Prayer Groups

Jennifer and I are involved in 3 different Bible studies during the week. Two of the groups are house churches on Sunday (1 meets in our home) and the third is a small group that meets on Thursday nights. We always have great study, worship and prayer time in these groups. The individuals involved have become a part of our extended family and we care for them deeply.

If you have ever been in a Bible study group you know that there can be times of transition. At times there is a season of change. I wanted to introduce our groups to you and ask you to keep them in prayer when you remember. As I introduce each group I will outline some prayer requests. Thank you in advance for your support through praying for us and these groups.

Salgado House Church

From left to right standing: Claudio, Rute, Jennifer, Ezekias & Keity.
From left to right sitting: Paulo Renato, Lhaumar, Sascha, Jennifer & Elisa.

We meet at the Salgado's house on Sunday mornings for house church. They are a very special family who have dedicated their home to the Lord as a place of worship. They need prayers for peace and strength during a difficult trial in their life. Claudio is an incredible worker (for his family and for the Kingdom). His job situation has become increasingly difficult over the last year and a half. He has had 2 jobs; one as a maintenance man in an apartment building for 10 years and one as a night security guard for 7 years.

His situation is one that is a little difficult to explain. He needs to be fired from his maintenance job to receive a much needed severance package that would be paid to him. The apartment where he works wants him to quite, which would hurt the amount that they would pay him. Since the people in the apartment building do not treat Claudio with respect and kindness it has been a struggle for him to be patient and wait on the Lord. Please pray that (as strange as it sounds) that he would be fired, would receive his severance package and that the Lord would have another job ready for him.

The night security job is for only one night a week (Saturday). It is not an easy job, but Claudio takes it seriously and does it well. This is a job that he needs to keep, but it looks like he and the other night security guards will be without soon. The people who live in the apartment are realizing that it is getting more and more difficult to pay the security guard salaries and transportation (employers pay for employee transportation in Brazil). So, they are forced to cut back their spending. Unfortunately, it is possible that Claudio could lose and important source of income for his family. Please pray that he will be able to keep this job - that the money will be there!

Terry House Church

From left to right: Cesar, Gustavo (visitor), Rosana (visitor), Leni, Jorge, Gabriela (visitor), Jennifer & Lindsey.

The group that meets in our home on Sunday afternoons for worship has been going through some transitions for a couple of months now. For the last month or so we have had just one person in regular attendance outside of Jennifer and me. The picture above was taken last night when we had 9 people in attendance (one being our friend Lindsey from the U.S.). Sadly, we didn't expect to see that many people. However, it really blessed us to see folks that have not been able to worship with us in a while. Work and travel have really kept a lot of our normal folks away from a normal routine.

On June 1oth our good friends Tiago and Lili plan to travel to Australia where they will work and study until December. One lady in this group, Leni, has a desire to start a new house church in her home with her son, Jorge and some of her friends. Another young man, Cesar, sometimes is unable to come for different reasons. When you take out these people our group consists of just our family. We occasionally have visitors from other house churches, but nothing consistent. We have begun to think that it is possible that God is calling us to start a new group in our home with fresh faces.

Please pray that the Lord would bless all the individuals in this group. That they would grow and mature in Jesus and that their walk with him would bring his name honor and glory. Please pray for us all to have wisdom in following the Lord's guiding; that we would do his will and not our own. Please pray for us to stay focused on the Father and growing his kingdom.

Thursday Night Bible Study

From left to right: Alexandre, Dani, Ana Luisa, Luzia, Mateus, Jennifer & Sascha.

This is the small group that we started in the South Zone a couple of months ago. Although this group is small, it is fun and dynamic! We have seen some incredible prayers answered in this group (including Dani's decision to follow Jesus and her baptism). This last week Alexandre was able to participate in the study for the first time. We ask you to pray that he would be able to participate more consistently and that the Lord would touch his heart and call him to serve. We ask you to pray for each of the adults in this group to have wisdom and patience. All of us are parents of children between the ages of 2 and 3. We also ask you to pray for Luzia's mother. She has been fighting cancer for a long time and is nearing the end of her battle. Please pray for her comfort and for her peace. We also ask you to pray for this small group to grow - that we would be reaching out to the not-yet Christians that we know in the South Zone of Porto Alegre, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.