Paivi, Claudia and Hamilton

Yesterday a new aquaintence Sandra introduced me to several of her friends. Let me tell you why this was so exciting to me.

Sandra lives in Belo Horizonte and is the daughter-in-law of one of our members. She had lived and worked in Salvador and met her husband here at Church. And then 2 years ago they were transfered to Belo. She and her husband are here for two weeks on vacation to see their family. Sunday we had lunch with the family, and Sandra started talking about the friends from work with whom she had been studying the Bible with or had had God conversations with before she got transfered to Belo Horizonte. She was going to try to catch up with them this week and the idea came about that I would go with her to meet them so we could invite them to church.

As I went with her to visit her old colleauges, I was impressed by her passion and how excited she was about our church. She has only visited our church one time, but enthusiastically invited her friends to come and visit. She told them how much they would like this church and the people.

Being with Sandra yesterday, I am again encouraged to be more bold with people I know and people I don't know to invite them to church and/or to study the Bible. Sometimes I am timid and I don't want to put undue pressure on my friends. But God is continuing to make me an evangelist. To tell you the truth, it doesn't come naturally to me. I am an introvert. I don't really like to strike up conversations with people I don't know or don't know well. But praise the Lord, he can use my weaknesses as his strengths. He can empower me with boldness and words and courage. I need these things.

Please pray for my new aquaintences, that I will be bold and call them and continue to invite them to visit our church. Pray for Paivi, Claudia (her daughter is Beatriz and her husband is Cleber) and Hamilton.

Good Friends

I was able to talk to one of our good friends today, Jackie Halstead. We have come to know her and her family through many different venues (Grad school, Highland youth group, BOBs, CGC, to name a few). Through these things and more we have come to know someone we love and respect. They are good friends to us.

How do we know they are good friends? We know because their words are full of love, humor, and encouragement. They help give us perspective, they listen, and they always point us to faithfulness in God. Good Godly friends help us on our journey here on earth. Randy, Jackie, and their girls are not our only friends, God has been very good to us in the area, but they are good friends. So tho them and for those of you who also fit this bill for us, thank you. Our work here is better because of you.

So who are some of your good friends that bless your lives?

bible study with Gisilene

On Thursday evenings we study the bible with Gisilene our newest sister and Sonia, the sister who brough Gisilene to church. We expected to have a study to help our new sister know more about the bible and God's desires for her life. While that is certainly what is happening, God also had some bigger plans for our study. Last Thursday we studied with Gisilene and Sonia, as well as Sonia's two son Wilson (23) and Vitor (19), Levi their neighbor and Mari, Gisilene's maid. So in total our bible study included 8. Praise God for bringing people who are willing to study the Bible. Please pray for our new friends to keep coming and being open to the Word of God.

latest pictures of Kelton

Past our expiration date

Quick question. When cleaning out your freezer, what is the oldest thing you have ever found? I am sorry to say, but I think I know someone who could top it. My mom recently helped an older friend clean out their chest freezer and found a set of frozen blackberries dated 26 years agp. Needless to say we were both shocked. When this friend was asked if they wanted get rid of it, her friend said, "No they are still good and I hope to use them sometime."

While I know there are many things we could say about this from several different points, the direction my thoughts take me tonight is that maybe sometimes things are not as disposable as we might think. Don’t get me wrong, I think the blackberries should be thrown away and possibly even handled as toxic waste. However, I am afraid we carry the same attitude toward people. Especially when they grow a little older and sometimes their comments seem a little sour, we are ready to be done with them. I wonder if we forget that somewhere within, good still exist.

People are the most amazing thing God created that I can tell. They have the ability to heal and reverse the spoiling process like nothing else in all of God’s creation. I wonder if we give up on people a little early sometimes instead of walking with them to help, encourage, and hope that the good can make a come back and become stronger than the spoiling.

I say this to all who care to hear, but I mainly speak to myself. It has been a while since I have called my grandpa and it is time I called him. We all need a little loving. The good thing about people both young and old is that we are never fully past our expiration date. Thanks for listening.

Bachelor Pad

For the past week the Porter house in Salvador has been a bachelor pad. Kelton and I have enjoyed our week together. I must admit it is a little different than living with other guys in college. To say the least I never had to ask them if it was time to go to the bathroom or coax them into eating more than just the sweet thing on their plate. But there have been some similarities: showers, clothes on the floor, and rough housing to list a few. And the amazing thing is Kelton only had to tell me about these things a couple of times. J

In reality, it has been a good week. Some of the highlights were having Kelton with me at some points of ministry this week, being forced to be home during his nap time, and getting to spend so much one on one time with my son. He really is a great kid.

Jennifer comes home tomorrow and we are both super excited about it. Not because we cannot do life without our mom, although it defiantly helps, but because she is my best friend and my partner in ministry and life. I love my wife and am glad she is coming home!

Gicilene's Baptism

gicelene-05
Originally uploaded by Salvadorporters.

What a night. We rejoiced, the angels rejoiced, and I know God did as well. Last night our friend Gicilene declared her faith in Christ and joined with Him in baptism. It was just a milestone for many of us. For Gicilene it has been a journey to this piont. She has been studying with our friend and sister in the faith Sonia for many years now. Gicilene visited many churches during these years however never came to a point in which she was ready to put God on him baptism. However, about three months ago for our second service she showed up with Sonia and something of God's story connected with her. Since then she has been one of our most regular and curious attenders.

In the week before last, at our team retreat, Jennifer and I agreed to try to set up a Bible study with her. On the next Sunday before we could set up a study she started a conversation with Mary, one of our teammates she has been extra close to, and asked about being baptized. We then had our frist study this past week and talked about what this commitment means. Then last night we all gathered around the pool at Matt and Mary Virginia's apartment complex, listened to her confession, and witnessed the acceptance of new life in Christ.

This is also a milestone for our new baby church as we stand witness with open arms for our new sister in Christ. It is amazing to watch the body grow due to God's grace and love.

(if you would like to see more pictures from the baptism, click on the image above.)