.  Actually it is better.  There is no substitue for parents taking care of their kids.  There is no better spiritual role model than ones own parents.   

Please pray: 

• that parents will dedicate their time to the spiritual formation of their children; 
• that children and youth will grow to love God more than anything else in this World. 

Finances Presented Through a Biblical Lens

I have taught Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University" course three times here in João Pessoa. I requested permission to translate and teach the course before teaching it.

The beginning of August I began the course for the third time. I changed things up a little this time around. Instead of teaching the nine of the thirteen lessons I translated, I only taught four. The whole reason I began searching to better administer my own personal finances was because I was lacking contentment in my relationship with God and the finances He had given me to administer. In this course, the first two classes were all Bible passages looking at how God and His people see, think and handle money. The foundation is contentment forged from a gratitude of what God has given us both spiritually as well as materially. After the first two classes on contentment, I get into how to administer your personal finances using Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace material.

As the class went on during the months of August and September, peoples' vernacular changed from worry about how to make ends meet to contentment for what God has given us. That change in mentality, I did not see happen in the first two courses I gave using just Dave's material.

Please pray:

* That the Church will live a life of gratitude and hope for an eternal home in heaven and not make this world their home.

* That the members of the church will invest more in God's kingdom than in their own personal kingdom, supporting evangelists, buying Bibles for those who do not have them, visiting other congregations to encourage and share faith, and make friends who will receive them in heaven.

Investing In God's Kingdom

I spent most of my time in João Pessoa during the months of August and September.  During this time I taught a Finance class, a 30 hour Bible course and worked with the congregation to establish a budget for the rest of the year and all of next year. 

The average offering amount for the year of 2013 was R$1,400.  It was just enough to cover the expenses at the building.  The men of the congregation made a budget of R$3,260, covering the normal expenses and adding more support for missions, an accountant as well as other expenses. After four or five meeting with the congregation to explain the budget and ask for members to commit how much they could give to meet the budget, not meeting the budget, talking to the members again and receiving new amounts, as a congregation we committed R$3.415, surpassing the original amount.  How great is that!  October, was the first month that the collection would be put towards the new budget.  After last Sunday, the collection for October was over R$3,500.   

Please pray: 

• that the congregations in Paraíba will seek God's Kingdom first financially; 
• that the congregations in Paraíba will continue to work towards supporting evangelists and missionaries throughout the state; 
• that all members of the church may live content investing in God's mission.