There is Power in God's Word

The month of August has come and gone as a blur and we are almost half-way through September already. I have only been back in Brazil for seven months, since our last visit to the States but it seems so far away. So much has happened; so many trips, classes taught, meetings and baptisms that it is a blur.

In August there were 9 baptisms throughout the state, that I know of. Three of them were in a small town called Emas. The evangelist, Givanildo, has lived in this city for several years and the church has grown very little. I began studying the Bible with Givanildo by phone once a week, every week and he began teaching more people in his city of Emas. This past month, three people were baptized and more are studying God's Word.

I do not believe that my studying with Givanildo was the cause of these three baptisms but I have "seen" or should I say heard a change in his voice and the subjects he talks about. I have seen him more often on my trips to the interior, where as before, he would hardly show his face, I have grown closer to him and he has helped me to grow in my relationship with Christ. He is a very humble person with a great desire to serve God. He is now seeing evidence of the service he is giving.

This article was written to celebrate the power of God's Word in our lives. Read it. Study it. Live it. It will change your life and the lives of some or all of those around you.

Please pray:

for the maturing of your three new brothers and sisters in the city of Emas;

for Givanildo's love to study and live God's Word to continue to grow;

for the congregations throughout the state of Paraíba and their growth.

Comments

"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.

Weekend VBS

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...

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