I work with poor people in the outskirts of a large metropolitan area. The church should exist where people are. The landscape is hilly and there are kids everywhere playing soccer. There are bars at every corner and men attend them all day long. Drugs are easy to find and girls show off with minuscule shorts. Creativity lives in the outskirts many times. It's also easy to find cows, donkeys and mutt dogs sharing the roads with horse wagons, buses, cars and trucks. For the surprise of many, you will still see modern and fancy cars of those who got rich but never left their communities. The streets are narrow and full of holes but busy.
Last Saturday afternoon going from one personal Bible study to another, I came to the realization that I'm happy working where I work. I'd rather work here than downtown or at a affluent barrio. Downtown is empty, lifeless, only concrete and businesses. People have no time for God. At a rich barrio, people are sort of lifeless too, they don't need God. What is God for, if money can buy me "anything?" Here people are kind. They smile and wave to you. If you stop and ask about God, the world, and politics, they will chat with you a good while! They are open. One simple logical argument and one open Bible verse will suffice to convince them that there is a God (most of the time, hahaha! Complicated arguments and theories fly over their heads. They are simple. What they want to see your living, your live testimony. And that's enough.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Church Site Construction
A Historical Marker
Last Sunday (March 6) we opened a new chapter in the history of the Church in São Lourenço.
This church has been blessed with a good growth in the last years. For a good while our current building for worship couldn't accommodate this new generation. Besides, our youth, teens, and children groups never enjoyed a comfortable and spacious place.
Last Sunday we finished, by God's grace, half of the construction of our Sunday school classrooms. There will be room for everyone! Instead of hiring expensive bricklayers, we decided to save money doing ourselves an important part of the construction—the first and second floors. We have in the church many skillful and diligent brothers who were up to the task. It was a weekend of hard work, a lot of sweating under our scorching sun, but also a lots of fellowship and laughter. We finished this part of the mission.
We ask you to please include this major project in your prayers.
We still have to complete this building and start the auditorium, which will be a separate unit.
We dream of completing it all by the end of the year, Lord willing.
Visit the links below and share with us this glorious moment:
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