God initially called us to join Him in His kingdom work of helping & training churches to reach others for Christ in the greater Sao Paulo area. In 3 years (2007-2009) we worked with 40 churches in the Sao Paulo area to share Christ in their communities. In early 2009 God started speaking to us about moving to Santos, a coastal city an hour south of Sao Paulo, to help churches to share Christ in the area known as the "Baixada Santista", which includes the cities of Santos, Guaruja, Cubatao, Sao Vicente, Praia Grande, and others. We moved to Santos in November 2009, and we are beginning our ministry in the Baixada Santista in 2010. 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 "fishers 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 has grown 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 speaks in one class while Nancy speaks in another class at the same time. Our project is called Quality Of Life, and we speak about how to have a good future and a good quality of life. We speak about 3 parts of our life: the body, the soul, and the spiritual life. We are not allowed to speak about religion, or a specific church or denomination, but we are allowed to share the Gospel clearly and directly. After the speech we have a prayer where the students & teachers can receive Jesus as Lord & Savior and to commit their lives to Him. Afterwards we pass out an excellent tool called "Livro Da Vida", to start teaching & discipling the new believers. In our first 3 years in Brazil (2007-2009) we spoke in 60 schools and have seen tens of thousands of students, over 820 teachers, 3 principals, 3 vice principals, and 10 school coordenators accept Christ. We also try to facilitate a relationship between the school and a nearby church, so that the church can continue to try to help the students, teachers, and families.
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 Santos and the surrounding area, and that He will be glorified by all that we do. We very much need and appreciate your prayers.
the swimming starting line for one of the groups
beginning the swimming phase
the bike staging area was on our street
in between the swimming & bike phases of the race
one of the competitors preparing for the bike phase
the guy in black w/ red cap only had 1 leg - very inspiring !
start of the 40 km bike leg
the finish line near our apartment
