Skip to main content

33% Growth So Far in 2015

By




         When you belong to a church of 6 brothers and sisters, each conversion is a huge leap in growth percentagewise. The small Colinas congregation is excited. On the first Sunday of the year, Marcos`s brother decided to give his life to Jesus and was baptized. 6 turned into 7.
          Then on the first Sunday in February, a neighbor, Antonia, who had been eavesdropping on her daughter's Bible study, came through the door and said, "I know all that and I want it for my life." She was baptized, expressing great joy in her newfound salvation. 7 became 8.
          I jokingly said to the Colinas brethren, "A baptism on the first Sunday of January, now another one on the first Sunday of February – I like this tradition that you are starting! I can't wait for the first Sunday in March!"
          I don't think they took it as a joke, because Marcos said seriously, "We are working on it." God be praised through this small group.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"What About Baptism?"

By
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!
Post a Comment
Read more

For the Kids, Part III

By
    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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Walking With A Holy God

By
            I was invited to teach a youth class in Recife, a city about 2 hours south of João Pessoa.   I have been focusing my time and attention on teaching and training Christians in Paraíba.   This would take one of my weekends away from Paraíba.   Besides the time away and focus off the state, the subject I was asked to teach on also brought some discomfort: "Masturbation: A Sin Against Holiness."   This is not a subject you just bring up in a casual conversation with young people who you do not know.               I decided to accept the invitation so that I could better prepare myself to help other young men deal with this problem, and I do confess, I had already been thinking about how to talk to my own sons about this subject.   Thankfully, they is not ready yet, but unfortunately, I'm sure it will not be too far off.    ...
Post a Comment
Read more