Thursday, January 31, 2008
Study at the Chácara
Now I have taken this study out to the Chácara. While we were in the states Eastside church of Christ gave me the money to purchase 20 books to have this study with the guys out there. One of our members/employees, Paulo Renato, is going to help me with this study.
We began today with an introduction to the study and book as well as an introduction to our Accountability Groups. We plan on continuing the study for 10 weeks until the last Thursday of March. The guys at the Chácara are overcoming drug and alcohol addiction. There is a great chance that they could be corrupted by an addiction to sexual desire as well. Satan knows how to use sex against God's children - especially here in Brazil.
Starting this weekend the whole country will be in the midst of celebrating Carnaval. This is a time when most Brazilians do whatever they desire (sex, drugs and alcohol to name a few) and then move on with their lives next week. They are actually expected to step away from their lives and be "free" to do what they please until Tuesday night (the day of Carnaval). It is sad and very difficult to deal with for most of our Christian brothers and sisters.
I ask you to join the Christians in Brazil in praying for God to reign over this weekend. Please also pray for the men of the Chácara as they learn how to treat women (God's daughters) with the respect they deserve.
We will be conducting this study every Thursday. If you would like to pray for the men by name I will list them below. I know that it would mean a lot to them to know that they are prayed for by their brothers and sisters throughout the world.
Men of the Chácara:
Isaías (the director)
Gabriel
Airton
Antony
Claudimier
Adão Claudio
Eduardo
Rodrigo
Marcelo
Valter
Braulinho
Anderson
Diego
Jefferson
Ronaldo
Alexandre
Paulo Roberto
Marcos
Leandro
Paulo Rogierio
Josimar
Fabio
Christian
Gutimberg
Tales (at 14 years old he is the youngest to ever go to the Chácara. He and his girlfriend are expecting a baby)
Paulo Renato (my co-teacher who will take the study over in a few weeks)
Friday, January 25, 2008
[Morbid] Cultural Milestone
After living in
Second, embalming is not really practiced here so funerals take place within a day of death.
Okay, now for the interesting part. We drove to the “cemetery” only to find that instead of a grassy field, it was an immense 5-story mausoleum complex. Imagine an apartment complex in the
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Our History and a Look into the (possible) Future
This video is the same one that we showed to everyone that we visited with in the states. If you have about 15 minutes to sit in front of your computer I can promise that you will be much more informed about what we are doing. We hope that you are blessed by knowing what the Lord is doing for his Kingdom in the house churches of
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Ready for bed
We have been all over the place. We have visited 7 churches (3 in Colorado, 1 in Missouri and 3 in Texas) and a lot of family. Furlough has been a blessing because of all the love and encouragement our supporters have given us. We were taken care of above what we could have expected. We have a wonderful network of supporters and we thank the Lord for them.
Furlough has also been difficult because we are never settled in one place for too long. We have seen several different beds. I decided to count up the miles that we will have traveled by the time we arrive in Porto Alegre on Thursday afternoon. The total is over 16,800 miles!!! Needless to say we are a little road weary and are ready for our own beds.
We have a long journey ahead of us to get back home. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and get back into the swing of things in Brazil. Thank you and God bless your 2008.