Don't Forget the Eavesdroppers

While the church in Colinas (Joao Pessoa) knocked doors in their neighborhood, they came across a house with a broken gate. It was a problem for the grandmother who kept her grandchildren and worried about them running out into the street. A brother came and fixed her gate, and her daughter accepted a Bible study.

When we study the Bible with someone, we try to find a quiet place with no interruptions, where privacy may allow the person to open up. But the Gospel is seed, and a lot of times we can't control where it is going to fall, and that is the way it should be.

After the God's word was shared, the daughter decided she wasn't ready to give her life to Jesus, but her mother, Dona Antonia, who had been eavesdropping from the kitchen, came in and said, "I know all of that and I want it for my life." She was baptized the first Sunday of February.

Come to think of it, several people we know eavesdropped on the Gospel. Bartolomeu turned up the TV to drown out the Bible study with his wife, son, and mother-in-law in Caruaru, but something got through, and till today he is a faithful disciple.

Manoel in Recife was a rude, explosive man in the other room while his wife had a Bible study. But Jesus transformed him into a gentle man, faithful to death. He passed last year.

I remember studying the Bible with Ivani here in João Pessoa. We would invite her husband Francinaldo, but he had a Mexican soap opera on TV that he couldn't miss. But he would hear bits and pieces of the Great News, and today he loves the Lord and the church, and is a constant source of encouragement.

So when you share the Gospel, speak up, you never know who might be listening.

Comments

The Planting, the Watering, and the Increase

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.

"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!

Samuel McKinney's New Life in Christ

It has been only three days since Samuel gave his life to Christ, but it is so exciting to see my young son exercising his faith, like getting upset when his history teacher at school taught that miracles in the book of Exodus can be explained by natural phenomena: low and high tides in the crossing of the sea, natural disasters for the plagues, etc. The day after his baptism, Samuel went on a trip with his school and received a new nickname: the boy who reads the Bible. He read 1 Samuel, chapters 1 through 6, out loud for the whole bus to hear. His eagerness to take the Lord's Supper for the first time was refreshing. May our Father bless all our families with life changing faith.

McKinney Report

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