Skip to main content

Family Day

           
            I was invited to spend the day and speak in Emas and Catingueira, I'm sure you've been there before, at their Family Day.  Catingueira is about 6 miles from Emas.  Both congregations have about 10 members each.  We spent the day in a house just outside of Emas, the owner, who is not a Christian, was there the whole time but did not participate in any of the church's activities.  Interestingly, he was very excited to receive us and enjoyed the meal we ate together and sure did like to talk to everyone.

            After spending time in prayer and singing, I asked the group what was one of the problems that families faced now and caused some type of fear for the future.  They almost unanimously responded: finances.  So, we spent time talking about the dangers of debt and how God's Word teaches us how to handle the money He has entrusted us.  Quite a few of them seemed surprised that the Bible spoke so directly and correctly about the smartest way to manage finances. 

    Please pray for these two congregations and their evangelists.  Both of the evangelists are thinking about going into politics.  It is a dangerous game to play, spiritually, and I talked with them both about the possible pit falls.  They already knew.  I also suggested a support and accountability group for them in their Christian lives. 

Please pray that God may guide their steps to the path that will bring the greatest glory to His Kingdom.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Second Generation, Part II

In 1993 when we came in contact with a young struggling couple in Caruaru, Paulo and Simone, we never imagined what plans God had in store for them. Now 18 years later (Wow, has it been that long?), after conversion, ups and downs, growing pains, working to further the Kingdom and living it, they have had the pleasure to witness the beginning of their daughter's life in Christ. Juliana (age ten) was baptized by her older brother, Jheymerson, who was also ten years old when he gave his life to Jesus. What a wonderful blessing to have one's whole family saved in Christ! Maria and Cícero were also converted when we lived in Caruaru, though single at the time. They dated and got married, the ceremony performed by yours truly. Maria has been faithful to Jesus all these years though going through several difficulties. Cícero, on the other hand, fell away, but came back and renewed his life and his marriage, and now, along with Juliana, his daughter Vitória (age ten) was baptize...

Out And About

    Last weekend I traveled to Patos, where I conducted the state-wide plan meeting, spent time with an evangelist, helped plan the Great Supper in October and met with two different congregations.              The state-wide plan is still moving forward.  Their goal for this meeting was to have someone prepared who is able to prepare another person.  Each congregation is still working towards this goal.  They each have someone in place that they are training.  The short-term goal is to train men and women who will be able to train other men and women.  The mid-term goal is to prepare the congregation in various aspects of the work and spiritual life so that it, the congregation, can continue to grow without the current evangelist.  The long-term goal is to prepare the congregation to send out the current evangelist or other men to establish a congregation in a new city....

Pandemic Connection Strategies

Since the Covid-19 pandemic and its social distancing, we have had to work out other ways to connect:  We started a telephone ministry to keep members connected, to verify needs, and to keep our prayer lists updated. Some conversations last five minutes, others have lasted two hours. The idea is that every member receives at least one phone call a week. As we discover needs, we are able to act. One thing that surprised me was that I was expecting to hear about many financial needs. This has not been the case. Many requests have been of an emotional nature. Most requests have been of a spiritual nature. This type of contact has brought us closer together. It is interesting how God can use difficult times to bring about good. May God be glorified! Also, we began small group Bible studies with 3 to 6 members depending on the group. We would normally organize groups like these according to neighborhoods. However, since we are online, we created several groups, days and times and let th...