Sacrifice

As American missionaries in Brazil we are not suffering much at all compared to those servants of God who serve in dangerous places where it could cost your life to share the Gospel. We do not experience violence and persecution such as those who live and serve in certain parts of the world. Our health is not jeopardized by being exposed to deadly diseases like other parts of the world, although there are some disease issues here such as dengue and some others. And unlike what many people think of Brazil, we are not out in the jungle lacking most modern appliances and conveniences. We live in a modern urban environment with cell phones, internet, cable tv,...

I am writing this today because it is our middle son's 25th birthday. One of the hardest parts of our serving here in Brazil is being separated from our 3 sons and our families, and not being there for things like birthdays, Christmas, and many other of life's events. We have been here for 5 1/2 years, and rather than getting easier it seems that it gets harder as time goes on to be separated from our sons and loved ones, and not being involved in their daily lives. And it is not easy for them either.

Serving God involves sacrifice. It involves suffering, especially when you are on the front lines such as we are in the spiritual war for souls. It sometimes involves loneliness. At various times we have felt alone in our work, even though we work with many churches and people here. There is alot of spiritual oppression here, and often times we have to endure many difficulties in order to share the Gospel in the schools, churches, and other places, especially when we are preparing to speak to a large group of people and share Jesus with them. The spiritual oppression can be overwhelming at times. Another sacrifice for us is the financial cost that is involved. Since it was God's plan for us to come to Brazil without an organization or church that supports us, and for us to use our own funds, it has cost us alot financially to serve here.

However, it is the very least that we can do to show our love and appreciation for what Jesus did for us. And it is the very least we can do to help others to know the hope and the abundant and eternal life that we have in Jesus. We owe everything that we are, and everything that we have, and everything we do, and every part of every day to our Lord Jesus. And we owe it Him to do our very best to join Him in His work of seeking and saving the lost who are without Christ.

We can say without a doubt, that it is well worth every sacrifice and everything we go through and suffer, to see God touching others' lives and helping others to have peace with God and a restore relationship with Him. It is difficult to put into words the joy that we experience when we see people humbly praying to receive Jesus and committing their lives to Him. There is nothing else like it, and we are thankful to God for allowing us to have this wonderful privilege. 

A Difficult Week

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight against your enemies to give you victory."       - Deuteronomy 20:4

But thanks be to God, who always leads us victoriously in Christ, and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere."              - 2 Corinthians 2:14

We have been having a very difficult week so far. We are speaking and sharing Christ in a large school in Guaruja all this week, and it is one of those weeks where everything seems to be going wrong. On Monday morning we had a near accident on the way to the school. Then when we arrive the school informed us that we had to rearrange all of the schedule this week due to other things going on at the school, so we had to scramble around to reorganize all of our interpreters that are helping us. Then one of the interpreters didn't show up, and neither did the church that was supposed to help us.

The pastor of the church later told me that he decided not to participate and help us this time, because the last time we had an outreach with them in a school in late May, only 1 of the people from the school visited his church after that. We had hundreds and hundreds that accepted Christ that week in May, but only 1 came to visit his church. The problem was that the pastor did not call us to inform us of his decision, he just left us hanging.

Also, in this week and last week, 2 of the schools we were scheduled to speak in cancelled, so now we are scrambling around trying to get 2 more school events scheduled. As they say, when it rains it pours.

We finally got another interpreter to come and help us on Monday morning, and we ended up having a great time speaking in the classes. We also spoke on Tuesday afternoon in some classes, and now we will be finishing there tonight and on Friday afternoon. We praise God, that despite all of the problems, so far more than 400 students and teachers have accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him.

Even with all of the confusion and problems and stress, God is always faithful and He will do what He has promised ... to always get us through difficulties and empower us to overcome them. God will always do what He has said and promised. In our ministry of reaching out to others for Jesus, God has promised to always lead us victoriously in Christ. If you read the verses around 2 Corinthians 2:14, Paul is specifically speaking about missions and reaching lost people for Jesus. Praise God that He always does what He says and promises - He is perfectly faithfully.

A Tough School Event

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.

Spiritual Warfare This Week

When we have an opportunity to share Christ with alot of people, or when we speak in a large school where there are many students and teachers that accept Christ and we have a great victory, we normally experience a good bit of spiritual warfare, either right before the event or just after it. This week we are speaking in a school called EE Manuela in the Sao Joao Climaco area of Sao Paulo, and the spiritual warfare has been unbelievably strong leading up to and during these days. We spoke in the school on Monday morning and today in the afternoon, and we have seen many people accept Christ (almost 900 in 2 days), and we have 15 more classes to speak in tommorrow night.

What are some of the things we experience in this spiritual battle ? A few days before the event in the school we had some family problems and conflicts. And we have experienced a strong feeling of oppression at times. Also, we have had some more problems in the classes with some of the students than normal. And there have been many complications and problems with our interpreters and with some of the people from the church we are working with this week in the school, Primeira Igreja Batista Sao Joao Climaco. We always use 2 interpreters each day we speak, because we have 2 teams and we speak in 2 classes at once. One of our interpreters for Monday morning, Priscila, is pregnant and on Sunday night/ Monday morning she got very ill and she nearly lost her baby. Fortunately she is better now and the baby is fine, and fortunately our good friend Junior, who is not working now, was able to help us with only 25 minutes notice.

Then today some other crazy things happened: as we were speaking in the school today our interpreter Joana's Mom was taken to the hospital in an ambulance with extreme high blood pressure and other problems. Joana was able to finish today and then she found out her Mom was ill. Also Pastor Carlos from the church was going to help us, but this morning he felt pains in his chest and he had to go to the hospital to get checked on. Also, one of our interpreters for today cancelled out on us late last week, and fortunately we were able to get a replacement in short time. And we have had an unusually hard time finding 2 interpreters for tommorrow night. It is usually easier to get interpreters at night than for the morning or the afternoon. We had 2 scheduled a month ago, then one cancelled last week. Then we had a hard time getting another one, but we finally got one on Saturday. Then yesterday her car broke down and now she cannot help on Wednesday night. So finally we got another one last night.

Also, there have been some problems at the school lately with fights and other problems, and just last week 2 students were playing around on the steps in the school and one pushed the other accidentally down the steps and the boy died. But through all of this God is doing a very special work in the school, and we feel that He is going to continue to do some very special things in the lives of the people from this school. The school leaders are very open to recieving our help, and they also asked us if the church and the pastor could continue to work with the students and teachers and families after this week to help them in their lives. So please continue to pray for us, and for the people that help us, and for the people we are reaching out to in God's love. Believe me when I say that we all need the prayers.

August & September Update

We had many great opportunities to speak and share Christ in August and September, and we are praising God for what He has done (and for what He is going to do in the future). Normally when we are in the middle of sharing Christ with so many people, we experience alot of spiritual warfare and difficulties and challenges, and August and September were no different. We had many victories, and many challenges and problems as well. But as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:14 "But thanks be to God who always leads us victoriously in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." This verse says it all. God is our victory, and He is always faithful.

In the past 2 months 4,981 people accepted Christ, including 2 school coordenators, 94 teachers, and many other adults. We spoke in 6 schools, and we had a People Sharing Jesus seminar in a church in Sao Bernardo, and I was able to preach in 2 churches. We worked with the following churches when we visited the schools: Igreja Batista Vila Gerti, Igreja Batista Ipiranga, Igreja Evangelical Da Fe, Igreja Evangelica Batista Vila Antonieta, Igreja Batista Luz Para As Nacoes, and Igreja Batista Ministerio De Reconciliacao. And we have many more good opportunities to speak and share Christ in schools and other places coming up. God is good ! We thank everyone for their prayers, and we always need them and we very much appreciate them. Here are some photos of our visits in some of the schools.

The Hand Of The Lord

Acts 11:21 - "The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord."

The early church in the book of Acts saw God do great and amazing things. Many people were reached for Christ, and the church grew quickly. What was the key to their victories and success ? Acts 11:21 shows the one thing that is absolutely vital to experiencing spiritual victories and to being fruitful in ministry - the hand of the Lord.

The hand of the Lord represents God's glory and power, His presence, His blessings, His favor, and His authority over the enemy. Why was the hand of the Lord with them ? Go back to Acts chapter 8 and you find the answer. Acts 8:1 tells us that a great persecution broke out against the church, and everyone in the church except the apostles were scattered to other areas. Verse 4 tells us that everyone that was scattered preached the word of the Lord wherever they went. Imagine a church where everyone shares the Good News of Jesus with others, not just the pastors or leaders. They understood that God's plan for the church is for everyone to share Christ with others, and they understood that this is what Jesus commanded them to do in Matthew 4:19 and Matthew 28:19-20. Not only did they understand this, but they obeyed what the Lord said to do. Thus the hand of the Lord was with them, and He empowered them to reach a great number of people for Jesus. God used everyone in the church, including the ordinary people, to do extraordinary things for His glory.

Spiritual Warfare

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God..."
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

As Christians we must recognize that we are in a spiritual battle against the enemy of God, and that the enemy also wants to win souls. When we are doing all we can to win souls for Christ and make disciples, the enemy will do all he can to try to stop us. Expect spiritual warfare if you have determined in your heart to join God in His work to win souls and make disciples. We experience alot of spiritual warfare, especially right before we are going to share Christ in a school or a church, or immediately after we have seen God win a great victory.

In fact, things can get pretty difficult and crazy. This past week is a good example. We are in the midst of a 4 week period where we will share Christ with over 4000 people, and the enemy is not happy about this. There have been: computer problems; family problems; personal conflicts; sickness; frustrations; increased temptations; near accidents on the way to speak; 4 interpretors that were scheduled to help called and cancelled ; one interpretor's car was hit right before we went to speak in a school; a near cancellation at one school; and at times we can literally feel the oppression from the enemy. Plus add the fact that we get very tired when speaking over 120 times in a 4 week period.

Don't get me wrong - we love serving the Lord and sharing Christ with others, but at times things get very difficult. That is why missionaries and pastors need your prayers. We are human. We are weak. We get tired, yes even cranky. We make mistakes. And the battle is far too difficult for us, and the enemy is too strong for us. I can only imagine how difficult it is for people who are serving in places like the Middle East where it is very dangerous to witness for Christ, where they could lose their lives. I have a great amount of respect and admiration for these servants of the Lord. Praise God that we serve the One who is far greater than he that is in the world. And God has given us His Word, His promises that He will lead us to victory. God cannot lose. Remember that we are on God's winning team. For us, usually the strong spiritual warfare is a sign that God is about to do something wonderful and great, and the enemy is not happy about it. Here are some of the many promises concerning the work of sharing Christ with others and the victories that God will give us:

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us victoriously in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." - 2 Corinthians 2:14

" For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."
- Deuteronomy 20:4

" Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand." - Isaiah 14:24