Skip to main content

Planting The Seed

By
On my last trip, I traveled to Cubati to visit the four Christians living in a city of about 6,000.  Last time I visited, Afonso and Vania were spreading the seed of the Gospel through teaching members of denominations how to worship and live Christian lives.  Some of the denominations began practicing things like taking the Lord's Supper every Sunday and studying the Bible more with their members.  Their examples of Christian living seem to be affecting the city in a small way, now.
            This weekend, I got out of the car, walked into Afonso and Vania's house and was met with two 16 year old girls.  Both began living with boys or men, I don't know which, when they were 14.  One, Carol has already separated from her boyfriend.  The other, Jessica, is still living with her boyfriend.  Anyway, they have had Bible questions for a long time and no one they asked had been able to answer them.  So Vania presented them to me and told them to fire away with their questions.  I began answering them by showing them in Bible what God says.  They seem to really enjoy it and more importantly understand.  The next day I studied with them again.  I showed them both that they were dead spiritually.  They were surprised and said they had no idea that was their state.  They then asked, "So what do we do?"  I explained to them that they needed to get rid of their sin, and the only way that was possible was being baptized into Christ.  Don't get excited – they were not baptized, but they went home thinking about it.  I guess it was too much of a change for them in such a short time, but they still want to study, and Afonso and Vania can take it from there.
            I also studied with an older lady who is going through all sorts of problems and needs help in a lot of ways.  We studied together with the church present.  It went well, but her mind is on her other problems for now.
            I gave a ride to an older gentleman to a city close by on my way home.  I admit, I really didn't want to, but I stopped and picked him up anyway.  I began talking to him, a very pleasant person to talk with.  I asked him, "If you could change any one thing in your life, what would you change?"  He said, "I would go to church."  I said, "Really!?  That would be the one thing you would change, out of everything else?"  He said, "Yes."  I curiously asked, "Why?"  He just didn't seem like the person that would give that kind of answer.  He said, "Because everything good happens when you're a believer."  I asked, "So why don't you start?"  He said, "When God calls me, I'll go, right then,"  his answer meaning, "I don't want to give up the way I'm living now, but when God makes me give it all up by changing my heart, and I don't have to put forth any effort at all, then I'll change."  Knowing what he meant by his answer, I asked, "What if God never calls?"  He said, "Oh, He will."  I asked, "If Jesus came back today would you go to heaven or hell?"  He said, very quickly, "Heaven!"  I asked, "How?"  He said, "I would repent."  I said to him, "You're not making any sense.  You say, the one thing in your life you would change, if you could, would be to go to church.  You say the reason you would be a believer is because God blesses believers with many good things.  You say, you want to go to heaven, but yet you are waiting for God to call you while you live a life you know doesn't please God.  Does that make sense to you?"  He said, "No, but when God calls me I will change."  I gave up, and we had arrived at his destination.  He is not alone in his thought process and/or destination when Jesus returns.
Please pray:
  • that God will touch Jessica and Carol's hearts to obey him and be saved from sin;
  • that God will continue to give strength, energy and faithfulness to His church in Cubati;
  • that God will use us to help others feel God calling them.
For more news and stories: Check out my personal blog at:  http://jeremynewlin.blogspot.com.br/ 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Planting, the Watering, and the Increase

By
Emesson started coming to Bible Club over a year ago, when Neil Schultz and Cait Beckloff, our AIM team, were teaching it. For several months, they planted the seed in his and his sister's hearts. Unfortunately Neil and Cait's time in João Pessoa ended. In 2014 Bible Club received a boon when Erick and Jenny Paddy, former AIMers, returned to the field and picked up teaching the Bible Study for English speakers. They watered the sprouting seed in Emesson's life until God's Word became more important for him than just practicing his English. Last Wednesday night, God gave the increase, adding Emesson to the Family of Christ. Sometimes things don't happen when we think they should, but God is in control; His time is best, and we must thank Him for playing a small part in His plan. 
Post a Comment
Read more

For the Kids, Part III

By
    In the USA, there are two special days during the year that children love: birthday and Christmas. Brazil adds one more: Children's Day. On this day, children receive a present and since it coincides with Our Lady of Appeared Conception, Brazil's patron saint, it is also a national holiday.     Each week we get kids from the Castelo Branco neighborhood together at the square in front of Dona Terezinha's house to talk about Jesus. For Children's Day, we invited the parents to watch the kids perform a play of the "Prodigal Son," then each kid receives his or her fill of cotton candy, cake, and a sack full of goodies. The parents who came received a Today's Portuguese New Testament and an invitation to the weekly Bible study at Terezinha's.     Lori Hagewood has organized this activity for three year with the help from Terezinha, Joseph, and Michel (from the China Taiwan restaurant). Michael, Ashton, and Tif...
Post a Comment
Read more

Weekend VBS

By
           The end of April, my wife, Monica, traveled to Patos with the AME (Adventures in Evangelistic Missions) group to have VBS with the church there.  It was the first VBS for the AME class and for the church in Patos, the first one in about 10 years.              Monica said that there were 24 children on the first day and 26 on the second.  It was a weekend VBS, Saturday morning, afternoon and Sunday morning.              They also did a campaign around the church building inviting people to the VBS, the church meeting, and an adult class on Friday night.  They also had a couples meeting as well as a youth group meetings happening in between other activities.              Needless to say, they were pretty busy.  They all came back exci...
Post a Comment
Read more