Men's Ministry

Renato, Lauro & Alexandre preparing to eat the meat at our last study!

Back in April I posted an update about a sexual purity class that the men here were going to start. A little over a week ago (June 16th) the men of our church family finished a 10-week sexual purity class using the "Every Man's Battle" book and workbook. We ended the study with a celebration churrasco (bar-b-que) at our house.

This class was an amazing opportunity for growth on various levels. As I stated in the previous post, we had a few purposes of this study:

1. strengthen and grow our relationships with the Father.
2. strengthen and grow our relationships with our wives.
3. view women with the eyes of Christ; with respect.
4. strengthen and grow our relationships with other men.

I believe that we not only met these goals or purposes - we hit them head on! We spent a lot of time in prayer and praise to our Lord and God; and we confessed sin, bringing us to a closer relationship with our God. We learned how to better treat our wives and how to give them our full attention - starving our eyes of sensual images outside of our marriages. We talked about how to guard our minds and our hearts from Satan's attacks with sexual lust and how to "make a covenant with our eyes" (Job 31:1). We spent time in meaningful conversation and confessed sin; opening doors for deeper relationships and trust with the other men in the study.

The Lord used our sexual purity class to renew all of us and to renew our ministry. The men's ministry in our church family hasn't ever had a real foundation. Now, we are standing firm! I believe that the Lord has some wonderful plans for the men of this church family. This study was just the beginning...

We are planning on our first men's retreat for the weekend of July 13-14. I will be using the book "Wild at Heart" to help us discover our masculine hearts and how God wants us to use them for the Kingdom. Beginning on Saturday, July 21, we will start our next 10-week study using this book by John Eldredge.

I am very excited by the changes and transformations I have already seen in the men who have been participating in this ministry. It is my prayer that the Lord would use all the men involved to bring more men of the city into our family - extending the Kingdom in Porto Alegre.

Visiting around the bar-b-que...

Lauro prepares the meat for our meal.

Paulo Renato and Mario have a deep conversation after the study.

Some of the guys digging in!

Regis tells more stories about that "big fish" he caught!

The 10-week "Every Man's Battle" study comes to a close with some of the men (and a couple of wives) having a celebration churrasco.