McKinney Report

by David McKinney         Juliana is 35 years old. She is the girlfriend of a member of the church and that is how we met her. She had attended a Presbyterian congregation for some years, before moving to João Pessoa, but she fell away.   She said she was baptized in 1998, but she said she felt weird about being sprinkled and wondered about it for several years.   Studying the Bible with her is very refreshing. She is eagerly open to the Word, and she is not one to conceal her emotions (see the photos). You can literally tell when she is touched by the Word of God and her relationship with Him. We are very grateful to welcome her to the family.

        Bible Bowl 2012 was a mess: miscommunication with my volunteer question makers so I received two sets of questions for Luke 19, Luke 21, none for Luke 18 nor 22 and one person sent questions for Matthew 9 - wrong book; the nightmare of finding rides to Recife for 4 teams of 4 kids since most people traveled this past weekend; and a couple of kids dropping out at last minute leaving teams incomplete. All this left me feeling drained and disorganized.          But it was all worth it: to learn how to do things better next year, but especially to benefit the kids spiritually this year. Our fifteen competitors came away excited about studying and knowing God's word. Yury's last minute cramming Two teams won first and third place in the 1st Division (6-12 year olds) Nicholas Newlin won third place individual score (83/100 questions) in 1st Division. Samuel McKinney won first place individual score (88/100 questions) in 2nd Divis...

            Seeing someone who finally understands what Jesus did and God's forgiveness given in baptism is one of the most profound joys that one can feel.  Seeing a Christian who understands a new truth in God's Word and wants to live it and tell others about that truth comes in at a close second.              S.E.A.R.A. (Servants Sent to Announce the Kingdom of Love) began as a training ministry for new and old Christians in the church who were already serving the body and would do even more with a greater knowledge of God's Word.  The first group formed seven able servants.  Two of those were Junior and Kátia who now live in Campina Grande as missionaries, sent by various congregations and individuals from all over Brazil.  Another, Fabiana, is married to one of the Brazilian evangelists working with the new church plant on the other side of town....

            Joe McKinney and I are teaching the Sunday school class here in João Pessoa.  We are teaming up because both of us travel quite a bit so we cover one another's absences.  We began teaching on the subject of contentment the first Sunday of September.  I taught for three months on this subject almost two years ago.  The reason I began studying this subject and decided that it needed to be taught to the church came from simply reading God's Word and asking the question; "Am I living this truth?".  Almost two and a half years ago, reading through the book of Acts, I came across a very familiar verse that I have used on many occasions, Acts 20:35.  The apostle Paul quotes Jesus as saying: "It is more blessed to give than it is to receive".  I stopped and thought about Jesus' words and began asking myself if I believed in what my Lord said.  After meditating for a few minutes I decided t...

The Colinas do Sul congregation is still just one year old but has already grown out of Naldo's house. Following the example of most mission points in Brazil, they have rented the Colinas do Sul Educational Institute for Sunday meetings and other Bible studies at night when the school is not in use. We pray that they will outgrow this place to reach more people in this neighborhood.

While in Cubati I received the wonderful news that there was going to be a baptism in Campina Grande.  This is the first person to give her life to Christ in the beginning of a new church plant. You may not realize this but the first conversion on the mission field is very important and usually the hardest, and most exciting.  It is usually hard to convert the first person where the Church is just beginning.  There is no one to testify to her that the church is not a cult or a sect.  There is not anyone to encourage her and no family or friends with connections to the church family.  The first person is testing new waters.  Since there is no one to encourage her, no ties with friends or family, her decision is solely faith based.  I am not saying that yours or my decision to follow Christ was not one of faith.  I am saying that most of us were blessed to begin a spiritual journey that friends or family were already living.  Odete was invited...

    This past August 16 ladies, 13 from João Pessoa plus 3 from interior Paraiba cities, embarked  on a four day trip to learn about our "Battles of the Feminine Soul". Leaving our families, work or our daily tasks is a battle in itself, but we wanted to experience this journey to enrich our spiritual lives and be ready to face our troubles and strives ahead of us. We left early, taking a 12 hour bus trip, 2 dozen ladies from Recife tagged along and we reached our destination safely around 8 P.M. on a Thursday night.      The XXI Women's Seminar was held in Aracaju for the first time, and all 177 ladies that attended this year were very excited about the lectures, workshops and fellowship, that was to take place there. The hostesses did a wonderful job with our facility arrangements, we were able to enjoy a beautiful retreat site surrounded by nature, with simplicity and comfort. The atmosphere was relaxing, the food was delicious, but the most ...