McKinney Report

          When we say the word “camp”, you probably think of kids hiking and swimming, setting up tents, camp fires, and telling ghost stories. When the church in Paraiba says “camp”, it is completely different. First of all, it is for the whole church, not just boy scouts. Whole families go, including little bitty babies and elderly grandmothers. And we don’t sleep in tents. The campsite has dormitories with bunk beds; it also has a cafeteria, a meeting hall, pool and a court for sports, and all of this is located outside of town in the midst of nature with a stream running through it.           The purpose of a church camp is to get away from the world, from daily life, to fellowship with our Creator and with one another. And this was our purpose when we reserved the site one year ago for the Independence Day (September 7 th ) holiday weekend. We started on Thursday night and went till Sunday...

            This past weekend, instead of me traveling to Cubati, Afonso and Vânia came to João Pessoa and brought with them two young boys, Tuan (age 16) and Moisés (age 14).  Both Afonso and Vânia have been investing their time and energy into these two young boys with hopes that they will one day give their lives to Christ and be God's light to others.              The guys spent time together playing, talking and eating, not always in that order, with the hopes of forging a deeper friendship and sharing more of Christ with Tuan and Moises.  Monica took Vânia to a women's meeting.  I don't know what they talked about but I am sure that a lack of words was not an issue.  But hey, how can anyone keep silent after walking with Christ?              After returning to Cubati, Afons...

            On a bright and shiny Sunday morning, I traveled to Alagoinha with the hopes of encountering the bright young man who had shown interest in wanting to know God and being used by Him to help the church grow.                 I did find him but not as motivated as I would have hoped.   I tried to set up a time to study with him before arriving but was unable to do so.   When I arrived I asked to study with him and his first response was no: he did not have time because he is involved in campaigning for a politician in his city.   (This year there are elections for mayor and city council members.)   After sometime, he came to Antônio's door (the man with whom I usually stay when in town).  We sat and talked, studied and prayed together.   He is hungry for more, but I cannot be there all the time, and in between my visi...

It was a comfortable night in João Pessoa.   As I left the church building after teaching a lesson on personal finance, nothing was amiss.   After giving someone a ride home, I was off to my own home.   I remember thinking as I pulled away from her house: I am going on the paved road tonight (the road I usually go on is cobblestone, and I bounce around a lot because of the holes and the unevenness of the cobblestones).   As I pull up to the stop sign I see a man standing there by himself, and I think to myself, "That is strange, what is he doing?" (I'll tell you what he was doing later on)   I make a left turn, and about 100 yards ahead there are three other guys standing at the edge of a favela .   Again, I thought to myself, "Hum, that is strange, I wonder what they are doing."   (It is not strange for people to be out in the streets but for them to just be standing and not talking or walking somewhere is strange.)   Well,   I k...

    We have been in contact with Roseli for years, ever since there was a weekly neighborhood Bible study at Irene’s, taught by Hunter and Jeremy. Since then a lot of water has gone under the bridge, including her husband leaving her and other crises of life. And all that she has been through has brought her to seek Jesus and to meet with the congregation at Irene’s house.     Irene and I studied the Bible her and could see more and more that she is placing her faith in Jesus and her hope in the things above. The only thing she lacked was baptism, which, she would say, is a very serious step. But when it became obvious that baptism in her mind was so serious that she wasn’t getting any closer to making the decision, I asked her, “What would happen if Jesus came back tonight?”     That question shocked her into thinking that the return of Christ is a reality to contend with someday, but that baptism is the yielding to Jesus and bringing H...

        I traveled to Cajazeiras with Mark Hagewood at the beginning of August.   It was a short trip but a helpful one.   I have been looking for someone in the church that can help Café and Leila with maturing the Christians in Cajazeiras.   I think I may have found someone.   I ask for your prayers for the maturity of the church in Cajazeiras.                        Mark and I taught a class to the older Christians about service and serving others.   I gave the lesson on Sunday trying to help the Christians understand who they are and why they are here. We are salt and light with the purpose of glorifying God in our lives. Please pray that: God will give me wisdom to help the Christians throughout the state of Paraíba grow in maturity God will continue to bless Café, Leila and the church in Cajazeiras

            I traveled to Cubati the end of July to continue visiting and teaching a correspondence course begun in June.   I am visiting once a month to keep up with contacts and trying to create new ones.   This visit the number of people continuing the course dropped from 13 to 6, but the remnant is excited about learning more.                        Afonso and I also visited a nearby family in another city, and a door opened up for me to teach a finance class, in which I hope to lead them from earthly treasures to the true treasures of heaven.                         Afonso and I traveled to Patos, a two hour trip, to have a meeting with the Brazilian evangelists in Patos, Emas and Belém to discuss the pla...