A Breath of Fresh Air

I first traveled to Alagoinha, over 15 years ago. I have been going back every once in a while to visit the church that began in the year 2001. Antônio Germano is a very zealous man for God's Word and His Will. His zeal for others to do God's Will causes him to overreact in some situations and ends up pushing people away. He is a very decent and good person that has a hard time getting along with others. He is also 75 years old and has Parkinson's disease.

I went to visit the church again last night. This was the first time that I remember meeting with the church without Antônio. Antônio was in João Pessoa taking care of his sister who had surgery. I was able to see the church in a new light. I do not believe that it is a good thing for Antônio not to be at the worship but it did allow me to talk with the members in a way that I had not been able to before. I saw the other man in the congregation, Zezito, stepping up for the first time and taking on responsibility, not just in the worship service but being active over the last couple of weeks and planning for the future of the church.

Please pray:

· That Antônio and the church will be able to get along better with one another;

· That God may continue to work with Zezito, who some of us have been praying for off and on for years, to assume more responsibilities;

· That God will mature all five members of this congregation, who at one time had 15 and growing, years ago.

Comments

"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!

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...

Samuel McKinney's New Life in Christ

It has been only three days since Samuel gave his life to Christ, but it is so exciting to see my young son exercising his faith, like getting upset when his history teacher at school taught that miracles in the book of Exodus can be explained by natural phenomena: low and high tides in the crossing of the sea, natural disasters for the plagues, etc. The day after his baptism, Samuel went on a trip with his school and received a new nickname: the boy who reads the Bible. He read 1 Samuel, chapters 1 through 6, out loud for the whole bus to hear. His eagerness to take the Lord's Supper for the first time was refreshing. May our Father bless all our families with life changing faith.

McKinney Report

Search This Blog