Teaching, Cleaning and Planning

I traveled to Patos at the end of June to teach an intensive course on Romans, visited with evangelists from four different congregations and met with three congregations. It was an encouraging and productive trip.

The class on Romans was 12 hours long. It was supposed to be 15 hours but got cut short because of the rain. The city of Patos got about three inches of rain. That is a lot of rain for the desert region of the state and it had been a while since such a hard rain. The drain at the back of the building was stopped up because a cat had crawled into the drain pipe under the building and died. The water backed up and eventually flowed into the church building. The class stopped and the clean up began. Everyone was really excited with the rain. They all enjoyed the class as well, and we were able to finish the whole book.

Two of the evangelists were in my class on Romans so it was easy to visit with them. The other two were about 30 miles away so I went and visited them and met with the two congregations in those cities. We also planned our next moves for the Great Supper in October (a weekend for all of the Christians in Paraíba to get together for fellowship, learning, teaching, and evangelizing in the host city).

Please pray for:

· The evangelists: Luciano, Santo, Givanildo, and Silvan

· The congregations in the cities: Patos, Belem, Emas, and Catingueira

· The unity of the church in all of Paraíba

Comments

For the Kids, Part III

In the USA, there are two special days during the year that children love: birthday and Christmas. Brazil adds one more: Children's Day. On this day, children receive a present and since it coincides with Our Lady of Appeared Conception, Brazil's patron saint, it is also a national holiday. Each week we get kids from the Castelo Branco neighborhood together at the square in front of Dona Terezinha's house to talk about Jesus. For Children's Day, we invited the parents to watch the kids perform a play of the "Prodigal Son," then each kid receives his or her fill of cotton candy, cake, and a sack full of goodies. The parents who came received a Today's Portuguese New Testament and an invitation to the weekly Bible study at Terezinha's. Lori Hagewood has organized this activity for three year with the help from Terezinha, Joseph, and Michel (from the China Taiwan restaurant). Michael, Ashton, and Tif...

Pedro's New Family

Good Christian parents are invaluable in bringing about children’s faith, but in the absence of such, the younger generation must take up Christ’s banner and follow for themselves. Pedro and João have been coming to our church meetings for a long time. Their parents, though, haven’t even visited, showing no interest whatsoever, except for an internet search to make sure their kids weren’t getting into anything crazy. This past Sunday Pedro gave his life to Christ and was baptized into a new family. I admire young people who break with family tradition for the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let our Lord be praised through the dedication and sacrifices that young people make.

The Planting, the Watering, and the Increase

Emesson started coming to Bible Club over a year ago, when Neil Schultz and Cait Beckloff, our AIM team, were teaching it. For several months, they planted the seed in his and his sister's hearts. Unfortunately Neil and Cait's time in João Pessoa ended. In 2014 Bible Club received a boon when Erick and Jenny Paddy, former AIMers, returned to the field and picked up teaching the Bible Study for English speakers. They watered the sprouting seed in Emesson's life until God's Word became more important for him than just practicing his English. Last Wednesday night, God gave the increase, adding Emesson to the Family of Christ. Sometimes things don't happen when we think they should, but God is in control; His time is best, and we must thank Him for playing a small part in His plan.

McKinney Report

Search This Blog