Mt. Carmel - Final Day

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

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

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.