Breathing The Gospel

Raniere Vieira came to his first church meeting in the year 2000. He came because he was dating Fabiana. They have been married now for 12 years. Raniere has been a faithful Christian for 14 years, teaching all over Brazil in big and small, national and local church events.

Raniere and I traveled to Cajazeiras, where the soccer school is going strong. Some 40 boys were at the practice on Saturday morning. It was a Mother's Day weekend so some did not show. Not all of these boys are Christians, in fact most are not. I gave a short talk to them before practice about being humble and grateful. That was not the only reason we traveled to this city. We went to teach the book of Colossians to the church. It is such a rich and deep book, yet we had only six hours to go through the book with the church.

Leila, Café's wife, said something that we have known for a while. Café is great at evangelism but he is not very good at maturing the members after they become Christians and several have fallen away for this reason. I have been to Cajazeiras the last two months teaching different books of the Bible and plan to continue to travel to teach and help the church mature, but it is very hard to mature someone from a distance. They need a personal presence so that they can see how you live your day-to-day life up close and how the Gospel is your very breath.

Please pray:

· That God will raise up men and women who will be mature and help others to mature in Cajazeiras;

· That God will continue to use Café and Leila in the evangelism of the boys in the soccer school;

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Consecration

We know that God can do anything. The question is what will He do? What will the Lord do in the lives of His people when they consecrate themselves to Him? We hope to find out. Friday, May 22 nd , the Luna congregation had an all night vigil of consecration. We went from 9 pm to 5:30 am, and over 50 people participated, from the ages of 10 to 75 years. In the prayer corner, brothers and sisters signed up for time slots so that we would have prayer without ceasing. The vigil focused on Consecrating our Lives, in Gratitude, in Unity, in Service, and in Sharing . Each part consisted of prayer, singing, Bible Reading and Reflection, and practical activities, like in Service, we washed everyone’s feet, and then everybody joined in making breakfast for the group: homemade bread, fruit, tapioca and eggs, juice, and coffee. In Sharing, we ended with a wonderful meal together in family, talking about people with whom we want to share the gospel. Spend

Luna Men

The men of the Luna church of Christ have a weekly meeting for the purpose of edification and planning God's work in the congregation. Some are going strong, others have family problems, and we all want to grew in God's purpose for our lives. Last night's meeting included a discussion of what really happened on the cross, on resting in Lord in the Psalms. We made plans about the upcoming Carnaval (Mardi Gras) retreat, and talked about the need to do some manual labor on our building. Though the group was smaller this week, there is a hunger to serve. Five out of the six committed spending Wednesday ripping up a big wall that needs to be redone. Whether leading, studying, admonishing, evangelizing, or tearing up a wall, let God use us to His glory!

Pentecost in Paraíba

"This is Pentecost in Cajazeiras," Rivaldo Café said, "Almost three thousand were baptized in Jerusalem, almost ten in Cajazeiras." A wild comparison, of course, but the excitement that produced it was legitimate. Six young men gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized on Saturday. I was blessed to be there: the sixteen hours on a bus, going and coming, was worth it. I went to teach a weekend couples' seminar on the theme "God Gave Me You". The couples (around 12) were mostly parents of kids in the Right Step Program. The changes in these boys' lives have made an impression on the families, many of which have started Bible studies too. Saturday morning, after the soccer practice, three of the boys asked to be baptized. We headed to the building. Café began filling the portable swimming pool while I talked to the boys about what it means to come into the Family of God. Franze (15 yrs), Luam (14 yrs), Jorcelam (17 yrs)

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