3rd Anniversary

Today while walking down the stairs from my apartment I was struck again by the reality that Salvador really is my home. We have lived here for just over four years now. In that time God has been at work both in my life and the life of His church here.

it is hard to believe that this Sunday we will celebrate our third anniversary. In some ways threes years is such a short time and it is. We are still a baby church. We pray there is much growth still ahead of us in the months and years to come. We stay confident about that growth because of what we see God doing in just three short years of church work in Salvador.

Three years ago we started with about 14 people. We sent lots of invitations and prayed that someone would come at our first service. In the last three weeks, God has blessed us with 60-70 people each Sunday.

Three years ago our conversations about God were limited to a years worth of Portuguese. In the past several Sundays multiple Brazilians have participated in our worship and Travis is currently working with Tennyson to help share God's message with everyone this Sunday.

Three years ago our invitations were limited to those we knew or those from the other Churches of Christ in the city. For this Sunday, there is no way to count the number of people who have been invited and most of them by other Brazilians.

Three years ago our vision for this work consisted of what we learned while in the states and what we had observed in a year of observation. This past year we have had open conversations as a church about how we can be God's church in our new neighborhood and we have followed ideas that did not originate in the US.

These are just a few examples of what God has done in Salvador in the three years since we started meeting. If He can do this in three years, just imagine what is possible in the next three. This Sunday we celebrate our third anniversary. Please remember us in your prayers this week. Pray that those invited may come. Pray that we will be ready to receive. Pray that the truth of God will be heard by all and that we might all draw closer to Him as we celebrate what He has done.