After a few years of planning, researching and writing, this tract that Johnny wrote finally came off the press! This is already being distributed (or sold at cost) to various churches and individuals. Please pray with us that the Lord will bless its message to enlighten the hearts and minds of those who read it.
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Yesterday, October 12th, was Children's Day (Dia das Crianças) here in Brazil-a VERY celebrated day. Some children look forward to it more than they do Christmas! Our church had an activity on Sunday afternoon for the children of our church. I did not take any pictures but I would like to post this one that I took of four of the children last month. The 2 girls are sisters and the 2 boys are brothers. Here are 2 more, saying a Bible verse that they learned. Were there ever cuter kids than these?! And here are our 2 neighbor girls. They love to come and play with our puppies whenever we have some around. They are from a (nominally) Catholic family. Although they have heard the Gospel from us they have yet to accept an invitation to attend a church service with us. Pray for them! This date was also Brazil's patron saint day (Dia da Padroeira do Brasil), who is "Our Lady Who Appeared" (Nossa Senhora de Aparecida)-one of the many forms of Mary. Surprisingly, there was no mass at the nearby RC church but there no doubt was at the main church in town. To find out more about this , click here. It will give you some idea of the false teachings we have to deal with, teachings which the majority of Brazilian children are growing up with. Pray that we can reach more of these precious little ones with the truth of the Gospel! On September 8th the city of Curitiba celebrated its 317th birthday! Yay, birthdays, we all love birthdays, right? Well, this one was so quietly celebrated that we didn't even know about it til the day after. (To know more about Curitiba, check this out.) Since Curitiba's patron saint is Our Lady of Light (one of the many forms of Mary), most of the celebrating was in the form of idolatry...worshipping, praying and giving thanks to this saint/image. Mass was held at many of the Catholic churches on this day. Here the state's governor, Orlando Pessuti, is seen at the mass in the Catedral Basílica de Curitiba which is dedicated to the patron saint. He said, "I am here today to ask Our Lady of Light to intercede for us and make us have more faith..." The archbishop who presided at the mass said, "As we manifest ourselves on our birthday and above all on the birthdays of our mothers, much more we want to do this for Mary, who is our mother, mother of the church, mother of our city." Sometimes it's a bit difficult to minister/witness to those of a religion & culture who don't see their adoration as being contrary to what the Bible teaches. Pray for wisdom for us and enlightenment of the Spirit for them. "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."-John 8:32
I was awakened early this morning at 6 a.m. by bombs. Firecracker bombs, that is-being set off by our "neighborhood church" only 2 blocks away. Today is their anniversary so they want to make sure everyone wakes up, I guess, to celebrate it...whether they belong to that church or not, whether they are elderly, sick or babies...who might be needing to sleep a bit more. It's very sad to see how their emphasis is on "the here and now", as someone aptly described. Entertainment, parties, bingo, selling things...alot of emphasis on making money, it seems, with little emphasis on the spiritual and what is truly important. For example, knowing where they will spend eternity... These ladies are carrying boxes with images of various forms of Mary. Someone on each street in the neighborhood is responsible for one of these. It will be kept at their house and a little "novena" (service) will be held each week during this "month of Mary". Perhaps only a rude awakening is what it will take for them to desire to know the truths of God's Word. Pray for us as we try to spread the Gospel here where this religion prevails. |
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