Thanksgiving, Part II

Here we are in a thanksgiving service for Samuel’s cancer cure, and telling people about the new life that Christ gives, and God provides a live demonstration of the simplicity of deciding to follow Jesus. Raniere Menezes, who works with the Mangabeira congregation, announced that a couple he had been studying with was ready to give their lives to Christ. Emerson and Ana were baptized for the remission of sins.

Many years ago we had a Bible Study at a lady’s house; her name was Gerusa. She was not baptized, and we lost contact. Emerson, though, is her son and had participated in some of the studies when he was a teenager. He married, had a severe accident that almost crippled him, and he and his wife started seeking God and visiting the Mangabeira church meeting. He is doing physical therapy still, but on the inside, Emerson and Ana are whole, one more reason to thank our God, and pray that this couple will shine with Christ’s light so that others may become whole.

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"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!

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...

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.

McKinney Report

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