Skip to main content

Mangabeira Mission

Mangabeira is the largest neighborhood in João Pessoa with around 200,000 people, yeah, it is a neighborhood.  The church began meeting in a house on November 14, 2010 and moved to a school in January 2011 where they have had an average of 20 - 25 people on Sundays. 
     The two full-time evangelists, Raniere Menezes and Raniere Vieira, along with 6 young Americans from AIM (Adventures In Missions) out of Lubbock, TX, went door-to-door for close to 8 months.  There have been three baptisms, the last of which was Joseane.  She is Jorginho's wife.  He himself was baptized 9 months before and his new Christian life has obviously influenced his family.
     Numerous Bible studies have also been held as a result of these efforts.  Raniere Menezes reports that in January he knocked on the door of Benedita, who asked if he would conduct a Bible study in her home.  He said "Yes".  She told him that there was one thing he needed to know: she is a devout follower of "Our Lady of Penha" and she is the coordinator for a Bible study group of 30 catholics, and she asked Raniere: "Is that a problem?".  Raniere promptly replied: "We are going to simply study the Word of our Lord" and the Bible study was set up.  At the first Bible study there were 10 visitors at Benedita's house and as of the last report, 9 people still continue. 
     Please pray for Mangabeira and all that God is doing through this mission effort in this neighborhood.
..................................................................
Summarized translation from the Mangabeira blog:
http://missaomangabeira.blogspot.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"What About Baptism?"

Edda and I went to a nearby city to study the Bible with a family, Genilda (who is already a Christian), Ana, Mariana, Luiza, and Jefferson. While we were reading God's Word, Ana's husband, Silva, came in and sat down, and then blurted out: "What about baptism?" It took me by surprise because he has barely studied with us, but, most certainly, is already thinking about spiritual matters. Our Bible study then took a lot of detours, answering this question or that. Silva said he still has a lot of questions, and we pray that the Lord will use us to answer them, bringing him to understand the Good News!

One More Goodbye

This year has been rough for Borges's family. They lost a pillar in their family, his wife's mother in February. Now her brother has passed, buried today. He was diagnosed with prostrate cancer 18 months ago. A policeman, used to taking care of the family, he had to settle with being taken care of by the family as his body gradually shut down when the cancer metastasized to his bones. Borges and Geilza have spent every free moment taking care of Demilson's needs, and it has been torture watching him slowly wear away. His colleagues in the Military Police carried his casket, played taps on a trumpet, presented his family with a Paraiba flag, and thanked his family for supporting him in defending society for nearly thirty years. It was a nice gesture, but the event that gives us believers hope in the face of death is Jesus winning over the grave. He is our certainty that a grave is not the end.

Prayers and Fasting for our Families

One of the most devastating attacks of the enemy against God's people is when he invests in our families. We pray for protection for our loved ones, but we live in a world that never tires of trying to divide our families, constantly pulling and poking at our faith to find a vulnerable spot.   The congregation in João Pessoa, in the face of one difficult situation after another, has taken a whole Sunday this month to stay together in prayer and fasting for our families.   We are praying for couples in the church losing hope of solving their differences, Christian wives tearfully bearing the responsibility of maintaining the marriage with non-Christian husbands, mothers and daughters in unrelenting tugs of war, unemployment and financial strains, and the most shocking of all, one of our teenager, who is barely beyond childhood, confessed to the church that she is 8 months pregnant (her own mother only found out a week before). It g...