Ellinton's Baptism

Ellinton is a man in his early 40s that Paulo Renato and I met last year at the chacara. His family is friends with Rodrigo and Eduardo's family, two brothers who graduated from the treatment program last year. Ellinton spent five months at the chacara but was unable to finish the treatment, because he contracted tuberculosis. Fortunately, his is a rare non-contagious type and he is doing just fine. In fact, he is doing better than ever because last Sunday he was baptized into Christ! (Isaias, the director of the chacara, did the baptism at Ellinton's request; this is the pool on the roof of his mother's house).

This is Ellinton with his wife, Marcia, at right, and their two daughters, Elli and Daphne. Below is a photo of Ellinton with his extended family, including his mother, grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, brothers, and nephews. What a fantastic family and an open door for the Word of God to work! We are thankful for Ellinton and for his decision to be a part of this church family. Let's pray that one day, all of the folks in this photo will be part of a church that meets in their home!

And They're Off!

This is our new house church, right out of the starting gate! Felipe, on the left, has been one of my best friends here for many years. He was the first one who came to me and said, "I will be at your house every week!" Raquel, to Waleska's left, is a good friend of hers and attended our previous house church for the past two years; she was excited to continue with us and focus on evangelism. Cesar, on the right, was baptized last year and attended the Terrys' house church before they moved to the U.S. He works downtown most Sunday mornings, so our hosting this group in the evening is perfect for him to participate. We will tell you more about each one of these special people in the coming weeks.

We started studying the Gospel of Matthew together as our launching point for group discussion, and we plan to share a meal or snack together most Sundays. We are thankful for these three who have begun with us and are eager to see the Lord add more seekers to our group!

Retooling in the Spiritual Garden

A lot can happen when you leave town for two months! We discovered that when we returned to Porto Alegre at the end of February and found that our house church had, for lack of a better word, disassembled. Both Signoretti families and Luzia decided to return to a more traditional church (they had been thinking about this for some time) because they felt they would be more productive in this environment. We were discouraged initially about this, but later saw the divine wisdom inherent in the move; they continue being members of the kingdom and serving the Lord, and Waleska & I can launch into "outreach" instead of constantly recycling our resources on "inreach" with folks who've been Christians for many years.

John and Clarice, our good friends and also members of our house church, decided to start 2009 by beginning a church in their home (they live in the military officers' residential complex in Canoas, a suburb). We praise God for that! They already have one couple who has been coming faithfully. We will miss having them here in our home every week, but are thankful for their missionary hearts in wanting to reach out to their neighborhood.

Waleska and I had been thinking towards the end of last year, and had announced our plans to our group, about starting a "yuppies" house church - a group specifically directed to young professionals our age who are not-yet dedicated to following Jesus or folks who are relatively new in their faith. We have several friends through Waleska's English teaching and people I've known over the years here in POA that we hope to invite. We have one person for sure so far - Raquel, who has been attending our group for the past two years with her mother Ines. My great friend Felipe Gomes, who runs the sports medicine clinic where I work out, has also said he will participate.

We will begin tomorrow, Sunday March 22 @ 6pm. We don't know how many will come. But we will be here, every week, opening our home and our hearts to whoever comes. Please pray for us as we make a new beginning!