Being Thankful Even When Everything Goes Wrong

We took four carloads of teenagers to Campina Grande for a short campaign in the AME program. These kids spent three Saturdays (Morning and Afternoon) preparing to share Christ there. The plan was to hand out pamphlets, make friends with local teenagers, invite them to group dynamic games and to a Bible study at night. But once on the campaign, things did not go as planned:

The central park, which is always open and filled with tons of people, was closed for fifteen days for renovation,
Therefore local teenagers that had been invited had no where to meet up with us for the afternoon of games;
A new building for the church had been rented and was to be inaugurated during the campaign, but the owner delayed on fixing something and wouldn't hand over the keys;
So the meeting was set up outside in a yard with chairs, powerpoint projector, etc, but even though we are technically in a drought, it rained and everybody had to rush to cram indoors;
And one of our cars broke down.

Samuel McKinney (13) said the blessing before one of the meals, praying "Thank you, God, for this trip. Even though everything went wrong, we had a lot of fun." We did have some visitors, the young people learned that God still works even though things don't go as planned, and instead of the park we handed out pamphletes at a jogging trail - Samuel was an example of dedication there, running up alongside the joggers to tell about Jesus and give them an invitation to know more. Some ignored him, some were annoyed, but some stopped, and like the Ethiopian Eunuch asked to know more.
We thank God in all things.

Comments

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...

The Fall of a god

A lot has happened since the last time we talked. The World Cup has ended, and Brazil was not the champion, in fact the country was shamed by a 7 to 1 loss to Germany . There were not many riots as people were expecting to happen. People just went back to work and still a over a month later talk about how bad Brazil played. The expectations to win a World Cup have been pushed back many years. Germany seems to be the favorite to win the next World Cup. There are many Brazilians who, I guess you could say, worship soccer. Yes, soccer is their "god". They may not think so. I am sure they would all deny this fact because it sounds outrageous, but they eat, sleep, and drink soccer. They stay out late at night with strangers at soccer matches instead of being with their families at home. They take their meals in front of a soccer game on TV instead of eating at the table with their famili...

Everlasting Father

by David McKinney Beliza first met the church in 2009. Along with her came her little brother Kauã. He was two years old at the time. He has had the privilege of growing up in the church. This means that God has used many people to influence him in the process of his conversion. He has participated avidly in Sunday School, VBS, tagged along with big sister to all kinds of youth devos and retreats, studied the ...

McKinney Report

Search This Blog