Dani - A New Sister

When our team moved here in June of 2002, Dani was one of the first people they met. Dani, being a language teacher, was the team's initial language teacher when they arrived in Porto Alegre. Over time the families on the team decided to hire individual teachers instead of all having the same one. Although Dani had formed relationships with everyone on the team, she only continued teaching Kyle and Leslie Klein.

When Jennifer and I moved to Porto Alegre in 2004 we began our friendship with Dani. She was our Portuguese teacher for a little over 2 and a half years. During that time we really became good friends with her and her husband, Alexandre. We were there when their little girl, Ana Luisa, was born (she is now one of Elisa's best friends). We have gone on several family vacations with Dani and Alexandre and are planning a big trip for next month. In the four years that we have been here; through dinners and outings and many Bible studies we have become very close friends.

Last Thursday night we were in our Bible study in the South Zone of the city. This is a study that Dani has been frequenting. In the study we were talking about Jesus' authority versus the authority of man's teaching. We eventually started talking about the power and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have had many discussions in the past with Dani about similar subjects, but I don't know that they were penetrating her heart. After about 30 minutes of discussion on Thursday night though, Dani asked to be baptized!

We have prayed consistently for this over the last few years, so when the day of her decision to follow Jesus arrived we were ecstatic! We knew that we were not the ones to touch her heart. We have been patiently presenting the truth to her and praying that the Lord would touch her and that she would accept Jesus as her Lord, and she did!

She and Alexandre and their daughter came over last night after Anderson Blume's 4th birthday party for her baptism. Due to the cooler weather we stayed indoors and I baptized Dani in the bathtub. It was a such a powerful and blessed event.

Please let this be an encouragement to you as it is to us to pray for those in your life who haven't accepted Jesus as their Lord. Sometimes we need to be patient. Jennifer and I feel fortunate that we were able to witness Dani's confession and baptism, but we know that there are many others that we may not see come to Jesus. Just because we aren't there doesn't mean they won't though. It maybe today, tomorrow or in 20 years, but God does answer prayers for the lost.

Dani's baptism!

Jennifer embracing her new sister!