Thoughts About the Rainy Season

Having recently moved to this part of the world, we are yet to get the full effect of the rainy season. When we arrived in Northwest Brazil over six months ago, we were at the end of the rainy season. We experienced the rain every day and the mud that was caused by it. We lived on a dirt road with a dirt yard and had mud on our feet almost every time we entered the house.

Within a few months, the dry season came and we started fighting the dust. You can clean, wash, wipe, rinse, dust, or mop, but when all is said and done there will be a red layer on everything you have just finished cleaning within a couple of hours.

Slowly, things begin to change. Our grass was all brown from no rain. I had not cut the grass in two months. Then just about two weeks ago we started getting rain. Several places around us had received some rain, so we knew it was on the way.

It has rained about three or four times in the last two weeks. The grass is all green, the weeds are high, the mud is back, but there were a few things we did not expect. These things come by surprise because of being in a different house.

Storm

The Storm

When the first storm hit, it hit between 3-4 in the morning. We were sleeping quite well until the wind woke us up. Then all of a sudden, we got out of bed to see the rain. I walked into the kitchen and stepped in a puddle of water, as I was trying to get that mopped up, Amanda called from the bedroom and said there was water in there! Wow! Our bedroom became a small swimming pool!

Though it did not rain very long, it took us nearly an hour or an hour and a half to mop up all the rain. We were able to get back to sleep just before needing to wake up and begin our day.

Yesterday, we received another BIG storm. This one we were ready for. We placed rags under all the doors that would let water in. We closed the windows and got out the rags. The wind was once again very strong and blew the rain right against the bedroom window. We were prepared for water to come in, but a little more than expected came in. When we pulled the curtains back, here is what we saw…

Waterfall

THE WATERFALL

So, with a strategically placed thumb we were able to hold back quite a bit of water. It did not keep it from coming into the house, but it did prevent it from shooting out into the middle of the floor.

The good thing about this last storm is that I found where the problem is in order to try and seal it up. When the storm hit in the middle of the night, I was not awake enough to figure out what needed to be fixed.

Spiritually speaking, we are in a dry season here in Brazil. Yes, we get a few drops here and there, but we are looking for the rain. All over Brazil, in the large cities and in the remote scattered places, the story is the same.

It is amazing to me that we live in such a remote place, but at the same time, we have so many modern conveniences. We have indoor plumbing, electricity, high-speed internet, cars, microwaves, online shopping, and much more. Yet, at the same time, within just a few minutes I could take you to places that have absolutely none of these modern conveniences. There are places near here that you could not get to in a car during the rainy season. They have no internet. They still use they use outhouses and may or may not have electricity.
Yet in all of this, God is to be praised! It is by His grace that any of us lives another day. With or without the modern conveniences of the hour, our Lord is the one who holds the world in His hands. We will either see His hand working around us, or we will face this world on our own and get frustrated, confused, and materialistic about it all.

My heart breaks when I stop to ponder the reality of our situation today. In this day and age when we have the most modern conveniences of any period of time in history, there are more people out there who have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel than ever before.

Truth is, the statistics are even more warped by the fact that religion obscures the Gospel. You can be a part of an evangelical “Christian” church for many many years and never hear the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Many statistics now reflect Brazil as a Christian nation. Just because it is a very religious country, the second largest missionary sending country in the world, most everyone you meet seems calls themselves a “believer”, and a good part of the population holds a copy of God’s Word in their hands, does not mean that they have heard a clear presentation of the Gospel.

“Christianity” and religion have become some of the largest hindrances to the Gospel here in Brazil. In almost every city in Brazil, we are not winning the “heathen” to Christ. We are simply reaching out to nominal Christians who have never been saved. They use the same Bible we do, they use the same language we do, and some even have higher standards of dress than we do. Yet, they do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

The good news in all of this is the Gospel!!!! God’s Word is able to divide asunder between soul and spirit. It can also discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Bringing this back to the story related above, we are praying for rain!!! I personally am praying for revival in Brazil. It seems as though we are in a dry season where many are discouraged about serving the Lord and few are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Yet, if we are still serving and believing in the God of the Bible, then we have hope that the drought will end and the rainy season is on the way!

Please join us in praying that souls would be saved, that people would be baptized, but don’t stop praying for true disciples of Jesus Christ. Pray for truth to be spread and false religions to be revealed.

Pray for us as we seek to reach people here in this part of Brazil with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

— Jeremy

Cujubim – Rondônia – Brazil

I just returned from a weekend holiday trip to the city of Cujubim where I participated in a type of youth congress teaching young people about music. The Lord blessed in a great way during the trip!

There were representatives from about five or six different churches present at the meeting. The fellowship was wonderful and the Lord was working in the hearts of the young people as well as the adults.

Bro. Adelmo is working in the church there. The Lord put him in Cujubim about eight months ago to help the church. He will soon be ordained and become the pastor of the church. Please pray for him as he works for the Lord in Cujubim.

During my three day stay, he took all the teenagers out several times to hand out tracts and do some soul-winning. Though no one trusted the Lord as their Savior during these times of outreach, I was glad to see some young people out talking to people about the Lord and inviting them to the meetings.

From my point of view, the leaders benefited more from the lessons than did the young people. They were quick to admit their need to change the music in their churches. Some, I believe will take steps of improvement, while others will continue doing what they have always done because it is the “easy way”. Many times we have the opportunity to hear good preaching and teaching on certain subjects, but how often do we actually act on those things and change something in our lives because of it?

The challenge many times is not only to present truth, but to encourage people to act on it. A quote, I believe to be by Mark Twain, gives us the truth… “It’s not the parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that Give me fits, it’s the parts that I do understand that trouble me the most.” We have the Bible and truth at our fingertips, but yet we are many times unchanged and unaffected by it.

Please pray for our churches here in Brazil. Many stories could be told of the churches that have strayed into Pentecostalism because of music. Though I am certain that music was not the only factor, it is one of the signs that will most certainly pop up before the church heads that way.

The churches in this particular area of Brazil are very needy. This is not only in the area of music, but in every area. There is very little teaching on doctrine and few qualified teachers or pastors. Out of the eight closest churches to us, four of them are without a pastor and being monitored by the same missionary. Each of these churches has a male leader, but many of these have little if any training and some do not even understand the basic fundamental doctrines that we teach, yet they are in leadership in that church for lack of others who will take on the role.

People are begging us for a Bible institute, music training, pastoral leadership, and much more. Where do we begin? Should we just neglect what God has put in our hearts to help these people with their needs? By no means! Yet at the same time we must pray to our all-knowing God who said that He would send laborers at our request. Let us not be guilty of “doing everything we can” without doing what God has already asked us to do.

A Great Start to September

This past Saturday, September 1st, was a good beginning to the month. Pastor Marcelo from Machadinho, mentioned just a few posts ago, invited me to go with him to conduct a service at his uncle’s house. His uncle lives in a small town called Alvorada do Oeste, about 60 miles from our city of Ouro Preto. It is definitely a smaller city and is not even labled on Google Maps.

Our entire family was planning on going, but because of all the circumstances of the past few days and upcoming days, we decided it would be best for them to stay at home. I drove down to Alvorada, then out of town a few miles into the country to get to my destination.

The service was conducted at a house on the farm. The purpose for the service was for Bro. Apolinário to give testimony of what God had done in his life. He wanted all his neighbors and relatives to know that he was now a Christian. Through the past three years he had undergone many cancer treatments and had come near death several times. In fact, he said his heart quit beating for about 25 minutes. Yet, one of the nurses did not give up on him and was able to help him come back to.

We had an absolutely wonderful time down there. There were several relatives there that did not know the Lord as Savior and we were able to present the Gospel to them in a very clear way. Pastor Marcelo did a great job preaching to his own family and pointing them to Jesus. Altogether, there were about 28 people in the service.

The Lord blessed and also gave us safety traveling back and forth. I did see a bunch of goats, a very large cow, an opossum, and a huge pig on the highway, but thankfully the Lord protected me from hitting them. Though this is considered a main highway connecting several cities, there were probably 30 speed bumps I had to cross going and coming back. There was a total of about five miles of highway that was still dirt. They have been working on paving the road for several years, but it is not finished yet.

Please keep praying as we make more contacts in this part of the country and seek to follow the Lord’s will here.

Below is a picture of our service at the farm. There is also a link to the pictures page where you will find a few more pictures of this trip.

— Jeremy

Alvorada

Blessing of the Jungle?

What kind of blessings do we get from being near the jungle? Well, below is a picture of one of the BIG blessings we have here in this part of the world. Giant Cicadas!!!! This particular one is about six inches in length. It was right outside our kitchen on the back wall. They also make a large amount of noise. Anyone want to come visit?

Cicada

Machadinho do Oeste

Last weekend, our family was invited to visit a church in Machadinho do Oeste. It is about three hours from where we live right now. The church was started by fellow missionary Tom Brewer.

Pastor Marcelo invited our family to come spend the weekend with them. I preached on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning and evening. Amanda also spoke at a ladies meeting on Friday evening.

It was a great blessing to see the Lord working in so many lives up there. We had a great time of fellowship with Pastor Marcelo and his family. Pastor Marcelo has a great heart to serve the Lord and has taken a stand which has set him apart from so many pastors. We wish to encourage him in the work the Lord has placed him in there in the city of Machadinho do Oeste.

Many Brazilians have been so influenced by the pentecostal movement and the gospel of prosperity that they are always looking for a “blessing”. This has so dominated the country that people have sold their houses and lands and separated large amounts of money to give to their churches expecting to receive double in return from God. Because of this I preached on “Destroyed by a Miracle”. I related many examples how victory, blessing, and miracles lead to spiritual or physical destruction. Gideon, Simon in Acts 8, and many other examples could be given. I showed them that many people are looking for the Miracle and missing God altogether.

Sunday evening, after a message on the Potter and the Clay, a lady trusted the Lord as her Savior!!!

Altogether, we were refreshed by the fellowship and enjoyed the time away from home. We even were able to spend just a little time out by the river with Pastor Marcelo and his family. The boys really enjoyed climbing around on the rocks.

Preaching

— Jeremy

Update on 2010 Trip to Porto Velho

I have been wanting to post something about this for a long time, but only now was I able to get the picture.

Pastor Antonio Marques

 

This is a picture of a Brazilian pastor, Antônio Marques and his wife Maria. Brother Antônio Marques and his wife hosted me during my very quick survey trip to Porto Velho in 2010. They were a very big blessing to me during the trip. She cooked meals and they prepared a place for me to sleep at the church.

Brother Antônio took me around the city and showed me just about everything I wanted to see. He drove me by most of the good churches in town. He also took me downtown and to the riverfront.

The only issue in all of this is that he is over 70 years old and I was riding on the back of his motorcycle! After two days on the back of the motorcycle, he did give me a few scares, but nothing terrible. His motorcycle had a little problem changing gears and kept kicking, so I was holding on and very alert.

The very day we moved our family up to this area, I was informed that he was in the hospital. He had fallen out of a hammock and hit his head. This lead to some exams which showed he had a large brain tumor. A few days later they operated on the tumor. Initially he was told that the entire tumor was removed, but since then he has been told otherwise.

He lost all his vision in his left eye and about 80% of the vision in his right eye. He was unable to read his Bible, prepare sermons, or pastor his church. Soon after the surgery he resigned his church.

Last week, there was a preachers meeting in Itapuã at Bro. Brewer’s church. When I arrived, I found out Bro. Antônio Marques was going to be preaching at the meeting. I was surprised that he could preach, but at the same time encouraged that his health was improving.

After the meeting I took advantage of the opportunity to get this picture taken. I also had the opportunity to finally introduce them to my family.

We talked for a little while and here is what he said, “During your visit with us, I was already having symptoms of a brain tumor, but I did not know what it was. They have just told me that the tumor was not completely removed. They also told me that it is a malignant tumor. I have regained about 60% of my vision in my right eye, but I am worried because the tumor is right behind my good eye. I am still afraid I will loose all of my sight.”

This pastor has been faithfully serving the Lord for nearly 40 years here in the state of Rondônia. He has started several churches and has sacrificed all of this world’s good for serving the Lord.

Please pray for him and for his wife. They are precious people and have very little of this world’s good. They are subject to the social health care system and make less than enough to pay for his medications. However, the Lord is using him to encourage other pastors to remain faithful in the work of the Lord.

— Jeremy

2012 London Olympics – True Victory

True Victory

One of my projects over the past 6 months or so was the design of a new website for the 2012 Olympics in London. The Olympics will soon be beginning, and thousands of people will be traveling to London from all over the world.

Many of you are excited about the sporting events and the excitement as you cheer on your country. However, others are awaiting this event with the prospect of reaching the world through London. They see the souls for whom Christ died and see opportunities to reach people with the Gospel.

We have been working along side Bro. Allen Johnson and Wings Bearing Precious Seed to develop a website similar to our Conhecendo Deus Gospel website. This website, appropriately named truevictory.net is also a Gospel website. It not only gives the Gospel, but also attempts to give the personal story of athletes who have made professed Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Please visit the website and pass it along to your friends. I know there are several different outreach programs going on in London during this time. Please remember to pray for all these people reaching out to the lost with the Gospel. May the Lord work on the hearts of these athletes and spectators to give them

Friends in Itapuã

There are many blessings to being a missionary, but there are also some negatives. We are very blessed to have friends not only in most of the 50 states of America and in many of the 26 states in Brazil, but we also have friends in many countries around the world. The bad part about it all is that many times we must say goodbye to our friends. There have been countless numbers of times when we have had to say goodbye to people we love.Most recently, we have had to say goodbye to the people of Itapuã do Oeste in the state of Rondônia in Brazil. Fellow missionary Tom Brewer and his wife Cindy were a special blessing to us during the four months we spent with them. Their church, Igreja Batista Bíblica do Vale, became very special to us. The people took us in and befriended us and encouraged us. We are very thankful for the time spent there.

Here are a few more pictures of our friends in Itapuã. The entire album can be seen HERE.

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Itapuã - March 2012

Online At Last!

After more than three weeks, we are finally able to access the internet again. Things have been busy for us over the last few weeks. We have tried to be patient, but after having been wandering around for the past twelve months, we are very anxious to get settled. I guess I could say we experienced 1/40 of what the children of Israel did in the wilderness. I am sure what we have been through does not even compare to that. We have been spoiled in many ways most everywhere we have been. God is good!

I am looking forward to updating everyone on our latest adventures and getting you up to speed on our ministry progress. I am very excited about what God is doing. Most of the news will have to be posted a little at a time. However, I will give you just a taste of what God is doing.

Several weeks ago, the Lord brought two Haitian men across my path for a brief instant. We were in and out of the same town for about two weeks. Then they moved and I moved. Now we are about 200 miles apart. However, God is still working in their hearts. Every week I receive a phone call from Adrim. The Lord is doing something special in his life and bringing him closer to the Lord.

Shortly after trusting Christ as his Savior, he lost his job and had some very disappointing things happen at the next job he took. This forced him to move to a new location where he could be closer to some friends. Though there are some negatives, he is encouraged in the Lord. He will soon receive his very first Bible in his native language! That will no doubt be a big help and boost in his Christian life.

Manoel, the second man also trusted the Lord and is well. He also is looking forward to receiving a Bible and some studies that he can go through to grow in his Christian life. Please keep praying for these men.

Since our move to Ouro Preto do Oeste, the Lord has brought several people across our path who are in need of spiritual help. One young saleslady in a department store after answering our questions asked if we were Christians. She then began to ask for spiritual advice. She has been looking for a good church and is disgusted with all the options available to her at this time. Please pray for her. Her name is Edinalva. She has many questions and is looking for the truth.

Yesterday our neighbors came over to bring us a little treat and we found out that their oldest daughter (15) is interested in missions and has already been reading our Gospel website. We also had a great conversation with some of our other neighbors a few days ago.

Our website influence is growing slowly, but steadily. Though not many have written us on the website, traffic has increased and people from every state in Brazil as well as other countries are accessing the Gospel website ConhecendoDeus every month.

Over the next few weeks we will be posting pictures and telling you more about what has happened in the last few weeks and keeping you updated with what is going on presently as well. Below is a picture of the view from the kitchen window in our house.

— Jeremy

Panoramic

Giant Crater

There are reasons to doubt that Brazil is a first world country. These doubts come to mind when you travel off the beaten path. We are now in a state that is little heard of by the rest of the country unless something big happens and hits the national news. Here is an example…

Since our arrival less than three weeks ago, a huge crater developed on the only road that takes you north and south through the state. This is not only an interstate highway, but it allows access from Brazil to Bolivia, Peru, Columbia and Venezuela. The washout has created some problems with these countries due to a large number of imports and exports.

There was one way around the mess through several neighborhoods. Because of the heavy truck traffic, these neighborly people are protesting. All their roads have been destroyed. Their electricity has been affected also. In protesting, they completely blocked access to the capital city of Porto Velho. Not even pedestrians were allowed to pass. The military police were negotiating in order to gain access for emergency vehicles to pass through.

Click HERE to see an areal view of the crater.

Here are a few links to more pictures of the mess…

You can also see a few more pictures of what this has done to the only bypass through local neighborhoods.

This is about 70 miles north of where we are and is blocking our access to the city. We were able to get in on Monday, but have decided to try and wait a few weeks until we go again.

— Jeremy

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