Families: Strength in the Church

I traveled to Patos a couple of weeks ago to study 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon with the church. We talked about elders, deacons, evangelists, taking care of the needs of others. We defined a good conscience and piety, which is the word in Portuguese used for godliness. They had a lot of questions and a few ideas from denominations, which needed to be corrected.

We learned from the teachings of the apostle Paul to Timothy the best way to counteract false teachings. In summary, we must exhort men to exercise their role in the family, women to fulfill their role in the family, children and grandchildren to take care of their parents in need. In other words, structure the families to live the way God always intended, and the church will serve God in this fallen world of broken families.

Some really good news: while in Patos, a brother, who had been losing the battle with sin, came back to Christ.

Please pray:

that God may strengthen in his new resolve and repentance,

that God may help His church mature and produce families who live within the will of the Almighty.

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"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...

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