God’s grace is evident in the lives of so many people in Brazil. We visited many homes of church members today and brought them the gifts from CrossWay: clothing, kitchen and household supplies, sewing machines as an expression of our love and care for them.When we visit a home we come with greetings and expressions of gratitude for the privilege of being in their home. We thank God for them, for their love for Jesus, and for their investment in their local church. Often this leads to testimonies of God’s grace. We always ask how we can pray for them and this leads to powerful times of prayer.
The families we visited were the poorer families in the church. A typical home would be build out of cement block covered with plaster, the floor is either dirt or cement, often there are missing windows, possibly no electricity, and usually more than one person per bed. Many of these families have experienced other hardships in the families as a result of drugs, prostitution, or gang violence. Despite their harder life and lack of material possessions, the Brazilian believers are filled with joy, gratefulness for all that God has given them, and joy for Jesus Christ and their local church.
We always have an eye out to some other way that God may want us to serve them. Let me tell you a few ways this has happened.
One home we visited was without a basin to wash clothes. We had a double basin delivered to their home so they can setup a clothes washing area outside of their house.
One grandmother was watching over several grandchildren and was without refrigeration. We are in the process of having a used refrigerator delivered.
Another home was missing a door and several windows. We have hired a local laborer to repair the door and replace the windows.
There are several other needs that we are considering from replacing broken roof tiles, to repairing or hanging electrical wires, to having a security fence build around a home in a very dangerous neighborhood. We are praying for wisdom and trying to exercise good financial stewardship.
We broke up into four teams last night and went to four different churches to minister the gospel. All of the men teaching did outstanding work and the churches were blessed by their ministry.
Please Pray
Please pray for us in the following way for the next 24 hours.
Please continue to pray for rest, pace, strength, and health. The team is doing well, just slightly tired which is to be expected.
Please pray for our on-going ministry of caring for poor families, the Spirit’s leading as we pray for them, and discernment as we seek to help them in other practical ways.
Pray for the effective equipping of pastors with the second pastor training session tonight with a focus on Two Ways To Live and two biblical pictures of the gospel: slavery, redemption, and freedom and the temple, sacrifice, and cleansing.Pray for the men who will be teaching in churches tonight: Keith Riley, AJ Mueller, Thom Stapleman, and Donnie Lehmann.
Pray for all the Brazilians who are serving our team by driving, translating, and hosting all of the events.
Pray for our continued fellowship with the Brazilian brothers and sisters in Christ. That God would use our time together to strengthen the Brazilian church and CrossWay Community Church.
