Fw: Júnior's trip to São Paulo

Júnior, became a Christian in 2001, here in João Pessoa.  He married Kátia in 2004, who became a Christian in 2000 also, here in João Pessoa.  They have lived and worked in Campina Grande for the last five years as missionaries.  Before moving to Campina Grande they went the the (Servants Sent to Announce the Kingdom of Love – SEARA) training course.  They travelled a lot with me to the interior during their training.

Both Júnior and Kátia are very dedicated, loving and faithful Christians.  I have been privileged to see them grow spiritually and as a family.  I am proud to call them my brother and sister in Christ.  Below is a report from Júnior where he travelled to São Paulo to receive training along with seven others from Paraíba.  They were able to go because of funds given from the Goodlettsville Church in Goodlettsville, TN. 

            Beloved brothers and sisters, I had the opportunity to travel in the month of April.  My trip included national events of the Church of Christ (National Encounter of Christian Workers – ENOC e Correct, Reprimand and Exhort – CRE) in the state of São Paulo.  I visited two congregations (São Bernardo do Campo – SP e Bauru – SP), besides taking part in an intensive class on the Pentateuch in Bauru – SP.  I was away from home for 17 days and spent more than 100 hours in Bible studies, Sermons and other teachings.  I am very thankful to God for this opportunity, to Kátia, my wife, for holding down the house in my absence and to everyone who contributed to this purpose.

            The objective of this trip is to be better prepared to serve our Lord and our brothers in Christ and to edify the brotherhood with what God has done in our midst, here in Campina Grande.  Thank you for your prayers and all of the help we received.

            When I arrived home, I had a lot to share with the brotherhood, I am very excited to continue our Christian journey together.

May God bless you all,

In Christ,

Júnior

Amados irmãos e irmãs, tive a oportunidade de viajar no mês de abril, minha viagem incluiu a participação em dois eventos nacionais da igreja de Cristo (Encontro Nacional de Obreiros Cristãos – ENOC e Corrige, Repreende e Exorta – CRE) no Estado de São Paulo, visitei duas congregações (São Bernardo do Campo – SP e Baurú – SP), além de participar de um intensivo sobre o Pentateuco também em Baurú – SP. Foram 17 dias fora de casa e mais de 100 horas de Estudos, Palestras e outras instruções. Sou muito agradecido a Deus por mais esta oportunidade, a Kátia, minha esposa, por segurar a barra na minha ausência e a todos que contribuíram para este propósito.

O objetivo desta viagem é estar mais preparado para servir ao Senhor e aos irmãos em Cristo, assim como edificar a irmandade com o que Deus tem feito em nosso meio, aqui em Campina Grande. Obrigado por suas orações e todo tipo de ajuda que recebemos.

Ao chegar de volta, tenho muito a compartilhar com a irmandade, estou muito animado para juntos continuarmos nossa jornada cristã.

Que Deus abençoe a todos vocês,

Em Cristo,

Júnior

Breathing The Gospel

            Raniere Vieira came to his first church meeting in the year 2000.  He came because he was dating Fabiana.  They have been married now for 12 years.  Raniere has been a faithful Christian for 14 years, teaching all over Brazil in big and small, national and local church events. 

            Raniere and I traveled to Cajazeiras, where the soccer school is going strong.  Some 40 boys were at the practice on Saturday morning.  It was a Mother's Day weekend so some did not show.  Not all of these boys are Christians, in fact most are not.  I gave a short talk to them before practice about being humble and grateful.  That was not the only reason we traveled to this city.  We went to teach the book of Colossians to the church.  It is such a rich and deep book, yet we had only six hours to go through the book with the church.

            Leila, Café's wife, said something that we have known for a while.  Café is great at evangelism but he is not very good at maturing the members after they become Christians and several have fallen away for this reason.  I have been to Cajazeiras the last two months teaching different books of the Bible and plan to continue to travel to teach and help the church mature, but it is very hard to mature someone from a distance.  They need a personal presence so that they can see how you live your day-to-day life up close and how the Gospel is your very breath. 

Please pray:

·         That God will raise up men and women who will be mature and help others to mature in Cajazeiras;

·         That God will continue to use Café and Leila in the evangelism of the boys in the soccer school;

A Breath of Fresh Air

            I first traveled to Alagoinha, over 15 years ago.  I have been going back every once in a while to visit the church that began in the year 2001.  Antônio Germano is a very zealous man for God's Word and His Will.  His zeal for others to do God's Will causes him to overreact in some situations and ends up pushing people away.  He is a very decent and good person that has a hard time getting along with others.  He is also 75 years old and has Parkinson's disease. 

            I went to visit the church again last night.  This was the first time that I remember meeting with the church without Antônio.  Antônio was in João Pessoa taking care of his sister who had surgery.  I was able to see the church in a new light.  I do not believe that it is a good thing for Antônio not to be at the worship but it did allow me to talk with the members in a way that I had not been able to before.  I saw the other man in the congregation, Zezito, stepping up for the first time and taking on responsibility, not just in the worship service but being active over the last couple of weeks and planning for the future of the church.

            

Please pray:

·         That Antônio and the church will be able to get along better with one another;

·         That God may continue to work with Zezito, who some of us have been praying for off and on for years, to assume more responsibilities;

·         That God will mature all five members of this congregation, who at one time had 15 and growing, years ago.