McKinney Report

Jeremy Newlin's Mother's Day Sermon     I preached on Mother's Day for what I believe is the tenth year in a row.  I am pretty sure because Monica complains that I never remember it is Mother's day until one day or hour before the worship service.  So I always end up saying "Happy Mother's Day" and then preach a sermon that is not focused on the qualities that Mother's naturally have.             This year, I was ready for a Mother's day message filled with love and compassion that Mother's show their sons and daughters.  I was planning to relate those Motherly qualities to God and then back to us and how we should all live with such character.             I was preaching at another congregation in Recife.  They are going through the fruit of the Spirit, one each month.  The month of May is Patience.  It doesn't seem like much of a problem to preach on Patience on Mother's Day and relate that to Mothers, right?  I was sent

           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 excited and uplifted.  One of the AME students said he would like to spend his one year on the mission field in Patos to help the youth group grow and mature.             Please pray: ·          That God may help the church i

          One of our goals this year is to strengthen the Luna congregation in João Pessoa. After the Luna birthed the Mangabeira congregation, things haven’t been the same. The potential is great, the obstacles are big also.           While Mangabeira is a neighborhood church with its members living close to one another, having more opportunity to be in contact several times a week, having a smaller area focus for evangelism, Luna is the opposite. I took a map of the whole city and put a pin where each family lives, so everyone could visualize where the church is: we are spread out all over the place. That is wonderful, because we have a Christian or family in most neighborhoods and even in neighboring cities, but it is difficult to connect more than once a week because of the distance.           By building up Luna, the church will be ready to spread to another neighborhood, and we already have access to any spot in the city. We are doing this through events to invo

Reinaldo is a dear brother here in João Pessoa. His weakness is alcoholism, with the accompanying spiritual highs and lows. The Men's Group will meet in his house tonight with the hope of strengthening him once again. Please pray that he will trust in God's grace enough to not give up. Iremar is another brother with a long road ahead of him health wise. He is 78 years old, and is in the hospital after a heart attack, valve replacement surgery, double pneumonia. He has the will to live, and his family can't wait to get him out of the hospital. Please say a prayer for him also. Lindomar is a simple man living on a farm, at one time a Assembly of God preacher. We are studying the Bible together. He is tired of church politics, and is open to the simple teaching of God's word. Please pray for him, his family (his wife is not too happy about the directions he is taking), and for the little rural Pentecostal church he is helping with. They have a choice to make, because he