Seeing God Do Immeasurably More

Sharing Jesus In Praia Grande

2012-06-02T11:38:00.006-03:00

This week we spoke in the state school EE Abrahao Jacob, which is for students in 5th grade through high school. We worked with Igreja Batista Central, which is located near the school. It was the first time we worked with them in a school outreach project. The participation of the church was very good, and we had interpreters from the church and from several others to help us.

Once again God worked in a powerful way, and many were prepared by the Holy Spirit to hear the Gospel message. We praise God that 621 students, 8 teachers, and the school coordinator accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him. We also had various opportunities to speak outside of the classes to students & teachers about the church, which is what we always hope and pray for. We are not permitted to speak about a specific church or denomination in the classes, but we can give a clear and direct presentation of the Gospel. One other interesting thing that happened at the school was that we met a Christian teacher who was healed from leprosy. She was very happy that we were sharing Jesus in her class.

Photos

2012-05-20T14:55:00.001-03:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and since I recently got a new camera we decided to go out and take come photos. First we went on the beach in Santos, and then later on we went up to a small mountain between Santos and Sao Vicente, where many people go para sailing. Hoe you enjoy the photos.

Our Comfort Zone

2012-05-19T10:29:00.001-03:00

"Lord, if it's you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water. Come, he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out Lord save me !"

Matthew 14:28-29

The main context of this message is about faith (or lack of) in the Lord Jesus, but this event can also represent something else. Most people are creatures of habit, and most have a comfort zone that they do not like to get out of. Our comfort zone can be a real hindrance to becoming a true disciple of Jesus, and to truly following and obeying Him. Let's say the boat in these verses represents our comfort zone. If you want to go to where Jesus is and to join Him in the work He is doing you will need to leave the boat - your comfort zone. If you are not willing to do this, you will miss the opportunity to join Him in His work, and you will miss the opportunity to see the Lord do great things and show who He is. The disciples saw Jesus for who He really is - the One True God with power and authority over all, and in verse 33 it says they worshipped Him.

So what is hindering you from joining God in His work and seeing Him for who He really is ? A fear of witnessing ? A fear or an unwillingness to try new things ? Tradition ? A lack of faith ? A stubborn refusal to adjust your will to His ? An unwillingness to move away from family or friends, if the Lord so leads ? An unwillingness to move to another country, if God so leads ? Unless you are willing to get out of your "boat" you will miss the Lord and what He is doing, and you will not grow in your knowledge of Him.

Speaking To Parents At A School

2012-05-16T13:37:00.004-03:00

Last month we scheduled our Quality Of Life project in a school in Praia Grande for October. The school is called EE Lions Clube Centro, and is located in a poor section of the city of Praia Grande called Jardim Quietude. The school also gave us a great opportunity yesterday to speak to the parents of the students in 3 different parents meetings (1 for the morning students, 1 for the afternoon students, and 1 for night students). The school is for students in 5th grade through high school.

Yesterday we spoke in parents meetings at 10am, 4pm, and 8pm, and despite bad weather there was a good turnout for the meetings. This was a great opportunity for us to reach out to the parents, because part of our goal is to help Brazilian families and reach them for Christ. God exceeded our expectations yesterday, and He powerfully touched many hearts and lives. Incredibly, 178 parents and 11 teachers and the school coordinator accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him. The school leaders really liked the message, and they were very pleased with how the parents responded. We had several people ask us about a church nearby, and we were able to recommend one to them. My interpreter yesterday, Carla, is a member of Igreja Batista Cidade Ocian, which is close to the school, and she was able to talk to them about the church and invited them to visit. We will be working with the church when we go back to speak to the students in October.

Mt. Carmel - Final Day

2012-05-12T13:11:00.007-03:00

Friday was the team's last full day in Brazil, and they are heading back to the US from Sao Paulo today. We left Santos in the morning and we all went to a placed called Embu, which is a small city about an hour and a half away. It is a fun place to visit, as it has many stores with a large variety of hand crafted gifts and items unique to Brazil. There are also many restaurants, hand crafted wood furniture stores, antique stores, and other places. Everyone was able to buy some gifts for friends and loved ones back home.

After shopping we ate lunch at a buffet style Brazilian restaurant with a variety of typical Brazilian food, which is very good, and then in mid afternoon we headed to the team's hotel near the Sao Paulo airport. Everyone got to see a good portion of the mega city Sao Paulo, which has 22+ million people in it, and a taste of the traffic problems in the city. We went through the city at a good time in the afternoon and not even close to rush hour, but Sao Paulo's normal traffic is worse than many city's rush hour traffic.

We finally got to the hotel at around 3:30 pm, and after everyone check in and got settled we had a chance to have some fellowship one last time with our sweet brothers and sisters from Georgia. Friday was Teresa's birthday, and because of our busy schedule we ended up celebrating it on Wednesday night after we were finished speaking at a school. Her husband Corley bought a nice cake from a bakery near the hotel in Santos and we ordered some pizza to eat at the hotel. At one of the schools we were at on Thursday the students sang Happy Birthday to Teresa in Portuguese, which was a lot of fun to watch.

Thanks again to Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, and to Corley & Teresa, Butch & Missy, and Johnny and Joyce for coming so far to help us to share Jesus here. We have a special place in our hearts for all of you, and we are thankful to God for this past week. The churches here and the people here were touched by your words and your acts of love & kindness, and they already miss you too.

Mt. Carmel 2nd To Last Day

2012-05-12T12:07:00.001-03:00

We had another very long and tiring and complicated and victorious day all rolled into one on Thursday. Because of scheduling changes in the schools this week, we had to speak in all 3 periods of the day in some of the schools - morning, afternoon, and night. This is the first time we have ever had to do that, but it is all worth it to reach precious people for Jesus.

In the morning Nancy and I and Missy & Butch from Mt. Carmel went to EM Lions Clube school in Sao Vicente to finish up speaking in the 4 remaining morning classes. We worked with Primeira Igreja Batista Sao Vicente (1st Baptist Church Sao Vicente) in the school. Then we met everyone back at the hotel and then had lunch. After lunch we split up into 2 groups and Nancy and Butch & Missy went back to EM Lions Clube school to speak in the afternoon classes there. I and the remaining 4 from Mt. Carmel went to the school EE Maria Dulce, where we worked with Capela Calvario church, led by Pastor Celso and Pastor Chris.

We had more time to interact with the students this time, and it was alot of fun to talk to them and take pictures with them. After we finished at EE Maria Dulce school, our team was mobbed by many students and they all wanted to talk to the Americans and ask many questions, and take pictures with us. We had a great time with them.

Then after that all of us together came back to speak at night in EE Maria Dulce school. They have classes for high school students at night. Everyone got to speak in 1 night class for the last time on their trip to Brazil. Afterwards we got to spend more time with a group of the students, and we also had the opportunity to speak to some of the students about the church Capela Calvario.

This week we saw God mightily at work, and we are in awe of our great and mighty God. He went ahead of us before we ever spoke in any class to share Jesus, and He prepared and opened many hearts to hear the Good News of Jesus. We worked hard to arrange the events at the schools and visits in homes, but God is the one who opened these doors and opportunities. He also gave us more "divine appointments" in the streets, in stores, restaurants, and other places. As we stepped out in faith and obedience to share Jesus with others, the Holy Spirit convicted many and we saw various students in some classes get very emotional during the message. The Holy Spirit is the One who convicted them of their sin and separation from God, and He is the One who convinced them of their need for Jesus. We cannot do that, only the Holy Spirit can.

All in all God touched and saved 2127 people this week, including 43 teachers, 2 school coordinators, and 1 principal. The vast majority of the students were not young children, but they were mostly teenagers and even some adults studying at night. God is mightily at work in the world. We need to find out where He is at work and then do whatever it takes to go and join Him. We can say with certainty that He is mightily at work here in this part of Brazil. All glory and honor and praise and thanks go to our great and glorious God.

Working Hard

2012-05-10T17:50:00.004-03:00

We have been working extremely hard the last couple of days with the team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. Because we had to reschedule and rearrange almost every school that we had previously scheduled, we have had to do 4 days of work in the last 3 days. We are all pretty tired at this point, but we are also filled with joy because the awesome things that we have seen God do in the hearts and lives of many people here.

On Wednesday morning we split up into 2 groups and spoke in 2 different schools in the city of Sao Vicente. We worked with Primeira Igreja Batista Sao Vicente in one school, and we also worked with Capela Calvario church in the other school. Nancy, and Butch and Missy from Mt. Carmel spoke in 2 of classes at EM Lions Clube school, but because of some scheduling conflicts they could not speak in all 6 of the classes, so we had to return there this morning to speak in the remaining 4. This is a school for young students from 1st to 4th grades. We praise God that 54 students and 1 teacher accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him in the 2 classes.

I and the rest of the team from Mt. Carmel spoke on Wednesday morning at EE Maria Dulce, which is a school for students in 5th grade through high school. God had prepared the hearts of many of the students and teachers before we spoke in the school, and 324 students and 9 teachers accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him. We are seeing God reveal His power and glory in a great way here this week.

Then after we were done at the school we all met back at the hotel in Santos, and from there we went to lunch. Afterwards the ladies from Mt. Carmel, Teresa, Missy, and Joyce, spoke at a women's outreach event at Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem in Santos. Each of them spoke a part of the message, and the Holy Spirit touched and saved 22 of the women. There was a great response to the Gospel message, and we praise God for what He did.

After the women's event and a short time for rest, we all went with some folks from Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem and spoke in the school EE Canada in Santos in their night classes for adults. We spoke in 6 classes and God once again moved strongly in many hearts, and 53 adult students and 1 teacher and the school director (principal) accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him. Unfortunately many of the students were not in school last night because of a soccer game that night. This happens in Brazil unfortunately, because they are crazy for their soccer.

Challenges And Victories

2012-05-08T21:06:00.001-03:00

This is turning out to be one of the more difficult weeks we have had since we have been in Brazil these last 5 1/2 years. Because the team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church is here helping us and because we will be sharing Jesus with over 3000 people, the spiritual battle has been very intense. The enemy is battling against us every step of the way, and we have had a lot of difficulties and complications and oppression so far this week. We have had numerous interpreters cancel and we have had to reschedule with others. We had the problem yesterday with the school cancelling classes and not notifying us and then having to reschedule to today, which means rescheduling rides, rescheduling with the church we were working with, and rescheduling all of the interpreters. We have had mix ups with people providing transportation for the team, and other various complications. Also, on Saturday and Sunday I started getting sick, but thankfully I have been able to get enough rest in between events and am feeling better now.

Today we split up and spoke in 2 different schools in Santos in the morning and again in the afternoon. When we arrived at one of the schools the director told me that we could not do our project there, even though we scheduled it with them and confirmed it again last month. I kept trying to convince her to let us do it, and she told me 3 times that we could not do it, all the while our American visitors and 5 interpreters and a team from Igreja Batista Areia Branca were waiting outside to come in and share Jesus. But then God intervened and the director, who is not a Christian, finally relented and changed her mind and let us do our project.

We spoke in 12 morning classes and then we had a great home cooked Brazilian meal at the church. We had a great time of fun and fellowship with the people from the church, including some of the children that attend the church. Then we returned to the school and spoke in 10 afternoon classes. The school is for students from 5th grade through high school. God prepared a great harvest in the school, and the students and teachers were very receptive to the Gospel message. God moved greatly and 517 students and 9 teachers accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him.

Nancy and 2 of the folks from Mt. Carmel went to the school that we had to reschedule from yesterday, also in Santos. The school is also for students from 5th grade to high school. They spoke in 8 classes in the morning and then had lunch, and then returned to speak in 9 afternoon classes. The students loved having Americans come in and speak to them, and once again God moved in a powerful way. 540 students and 10 teachers and 2 school coordinators accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him.

We praise God for securing the opportunity to share Jesus at the one school that originally would not let us in, and we praise Him for the 1078 people that accepted Christ today, including 19 teachers and 2 school coordinators, and we give Him all of the honor and glory. We are in awe of how great our God is, and we are so privileged to be a part of His work and mission to seek and save a lost world.

Please keep praying all of us, as this work is very tiring and we need God to strengthen us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Please also pray that God will protect and secure the remaining opportunities that we have scheduled in 2 other schools on Wednesday and Thursday, and that He will empower us to boldly and powerfully share Christ and reach precious people for His Kingdom.

Patience & Flexibility

2012-05-07T17:12:00.005-03:00

Yesterday we and the team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church went to the morning worship service at Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem in Santos, and then to the night service at Capela Calvary church in Sao Vicente. These are 2 of the 5 churches we are working with this week to share Jesus. At both of the churches they had some church members sit with the Americanos and translated the message for them, so they would not feel totally lost and so they could understand the message.

This was a good opportunity to meet some of the Brazilian pastors and brothers & sisters in Christ that the team will be working with in schools and other places to share Jesus. After the morning service at Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem the church had a great lunch for all of us. After the night service at Capela Calvario (Calvary Chapel in English) we and many of the church members had some typical Brazilian food at the church. It was a very good day of worship and fellowship, and it was a good opportunity for the Americanos to see how Brazilians worship.

This morning we were scheduled to speak in our 1st public school, located in Santos. When we got to the school we learned that the government contacted all of the schools and had them cancel classes for today and have teachers meetings instead. So we had to scramble this morning to rearrange rides for the Americans, church people to help, and interpreters too, and we rescheduled everything for tomorrow. Because of the cancelling of classes today we will now have to split up our teams and speak in 2 schools tomorrow morning and afternoon. In the next 3 days (Tuesday through Thursday) we will need to speak in 4 schools in the 3 days. This is going to be very tiring and more difficult, as we will be speaking in over 100 classes in the next 3 days. But it will all be worth it to be able to share the Good News of Jesus with over 3000 people, and we are anxious to get started and to see what God is going to do.

Because we had extra time today, after lunch we walked around Santos and visited various stores and different places. We also used that time to pass out around 70 Gospel tracts to people, and we had various "divine appointments" in the streets. One young man we met named Kaio was very open to hearing about God's love for him and he gladly accepted the Gospel tract, and he was already reading it as we were walking away. Several people started to read their tract as soon as we gave it to them, and others said sincerely that they would read it with "carinho", meaning that it was special to them and they would read it with great care. We also met 2 ladies who are Christians, and one of them asked us to pray for her son Matheus, who is 18 and has not accepted Christ yet. She also told us what school he goes to and asked us to try to schedule our project there in the future. We ended up giving her a tract in English to give to her son as a present from the Americans, because he speaks English and he will probably have an interest in reading it knowing it is in English and came from some Americans.

Mt. Carmel Mission Trip - Part 1

2012-05-06T09:33:00.004-03:00

The 6 person team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Temple GA arrived Friday morning. They originally were scheduled to fly from Atlanta to Washington DC and then to Sao Paulo, but because of bad weather in Atlanta they were going to miss their connection in Washington. They were allowed to get on a Delta direct flight from Atlanta to Sao Paulo, and they all arrived safely. Friday was a rest day for the team, which they needed after flying overnight and not getting much sleep on the plane. We went out in the late afternoon to walk around Santos and the beach area, and then went to dinner in a churrascaria, which is a Brazilian steak house.It was a great dinner.

On Saturday morning we worked with a small church, Igreja Batista Chico de Paula, in a poor area of Santos. We had 3 teams of Americans, interpreters, and members of the church, and we visited homes in a nearby "favela" (slum) to share Jesus. There were several scheduled visits, and then we ended up going house to house after that. God gave us some very good opportunities to share Jesus with people and families, and we thank Him for the privilege of joining Him in His work. 9 people accepted Christ, and we also were able to minister to 2 people who had accepted Christ in the past but have wondered away.

Afterwards we had a great home cooked Brazilian lunch at the church, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship. After lunch we took the team up a small mountain overlooking the ocean, since it was such a beautiful day. We took a ski lift ride up to the top, and then watched the hang gliders and the people para-sailing take off and fly around above us. At one time we counted 16 people flying around up there.

May Newsletter

2012-05-01T13:41:00.003-03:00

Here is a link to our May Newsletter. Check out the news about what God is doing here in Santos Brazil, and also what outreach events are coming up. May is going to be great month.

May Newsletter

US Church Team Coming

2012-04-26T18:33:00.000-03:00

A 6 person team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Temple GA is coming late next week to help us to help churches to share Jesus in their community. We are excited about them coming, and it promises to be a great week. They will arrive next Friday morning May 4, and will go back to the US on Saturday May 12.

God has opened up some great opportunities to share Jesus and reach lost people for Him. On Saturday May 5 we will be working with a church to visit homes in their neighborhood to share Jesus, and then we will have a lunch and some fellowship at the church. On Sunday we will visit 2 churches that we will be working with during the week, and then from Monday through Thursday May 7-10 we will speak and share Jesus in 4 public schools. On Wed. May 9 we will also be sharing Jesus at a church's outreach ministry for women.

Overall we will be helping and working with 5 churches in Santos and Sao Vicente, and we will be sharing Jesus with over 3000 people during the week. We are praying and trusting God to do a great work in the hearts and lives of many students, teachers, and families, all for His glory.

Many Adults Accept Christ In A School

2012-04-20T14:10:00.006-03:00

This week we worked in the municipal school EM Dom Pedro I in the Vila Natal part of Cubatao, which is a poor area of the city. Several people from Primeira Igreja Batista Cubatao helped us, and some members of the church and also Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem helped as our interpreters. The school is for students in the 1st to 5th grades, and they also have many adult classes at night for people who are trying to finish their grade school and high school education.

We spoke to 14 classes on Monday afternoon, to 14 more on Tuesday night, and to14 more on Wednesday morning. The project went great, and the leaders of the school, the teachers, and the students really liked it very much. We had a great time with the students while we were there. God did a great work in the hearts of many in the school, and we were in awe of what He did on Tuesday night in the classes for adults. Many were profoundly touched by the Holy Spirit, and some of the adult students were very emotional during our message. More than 220 adult students accepted Christ, and overall God touched and saved more than 820 students, and 11 teachers, and also the Vice Principal and the school Coordinator. We serve a Mighty God.

Outreach Schedule For 2012

2012-04-17T11:21:00.001-03:00

Last week we had a couple of meetings in schools in Sao Vicente, and we praise God that they accepted our Quality Of Life project and that we have finished scheduling our outreach events for the year. We typically have approx. 30 meetings each year in schools to schedule the 20-22 outreach events in the schools. On top of the meetings we have at the schools, we have meetings with the churches that we are going to be working with in the schools, if the church has never worked with us before. We schedule the first half of the year's school outreach events in the 2nd half of the previous year, typically with meetings from September to November or December. We then schedule the 2nd half of the school outreach events from February to April or May.

So besides speaking in 20-22 schools per year (typically 3 days per school) and preaching 15-20 times per year in churches, and several People Sharing Jesus seminars at churches, and other various outreach events throughout the year, we have a lot of meetings. There is a lot of behind the scenes work to organize each event with the schools, churches, and interpreters. It takes a lot of work to be able to speak and share Christ so many times during the year, and it can be very tiring at times, but it is well worth it to see so many people accepting Christ and committing their lives to Him.

You can see our 2012 outreach events schedule on our site: Ministry Schedule

A 12 Year Old Serving God

2012-04-09T16:54:00.000-03:00

Last week when we spoke in the school in Cubatao, we worked with Primeira Igreja Batista Cubatao. One of the members, Daniel, helped us on one of the days as Nancy's interpreter. Daniel is 12 years old. He did a great job as Nancy's interpreter, and he had a great attitude about serving God. He is going to help us again next week in another school in Cubatao. Great job Daniel !

A School Outreach In Cubatao

2012-04-05T17:15:00.000-03:00

This week we worked with Primeira Igreja Batista Cubatao in a municipal school in the city of Cubatao. The school is for students from 5th to 8th grade. The participation of the church was very good, and we had 4 to 5 people helping us each day. Three members of the church helped as some of our interpreters - Amanda, Joelma, and 12 year old Daniel.

Besides the problem we had with one of the teachers that I talked about in a post on Monday, we had a very good outreach event in the school. God worked in a great way in the hearts of many of the students and teachers, and many eagerly listened to the Gospel message. We praise God that 509 students and 4 teachers accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him.

One of the members of the church is a teacher at the school, and she started a Bible club awhile back on 2 Saturdays each month. We encouraged the students to participate in this, as it would help them to grow in their new relationship with the Lord and help them in their lives. It is great that the church has this, and it will be a good tool for them to follow up with the many who accepted Christ.

A Testimony Of God At Work In Africa

2012-04-04T19:17:00.004-03:00

I received the following email from Nigeria about how God is using the Pursuing Intimacy With God site (www.intimacywithgod.com) and Bible studies. What a great blessing and privilege to be a part of God's mission and work in the world.

Dear Kevin, Warm greetings of peace to you in the Lord's name.

I am writing to thank you for sending the "Pursuing Intimacy with God" Bible study 1&2. I am short of words to express what a blessing the materials are. I did not write immediately because I wanted to be able to send a contribution, no matter how little, in appreciation of those materials and your good work for the Lord in Brazil. I will certainly send a contribution in the near future. For now, I am writing to thank you and to let you know how I am using the materials and the blessing that it has been to me and my group.

I am a Missionary myself, focusing on reaching unreached rural people in Africa. I pioneered the Christ Missionary Outreach Ministry here in Nigeria since 6th September 1990. We are planting churches in rural communities where there is no gospel witness. In 2009 I came accross Leadership Institute in Orange County in California when I was doing a doctoral program at International Theological Seminary in Los Angeles. This group has a fantastic approach to leadership development. They primarily seek to incorporate leadership and spiritual formation in such a way that gives priority to leaders spirituality. They do six leadership retreats in a period of two years. I participated in this.

When I returned home to Nigeria last year, I felt in my heart that I need to adopt that approach, so I thought of a theme to center my session on and came up with "Cultivating intimacy with God" then I thought of checking the internet to see what I can find that would be of help. That is how the Lord led me to your web site. 30 pastors and leaders registered for the retreats. The first one took place March 29- April 1, 2012 in prayer mountain facility being developed by a Curian pastor here in Nigeria. When I got your materials, I changed my theme to read exactly like the title of your study materials: "Pursuing Intimacy with God" because that seems to capture the depth of my heart desire for the pastors and myself. Next I decided that I will include two studies from your materials in each retreat. In this last one, the pastors did two studies (week one and two, from page 1-11). I asked them to take two hours alone with God and those materials and them later on we took another one and half hour of discussing them together. The impact was tremendous. Now they have gone home with the materials to now study them carefully again with others. I intend to do this till we finish our six retreats next year.

I just wanted you to know how these materials are being used to the glory of the Master of the harvest, the Lord Jesus. Thank you so much again.

Bitrus Audu, Director, Christ Missionary Outreach Nigeria

Unusual Occurence

2012-04-02T19:05:00.000-03:00

Something happened today when we were speaking in a school in Cubatao that is very unusual. The school is for students in 5th to 8th grade. Fortunately it has never happened before in the 100+ schools we have spoken at here in Brazil. It reminds us of the spiritual warfare for souls that we are engaging in, and that there is opposition in many places.

Nancy was speaking in other classrooms, and I and my team were in the school theater speaking to groups of 4 classes at one time. The first time we spoke today the speech went very well, all the way through sharing the Gospel. One of the teachers that was there listening was smiling during most of the speech, and it appeared that she enjoyed it very much. However, when we started talking about the prayer to receive Jesus she got very agitated.

As we continued to describe the prayer and what it means to invite Jesus into your heart and ask Him to be your Lord & Savior and commit your life to Him, she got more agitated and she started to talk to the other teachers there, and you could tell that she was trying to get them to try to stop us. As we started the prayer she left the room, I imagine to go get the principal to stop us from praying. We were close to the end of the prayer when she returned (alone) and she was still visibly upset. 2 sentences before we were done with the prayer she cut us off and she told her class to get up and walk out of the room. As they were leaving she loudly announced that she is a Christian (very debatable and doubtful), but that she strongly disagrees with us praying with and for the students.

Thankfully when she left the room for awhile we were able to lead many of the students in the prayer to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and she did not come back until the very end. Because her students were in the front rows, we could hear that most of them prayed out loud to accept Christ and commit their lives to Him before she interrupted.

Fortunately at this time in Brazil this is still a very rare occurence. We have had a very occasional complaint from a teacher because in their opinion they thought we were talking about religion (which we definitely do not do as it is against the rules in the schools in Brazil), but nothing too serious like today. We are mindful that this could change, and in fact we would expect as time goes on that some day in the future it will not be possible to share Jesus in the public school in Brazil. We are therefore urgently trying to share Jesus as much as we can in the schools while we can, because it is doubtful that this will last forever. Please pray for us as we strive to reach as many people as we possibly can for Jesus.

April Newsletter

2012-03-31T16:27:00.001-03:00

This year seems to be flying by, and it is already 1/4 done. Click on the following link to see what God is doing in this part of Brazil:

April Newsletter

A Powerful Night In Praia Grande

2012-03-26T14:28:00.000-03:00

We have recently started working with Igreja Batista Cidade Ocian in Praia Grande to help them to share Jesus in their community. It is a very nice church that is growing steadily.The church is led by Pr. Eduardo, and he invited me to preach in the church. A member of the church, Carla, helped as my interpreter. Even though we can speak well in Portuguese, we always speak in English and use interpreters to translate into Portuguese, to be different and also to encourage people in the churches and schools to learn English. This would help them to have better opportunities in their lives, and to have a better chance to have a good job and a promising future.

I spoke a message to challenge and encourage every member of the church to participate in God's work and mission to seek and to save the lost. The Holy Spirit was moving in a powerful way last night, and many church members seemed to take the message to heart. At the end of the message we shared the Good News of a restored relationship with God through Jesus, and God moved in a powerful way and 16 people accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him.

Three of the people who accepted Christ were a couple and their daughter who were visiting the church for the 2nd time. Pastor Eduardo told me that they were "Spiritists", which is a religion or philosophy that many Brazilians follow. Spiritism is a belief in various spirit beings and in reincarnation, and is a mixture of philosophy, science, and moral beliefs. Apparently they had studied spiritism quite seriously for many years. God touched their hearts in a very powerful way and all of them accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him. Afterwards we got to meet them and chat with them for awhile. This morning they sent me an email, and they are very excited about their new restored relationship with God. They also said that their daughter wants to help us as an interpreter in our project in the schools. It is always great to see God powerfully working in the lives of others.

A Great Week In Guarujá

2012-03-21T18:30:00.001-03:00

This week we worked with Primeira Igreja Batista Itapema in the state school EE Marcilio Dias, located near the church in Guarujá. It is a large school that has students from 5th grade through high school. The participation of the church was excellent every day we spoke in the school, and they had between 4 to 7 people each day to help us.

The 2 weeks leading up to our outreach event at the school were extremely difficult for us, and the oppression and spiritual warfare was very strong. We had many difficulties and problems in the days leading up to our outreach. It is all because we were going to share Jesus with a great number of students and teachers this week. In the past we have had some of our most difficult times in the days leading up to an opportunity to reach many people for Jesus.

2 Corinthians 2:14 is a great truth, and time after time we have seen God lead us victoriously through many difficulties and spiritual warfare. "Thanks be to God who always leads us victoriously in Christ...". God moved in a great way this week in the school, and many students and teachers were very receptive to hearing the Gospel, and to having God come into their lives to help and lead them. Close to 1200 people accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him, including 21 teachers. We praise God for leading us victoriously through the difficulties and spritiual warfare, and for giving us the joy and privilege of participating in His mission to seek and save the lost.

Not So Fast

2012-03-14T19:15:00.001-03:00

In my previous post I talked about how we got a 9 year extension on our permanent visa, as we still wait on the dual citizenship process. The day after we were at the Federal Police they called and asked for a document on our original investment in Brazil, which allowed us to get an investor type permanent visa. I told them that the company we invested in (a friend's business) was closed in 2009 and that we reinvested in some apartments that we rent out to make some income. They said that since the company we originally invested in was closed that we would not be able to get an extension, and would probably have to leave Brazil. Talk about a shock. We were told we had a 9 year extension on Monday, and then we have nothing.

I asked them if the new apartment investment would qualify, and they said they would need to call me back. This morning they called and told me that we need to bring some new documents there asap, and then they would consider it. After we took the documents this morning, we were told that they would give us a 6 month extension and then send the documents and the case to the capital Brasilia, where they would need to decide whether to extend our visa more or not. So we went from a 9 year extension to no extension, and then to a 6 month extension. Hopefully the dual citizenship process will be completed in these next 6 months, because the bureaucracy here will drive you crazy.

Visa Renewal

2012-03-12T15:52:00.000-03:00

20 months ago we started the process to obtain dual citizenship, because we knew that in February 2012 our "permanent" visa was going to run out. For various reasons we were not going to be able to renew the "permanent" visa, which only is good for 5 years, so we went the dual citizenship route. Dual citizenship is also the most secure way to be able to stay in Brazil and continue to join in God's work here.

Any type of government process in Brazil is long and stressful, and typically ends up costing some good money because of all of the documents and fees you have to get. We had to provide 22 different kinds of documents for the dual citizenship, and most of them cost money and take alot of time to get.

Because the government is so slow here, they did not finish the dual citizenship on time, so today we had to go to the Federal Police in Santos to ask for a renewal of the permanent visa. We were told we had to bring 5 documents with us, which we did. After they reviewed these documents, we were told that we needed to go to our bank and pay a fee for the process, and then return with proof of payment. Fortunately our bank had a branch nearby and we did this fairly quickly. Before we returned to the Federal Police we got a call saying that we needed to go to a special document place and get an authenticated copy of a document, so we went and got that too before we returned. When we returned we were told that we needed to go back to the special document place and get another authenticated copy of something else, so we went and did that and returned. Then we were told that we needed to back to the bank and pay another fee and then return with the proof of payment.

So after 3 hours of running around and jumping through their hoops we finally were told that our visa was extended for 9 more years, praise God. Even though we were not able to get the renewal through normal channels, because the government was too slow in processing the dual citizenship we were able to get the 9 year visa extension. God is good !

The 100th School We Have Spoken At In Brazil

2012-03-08T18:45:00.001-03:00

This week we spoke 3 days in the municipal school EM Giusfredo Santini, which is for students from the 1st to 4th grades and adults studying at night. It is located in a poor area of the city of Guaruja. This was the 100th school that we have spoken at in Brazil, and it is amazing to look back at all of the opportunities that God has given us to share Jesus.

We worked with Igreja Batista Morrinhos, which is led by Pastor Valtecy. Even though it is a small church, the participation was excellent, and we had 7-8 people from the church every day to help us. It was one of the best turnouts from a church to date, and we praise God for them. It was a blessing to work with them and help them to share Jesus in the school. God moved in a great way, and 15 teachers and 604 students accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him, including 53 adult students studying at night. God is great !

March Newsletter

2012-03-06T16:26:00.001-03:00

Check out our latest newsletter to see what God is doing in this part of Brazil:

March Newsletter

We appreciate your prayers for us and for the precious people we are trying to reach for Jesus.