Yesterday we worked with Igreja Batista Central and Pastor Carlos in a state school in Santos for students in the 5th grade through high school. We were scheduled to speak in 15 classes on Monday morning and in 14 classes this afternoon. Unfortunately we only spoke in 9 high school classes on the first day before the recess time, and apparently a teacher complained that we were talking about religion, which is not allowed in the classroom in public schools in Brazil, and the vice-director told us we could not continue. The vice-director appears to be a Spiritist, and she was very cold towards us and she acted like she did not want us to be there. We had a very good meeting with the director of the school in November and scheduled the event with her, and she was very receptive and happy to have us come to speak in the school, and she even recommended us to 4 other schools in Santos. Unfortunately she is on vacation this week and was not there yesterday. So we need to contact her when she gets back and try to reschedule the classes we were not able to finish.
We do not speak about religion or specific churches or denominations in the classroom, in order to respect the laws, but we do speak about God's love for all of us and about how to have a personal relationship through Christ, and we share the Gospel clearly. In other schools we have spoken in we have had a very occasional complaint from an isolated teacher, but no one ever made us stop before like this week. The surprising thing about it all was how well it had gone in the classes we spoke in. We thought that it was one of the better school experiences that we have had in the 62 schools we have spoken in so far. Most of the students in the 9 classes we spoke in responded to the Holy Spirit and 171 students and 2 teachers accepted Christ before we stopped, and the vast majority liked it very much. Please pray that God will touch the heart of the director Lila and that we will be able to finish speaking in the other classes in the future.
Nancy and interpreter Lindsey speaking in a high school class
Interpreters Lindsey & Andrea, us, and the church team
Interpreter Andrea and I sharing Christ in one of the classes
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