February 13, 2009

God's Vision For Our Ministry

God called us to the Sao Paulo area of Brazil to work with and help and train churches to share the Good News of Christ with others. There are approx. 20+ million people in the city of Sao Paulo, and another 2.5 million living in the ABC area, which consists of the cities of Santo Andre, Sao Bernardo, Sao Caetano (where we live), Diadema, and Maua. God is doing great things here, touching and saving tens of thousands of people for His glory, and it is a great privilege for us to be a part of God's work. God gave us a vision and a plan, where He will show His glory, that includes the following four things:

1. Preach in Churches: we preach to the members of the church, to encourage and challenge them to be the "fisher of men" that Jesus wants all of us to be. We also preach the Gospel at the end of each message to the lost that are visiting or that are members of the church. Interestingly, about 1/2 of the people that have accepted Christ in the churches are members.


2. Train Pastors, Leaders, & Members: we lead People Sharing Jesus seminars in churches to train people how to effectively & powerfully share Christ with others. Written by Dr. Darrell Robinson, founder of Total Church Life Ministry, People Sharing Jesus is an excellent tool to encourage and teach people how to be powerful and confident witnesses for Christ.


3. Make Visits With Churches To Share Christ: we make visits with members of the churches to help them share Christ with others. We have helped churches to share Christ in many homes, in a health center, a hospital, a Vacation Bible school, a Rotary Club meeting, a ministry for business people,... God is opening many doors. This picture shows a visit to Sao Mateus Hospital in Sao Paulo.


4. Share Christ In Schools: this part of our ministry is growing alot. We always work with a church in the area of the school, so they can try to do follow-up work with the students & teachers that accept Christ. We have 2 teams, and Kevin & Nancy speak in one class while John speaks in another class at the same time. In our first 2 years here (2007 & 2008) we spoke in 41 schools and have seen thousands of students, over 550 teachers, 2 principals, 2 vice principals, and 7 school coordenators accept Christ.

Please pray that God's hand would continue to be upon us as we join Him in His wonderful work of reaching out in love to those without Christ in the Sao Paulo area. We very much need and appreciate your prayers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you think you're doing a good thing, but Christianity has done so much harm to people!!

I sincerely hope you're respecting people's native traditions and beliefs, and are just simple and loving with them.
Please support any indigenous people you are working with, rather than ramming your beliefs down their throats like so many Christians are wont to do.

Kevin Bart said...

Anonymous, thanks for the visit and comment. I do not understand your comment about Christianity doing harm to people, and do not know where it is coming from. Perhaps you have had a bad experience, and perhaps you don't like religion. I don't know.

But I do know that if anyone that claims to be a Christian has caused harm to someone else, then they are not truly representing the Living and True God, Jesus Christ. He is the reason we are here, because He so loves everyone in the world, and He wants to have a restored personal relationship with all people, including you. We do not ram anything down people's throats, and neither does Jesus. You and all people have the God-given free will to accept and believe in and love Him, or to reject Him. But each choice has consequences. I pray andhope that you will see the Living God for who He really is.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, but do you allow people to have their own religions?

That's the harm I'm talking about, that accepting Jesus or suffer the consequences mentality.
I am Buddhist, and I feel my path and many others, are just as valid as Christianity. Are Christians ever prepared to say that too? I haven't heard one yet.

I appreciate your reply though. Thank you.