Skip to main content

Surprise Birth!

       Michel has made Christ his life. He worries and suffers with friends and especially his family who don't share the hope that he has. His mother, Ana, has visited every religious group possible for years, looking for something to make her life easier, but she had never decided for Jesus. Also having tried countless times to kick the addiction of over half a century of smoking without success, Michel gave up hope of anything ever changing in her life.
      But things can change, and Ana came to me and said "I want to be baptized, but don't tell Michel, I want to surprise him." We gathered several brothers and sisters at the building; I asked Michel to come, but he had no idea for what. When his mother sat down by him, he said, "Mom, what are you doing here?"
I read the story of Nicodemus about being born again. Nicodemus said that it was impossible for a grown man to return to the womb of his mother, but he didn't say that a son couldn't assist in the new birth of his mother. When Michel understood, he was speechless.
      He baptized his mother into Christ, the first of many to come, and he said the surprise still hasn't worn off. Please join us in prayer for Ana, who with Jesus' help is going through the withdrawal pangs of quitting smoking cold turkey.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"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.

Prayers and Fasting for our Families

One of the most devastating attacks of the enemy against God's people is when he invests in our families. We pray for protection for our loved ones, but we live in a world that never tires of trying to divide our families, constantly pulling and poking at our faith to find a vulnerable spot.   The congregation in João Pessoa, in the face of one difficult situation after another, has taken a whole Sunday this month to stay together in prayer and fasting for our families.   We are praying for couples in the church losing hope of solving their differences, Christian wives tearfully bearing the responsibility of maintaining the marriage with non-Christian husbands, mothers and daughters in unrelenting tugs of war, unemployment and financial strains, and the most shocking of all, one of our teenager, who is barely beyond childhood, confessed to the church that she is 8 months pregnant (her own mother only found out a week before). It g...