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.

Challenges And Victories

This is turning out to be one of the more difficult weeks we have had since we have been in Brazil these last 5 1/2 years. Because the team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church is here helping us and because we will be sharing Jesus with over 3000 people, the spiritual battle has been very intense. The enemy is battling against us every step of the way, and we have had a lot of difficulties and complications and oppression so far this week. We have had numerous interpreters cancel and we have had to reschedule with others. We had the problem yesterday with the school cancelling classes and not notifying us and then having to reschedule to today, which means rescheduling rides, rescheduling with the church we were working with, and rescheduling all of the interpreters. We have had mix ups with people providing transportation for the team, and other various complications. Also, on Saturday and Sunday I started getting sick, but thankfully I have been able to get enough rest in between events and am feeling better now.

Today we split up and spoke in 2 different schools in Santos in the morning and again in the afternoon. When we arrived at one of the schools the director told me that we could not do our project there, even though we scheduled it with them and confirmed it again last month. I kept trying to convince her to let us do it, and she told me 3 times that we could not do it, all the while our American visitors and 5 interpreters and a team from Igreja Batista Areia Branca were waiting outside to come in and share Jesus. But then God intervened and the director, who is not a Christian, finally relented and changed her mind and let us do our project.

We spoke in 12 morning classes and then we had a great home cooked Brazilian meal at the church. We had a great time of fun and fellowship with the people from the church, including some of the children that attend the church. Then we returned to the school and spoke in 10 afternoon classes. The school is for students from 5th grade through high school. God prepared a great harvest in the school, and the students and teachers were very receptive to the Gospel message. God moved greatly and 517 students and 9 teachers accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him.

Nancy and 2 of the folks from Mt. Carmel went to the school that we had to reschedule from yesterday, also in Santos. The school is also for students from 5th grade to high school. They spoke in 8 classes in the morning and then had lunch, and then returned to speak in 9 afternoon classes. The students loved having Americans come in and speak to them, and once again God moved in a powerful way. 540 students and 10 teachers and 2 school coordinators accepted Christ and committed their lives to Him.

We praise God for securing the opportunity to share Jesus at the one school that originally would not let us in, and we praise Him for the 1078 people that accepted Christ today, including 19 teachers and 2 school coordinators, and we give Him all of the honor and glory. We are in awe of how great our God is, and we are so privileged to be a part of His work and mission to seek and save a lost world. 

Please keep praying all of us, as this work is very tiring and we need God to strengthen us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Please also pray that God will protect and secure the remaining opportunities that we have scheduled in 2 other schools on Wednesday and Thursday, and that He will empower us to boldly and powerfully share Christ and reach precious people for His Kingdom.

Patience & Flexibility

Yesterday we and the team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church went to the morning worship service at Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem in Santos, and then to the night service at Capela Calvary church in Sao Vicente. These are 2 of the 5 churches we are working with this week to share Jesus. At both of the churches they had some church members sit with the Americanos and translated the message for them, so they would not feel totally lost and so they could understand the message.

This was a good opportunity to meet some of the Brazilian pastors and brothers & sisters in Christ that the team will be working with in schools and other places to share Jesus. After the morning service at Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem the church had a great lunch for all of us. After the night service at Capela Calvario (Calvary Chapel in English) we and many of the church members had some typical Brazilian food at the church. It was a very good day of worship and fellowship, and it was a good opportunity for the Americanos to see how Brazilians worship.

This morning we were scheduled to speak in our 1st public school, located in Santos. When we got to the school we learned that the government contacted all of the schools and had them cancel classes for today and have teachers meetings instead. So we had to scramble this morning to rearrange rides for the Americans, church people to help, and interpreters too, and we rescheduled everything for tomorrow. Because of the cancelling of classes today we will now have to split up our teams and speak in 2 schools tomorrow morning and afternoon. In the next 3 days (Tuesday through Thursday) we will need to speak in 4 schools in the 3 days. This is going to be very tiring and more difficult, as we will be speaking in over 100 classes in the next 3 days. But it will all be worth it to be able to share the Good News of Jesus with over 3000 people, and we are anxious to get started and to see what God is going to do.

Because we had extra time today, after lunch we walked around Santos and visited various stores and different places. We also used that time to pass out around 70 Gospel tracts to people, and we had various "divine appointments" in the streets. One young man we met named Kaio was very open to hearing about God's love for him and he gladly accepted the Gospel tract, and he was already reading it as we were walking away. Several people started to read their tract as soon as we gave it to them, and others said sincerely that they would read it with "carinho", meaning that it was special to them and they would read it with great care. We also met 2 ladies who are Christians, and one of them asked us to pray for her son Matheus, who is 18 and has not accepted Christ yet. She also told us what school he goes to and asked us to try to schedule our project there in the future. We ended up giving her a tract in English to give to her son as a present from the Americans, because he speaks English and he will probably have an interest in reading it knowing it is in English and came from some Americans.

Mt. Carmel Mission Trip - Part 1

The 6 person team from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Temple GA arrived Friday morning. They originally were scheduled to fly from Atlanta to Washington DC and then to Sao Paulo, but because of bad weather in Atlanta they were going to miss their connection in Washington. They were allowed to get on a Delta direct flight from Atlanta to Sao Paulo, and they all arrived safely. Friday was a rest day for the team, which they needed after flying overnight and not getting much sleep on the plane. We went out in the late afternoon to walk around Santos and the beach area, and then went to dinner in a churrascaria, which is a Brazilian steak house.It was a great dinner.

On Saturday morning we worked with a small church, Igreja Batista Chico de Paula, in a poor area of Santos. We had 3 teams of Americans, interpreters, and members of the church, and we visited homes in a nearby "favela" (slum) to share Jesus. There were several scheduled visits, and then we ended up going house to house after that. God gave us some very good opportunities to share Jesus with people and families, and we thank Him for the privilege of joining Him in His work. 9 people accepted Christ, and we also were able to minister to 2 people who had accepted Christ in the past but have wondered away. 

Afterwards we had a great home cooked Brazilian lunch at the church, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship. After lunch we took the team up a small mountain overlooking the ocean, since it was such a beautiful day. We took a ski lift ride up to the top, and then watched the hang gliders and the people para-sailing take off and fly around above us. At one time we counted 16 people flying around up there.

May Newsletter

Here is a link to our May Newsletter. Check out the news about what God is doing here in Santos Brazil, and also what outreach events are coming up. May is going to be great month.

May Newsletter