Celebration Time!

As you may know, our church family is trying to reach the city of Porto Alegre through a network of house churches. Each Sunday our church family meets in different house churches in the city. However, on the last Sunday of each month we meet together at a rented facility for a Celebration service.

This last Sunday was a Celebration service - and it was a powerful one at that! We had a great time of worship and praise and a time of prayer as a church family. During the lesson (Don't Underestimate the Little Things) we invited three of our members, Garigran; Clarice and Tiago to give their testimonies. I have known each of the people who gave a testimony between 2 and 4 years. Surprisingly, I learned a lot about each person through the words that they shared. It was a real encouragement to me and to the rest of our church family.

Garigran giving his testimony.

Clarice giving her testimony.

You may remember that Tiago traveled to Australia about 6 weeks ago. He sent his testimony via email and our brother Paulo Renato read it to us. Here is Tiago's testimony translated into English for you.

It all started in a winter just like any other. I knew that some church was going to have free English classes, and what was more interesting was that the classes would be given by Americans. What more could an engineering student with no money and bad English want?

Anyway, during this time I was a staunch atheist. I knew that there existed something more, but I didn’t call this something God, or better, I thought that this “something more” had nothing to do with the god that people were talking about. I thought that church was just something that some unscrupulous people used to take money from others. For me Jesus was simply a person who lived some 2,000 years ago, did good things, and was made into a kind of baseless idol.

On the other hand, I had (and still have) a deep respect for the beliefs of others. I was really sure of what I believed, and I was certain that I wouldn’t change. But I knew (and still know) that I don’t know everything, especially about what is right for other people.

So, when I decided to participate in the English classes, also known as LST, or Let’s Start Talking, I always tried to respect what was they were trying to teach, even though at that time it didn’t touch my heart, and I didn’t have the slightest intention of changing. On the other hand, nothing was being forced on me. During the classes we basically read the Bible and discussed what we read, letting the Word do the work. In fact, if it had been the other way, if they had tried to force it on me, I doubt I would have continued going to church for very long.

This continued for a good amount of time. The “teachers” changed, but I continued participating in the English classes at the church whenever I could. What I didn’t notice at the time was that I was changing. In the beginning it was only about the classes; with time it began to make sense to me.

I think that the point when I realized I had been changed was when one of my teachers invited me to a Bible study group, this time in Portuguese. I accepted, and what’s worse, I liked it!

To make a long story short, from that time on I began faithfully participating in this group. During this same time period, the church of Christ started to utilize the concept of the house church, and I started going to worship every Sunday. I also started to participate in the Men’s group. All of this worked together in order for me to see how much God was doing in the lives of the people with whom I interacted during these activities.

All of this culminated in the moment when I decided that I would spend some time in Australia. I realized that it didn’t do any good for me to deny any longer how much Jesus had touched my life, and that I had already made Him my Lord and Savior. It was then, just before I traveled to Australia, that I asked to be baptized.

I hope these words have been encouraging in some way. I would have like to have written more, but I lack inspiration, just like I lack a way with words.

May God bless you and give you peace.

After the service we had a great time of fellowship - which usually includes some kind of delicious treat. We were all blessed by this great time of worship, encouragement and fellowship. Please remember our church family in your prayers when you can - that we would allow the Lord to work through us to grow is Kingdom in mighty ways.