Skip to main content

The Great Plain

       A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Campina Grande, this time to visit the church and spend time with the supported workers, as well as with Raianne and Rayssa.  Adeliton, Ayane, my AME travel companions for the next two months, and I stayed with Danny and Lee Bratcher. What wonderful hosts they were! Danny and I grew up in the same congregation at Joelton, TN, so we always have a good time together.
        Júnior and Kátia came over to visit with us on Friday night. Júnior was going to travel to another city in Pernambuco to teach and visit with the church in that state. They used to travel with me quite often before becoming missionaries to Campina Grande. It was great to sit and visit with them and talk about past travels and dreams for the future of the church, as well as present needs and plans.
           Saturday, we went to visit Isac and Solange, who also work with the church in Campina Grande. We talked about plans for the church in Campina Grande, vision for the church and support for workers. These are all men and women to be honored for their dedication and sacrifices made for the growth of the Kingdom. It is a joy to be around all of them. That afternoon we picked up Raianne and Rayssa went back to Danny and Lee's house to spend the afternoon and night playing games and talking. I took the girls home around 10 p.m. and it is a deserted and dark place where they live. I can see why they are a little scared, although they don't show it.
            Sunday morning I went and picked the girls up and took them back to Danny and Lee's house where we spent the day together. Lee made some marvelous meals and peach cobbler. Thank you, Sara, for teaching her how to make it. You taught her well. That night we met with the church; there were a number of visitors, and only a couple of empty chairs in the whole place.

Please pray:

  • That God will protect Raianne and Rayssa from harm and that their faith in God may grow each day.
  • The church in Campina Grande may continue to dream and work to reach the dreams as they are in line with God's.
  • God may open the hearts of people in Campina Grande, which is in desperate need of His Word.

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...