Tag Archives: Facebook

A Church Facebook Page

Patience and prayer are always a good thing. Sometimes we might get a bit discouraged when we do not see the fruit of our labors. This weekend I was reminded that the Lord is working in hearts and drawing people to Himself. What we do for the cause of Christ is a part of His plan and the Lord uses those opportunities as He wishes.

Even before we moved to Vilhena we were praying that our paths would be directed to meet the right people at the right time. A few weeks after being here I started a Facebook page for the church. We have posted some devotional type materials on there as well as pictures of some of the events at church. We advertised just a bit in the community as well.

Facebook Page

All the work and hours invested in the site have already paid off. We still look forward to what the Lord will do with it in the future.

About a week ago, we received a message from a young man who was looking for a job. He talked about coming to church, but did not know his way around the city. We communicated with him through messages several different times through the week. On Saturday we were able to make a visit with him. Sunday evening he came to church! He is very excited about participating in the church. We look forward to helping him settle the matter of his salvation and baptism as we have more opportunities to spend time with him.

Though I know we are just beginning to work with this young man, it is amazing to see God’s hand at work. I believe that God has been working in his family’s life for many years in order to bring him to our church. You may think that is a little far fetched, but let me explain.

  • His grandparents moved to Brazil from Japan as children in the mid 1900s.
  • Brazil is a very evangelical country. Some areas have much more of a Gospel presence than others.
  • On his mother’s side of the family, his aunts and uncles all moved to Rondônia where we now live.
  • He along with his immediate family lived about 1,250 miles south of Rondônia.
  • Through some strange circumstances including weird dreams, he was directed to an evangelical church.
  • Persecution from his Buddhist family made it very difficult for him to continue following the Lord and going to church.
  • Due to his “conversion”, they had him put in a mental hospital.
  • After a few years under this persecution, he decided to move up north to Rondônia to get away from it.
  • He moved to Vilhena to live with an aunt and help take care of his family in the area.
  • He was attending a Baptist church down south, so he searched for a Baptist church here in Vilhena. Our church was the first to show up in his search.

Now, that is just a quick version with the basic points that connected us. We could go on and explain how that God put in our heart to reach the world through Brazil. We have websites with Gospel materials in Japanese, yet God brought his family to Brazil where they learned the Portuguese language, then allowed him to come in contact with some Christians and begin seeking after Christ. Through persecution he is placed right here in our city and our church is the first he comes across.

I believe this is God’s work. He may be altering plans for hundreds of years in order for you to be in a specific place at a specific time. What an amazing God we serve! Just like he used Cesar Augustus to make a decree that every person in the world should be taxed so that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, He also does the very same thing millions of times all over this world so that people can hear His Word. Open your eyes and see what God is doing!

Spreading the Gospel all over the world

How would you give out the Gospel if you could only quote Scripture? Suppose you could only speak words directly from the Bible. How would you tell people that their sins are keeping them from a relationship with God and that repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven?

This is a challenge that we have before us at this time! Though we have some help from people that speak the language a bit, in some languages we have nothing other than the Bible to present to people. So what should we say? Should we just quote John 3:16 over and over again? This is a point I have been pondering for years now. How much of the Gospel that I give is directly from the Bible?

The last few weeks have been very fruitful as we are expanding our outreach! It is exciting to see what God is doing.

Last week almost 10,000 people viewed content from our Facebook pages. Most of these people are from French speaking countries where we have been advertising, but a good portion of them are from Brazil and from Haiti also. How wonderful it is to get comments, questions, and responses from people who are encouraged by the Word of God.

Here is a breakdown of what has happened over the past few weeks to expand this work…

1. An Arabic page has been started on Facebook.
2. Bible studies have been added to the website in Haitian Creole.
3. A Frequently Asked Questions page was added to French so we can answer more questions quickly.
4. Business cards with the website were distributed to a few Haitian people in Porto Velho, and they will also be receiving several of the Bible studies in the near future.
5. A German Facebook page has been started.

Though these are just small opportunities, the Lord has given them to us and we are doing what we can to reach the World through Brazil. Please take a few moments and pray for this Arabic outreach this week. We started advertising today in Jordan and Iraq. In just a few hours we have had more than 50 likes. This is a great opportunity to reach into the 10/40 window with the Gospel.  Please pray!

Here is an image of our Arabic page.

Arabic Page

I have also listed our Facebook pages below and you can take a look at them if you would like.

Facebook page in Portuguese
Facebook page in Haitian Creole
Facebook page in French
Facebook page in Arabic
Facebook page in German

— Jeremy

Taking Time to Reach the World

It is true, we cannot be in more than one place at a time. However, reaching the world has actually become easier. It is amazing how many people you can communicate with all over the world even if you do not speak their language.

In previous posts we have written about places we are reaching around the world. We have also written about our connection with other missionaries and how praying for them has turned into a blessing to us. It is amazing what God can do when he wants to.

After developing a Gospel Facebook page for Haitian Creole, we have also invested some time into a French page. Credit must be given to Benji and Kerri Dryden for their hard work on the Creole page. On the French side of things we have the help of Stephen and Julie Knickerbocker.

It is exciting to see what God is doing as we reach out with the Gospel. There is no telling what person may receive the Gospel and what they will do with it. Here is a small map from Google with stars in locations that we have communicated with people over the past two months or so. Of course, this is not 100% accurate, but at least will give you an idea of what is going on.

Though we would like to expand what we are doing, we must not get to the point where we cannot keep up with what is going on. Once a week, I take the time to design an image with a verse on it in several different languages.

Just in English, there are many people all over the world that we can communicate with. It is amazing when you begin to study statistics that just sitting at home you could reach hundreds of thousands of people all over the world that speak your language.

Recently I spent about an hour chatting with a Nigerian missionary who is reaching a different section of Africa with the Gospel. His home church sent out 4 missionaries to this particular spot. We met online. Noone introduced us. This is not a friend of a friend, but someone that I crossed paths with simply by reaching out to a specific part of the world. Most likely, I will never meet him in person, but through him I am more aware of a specific people group in Africa that needs the Gospel.

India has also been a concentration for me in the past few months. What more can be done in that country? A friend of mine there said that in a gathering of around 12 people, 11 of them had different mother tongues. All of them spoke more than one language and many of them spoke at least three languages. The common language used among this group was English.

Next week, we will visit a Bible school that houses people from at least 7 different indian ethnic groups here in Brazil. Each of these speak a different language? How can they be helped? Obviously someone is working with them, but what more can be done. How can these people be encouraged to reach other more remote indian tribes?

Please pray for us! However, do not stop at praying for missionaries. Ask the Lord what you can do to help. What talents do you have? How can those talents be used to reach the world? Will you take the time to reach out?

“These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” Acts 17:6

Have these men come to your area of the world? Will you be one of these in another area of the world?

— Jeremy

Haitian Outreach Update

Please keep praying…

With just a tiny bit of effort, God has sent us over 200 Haitian contacts in the past 3 days. We also know that some of our efforts have reach over 5,000 Haitians. These are just numbers and we have not had personal contact with these people. Yet, the Lord knows the lives of each of these and has given us an opportunity to give each of them a continued Gospel influence in their lives.

Please continue to pray with us as we use the internet to reach out to people who need to know God.

— Jeremy

Reaching Haiti Through Brazil

The Lord has given us a unique opportunity here in Brazil of reaching Haitians for Christ. Because of recent events in Haiti, many are moving to Brazil in order to seek employment. I cannot say that they are making loads of money, but I do believe it is of the Lord that they were brought here.

Last year I wrote of two Haitian men who trusted the Lord as their Savior thousands of miles from their home. The Lord brought them to our doorstep and gave us an opportunity to witness to them. More recently a pastor friend of our who lives on the border of Bolivia has received sometimes 30 Haitians at a time in his church. Brazil has sent many soldiers to Haiti and seems to have a good relationship with the government there. We must take advantage of this while we can.

Over the past two weeks or so, I have been advertising the Haitian page on our website and the Lord has sent us nearly 100 individuals to our website. This is exciting!!! CLICK HERE to visit this page.

Today, we started a Facebook page for our Gospel Website in Creole. It is called Konnen Bondye. Below is a picture and link to the Facebook page. If you are aware of any Haitians or others who might speak Haitian Creole, including any missionaries, please send them this link. We want to spread this to as many people as possible. We will be posting weekly in Creole on this page.

Please help us pray as we reach out to Haitians not only in Brazil and Haiti but all over the world. The Lord has given us this opportunity to help people and we must use the tools He has given us to reach the world through Brazi. Thank you for praying!

— Jeremy