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Some great insights from David Hosaflook blog Missiomishmash . They come from J.D. Crowley.  Has anyone proclaimed the gospel in a clear and systematic way from creation to Christ (not just the Jesus Film!), baptized the converts, and taught them “to obey everything [Christ] commanded”? Have the believers joined together into local congregations which will be microcosms and foreshadowings (sic) of the future kingdom of God, where love and truth are expressed every day? Are there godly pastors and deacons who model humble leadership according to 1 Timothy 3?  Do the churches know how to reproduce new churches in other locations (through evangelism, not church splits!).  Do the pastors know how to train new pastors?  Do they have the Bible (and other Christian books) in the heart language of the people, since the church can’t be the church without the Word of God?

The BLUE team advanced to DELTA SECTOR in our weekly MISSION IMPOSSIBLE competition. This weeks mission was to cut out words and letters from magazines, news papers or books to make up Ephesians 6.10. Each verse earned 1000 points for your team. As I arrived a club Wellington, one of my kids, ran to the van with his box and said, “Open it!” Inside were 38 cards! I couldn’t believe it. It took me about three hours to make my four ! Though the GREEN team tried really hard we came in third of three. Alex also came to club today. I was able to visit his grandparents during the week and told them that he was a good boy at Sunday school two weeks ago. They were thrilled with the news and welcomed our help in getting him to church. He enjoys his time when he comes it is just a bit difficult keeping track of him. We will be picking him up Sunday morning.

"Pray when you feel like praying; pray when you don't feel like praying; pray until you feel like praying." "The problem with preachers is that they begin as fishers of men and end up as keepers of aquariums." "In India 'copyright' means 'the right to copy.'" "Beware of the barrenness of the busy life."  - Warren Wiersbe. "The church is often like Noah's ark: you can't stand the smell of it but you'd rather be inside it than outside!" "The church is the only organization in the world that exists for the sole benefit of its non-members." from http://www.missiomishmash.com

Tiradentes is a person and not an action. He is sort of like the Brazilian Patrick Henry. Yesterday was his holiday so we had a picnic. We had a total of 36 from the church plus some visitors from the neighborhood and the Nova Vida church. It was a perfect day and we were able to share the Gospel with several family members that aren’t a part of our church. Several raised their hands at the invitation. Little Jaine (4) came and said, “I want to ask Jesus to be my Savior.” Pray with us as we teach her what that means over the next few weeks. One of the fun games we played was frozen T-Shirt. We’d stuck two shirts in baking pans and the goal was to thaw them out and put them on. First done won! It was funny to watch. 

Saturday and Sunday were packed with activity. We had around 45 in Club on Saturday and our team got annihilated in competition. I got in trouble with one of our leaders because I mentioned in my blog a couple of weeks ago that her team had latrine duty. So, Damares (Red team), this is for you, THE RED TEAM WON on Saturday! Later Saturday, as a special Teen activity, we traveled to Calvary Baptist Church to spend time with their youth group. It was a flash-back of sorts for me as we spent time with several kids that were a part of the group when we ministered there back in 1998/99. Our teens loved the fun. Sunday’s Sunday school saw our biggest number yet at 45 with 25 of those in my Junior’s class. That afternoon our new members signed the membership book and we had our first communion service! I preached on being a part of the family of God and after the service I was privileged to lead Lydia Sara to the Savior. She had asked Jesus to be her Savior as a seven-year-old but ...

For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16.9 Paul was... well... incredible! From his salvation to his martyrdom his experience points to God’s grace and Paul’s dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was and is a hero of the Faith. The comment he makes in the above verse always slaps me back to reality. My paraphrase would read, “God has opened many doors for ministry so pray for me because there is much opposition.” Often, opposition seems a confirmation of “closed doors” for ministry doesn’t it? With the, “When God opens the door I’ll go” mentality the least bit of opposition is reason to indicate a closed door. It becomes an excuse NOT to minister. Opposition can also become an excuse to cease ministry. I seemingly find myself in such a situation just now. Yesterday morning a couple of our teens came over for breakfast. While munching on their bread and sipping their hot-chocolate one of them said, “The la...

Yesterday, Tuesday, we had our first Bible study with Marcia (left to right: Dawn, Jonatas, Marcia and Joelma, our coworker). She had informed me earlier that it was her birthday and so Dawn made a birthday cake. She celebrated her ___ years with the FIRST (yes first!) birthday cake she has ever had! Man that is hard for me to believe. I’ve been spoiled with about 56 in my lifetime! During the study she related time and again how confusing her religious past has been. At one point she said, “ I have been in church since childhood and NONE of my pastors have ever told me how I could have the Holy Spirit’s peace until you all shared it with me just two weeks ago !” She also had many good questions about spiritual things. Marcia has four sons. It was her teen son João that got baptized just three weeks ago and we are seeing God begin to move in this family. The oldest, Josué (Joshua), is a big 250 lbs teddy bear and is in my juniors Sunday school class. He just LOVES his teacher and...

  We had a great weekend of activities at Faith Baptist of Sorocaba. Saturday night we took six teens to a youth rally at Hope. There were over a hundred teens there to hear a great challenge from the Word. Earlier on Saturday afternoon we had over fifty kids at Bible Club. Many had participated in club in the past but had left for one reason or another. The club's new theme has a "Mission Impossible" type emphasis. Each week the three teams get a "Mission" that they have to work out during the week. On Saturday they come with either a successful or a failed mission. Success brings boo-cu points and failure brings latrine duty! The Green team (mine) did really well Saturday but we were edged out by the blue team 1300 to 150. The Red team got latrine. During club a little boy showed up that I wasn't exactly excited about having. He is a little "demon" or at least that is what I've heard. His name is Alex. He lives next-door to our newest ...

We had a wonderful week! It's great to be able to spend this special time of the year with good friends.  Wednesday we visited João’s mother Marcia. João was baptized last week and his mother was touched by the message. During the visit our coworker Joelma shared her testimony and Marcia made a profession of faith! That was a VERY great start to the Easter weekend. Friday we showed the film Thief in the Night . Do you remember that movie? It was hard for me to get over the goofy clothing and old cars. Did we really look like that back in the 60s? Our group, however,  thought that it was a very interesting film and they had questions about Christ’s return. It was a rainy night but we still had ten that watched and ate popcorn. Saturday at Club we had about 38 kids and teens on another rainy day. Bible  Club is in a bit of a transition. We now have three teams in what is called the Alpha Sector ! The teams will compete for rewards, special outings and a promotion t...