Seeing God Do Immeasurably More

An Important Meeting

2009-12-07T16:36:00.003-02:00

Today we had an important meeting at the education department for the municipal schools in Santos. We have already been able to schedule events to speak in 5 state schools in Santos for next year, but without the approval by SEDUC, the Santos education department, we would not be able to speak in the municipal schools of Santos. There are 27 state schools in the city of Santos, and there are 72 municipal schools, so getting the municipal school approval is an important step in our ministry work in Santos. We are praising God that He blessed our meeting today and that we were able to obtain the approval to speak in the municipal schools. God is good !

Surfers

2009-12-05T18:41:00.005-02:00

Today was a windy day in Santos, and the ocean had some larger than usual waves, and so there were quite a few surfers all day today. Here are some photos we took.

Sharing Christ In A Favela

2009-11-29T17:32:00.005-02:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity & privilege to work with Igreja Batista Marape of Santos in a favela (slum) in the nearby city of Cubatao. The church has a ministry for children in a school located in the favela, and they asked us to help them and to speak to the parents who are there waiting for their children. The church reaches out to the community in Cubatao once a month through this ministry, and there were many children at the event. The church puts on a play with a Biblical message, and then they split the children up into groups by age and have a Bible lesson about the message presented in the play, and they also share the Gospel with the children. After I spoke to the parents, 13 of them accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him. What a joy it is to serve the Lord.

Part of the favela in Cubatao Some of the children participating in the programSpeaking to some of the parentsInterpreter Camila and I sharing Christ

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic

2009-11-25T17:20:00.011-02:00

We spoke in our last school of the year on Monday and Tuesday in Sao Paulo. The school is located in a poor section of the East Zone of Sao Paulo, and it took quite awhile for us to get there from Santos. We spent 2 1/2 hours each way, each day, to get to the school and back, totalling 10 hours of driving time in 2 days ... and it was all worth it. Actually the drive from Santos to Sao Paulo is not bad, only 1 hour. But then the fun starts. We spent 1 1/2 hours each way (each day) in the Sao Paulo traffic, which was horrible. Besides the bad traffic, the drivers in Sao Paulo are pretty bad, so that makes it even more fun. But it was all worth it, and God did a great work in the hearts of many students and teachers. 683 students and 13 teachers accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him. The church we worked with, Igreja Metodista Livre, did a great job, and they had 8 people to help us on Monday and 5 on Tuesday.

we were in the Sao Paulo traffic for 6 hours in 2 days

Nancy and I with part of the church teamInterpreters Eduardo & Victor and the church teamInterpreters Debra & Andre and part of our team

Brazilian Sunsets

2009-11-20T16:44:00.006-02:00

Here are some sunset pictures we have taken in our new city of Santos. We love living here so far, and we are really looking forward to joining God in what He is doing here.

The Last School Of The Year

2009-11-18T17:03:00.004-02:00

Next Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning (Nov. 23 & 24) we will be speaking in our last school for the year. The school is located in the East Zone of Sao Paulo. The school year in Brazil ends in early December, and then summer vacation goes on until mid or late February.

After that we will be having some more meetings in schools in Santos to see if we can schedule speaking events for 2010. At this point we need to schedule more schools for the 1st half of 2010, and we are trying to get them scheduled at least until the end of May before the school year is over. We will also be meeting with pastors and churches in Santos and the surrounding cities in December, January, and February to schedule preaching dates and other events to help the churches to share Christ in their areas. Please pray that God will open up many new doors for us to share the wonderful news of Jesus.

We Finally Moved

2009-11-14T18:01:00.006-02:00

After a long process to buy our new apartment in Santos we finally were able to move this past Tuesday. We have been very busy getting settled in, and yesterday we unpacked our final box. We still have alot of organizing to do, and some painting and decorating to do also. We really love our new place and the city of Santos is a very nice place to live. Below are some more photos of Santos.

Tomorrow we will be going to church at Igreja Batista Marape to meet Pastor Sidney, who is very interested in working with us, escpecially in the schools here in Santos. He is a friend of our good friends Pastor Odilon and his wife Olga, who was the pastor in our Brazilian church in the US in Marietta GA. Our church had a Brazilian church there because many Brazilians live in the Atlanta area. We will be having some meetings later this coming week in more schools here, to schedule events for 2010. We were supposed to be speaking in a school in Sao Paulo on this coming Monday and Tuesday, but they had to reschedule the event for May 2010. So at this point we have only one more school to speak in this year - November 23 & 24 in Sao Paulo. We will be having meetings in schools until December and also with some pastors & churches, but our schedule will not be as demanding until the start of the new school year in late February 2010.

Brazil Photos: Plants

2009-11-05T10:45:00.002-02:00

As you can imagine there are many beautiful tropical plants in Brazil. Here are some pictures of some of the many types we see here in Brazil.

Another Santos Update

2009-11-03T14:49:00.004-02:00

We are extremely busy these days, as we are getting ready for our move to Santos on November 10. It still amazes me how slow things go here, and it will be exactly 2 months from the time we started buying our apartment in Santos until the time we get to finally move. We have a 2 week break from speaking in schools this week and next week, and then we will have 2 more schools in Sao Paulo to speak in the last 2 weeks of November after our move.

Unfortunately we received some disappointing news last Thursday. We thought we had a buyer for our house, but unfortunately that did not go through. Even though the potential buyer is some type of municipal judge in Sao Caetano and she said that she was already approved for financing, when it came time to buy the house she could not get enough financing to buy our house. So it's back on the market. Please pray for the sale of the house; we were hoping to sell it before we moved.

Also, we already started having meetings in some schools in the Santos area to schedule events there for next year, and we praise God that we already have events scheduled until mid-April. We have 2 more meetings in schools there tomorrow. We are trying to fit in enough meetings in schools before the end of the school year in December to be able to schedule events in 2010 until the end of May or June.

A Fruitful Month

2009-10-31T15:28:00.007-02:00

October was a very productive and fruitful month for us, even though we had many challenges and difficulties. We spoke in 3 schools and I also preached in a church, and we also started having meetings with schools in Santos to schedule speaking events for 2010. First on Oct. 4 Nancy sang and I preached at Igreja Batista Vila Primavera in Sao Paulo, and 5 people accepted Christ. Then we worked with Igreja Batista IV Centenario in EE Achilles school on Oct. 5-7, and 1009 students & 14 teachers accepted Christ. Next we worked with Igreja Batista Vila Diva in EE Mario Marques school on Oct. 13-14, and 307 high school students & 6 teachers accepted Christ. And this past week we worked with Igreja Batista Boas Novas (the church we normally go to when not working in other churches on Sundays) in EE Secundino Dominguez school. We almost lost this opportunity to speak in the school because we scheduled it with the principal back in May and then she was on vacation for the last 2 weeks. Apparently she did not tell anyone about the event, and they almost did not let us do it. Thankfully we were able to speak on Tue., Wed., and Thursday this week and 708 students, 18 teachers, and the coordenator accepted Christ. We are praising God for the great things He is doing in the Sao Paulo area. Here are some pictures of this past week.

Interpreters Iraci & Ingrid, me, and part of the church team

Nancy and interpreter Paulo leading the students in prayerInterpreter Elma and I speaking in a classNancy and interpreter Paulo sharing ChristInterpreters Leandro & Wilame and part of our team on Tue. night

Update On Our Move

2009-10-26T17:12:00.002-02:00

We finally were able to close on our apartment in Santos this past Friday. The final document was supposed to be ready in about 2 weeks, but after over 5 weeks it finally came in. So we will be moving to Santos on November 10.

Also, we are praising God that we have a buyer for our house. God's timing may seem slow at times, but it is always perfect. And better yet, they are buying our house directly from us and not through a realtor, which will save us a good bit of money. In Brazil you can try to sell a house through as many realtors as you want to, and you can sell it yourself at the same time, unlike the US, where you typically use a realtor on an exclusive basis. Since we are using our own funds here for our ministry, saving the 6% realtor commission will really help.

Brazil Photos : Plants

2009-10-22T16:42:00.002-02:00

We love plants and gardens, and Brazil has many types of great tropical plants. Here are some pics of some of the many types.

In It's Time

2009-10-21T12:29:00.011-02:00

"I am the Lord. In it's time I will do this swiftly." - Isaiah 60:22

One of the most important aspects of walking closely with the Lord and joining Him in His work is to learn how to walk in His stride and in His timing. Just like God's ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), His timing is definitely not the same as ours. We by nature are in a hurry, and we want things right away. We want results right away. We want God to use us in great ways right away. And we do not want to wait for God. But God's ways and His timing are very different than ours. It takes a long time for God to mold us and transform us into the faithful servants He wants us to be, and to be more and more like Jesus. It takes a long time before we become the faithful and trustworthy stewards and servants that He can rely on and use. If you look at how God prepared people for His service, it usually took a long period of time. Look at Moses - 40 years in the wilderness ; Abraham waited 25 years for God to fulfill His promise of a son ; David waited 17 years through many tough trials before he became king ; Joseph waited 13 hard years before God lifted him up into His service at age 30,...

We have experienced this verse Isaiah 60:22 several times now in God's call for us to join Him in His work. First of all, we walked with God for over 20 years before He called us to join Him full time in His work as missionaries in Brazil. Then after the call, it took approx. 1 1/2 years before we could actually get to Brazil. We had to sell our business, house,... and get our permanent visa and everything else in order. I remember we thought that we would move to Brazil in June 2006, because that was the "logical" time to move, after the school year was over for our sons. Well, God's plan was a bit different. First, we had a surprise and Nancy had cancer of the thyroid. Thankfully she came through the surgery well in April 2006. And then ... nothing. Our house wouldn't sell, and the process for our permanent visa was terribly slow (it took well over a year). We waited, and waited, and waited all summer. Finally God started speaking in our hearts in late August to go to Brazil and buy a house and get ready. We went and did this, before knowing when our visa would be ready and before our house sold, which was a real test of our faith. Once we did this, when it was God's time - boom - everything went incredibly quickly and well., and we moved to Brazil in October. We waited, waited, waited, and then all of a sudden God showed up and did everything quickly, smoothly, greatly - in it's time.

We are experiencing this again right now in God's call for us to move to Santos and join Him there in His work beginning next year. God started leading us to go to Santos earlier this year, and it took alot of prayer and seeking and waiting to confirm His leading. Then we started selling our house in July and also started looking for a new place to live. We found a nice apartment in Santos and started the process of buying it on Sept. 10. Since then we've been waiting, waiting, waiting. The documents for the purchase of the apartment have been delayed because bureaucracy in Brazil is really bad. We started getting frustrated and tired, because we have had a very busy ministry schedule at the same time, and we were not even able to know when we could schedule our move all of this time. We've shown our house many times, but no one was buying. Then early last week God brought to my mind this verse ... "In it's time I will do this swiftly." ; 2 days later (last Thursday) a woman shows up at our house and looks at it, and then brings her family back 3 more times over the next couple of days. On Monday she started the process of buying our house, without a realtor, which will save us valuable money we can use in our ministry (we are using our own money here). Then yesterday we were in Santos and received the good news that finally we can sign the final document on this Friday and we finally know when we are moving (November 10). In it's time, God did it swiftly & smoothly & greatly - again.

A Tough School Event

2009-10-15T11:27:00.004-03:00

Sometimes it never ceases to amaze me how many difficulties and complications we have when we are sharing Christ, especially when it is in the schools. Sometimes almost everything goes wrong, like this week. We spoke in the school EE Mario Marques in East Sao Paulo, which is a high school. It is rare to see a school here with only high school students; usually we see a school with 5th through 8th graders and also with high schoolers. We worked with Igreja Batista Vila Diva, which is close the school.

Anyway, we were supposed to speak 3 days this week, on Tue. night, Wed. afternoon, and this morning. When we got there on Tuesday night the school told us that they will not be having classes on Thu. morning, and that we need to reschedule. The problem is that our schedule is pretty full, escpecially with our upcoming move, so we may have lost an opportunity. Also, since waking up on Tue. morning I have not felt well. There is alot of pollution in Sao Paulo, and I have problems with sinuses and getting sick here. Also on Tue. one of our interpreters' car broke down, and we had to scramble to find another interpreter for that night. And then our other interpreter's bus broke down on the way, and she had a hard time getting to the school. And we also had some other problems with 2 people on Wednesday that were not pleasant to deal with. Sometimes this work and the spiritual warfare that goes with it can be very difficult. However, in the end God did a wonderful work in the hearts of many people in the school, and even though the students were older and more difficult, 307 students and 6 teachers accepted Christ. God is great !

Interpreters Eduardo & Victor, us, and the church team

Nancy and Victor sharing Christ in a class on Wed. afternoon

Interpreter Elizabete and I speaking in a night class

Some of the students in a class on Tue. nightNancy and interpreter Elaine speaking in a night class on Tue.

Update On Santos

2009-10-11T20:43:00.004-03:00

We are still waiting for our house to sell, and we hope it will be soon. We had a family come to see it for the 3rd time last Monday, but so far we have not heard back from them. We are also waiting on the final document for the purchase of our new apartment in Santos. It has been 3 1/2 weeks since we signed all of the other documents, and the final document should have been ready by now, but it has been delayed. There was a strike by workers in the banks, and it is a bank that needs to finish the document, so that is one reason for the delay. Also, bureaucracy is really bad in Brazil, so at this point it is hard to say when it will be done. We do not even know for sure at this point when we can move, which is frustrating. Hopefully we will be able to move in early November, because we have a 2 week break in-between speaking at different schools and this would be a good time to move for us. Today we went to Santos to the beach for a break; here are some pictures we took of our soon to be new neighborhood.

A Long Week

2009-10-09T11:53:00.009-03:00

This week has been a long and tiring week, but we have seen the Lord do many wonderful things too. On Sunday night (Oct. 4) Nancy sang and I preached at Igreja Batista Vila Primavera. We have worked with Pastor Enio and the church in 5 or 6 schools in their area, and we also had a People Sharing Jesus seminar there in April 2007. I spoke about God's call for our lives, which is first to have fellowship with Him (I Corinthians 1:9) and then to join Him in His work, including the work of building His kingdom and actively sharing Christ with others in our daily lives. In the final part I shared the Gospel, and God touched and saved 5 people.

Then on Monday morning, Tuesday morning & afternoon, and Wed. afternoon & night we spoke in 39 classes at EMEF Achilles school. This school is located in a very poor area near the Sao Mateus area of East Sao Paulo, and has students in 1st grade through 8th grade. We worked with Pastor Haroldo and Igreja Batista IV Centenario. The students and many of the teachers were very happy that we came, and many gladly heard the message of God's love and the Gospel. God did a great work and 1009 students and 14 teachers accepted Christ. We are praying and hoping that the church will be able to do more with the school to help the new believers and their families.

Nancy singing at Igreja Batista Vila Primavera

Me with my interpreter Heloisa and her father Pr. Enio

Preaching with interpreter Heloisa

Some students hamming it up for the camera

Nancy and I with part of our team at the school

Me and some of the students

Nancy with some of the students at recess

Keep It Simple

2009-10-04T12:31:00.004-03:00

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 6:33

Many things can compete for 1st place in our lives - career, our dreams, our desires, family, relationships, recreation, church, our ministry or service for God,... In God's heart we are number 1, and He wants to be number 1 in our hearts and lives. His main call for our lives is not to do things for Him, or to be pastors or missionaries or something else, but to have fellowship with Him (see I Corinthians 1:9). He wants us to seek Him first and His kingdom, above all other things.

It can be difficult at times to do this, because there are so many things competing for our time and attention. Many Christians make the mistake of trying to do things for God, instead of working on their relationship with Him and then waiting for God to invite them to join Him in His work to build His kingdom. We must keep it simple in our lives. Commit to put Jesus and your relationship with Him first. Then seek to hear His voice (through prayer and reading His word) and follow & obey - wherever and however He leads you. God makes a wonderful promise in Matthew 6:33 - if you will put Him and His kingdom first in your life and keep Him there, He will take responsibility for taking care of everything else.

Congratulations to Rio de Janeiro

2009-10-02T16:53:00.004-03:00

Congratulations to the city of Rio de Janeiro and to Brazil, for being selected the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Brazil will also be the host country for the 2014 World Cup.

Brazil Photos

2009-09-29T14:10:00.004-03:00

Below are photos of Fernando de Noronho, which is a group of small islands about 220 miles east of Brazil's northeastern coast. The northeast of Brazil is a beautiful area with many wonderful beaches. You can only get to Fernando de Noronho by plane or by a cruise ship. It is considered to be a part of the state of Pernambuco. We have never been there, but some friends have told us it is absolutely beautiful.

Missions / Evangelism Quotes

2009-09-25T12:10:00.009-03:00

"Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." - Jesus (Matthew 4:19)

"Failure in witnessing is failure to witness." - Bill Bright

"The only way you can fail in witnessing is to not witness."
- My paraphrase of the above quote

"We are responsible only for our part in evangelism (to share the Gospel); God is responsible for his part (to regenerate). We must do our part and trust God to do His ! - Alistar Begg

"But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of God's grace." - Paul (Acts 20:24)

"Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions will be weak." - John Piper

"The mark of a great church is not it's seating capacity, but it's sending capacity." - Mike Stachura

"The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." - Henry Martyn

A Busy Week So Far

2009-09-23T13:34:00.010-03:00

This has been a busy week so far. We have had several showings of our house, and we are hoping to sell it soon. On Sunday night I preached at Primeira Igreja Batista Sao Joao Climaco in the South Zone of Sao Paulo. We have worked with Pastor Carlos and the church in a couple of schools in their area already, and he asked me to preach in his church. It is a small church, but the members are a committed group of followers of Christ. I preached to encourage and challenge the members of the church to fully surrender themselves to the Lord and His work, and to commit to join Him in reaching out to people in His love with the Gospel, and then to continue to help them to be true disciples of Jesus. In the end I shared the Gospel and we praise God that 7 people accepted Christ, including some of the church members.

Then on Tuesday afternoon and this morning Nancy and I spoke at EMEF Francisco Bueno school in the Vila Industrial area of Sao Paulo. This is a poor and dangerous area, and they have many problems with drugs, crime, violence,... We spoke to 5th to 8th grade classes on Tuesday and to 1st to 4th grade classes this morning. The reception of the students and teachers was great, and we praise God that 395 students and 13 teachers accepted Christ. We worked with Igreja Batista Projeto Familia, which is located close to the school. We are very happy that the school has already asked the church if they can continue to do things with the school to help the students and their families. This is what we are always hoping and praying for.

Pastor Carlos and I and interpreter Pamella

Preaching with interpreter PamellaPraying at the end of the service.Interpreter Regis and I speaking in a class at the schoolNancy and interpreter Gabriela sharing Christ in a classUs, interpreters Eduardo & Victor, and the church teamNancy with some of the studentsInterpreter Eduardo and I sharing Christ

Nancy and interpreter Victor praying with a class

Our Move To Santos

2009-09-19T16:15:00.007-03:00

This past Thursday we signed the documents for our apartment in Santos, and now we need to wait about 2 more weeks for 1 more document to sign. So it looks like we will be moving to Santos at the end of October. After our move we will need to return to Sao Paulo to speak in 2 more schools in the last 2 weeks of November. Santos is only a little over an hour from Sao Paulo, so we will occasionally continue to help churches in the Sao Paulo area to share Christ, but the bulk of our work starting next year will be in the cities of Santos, Guaruja, Sao Vicente, and Praia Grande. We will start having meetings at schools in Santos and surrounding cities at the beginning of October, to start scheduling speaking events in the schools from April 2010 and beyond. Also, we had a couple visit our house yesterday and then again this morning, and we are hoping to sell our house soon. Please continue to pray for the house sale.

this is our apartment building; our apt. is on the 8th floor

the beach and beach park is 1/2 block from our apartment

Many Accept Christ In A School

2009-09-17T17:48:00.009-03:00

This week we spoke in the school EMEF Flores da Cunha, located in the Jd. Grimaldi area of Sao Paulo. This is a poor area in the East Zone of the city. We worked with Pastor Enio and his church Igreja Batista Vila Primavera, and they will try to continue to work with the school to help the students and their families, and to try to help the new believers to grow in their new relationship with the Lord. This week was a tiring week, as we spoke in 18 classes on Monday morning, in 16 more on Tuesday afternoon, and in 5 classes for adults last night. We and our team saw God move in a mighty way this week, and almost 1000 people accepted Christ, including 21 of the teachers. The students and teachers gladly recieved the Good News of God's love for them and salvation, and they very much appreciated our being there to help them. Please pray that they will continue to seek to grow closer to the Lord.

Some of the students in one of the classes

Nancy and interpreter Juninho sharing Christ in a class

Interpreter Eduardo and I sharing Christ in a class

Pr. Enio (3rd from left), interpreters Juninho & Andre, and our team

We had a great time with the students in the school

Nancy and interprter Alessandro speaking in a night class for adults

A Friend's Wedding

2009-09-13T08:30:00.007-03:00

We got to go to our 3rd Brazilian wedding last night. Davi and Itiany got married last night, and we are friends of theirs and with Davi's family. Like the other weddings we've been to here, it started about 40 minutes late. The first one we went to last year was over an hour late. Brazilians are well known for being late, which is sometimes frustrating for me in our ministry work. Congratulations Davi and Itiany.

Photos Of Santos

2009-09-09T14:20:00.005-03:00

Tomorrow we are going back to Santos to see an apartment that we like for the 2nd time. If we like it after seeing it again we are going to make an offer for it. We are looking at moving to Santos in mid or late October, depending on how the purchase of an apartment goes. We still need to sell our house in Sao Caetano, so please pray for us for this. Here are some more pics of Santos.