The Newest Missionary in Town!

Please welcome Giovanni Müller Blume to the world! He was born to our teammates Kevin and Benay Blume in the early hours of September 3rd. Check out the link to the Blumes' blog in the right-hand column on this page to get all the inside scoop...

Guilherme's Baptism

A few weeks ago I wrote about a new Bible study we had begun with a young man named Guilherme. He is a bright guy with a bright future in the field of computer science. He has been dating Gabrieli, daughter of our friends and brothers Lauro & Lorena. Our Bible study time has been amazing - he has soaked up the Word like a sponge. It's always exciting to study the Word with someone who is so eager to learn. Last week Guilherme came to us and said he would like to be baptized! It's finally nice to be able to participate in a baptism! (It's a running joke here in POA that whenever I leave town for a trip, someone gets baptized - that has happened a dozen times over the past few years!)

The baptism was on Saturday at Mark & Ju White's home (they work in Viamão, a satellite city of POA). As you can see, Guilherme didn't need much help going under water!

Two thumbs up for a new life in Christ!

After the baptism we had a snack & conversation time at Guilherme's house with some of his relatives, several of whom attend the church in Cantão that we visit from time to time. L-r: Guilherme's aunt Daniela, his future mother-in-law Lorena, friends Valquiria, Waleska and Ju, his girlfriend Gabrieli, grandmother Helena (who is practically his mother because she has raised him since birth) and his stepmother whose name I forgot :>). Praise God for Guilherme's rebirth and pray that the Lord will continue to pour out His Spirit on Cantão!

Families Uniting in Christ

The work at the chácara is taking on new proportions! Now, family members of the guys who have completed the recovery program are deciding to follow Jesus and become part of His church! This is Jane, the mother of Rodrigo and Eduardo, at the moment of her baptism on Sunday.

Down we go into the cold waters, assisted by Isaias and Gabriel...

and up we come again in victory, reborn to a new life and new possibilities in Jesus Christ!

This is Jane with her sons Eduardo and Rodrigo, two great young guys who have finished the recovery program. Jane wants to be a part of our church family. We will be starting a new group on Sundays that includes Jane, Rodrigo and Eduardo. Pray that this group will eventually include Jane's husband, Valmir, and their entire family! Praise God for how He is moving and extending the work of the kingdom!

Happy Birthday Dad!

This post is in honor of my Dad, whose birthday was Wednesday of this week. This is Dad at his best: relaxing in a state park cabin, planning his next move to explore the off-the-beaten paths of our wild & wonderful West Virginia. If you haven't already, check out his photography websites on the links in the right column - they are spectacular! Happy Birthday Dad and we love you lots! We can't wait to see you at the end of the year!

Gabrieli & Guilherme

This is Gabrieli and Guilherme. Gabrieli is 20 years old and is the daughter of Lauro & Lorena, one of our church families. Gabrieli works as a receptionist in an English school and takes night classes in public safety. Guilherme (that's William in English) is 21 and works for a bank and also takes night classes in computer programming.
Recently Waleska and I began studying the Bible with these young "lovebirds'. Gabrieli is a Christian and Guilherme is very interested in learning about Jesus and about His word. He had never studied the Bible before until we began our meetings last month. We are becoming fast friends - he invited us to his birthday party last week and introduced us to all of his family. We apologized because we had not brought a present and Guilherme's response was "Getting to know you is my present!" We thank God for this couple and ask you to pray for them to be unified in Christ!

Mobile Church is Back!

You may remember us writing last year about a couple named Dariu & Mara (he is on the far right of the row of persons sitting across from me). They are friends of Renato & Branda and invited us to come have church in their home last year. Ever since then we have been trying to spend more time with them and find other opportunities to share Jesus with them. Two Sundays ago we finally got invited again to their house for a Sunday worship and a meal together. We talked about how Jesus is the "living water" and the only true source of life, and enjoyed a great time of fellowship complete with grilled chicken wings. Pray for this couple and for their daughters Fernanda, Bruna and Vitoria. We are planning another worship in their home for August and hope to start a Bible study with this family at that point!

Getting Equipped for Kingdom Work

This is Roberto and Moema. They attend the church that meets in the Blumes' house. They have been Christians for almost two years now. Their conversion is quite amazing - Moema was a card-carrying Marxist and sociology professor at the federal university until cancer forced her to retire early, thus deepening an already-burning desire in this couple to discover life's true meaning. Through their friendship with the Blumes, they began studying the Bible and eventually decided to follow Jesus as Lord. We have become good friends with this couple and their 11-year old son Kjeld. Waleska teaches English to Moema and I have a Bible study with her as well once a week. Roberto is a very talented singer who occasionally performs at different local venues.
Recently, a series of events left Roberto without a job. They decided to use this situation to seek God's will for their life direction. It seems that God has answered their prayers in the form of Youth With A Mission, an international Christian organization that trains and equips people to serve as missionaries and workers in local churches. Roberto will be leaving on Sunday to begin a 5-month YWAM discipleship course in a small mountain town about 1 hour from Porto Alegre. This is a big step of faith and we are all proud and excited for Roberto and family! It reminds me of when I first decided to do Let's Start Talking twelve years ago - it was an experience that opened doors to new worlds and possibilites that changed my life. I believe that Roberto is about to embark on a similar life-changing experience.

Pray that Roberto will find greater intimacy with God and find spiritual tools to be ever more useful in God's service through this course, and that Moema and Kjeld will be comforted and strong in his absence. Praise God that more workers are answering the harvest call!