Today will be our last day in Jaiba. It has been very hard work, but with great success. Yesterday and last night approximately 100 persons made professions of faith. One such was the owner/operator of our Hotel - Osmar da Silva Miguel de Morais. This exciting profession came as a 'process', as for the past several days and through many persons in conversation, his heart, over time, had been warmed. Indeed, a great example of the power of the church of Jesus Christ when filled with the Spirit of God and about the work of God. As we ate lunch yesterday, he joined us, and, while leading our afternoon vespers I felt led by God's Spirit to call him out - in other words to recognize, publicly, how the Spirit of God had been working in His life. He seemed pleased and comfortable with me doing this. Then, as I moved my message forward to its next point, he simply stood up and asked, "May I confess Christ right now?" What happened then was nothing short of amazing, as he came forward and we all gathered around him and I led him in his public confession of faith in Christ.
This morning our VBS team will host over 200 children at the local escola (shcool) in Jaiba, where they are headquartered. Then, this afternoon, we will travel to the town of Mateus Cordosa for a 'mini' event of the same. Mateus Cordosa is a beautiful town on the banks of the river, San Franciso - one of the largest and most powerful rivers in the world. The town features a catholic church on the Praca (pronounced prasa) that was erected in 1675. It is magnificent structure, made even more so by the fact that now, nearly 350 years later, the gospel is being preached in front of its doors to a people who are, in the main, ignorant of its truth.
In this city we will have over 100- 200 children gather among our youth. Our team will 'make due' by creating makeshift tables and areas upon concrete or cobblestone pathways in order to do crafts, recreation, and to allow for a Bible story and singing. One of the highlights of this time happens to be a surprise appearance of a youth who 'flies' in dressed as superman. He tells the boys and girls that he is the most powerful person in the world, but then is asked, can you create the world, save people from theirs sins, or come into a persons heart and change their life. To this he answers, of course, no - and the gospel is then shared. Following this, I - or one of English pastors - usually preach, but today I am going to give this charge to Coby Ray. He is a Spirit filled young man and I am praying that God will use His words mightily to pierce the hearts of those who gather around.
Tomorrow is as travel day, and I likely will not be able to post. We will leave early to make our back to Nova Horizonte, a town we came to 2 years ago. It will be good to see these people again and to worship with them. Then, the bus will take us another 8 hours to the south, to Hotel Fazenda -a ranch on a river, where we will rest for the day on Monday. Then, during the night of Monday-Tuesday, we will travel to Rio, for a day of shopping and sight seeing before our return flight home. Our team is tired but refreshed in their spirits. I am proud of them all, and give thanks to God for their sacrificial commitment as well as the many of you who have been faithfully praying for us. Keep it up, as tonight I will preach to 400 -500 persons calling them to Christ and to the ministry of Gospel He brings. Deus Abencoe - Pastor Sam
PS The pictures are of the Catholic church in Mateus Cardosa and of the VBS children singing there no less than 200 yards from its front door.
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