After the 2005 campaign Matt Rehbein, Tessa Sexton and I did follow-up studies with around 30 interested individuals. As a result we made many good friends through LST. Some of these people have come to know Jesus through our relationships with them. Just to name a few: Waleska (Matt's wife), Grace, Tiago and Cesar (who will be baptized soon) each started studying the Bible with more interest through LST. I have been able to maintain relationships with a couple of other LST readers too. Ricardo and I had an on-going Bible study in English up until recently that last almost 3 years. It is possible that we will resume again someday. Also, I have another good friend from LST named Ismenio (pronounced is-men-E-o).
As you may have gathered from the title of this post the subject is Ismenio. Ismenio is a sergeant in the Brazilian Army. He is stationed in a little town outside of Porto Alegre called Sapucaia do Sul. After the 2005 LST campaign we were not able to continue our follow-up studies. We stayed in touch by playing soccer together on Saturdays. However, after a few months the soccer ministry fizzled and I went on furlough. One drawback to furlough is that sometimes you loose your established rhythm and relationships suffer. Unfortunately, this happen to my relationship with Ismenio. I thought about him often, but didn't stay in touch.
A few months ago, after almost 2 years of nothing, Ismenio sent me an email. He was wanting to know if I would be willing to study English with him to help him prepare for a test the military had invited him to take. As it turns out, he had been invited to take an English proficiency test in Brasilia. If he did well enough he could possibly be invited to participate in military training and courses in the United States. This possible series of events had potential to really bless Ismenio's family and his military career.
I agreed to meet with Ismenio once a week until the week of the test. We read through magazines and different articles in English to work on comprehension. Then we started working on Ismenio's endurance. What I mean is that I would make up practice tests that were similar to what he would take in Brasilia. He was able to take practice tests for about 4 weeks before he left for Brasilia to take the real thing.
He had been under the impression that there would be a lot of people (sergeants) taking the test with him. As it turned out, he was only 1 of 4 sergeants participating. I was very confident in Ismenio and what he did to prepare. He ended up scoring an 88 out of 100 questions! The other three scores were: 61, 66 and 69. Needless to say, Ismenio was invited to participate in the training and courses in the United States.
For the last few weeks Ismenio has called Ft. Bliss (El Paso, Texas) his home. I have received a few emails from him. He is working hard and doing really well. I am really proud of my friend and how hard he worked to get to where he is. Please pray the Lord's blessings on Ismenio. It is my prayer that his relationship with God would come full circle through this experience and that he too will come to call Jesus his Lord.
This picture is of Ismenio and a Brazilian colleague posing with the mayor of El Paso, Texas. Ismenio is the soldier on the right.
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