The Salgado Family

I thought that I would invest some time writing about some of the folks that are a part of the house church that we host in our home on Sundays. Including me and Jennifer we average about 13 people.

First, I would like to introduce you to the Salgado family:

Claudio and Rute (Claude and Ruth) were introduced to our church family about 4 years ago by our teammates, Kevin and Benay Blume. Claudio is the building maintenance man of the apartment building that the Blume family lived in for their first year and a half in Porto Alegre. Claudio and Rute had been together for quite some time and were considered to have a common law marriage. Almost 2 years ago they decided to give themselves to Christ and to be married. We got all of our church family together on a Friday night and had 2 baptisms and then a wedding. It was a wonderful evening.

Now, Claudio and Rute are an active part of our house church. They are learning that anyone can have a group of people in their home to study the Bible. We are trying to prepare them to have a church in their own home. They are maturing along side the rest of us and are eager to serve the Lord.

Over the last few years they have worked really hard at paying off all of their debts and have saved enough money to buy their first home. Debt is a real problem in Brazil and it is rare to find someone who has paid it off. In Brazil it is possible to have your debt forgiven if you don't pay it off after a certain amount of time. Responsibility and accountability are real struggles to teach when the government/society doesn't expect it from you! However, Claudio and Rute are wonderful examples to many Brazilians in how to handle finances, especially with a tight budget. We hope and pray that they will be rewarded and will be able to move into their new home sometime in the next couple of months. Unfortunately, with all the Brazilian bureaucracy and red tape you never really know when things will get done.

Their new home will be in a neighboring town about 20-25 minutes away from Porto Alegre. They will be wonderful hosts/leaders to a house church family when the opportunity presents itself. In the meantime we will continue to teach and mentor them with the help of the Holy Spirit. Please join us in praying that they will get their house soon and that the Lord would be preparing them to have a house church if it is His will. A house church in their new home would be a wonderful opportunity to reach out to people in an area where we haven't yet ministered.

Claudio and Rute Salgado with their daughters Keity (15), Jenifer (12) and Lhamar (7).

Last night I took the entire Salgado family to see Spider-Man 3 (in Portuguese). They had a blast! They don't have the money to get out and do things like that, so it was a real treat for them. What really made the evening special was finding out that last night was Lhamar's first movie theatre experience. About half way through the movie, after a fight between Spidey and the Sandman, she leaned over to tell me that she liked the movie. I smiled and said "you still have about an hour more to go!" She giggled and went back to watching the movie. I think she really enjoyed herself.

Couple's Ministry

Last Saturday night we had our first couple's night. We had a great time of fellowship, worship, and dining. A local missionary, Rui (who-E), came and spoke to us about marriage and our commitments to our spouses. It was very good. The night was full of laughter and smiles. We really enjoyed ourselves. Jennifer and I were able to host the event in our home. We were surprised that we were able to fit 13 couples around different tables in our living room. Of course, we had to move a lot of furniture to make room. A couple of the Brazilian women, Branda and Waleska, did a great job of organizing and putting everything together. Hopefully, we will do something like this again in the near future. It was very uplifting to us all!

Where Two or Three Come Together...

The weather in Porto Alegre has been really bad the last few days. It has been really cold and rainy. Just miserable conditions. Yesterday morning I got a call from one of the families that comes to the church that meets in our house. All five of them were sick with the flu and they weren't going to be able to make it to church. Two other people were traveling because of Mother's day, and a few others were also out of pocket because of the holiday. Another one of our members called and let me know that he and another guy couldn't make it because they were "under the weather" too. We were expecting one couple to make after calling them to confirm, and a our friend, Ricardo, that I have been studying the Bible with. Ricardo came to our house church for the first few Sundays and then wasn't able to come anymore because of the distance. It takes him 2 hours of travel on the bus to and from our house. I can understand why that would make wanting to come to church a challenge. I have offered to meet Ricardo at a point in the city that would shave off about an hour and 15 minutes of travel time. This Sunday, he finally took me up on my offer. I picked Ricardo up at about 3:30 (church typically starts at 4). We got back to our house and visited while we waited for the others to arrive. At about 4:40 we decided that they weren't going to make it because the weather was so bad.

Ricardo really enjoys speaking in English, so we had an English service. It was me, Ricardo and Jennifer (Elisa was taking a nap). We sang songs in English and studied some in 2 Samuel (where Ricardo and I are currently studying). We had some good time praying and we took the Lord's Supper together. It was really a great experience. We knew that the Lord was present! After we concluded our service we had dinner together and watched some of a movie before I had to take Ricardo back to the bus stop where we met earlier in the day. He was at our house for about 5 hours.

At first, I was a little discouraged that no one else came. Ricardo doesn't come much anymore because of the distance, so I thought that this time would be good for him to reconnect with everyone else. Selfishly, I also wanted there to be more people. Sometimes we get caught up in the numbers. It is easy for us to lose track of what can actually make a dynamic time of worship and study. Yesterday's church had just 3 people. But, it was still church! In fact, it was one of the best services we have had in my opinion. It was real. We studied and asked questions. We sang and prayed together. We communed with one another and "broke bread". If not for Ricardo sacrificing by getting out in the rain and cold, Jennifer and I would have had church by ourselves. I praise God for yesterday. It blessed me to see that the power of the blood can be seen and experienced in the smallest of groups. I pray that he will continue to show us his mighty power no matter who comes to church or how many people we have.

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20

Ethan Powell

I am sure that many of you have heard heart breaking stories of young children who are suffering from terminal diseases. Two-month old Ethan Powell is among them. He is suffering from Leukemia. He and his family need all the prayer and support they can get. Please go to www.ethanpowell.com to find out what you can do to help Ethan and his family.