It was a bright and sunny day the Friday we left João Pessoa on our way to Belém do Brejo do Cruz. The trip was going to be long, a lot longer than what we thought it would be. The car I usually travel with blew the head gasket the week before, so Francinaldo, Roberto, and I were travelling in Roberto's brand new, used car, a 21 year old Fiat Uno. My traveling car is a 22 year old Fiat Uno so we were moving up in style.
Roberto's car began to overheat about an hour into our 6 to 7 hour trip. We stopped for breakfast to let the car cool off. We sat and talked as we ate. Everything was going well. I was at the cashier paying for the food when Francinaldo received a call. All I remember him saying is "Be calm, Ivani!" He said this same phrase many times. The look on his face became more and more serious as the news of his mother-in-law's death sunk in each time Ivani said that she found her mother on her knees with blood coming from her head that she had hit on the floor and she was already purple.
When Francinaldo got off the phone and told us what had happened, I called Monica, she immediately called others and went straight to their house. David drove the hour that we had driven to pick-up Francinaldo so that Roberto and I could continue on our trip to the meeting. As we waited for David to arrive, we prayed, we did not talk very much but we sat together. Francinaldo had left home about an hour and a half before and had spoken with his mother-in-law who was happy and healthy. What a shock! She had a heart attack as she was folding clothes and died. The next day she was buried. That is how it is done in Brazil.
Right before David arrived to pick up Francinaldo, Júnior, who was organizing the PORmissões meeting, called and said he was going to visit Francinaldo's family. Roberto and I looked at each other and we decided to return to João Pessoa and have a mechanic look at his car.
That night Roberto caught a ride with Júnior from João Pessoa to Campina Grande. I got on a bus and made the trip. We slept at Júnior's house and left the next morning at 4:30 a.m. We stopped in Patos to pick up some others and finally arrived in Belém at 9 a.m. The meeting is for people working with the churches that are spread out over the state of Paraíba. There were Christians from Cajazeiras, Belém, Patos, Campina Grande, Luna (João Pessoa) and Colinas (João Pessoa). Six out of twelve congregations represented.
We spent the morning reading from God's Word, praying and talking about where we are in the PORmissões plan and where we go from here. After lunch we synchronized our calendars for the big events. We had a drawing to see which congregation would visit another before the next meeting in July. We decided on the subjects to talk about at the next meeting and closed with a prayer.
After the meeting, we, along with the congregation from Belém drove 11 miles to a nearby city to have a Bible study. The next morning, we met with the church in Belém, had lunch together and drove back to our respective cities. Those are the facts.
The good about this meeting is that someone other than me was conducting it; Júnior and Luciano are becoming the face of PORmissões instead of me. The next meeting's subject will move us in the direction God wants, that is, how to prepare men to be deacons and elders. We will also talk about the role and work of the full-time evangelists in the field, what they should be focusing on and what they should delegate to others. Things are going forward.
I continue to be amazed at seeing God work these past three years. When I came back to Brazil in 2011, I felt God was pulling me, and my main focus became working with the workers and the congregations throughout the state. I had prayed for many months, asking God to use me for the growth of His Kingdom, I also asked Him for vision to see where I should be leading others. I had and still have a plan that has steps and goals to accomplish. This plan has been executed, each step, each goal up to this point and even beating my established timeline. I am amazed, not at my planning, I and my plans are nothing. I am amazed that God showed me His plan, that the vision I asked for was what He is accomplishing before my very eyes and even faster than I imagined it would happen.
There was a time during this process that I thought "my plan" was working very well. Usually, when I make plans they change as I move along, not drastically but modifications need to be made, unforeseen things happen or people are not cooperating. Not with this plan! Everything is falling into place as "I" planned. When I began to execute the plan in 2011 and things were moving along, I knew what the next step should be, and I was pleased.
The end of 2013, things were still moving along exactly as "I" had planned them, but something was different. This step was planned, but I had not put it into motion yet. In my mind, I was going to begin involving a Brazilian in the planning and this year for him to take over next year. This came out of nowhere, without my prompting it. This is God at work. Then I realized, this was not "my" plan. This is God: He has been moving things along, He has a greater interest in this than I do, He just showed me what He was going to do and how He was going to accomplish it.
When I realized that, I cried in front of the whole group. How great is our God! How awesome is He! Who am I that I should be so privileged to be involved in God's work to save the world, letting me in on His plan even though I thought it was mine. I am speechless! My God, my Lord and my Savior, praise be to You always and forever!
Please pray:
- that the congregations in the state of Paraíba may be united in one cause, with one mind and may we be one family;
- that the evangelists will know what they are to accomplish, in their respective cities;
- that God may give us all vision of His work and what He wants us to do for the growth of His Kingdom;
- that we may be deeply involved in God's saving the world by getting out of His way and letting Him use us, His servants, however He sees fit to do so, even if it will cause us great pain in this life.
