Industrial District Mustard Seed

On the outskirts of João Pessoa is the Industrial District, which began as a group of factories, but now has large residential areas. Francinaldo and Ivani, faithful workers for the Kingdom, bought a house there. Now they are one more step closer to realizing their dream (God’s dream too) of starting a congregation in this neighbor: Carlos and Girlene were baptized. They are a couple who visited the church a while back. They studied the Bible and found out what needed to be done. They had some hard decisions, like separating until they could get legally married. And when Girlene said she was ready to be baptized, we took her to the beach. Carlos surprised all there and said he was ready too. It poured down rain so by the end everybody was soaked but praising God for this new Christian couple.

Their schedules are a little hard to work around. They both work in factories; he, the night shift, and both have to work some Sundays, but none of this dampens the joy they are experiencing about being in Christ.

Carlos, along with some of his co-workers, while others jeer, has a 1 am devotional at the factory. I have been giving them the Spiritual Milk studies along with Francinaldo and can attest to their thirst.

Francinaldo came excitedly to me with a prayer request. He met another family in the same neighborhood who wants to study the Bible. Please pray for Ana Cristina and her family. They visited the church meeting this past Sunday for the first time. The mustard seed grows…

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Consecration

We know that God can do anything. The question is what will He do? What will the Lord do in the lives of His people when they consecrate themselves to Him? We hope to find out. Friday, May 22 nd , the Luna congregation had an all night vigil of consecration. We went from 9 pm to 5:30 am, and over 50 people participated, from the ages of 10 to 75 years. In the prayer corner, brothers and sisters signed up for time slots so that we would have prayer without ceasing. The vigil focused on Consecrating our Lives, in Gratitude, in Unity, in Service, and in Sharing . Each part consisted of prayer, singing, Bible Reading and Reflection, and practical activities, like in Service, we washed everyone’s feet, and then everybody joined in making breakfast for the group: homemade bread, fruit, tapioca and eggs, juice, and coffee. In Sharing, we ended with a wonderful meal together in family, talking about people with whom we want to share the gospel. Spend

Luna Men

The men of the Luna church of Christ have a weekly meeting for the purpose of edification and planning God's work in the congregation. Some are going strong, others have family problems, and we all want to grew in God's purpose for our lives. Last night's meeting included a discussion of what really happened on the cross, on resting in Lord in the Psalms. We made plans about the upcoming Carnaval (Mardi Gras) retreat, and talked about the need to do some manual labor on our building. Though the group was smaller this week, there is a hunger to serve. Five out of the six committed spending Wednesday ripping up a big wall that needs to be redone. Whether leading, studying, admonishing, evangelizing, or tearing up a wall, let God use us to His glory!

Pentecost in Paraíba

"This is Pentecost in Cajazeiras," Rivaldo Café said, "Almost three thousand were baptized in Jerusalem, almost ten in Cajazeiras." A wild comparison, of course, but the excitement that produced it was legitimate. Six young men gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized on Saturday. I was blessed to be there: the sixteen hours on a bus, going and coming, was worth it. I went to teach a weekend couples' seminar on the theme "God Gave Me You". The couples (around 12) were mostly parents of kids in the Right Step Program. The changes in these boys' lives have made an impression on the families, many of which have started Bible studies too. Saturday morning, after the soccer practice, three of the boys asked to be baptized. We headed to the building. Café began filling the portable swimming pool while I talked to the boys about what it means to come into the Family of God. Franze (15 yrs), Luam (14 yrs), Jorcelam (17 yrs)

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