McKinney Report

          The last time I wrote you about the Christian Congresso, which unites brethren from all nine states in the Northeast of Brazil, was in 2012.  At that event, a lot of people got sick from food poisoning.  This time that did not happen.  At this Congresso, the 30th,, there were two baptisms, 340 people stayed the four days, and close to 600 came for the Sunday meeting. Mateus (from Maceió) and Lucas McKinney, both 13 years old, were baptized.           The theme was “Our Mission, Our Vision”.  The idea was to focus on gratitude and evangelism.  I left the event excited to tell others about Jesus and edified by the joy in the atmosphere, where I felt I was with family.  I do not remember hearing anyone complain about anything.  What a great time we had together.  Heaven is going to be better than we could ever imagine.   ...

        E manuela watched her mother and sister give their lives to Jesus last year. The change must have made an impression: faith grew, obedience to Jesus too. She decided it was her turn to follow Christ. That only leaves the father and a young brother. May God unite this whole family in His kingdom.

        The church that meets in Mangabeira, João Pessoa’s largest neighborhood, is growing too. Raniere Vieira and Marcelo studied the Bible with João Batista. João decided to be baptized. The same hour of the night, they went to the beach, and he gave his life to Christ.         John the Baptist was a powerful servant of God; let’s pray that João Batista will live up to his name and baptize others

          My family was invited to a really neat experience, a wedding in Caruaru. We spent five years in the 90’s establishing the church there, making a lot of mistakes, but somehow God used our inadequacies, and brought about something good.             1993, my brother and I moved into small house in an alley, without out a sidewalk, so one step out of our door, we were in the street. The neighbors were excited about the Americans moving in, giving them something to talk about, their kids fascinated. One little boy called Hegon (pronounced Ego), three or four years old, was scared of us at first, but once getting used to us, would stand at the bars of the front doors for hours watching our daily affairs in the living room and kitchen.   I guess there was nothing interesting on TV. I don’t know how watching two bachelors burning their lunch made much of an impact on this lit...

            A s we come to the end of the year, the thought that comes to mind is how it went by fast. It seems time is flying by, and we have to grab on for eternal significance. In 2015 there have been losses and gains, things forgotten and experiences remembered for always. We praise God for the opportunity to have lived this past year for Him, and we look forward to a brand new 2016. What will it bring? Heart aches and great excitement, sickness and victories, terrorist attacks and great feats of courageous love, whatever tomorrow brings, we ask, we plead that Jesus be present because with him it will all be worthwhile. Thank you, God, in everything, thank you no matter what! Our hope in Christ and heaven will get us through anything that comes our way.             “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to...

I traveled to Patos for SEARA, the four-year training program.  The four years of training not only included a 15-hour intensive course once a month but also putting into practice what they were learning.  This trip was not to teach but to celebrate with five of the seven students on their conclusion of the 47 classes plus a study of one of Paul's letters complete with four Bible studies.  The graduates included 2 men and 3 women.  The women are heavily involved in prayer groups, teaching and visiting, not only to their congregation but they have visited almost every congregation in the interior of the state, encouraging and evangelizing the women of each city.  The two men that graduated are the main preachers of the congregation in Patos.  They have grown in their learning, study and teaching of Bible studies.  One of the men has been attending EBNESR in Recife, the Church's theological school.  He has said, on more than one ...

    Although Dan is fairly common name is the US, I only know one person in Brazil named after the tribe of Israel. Here it is spelt Dā. He is the son of a retired Philosophy professor, and when he began to visit the church he was an adolescent. After a while he quit coming to church and took a stroll in the world. We kept praying for him and one day he showed up. He was in college studying... can you guess? Philosophy. He came to me crying, asking me to baptize him. I said we needed to talk and study the Bible. I have seen so many get immersed on a whim and fall away. During the following weeks, he told me that he understood what the world had to offer, but that it was not for him. To the joy of his parents, the church and all the angels in heaven, he became a Christian.