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On The Road Again

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I know I have not written or sent any news in the past couple of months.  I am alive and doing well.  I have been very busy and have not taken the time to sit down and write about what has been going on.  I am sorry for not writing.  I will try to catch you up on the main things that have been going on over the past three months.
I travelled to Patos this past weekend to teach a course on Minor Prophets and to meet with the evangelists throughout the state. Twelve members of the congregation in Patos participated in the course, two of these had left the church and have recently come back and are eagerly seeking fellowship with other Christians. The meeting with the evangelists had a representative from seven congregations.
The Minor Prophets bring a message of judgment and salvation with a tone of wrath and love. Not one of the students present had ever read all of the Minor Prophets. There is a great need for teaching and motivating the Christians to spend time with God and also with His Word. 
        I want to thank Joe McKinney for allowing me to use his notes and study on the Minor Prophets. What a great help his material was to this course! We talked about the historical contexts of each prophet and the people to whom he spoke. We read just one complete chapter from each  of the books; I had only 15 hours to teach all 12 books. We talked about the practical lessons one can gain from each book and how these prophecies apply to the church and to our lives today. 
       The meeting with the evangelists from different congregations went very well. I read 
Psalm 19, we spent five minutes in silence to meditate on the Psalm, we prayed and sang verses 7-10 and 14 from the Psalm. We then moved to talk about each evangelist's plans for his congregation and the communication with other congregations throughout the state. The women of Patos have been travelling to different congregations to visit and encourage the women in other smaller congregations. It is from their initiative and their showing great joy that even others, though not receiving a visit, are being encouraged. The evangelists are phoning one another, the next step is for them to begin visiting each other. At the end of the meeting, I asked for two volunteers to set up, plan and direct the next state-wide meeting. We are also planning a weekend together at the beginning of next year.

Please pray:
• that God take His rightful place in the Christians lives who studied the Minor 
Prophets;
• that the congregations spread throughout the state of Paraíba may be 
blessed by God to grow in love for one another;
• that the love we have for one another may spill over into the lives of people 
who do not know God.

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