jewellpage.com

View Full Album Saturday night we had our first baptism at Faith Baptist Church. That was easily said but it didn't come that easy. Baptism is a very important step in a person's Christian walk and many times it has more implications placed on it than it should have. It is a step of obedience to Christ's command in Matthew 28.18-20 and for this reason alone it carries import. However, many people put saving grace into the baptismal picture and thus cloud those waters. Parents want their kids to realize the implications of this important step in their new Christian life. However, none of our teen's parents are saved. Thus adding a twist to their theological perspective and our proceedings. Thus, during the week we made visits on each family to explained what exactly we were going to be doing with their teens. In the end all agreed to allow them to be Baptized. Many of you prayed for Guilherme and his mother Rose’s decision. She kept us hanging until two days befo

Well, NOW what? The end of a traumatic week almost became even more traumatic Saturday afternoon at Bible Club. We were shorthanded with Dawn and Joelma at a baby shower. With the ladies gone Alexandre had a brilliant idea. We would divide into three teams. He would take one group, Samuel would take one and I would take the third. Our goal would be to search out the neighborhood for every living kid we could find. We had just 45 minutes to do it and then we'd reunite the group for a Bible story a couple of games and some popcorn. My group of kids came from what is known as the Morro (or Mo-who) which means hill. The hill has a reputation for being on a bit of the rougher side of the already rough neighborhood. My problem Saturday wasn't the Morro however, it was my own naiveté. We rounded up our group of kids in the 45 minute time period and made our way back to the school. As we arrived it looked as if someone had just stirred up a fire-ant hill! Have you ever seen one

Some of our kids became “famous” last week! In a good and not bad way! They participated in a local running program that helps keep them off the streets. Well, actually they were running in the streets but in a good way. You can see Paulo, Felipe and Graziele in this picture. The downside of the story is that they held the race on Sunday morning. So, these kids missed Sunday School to run. But don’t worry. We got on their case!

This last Sunday was traumatic because of the afternoon’s encounter with a near death beating. But it was blessed for another reason. The pastoral team interviewed four candidates for baptism: Guilherme, Maicon, Michelle and João. These teens have shown dedication over a period of months and even years and have nearly completed an eight week baptismal class. As we asked them question after question they gave good answers and we were pleased to recommend their baptism. We will celebrate this event as a part of our church’s first anniversary ! Saturday we will use the baptistery at Calvary Baptist. Friends and family will gather to hear the Word preached and witness the baptism of their loved ones. We would covet your prayers for God’s salvation message to be driven home to unsaved loved ones!

Baby/Parent Dedication Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me ... Psalm 23.4 Yesterday we left a man hanging, literally! You'll remember the story. It was not your ordinary Sunday afternoon drive home from church! As we (myself, my wife and a van load of kids) headed back to the scene of the crime in progress I was trying to justify putting my passengers in jeopardy. Immediately in front of me I noticed that a car with a couple of big burley guys had also made the quick U-turn. I hoped that they were those "Angels unawares" that Hebrews talks about, those angels who come to the rescue during ugly situations. They weren't, or at best they were hesitant angels if angels at all. They actually looked more like "Hell's Angels" as I think about it! Anyway, I pulled over and quickly exited the van to notice that on my approach the two "thumping thugs" had high-tailed it. They'd

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... Psalm 23.4 Our service yesterday afternoon was a bit down in attendance. Pastor Sidney from New Life Baptist Church brought the message to our small group of believers. It was his first at Faith. Yesterday, March 21, 2010 completed exactly one year of ministry at Faith. Dawn and I have been apart of the work for seven of those twelve months. After our service we were to transport several of our kids to Hope Baptist where they would be a part of a presentation that Alexandre, our coworker, would give. "10 Months for Faith" is our campaign to raise funds to purchase a lot for our church building. There was about an hour to kill before we made our way to Hope so we decided to take the kids from Faith to our house. Sounds like a cut from Pilgrim's Progress doesn't it? But here is were we leave Pilgrim and discover Mr. Attempted Murder. As I rounded the corner to enter our neighborhood there before my eyes was

  Our service Sunday afternoon reminded me of a scene from Moby Dick and I was Captain Ahab tied to the mast in a driving rain that was wetting my pants as I preached! How was that? Wetting your PANTS? We held service at Marcia’s house because without Alexandre we cannot use the school building. Marcia’s house is small and the front of her garage is open to the street. Service began at 4:00 and the clouds threatened a heavy rain. That threat became a reality as I began to preach. I mean that it began to RAIN SIDEWAYS! Right into the garage where we were trying to hold service. People scrambled for the little cover that there was. It thundered and the lightening flashed! At one point I looked down at my feet to notice that I was standing in a stream of water that was coming from the back yard toward the front of the driveway. It was one of those unforgettable moments that often happen in a new church plant. I spoke from Mark 10 and Jesus description of marriage. We had a g

Just forty showed up for Bible Club today. Sounds sad doesn’t it? But I remember just a few years ago at Hope Baptist when we were running fifteen on a weekly basis. If we would have had FORTY we’d have had a heart attack. In fact that is about what we had today. You see we had just three leaders! Dawn, Samuel and Me. Wow! What a wonderful reminder of how grateful we are for the other three. The other three, Joelma, Damares and Alexandre had good reasons not to be at club today. Alexandre is in Curitiba where he is presenting the ministry in two large churches on Sunday (today if your reading this on March 14). Damares daughter Bia (Alcir’s family for those who know the world famous Alcir!) was in the hospital with suspected Dengue fever. However, as it turns out it was a misdiagnosis. Praise the Lord! Joelma was terribly ill and recovering. With Alexandre’s absence we couldn’t use the school classrooms so we didn’t have our customary English, Flute and reading classes for the t

Each day is historic isn't it? First of all it will never be repeated and there are happenings in each day that are "firsts." Yesterday in the history of Faith Baptist Church of Habiteto, Sococaba, São Paulo, Brasil, was historic in two ways. We had our greatest number of people in Sunday School at 38! Rose and her six kids arrived a bit late but we are rejoicing that after nearly 12 weeks of Bible study with her we are beginning to see the bud of fruit in her life. She has yet to accept the Savior but she is very near that decision. Continue to pray for her. The second historic event happened after our morning Sunday school as we met at Alexandre's house for our organization service. It wasn't a service per se but a time that several of us met to put our doctrinal statement on paper along with our intend to become a church. This document will now go to the mayor's office for recognition and we will be "official" in the eyes of the local government.

Dawn and I are at BMM Family Conference this week which means that we are getting reacquainted with our missions family. It has been a week of good preaching from Dr. Charles Petitt (Piedmont Baptist Bible College) and a lot of running. The preaching has been SO practical and such a blessing. The running has been thrilling too! One of my missionary friends nominated me to the Troop Transport team. Our hotel is about 10 miles north of Campinas, state of São Paulo, a city of over 2 million. So for Ben Jacobs and me it has been one trip after another to the airport and bus terminal to retrieve our incoming friends. In a way, giving missionaries a ride has been a blessing because it has allowed me to get to know these choice servants a bit better. Just yesterday I met a couple, that has to be in their late 60 and early 70s, who have just taken over a camp ministry. How on earth did that happen? There was no one else to do it. The camp is about the size of Camp CoBeAc in northern Michigan.