Mission Trip to Sao Manuel

Carnaval is a 4 day holiday/ party that takes place in Brazil every year in February. Many cities have big celebrations and "festas" - parties. This year for Carnaval we were invited by Igreja Batista Ebenezer in Sao Paulo to participate with them on their 4 day mission trip to Sao Manuel, which is a city in the country about 3-4 hours from Sao Paulo. 190 people from Igreja Batista Ebenezer and 2 other churches (1 from Sao Paulo and 1 from Sao Carlos) participated to share the Good News of God's love and salvation through Jesus. There were events for children in the morning and afternoon, and a program for mothers at the same time. The youth choir from Igreja Batista Ebenezer also performed a different evangelistic musical every night. All of the events took place in a school gymnasium. Every morning and afternoon a large group of people would go door-to-door to invite people to the events, and to share Christ with the people of Sao Manuel. God moved in a wonderful way and touched many hearts, and many people accepted Christ.

The city of Sao Manuel (state of Sao Paulo)

Some of the 190 people that participated from 3 churches

The youth choir from Igr. Bat. Ebenezer performing an evangelistic musical

The youth from Igr. Bat. in Sao Carlos performing a skit

Preaching with interpretor Flavia in Igr. Bat. Aeriopolis

Brazil Photo

Brazil has a huge coastline, and thus has many beautiful beaches. The total length of the Brazilian coastline is 7491 km, which is 4495 miles. One of the most famous beaches in Brazil is Copacabana beach, which is located in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

A Nice Day In Santos

Yesterday we needed to go to Santos to pick up 20 boxes of "Livro Da Vida" (Book Of Life) at a church in Santos. The Livro Da Vida is an excellent tool we pass out to all students and teachers at schools after we speak to them. We use it to start discipling the new believers, and to help & guide them in their lives. After we loaded up the car with the 20 boxes (not an easy job because they are heavy and it was hot & humid there), we got to visit our dear friends Pastor Odilon and his wife Olga. We became good friends with them when Pastor Odilon was the Brazilian pastor in our church in the US, Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta GA. They moved back to Brazil a year and a half ago, but this was the first time we had a chance to see them. Pastor Odilon is now the national coordenator in Brazil for Total Church Life ministry. We had a nice lunch with them and then they showed us around Santos. We had a great time, and it was really good to see them.

A Great Sunday

This past Sunday, the 15th, I had the privilege of preaching in 2 churches. I preached in Igreja Batista Boa Esperanca in the Pq. Boa Esperanca area of Sao Paulo in the morning, and at Igreja Batista Ebenezer in the Agua Rasa area of Sao Paulo at night. We have just started to work with and help these churches, which are located in the East Zone of Sao Paulo.

We will be working with Pastor Jozue and Igr. Bat. Boa Esperanca in a large school in their area in March, and we will probably have a People Sharing Jesus seminar there and do other evangelism projects with them in the future. At the end of the message on Sunday morning I shared the Gospel and 13 people accepted Christ.

We will be working with Pastor Manoel and Igr. Bat. Ebenezer in a variety of ways. Nancy and I will be joining a large group from the church in the city of Sao Manuel, which is located in the country about 3 hours from Sao Paulo, for a special 4 day trip to do evangelism work there on Feb. 21-24. We are also having a People Sharing Jesus seminar at the church in May, and will also be working with them in some schools in their area. 3 people accepted Christ on Sunday night.

Pastor Jozue and I and interpretor Elizabete

Preaching in Igreja Batista Boa Esperanca

Preaching in Igreja Batista Ebenezer

Interpretor Rachel and I in Igr. Bat. Ebenezer

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.

Go

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." - Matthew 28:18-20

The meaning of the original word translated "go" in the English language means "as you are going". We are to reach out and share the Good News of forgiveness of sin and salvation through Jesus Christ with others ... as we are going in our daily lives. As you are going ... at work ... at school ... at the mall ... at the restaurant ... at the bank ... when you are with family ... when you are with friends... The word meaning "as you are going" implies a lifestyle of being obedient and faithful to Jesus and His command to reach out to others and make disciples. It does not mean to "do" evangelism occasionally, or to have an occasional evangelism event, but it means to have an obedient lifestyle of continually reaching out to others.

It also signifies a deliberate effort to reach outside the walls of your church to share the Gospel - in your community, in your nation, and in all other nations. In many churches the majority of the members leave the preaching of the Gospel to the pastor, and at best they occasionally invite someone to visit their church. This is not what Jesus meant when he said "go". If you study Jesus' life, you see that He was constantly going to where the lost people were. He did not wait around for the people to come to Him, He went to where they were to share the message of God's love and salvation. We cannot fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28 by sitting around in our churches and by staying in our comfort zones.

Sao Paulo: An International City

Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, with over 22 million people living in the metropolitan area. It is also one of the largest cities in the world. Sao Paulo is made up of over 100 different ethnic groups, making it a truly international city. Brazilians are very accepting of foreigners, and generally treat them very well. Here are some of the largest ethnic groups:

6 million Italians
3 million Africans
3 million Portuguese
1 million Arabs
1 million Japanese
400,000 Germans
120,000 Chinese
60,000 Jews
60,000 Bolivians
50,000 Greeks
50,000 Koreans

Events In February

February is a fairly slow month for us, as is January. Between Christmas and Carnival in February, not much happens in Brazil. I am glad that I am not in business in Brazil, because that would drive me crazy. Most people take their vacations in January &/or February, since it is summer here, and most get 3 or 4 weeks off. Also, schools are out for summer break, so we will not start speaking again in schools until March. We do have a few things going on that you can pray for:

- We are having meetings with pastors to schedule dates to preach in their churches, and to schedule some People Sharing Jesus seminars.
- Later in February we will start having meetings at schools to schedule speaking dates.
- I will be preaching at Igreja Batista Ebenezer in the Agua Rasa area of Sao Paulo on Sun. night Feb. 15.
- Nancy and I have been invited to work with Igreja Batista Ebenezer on a mission trip to share Christ in the city of Sao Manuel, which is located in the state of Sao Paulo about 3 hours from where we live. This mission work will be on Feb. 21-24 (during Carnival).

Please pray that God will continue to open doors for us to share Christ in many places, and that He will bless and use these events to touch and save many, for His glory.