McKinney Report

The Big Three In João Pessoa             You may be thinking about auto makers, people, or famous landmarks but I am talking about opportunities.   This weekend (June 3-5) the church will be participating in a campaign in Mangabeira, the neighborhood with an almost year old church plant; at the end of the month the church will be hosting it's 8 th annual VBS; and in July, the church in João Pessoa will be hosting "A Grande Ceia" (The Great Supper) a three day, state-wide meeting for the church to come together to have fun, enjoy one another's company and grow through classes and sermons from God's Word. Please pray for the campaign, VBS and The Great Supper.   As a congregation and as individuals we need your prayers for: ·        God to bless us with more trust and love in Him and for those we meet during these three big opportunities; ·        Courage and boldness to share the good news with others; ·        God to lead us to people who need the s

It has been only three days since Samuel gave his life to Christ, but it is so exciting to see my young son exercising his faith, like getting upset when his history teacher at school taught that miracles in the book of Exodus can be explained by natural phenomena: low and high tides in the crossing of the sea, natural disasters for the plagues, etc. The day after his baptism, Samuel went on a trip with his school and received a new nickname: the boy who reads the Bible. He read 1 Samuel, chapters 1 through 6, out loud for the whole bus to hear. His eagerness to take the Lord's Supper for the first time was refreshing. May our Father bless all our families with life changing faith.

            Traveling?   You get excited just thinking about going on a trip to a different place, sleeping in a different bed, eating different foods, and meeting different people.   To tell you the truth, I don't like to travel without my family.   I don't like spending nights away from home when my family is not with me, although I was not alone. Joe McKinney is a great traveling buddy and a great Christian example.   We had fun, but by the end of the trip, we were ready to go home.   But some things just have to get done.             I went on this trip to renew interest in PORmissões (Organic Missions Plan), the state-wide plan to evangelize Paraíba.   This plan is working and producing fruit throughout the state, especially in its four major cities.   Now, it is time to build up these congregations and revive their vision for reaching out to other cities.   My main focus was the congregation in Patos. We left Friday morning, traveled 2 ½ hours to Areial, a city of aro

    Yes, homo-affective relationships - that is how same sex couples are being described in the new Brazilian law that gives their relationships legitimacy. The Brazilian Supreme Federal Court has determined that marriage goes beyond just a man and woman, giving homosexuals the legal rights to marital status: inheritance, pensions, child custody, health insurance benefits, the ability to open joint bank accounts, etc.     According to the president of the Transvestites Association of Paraiba, Fernanda Bevenutty, this was a victory for Brazilian homosexuals, but most will continue in anonymity for fear of the social reaction. The census counted 800 same sex couples in Paraiba, but Bevenutty said that in reality there are a lot more.     The next step the GLBT (Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transvestites) movement will push is the controversial PLN 122 law, that purposes to add sexual discrimination to the law that punishes r

Thank you, Lord! Praise God! Hallelujah! My son belongs body and soul to Christ! Thank you for your prayers. Samuel and I have studied for a couple of months, looking at the lives of young people who had decided for God and remained true during their lives: David, Joseph, Samuel, Timothy, Josiah, etc. Though being six months shy of twelve, he has no doubt what he wants for his life. After studying what he needed to do, Samuel said he was ready. May 20, 2011, we got everybody together. We sang Samuel's favorite song: "The joy is in the heart of the one who knows Jesus..." He recited John 3:16, and his Grampaw, aunt, uncle, mother and many others spoke words of encouragement to him in this decision. We went down into the water and I baptized my son into Christ. He belongs to heaven now.

Naldo and Lene began a congregation in their home last year in the Colinas do Sul neighborhood. This year, though, has been rough for his family. A month ago his father died suddenly in the interior of Paraiba. A couple of weeks ago, on Good Friday, his oldest brother, Belarmino, was murdered in Recife inside his own home. More frustrating still is not being able to find out what happened and the lack of interest of the police who work in a city where violence has become the norm. The sad part is that Belarmino became a Christian several years ago and was the very person who shared the gospel with Naldo and others, but later fell back into the world. God is in control and justice belongs to Him!

  As reported by Paulo Rodrigues: We give thanks to God for using the brethren in Caruaru to announce the gospel of salvation to the lost that find themselves in our city. Tomas and Laura are children of Christians. Here are Tomas with his mother Leda and Laura with her mother Luciana. This is the family of Pedro and Ione, and now their son Pierre is part of the Christian family. This family came to Christ through the work of handing out pamphlets from door to door. We have two more give their lives to Christ: Stefane and Gil, but unfortunately we didn't have a camera handy at the time. Aelson and Joseane are a wonderful couple who have opened their home for a group Bible study.   Glory to God for having reached Karla. She lived a life of prostitution, mas now lives only for Christ. We have come to know little of her life and are certain of the miracle God is doing in her. ...................................................................... David and Adriana McKi

     I went to Cajazeiras, a seven hour trip from João Pessoa, to teach a seminar on "Obedience and Faith".   I first made a distinction between obedience and faith.   Faith is the "assurance of things hoped for", assurance being a guarantee.   What guarantees do we have? We don't even know if we are going to make it home tonight.   In truth the only guarantee that we have is what God says in His Word, and that is where faith comes in: it results in trusting obedience, which is not lined with fear or anger.   Obedience is just the act of doing.   One can obey without believing; it may be out of fear.   Therefore faith is not necessary for obedience, but obedience is always the result of faith.   We then journeyed through the Sermon on the Mount and studied how faith fit into practical Christian living. Anger and Jesus equaling its punishment to that of murder under the Law of Moses, how to deal with problems with others, avoiding adultery by not entertai