br Salvador Porters: April 2009

Monday, April 20, 2009

the boys

the boys sure are growing up. here is one of Samuel taking a few steps and Kelton repeating memory verses.






Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Easter Sunday

What a great day Easter was this year. Easter is an important holiday here in Brazil and one that usually allows for people to leave the city. Most people that can travel to be with family or get out the city during Easter leaving Savlador a little quiter and calmer for a few days, which I must admit I enjoy. Because so many people travel, our services for Easter are generally a little smaller as was the case this year with only about 35 or 40 people present on Sunday morning. The smaller number has actually been a blessing for our church these last several years.

As is becoming our custom we took the opportunity to do part of our worship around tables. (I mean think about, when was the last time you worshiped God as a church family looking at your church family rather than the song leader. It is quite a blessing to see one another while we worship our God.) So for this week, while our numbers are smaller, we take time to worship God in song and the celebrate communion as a family that sees one another. Around our tables we sing songs and we also break bread talking to one another about who Christ is and what His death and life mean to each of us.

As if that was not enough, when we finished celebrating communion together we then all turned back to the front as one of our members presented us with God's Word for the day. In this year we are trying to actively do more training of our members both in and out of our services, and with all training, were we begin is not necessarily where we hope to end. This wasn't the case with Gabriel and God's Word this Sunday, though. As he preached I was awe of the gifting God had placed on him and the blessing I received in hearing him take God's Word and help it come to life for the day.

It was truly a great day and one I wish all could experience.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

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.