Begun in Faith

This is the plaza where Heliene, Cintia, and I meet for Bible study during their lunch break (I love it here) Cintia Heliene has been attending our church for about a year and a half now. During that time, she's gone through some big life changes. A few months ago, we planned to get lunch together to catch up and she asked if she could invite her new coworker, Cintia. She said that Cintia was a Christian who occasionally attended church, but that she was in a really bad spot emotionally and spiritually. When we met, Cintia said she felt completely dried up. Her faith was like a plant that had never been watered, alive but only just. We continued to meet to read the Bible and pray together. Every week my heart broke for her more and more. After converting from spiritism, this other church had consistently blamed Cintia for the difficulties in her life. Even deeply tragic personal losses were blamed on Cintia's sin of wearing pants instead of skirts. Cintia had develop a sort of

Season of Sickness When I published my last newsletter, I was just getting over dengue fever. The dengue epidemic has continued to worsen across Brazil and other countries. With school back in session, there has also been an increase in flu viruses, especially among children.  In our local church, most of our church leaders have either been sick or have been taking care of sick family members. We may have our whole worship team together this Sunday for the first time since January. We are extremely grateful that no one in our congregation had a dangerous/deadly case of dengue, and that everyone seems to be healthy or healthier this week. Since I got sick first, I had the privilege of serving in areas I usually don't, including running worship practices for several weeks and preaching three Sundays in a row. Although they were very unfortunate circumstances, it was also a great time of learning and growing for me and others who had to step up. I usually preach once or twice a quarte

Back in Brazil I made it back safely to Brazil on January 5th after my home assignment in Idaho. It was an amazing and surprising experience to preach and share with so many people in the Northwest about the ministry here in Anapolis. It was very encouraging, but also I got to grow as a preacher through preaching the same message to different congregations and contexts.  Sanctuary Update This month saw some big changes to our sanctuary space. Pastor Marcos attached corrugated steel panels to the sides of the tent to protect the space better from wind and rain. We are getting into the peak of rainy season, and it will probably rain 4-6 days a week for the next couple months. We also made a new projector screen. I say "we" because the girls and I helped wrap and tie the fabric around the structure Marcos made. It is very MacGyver on the back. The cross is very special because it is the same cross that hung in our first worship space in the pastors' garage, and it is made fr