Christmas of 2011

Dear all,

Although Christianity and Judaism are not the same religion, Christmas and Chanukah share a very common trait: Lights.

May during this season we renew our convictions that [our] light can shine in the darkness and bring hope upon mankind.

"The Light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it."

"Even so let your light shine before men;

that they may see your good works,

and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

The Nascimento family wishes a Merry Christmas

and that your light will shine in 2012.

-------------------------------

Visit the link below to see photos of our church special Christmas to some poor families in the vicinity.

https://picasaweb.google.com/117575192645370291148/NatalDaVida2011

Good Monday morning, everyone!

First of all, Dayse and I would like to express our sincere gratitude to those who have prayed for our family, in particular Dayse’s father. His behavior has got better in these last two weeks, thus Dayse and Carla (Dayse’s sister) are more at easy. Thanks a lot!

Here follows some highlights in our ministry:

*          On November 5^th, we held our first support group meeting for divorced sisters in Christ. We realized that not only we had a significant number of divorced sisters among our brotherhood, but they have not received psychological support or biblical comfort as members of the church. All of them were married to non-Christians.                                 Pray with us that this meeting was the first of many.

https://picasaweb.google.com/117575192645370291148/SeminarioMasculino2011

*          Have you noticed that maybe your spouse, or your children, or your workmate don’t have the same temperament as yours? Well, last Saturday we had Jerry Heiderich from the south of Brazil ministering to a group of about 50 men. He helped discover their own temperaments, weaknesses and virtues, how to cope with different temperaments, and what temperaments are yours opposite. It was a long but fun and informative afternoon. Jerry also preached at our congregation on the importance of forgiveness on Sunday. Next day, at the church downtown, he taught on how to have “healthy” fights with your spouse! Praise God for Jerry’s classes and wise words.

https://picasaweb.google.com/117575192645370291148/SupportGroup

Prayer List:

1.      That our family health issues make our ministries stronger.

2.      May God grant Dayse and I love to raise our daughters into good Christians.

3.      Wisdom for Mozart, Bira and I (my coworkers), so that we may lead the church into a growing and mature Body of Christ.

4.      For the construction process of new building.

5.      Safety on roads here.

May God bless each of you with his Shalom,

Bio and Dayse Nascimento

Nascimento Family Report — October 2011

Dear friends, supports and brothers in Christ:

* Dayse and I want to thank all those who prayed for Jasmin’s surgery. The surgery went well and more than one month later, the doctor took off her cast. She is walking a bit clumsily, but her feet look straight. Over time she should walk perfect and next year she must resume her physical activities, Lord willing.      God has heard many prayers!

* At the beginning of October I attended a spiritual renewal promoted by Continent of Great Cities (http://www.greatcities.org/). This has been my second year and without a doubt one of the top best Christian activities I have ever participated. I had a chance to take a break from my regular, busy schedule and reflect on what I do. This year’s theme was “Living in Rhythm” [with God]. It is so easy to get out of focus and become mechanical. The speakers stressed the importance of holiness, right communication with others, and that the minister must develop a life of contemplative communication with God through solitude, prayer, and Scripture reading and meditation.   I want to thank the CGC organizers and I wish all missionaries and ministers could participate.
 https://picasaweb.google.com/117575192645370291148/ContinentCareConnection2011

* Last week I started a personal Bible study with Adriano Gomes. He’s a son of a pastor but who could never find God or connect with church. Pray that I may get to his heart the graceful and genuine gospel of Jesus.

* Teaching — here are some of the classes I’m teaching throughout the week and I ask your prayers that I may be effective and true in these lessons: The Book of Judges (Monday nights); lots of sad stories but incredible lessons; World Religions and Christian Cults (Tuesday nights); Biblical Wisdom Dealing with Emotions (Wednesday services); and a Men’s Group (Thursday nights).

* We continue to support small and struggling churches in the interior of our State.

We decided recently to adopt only one church, so we can give better attention and help.

* Additional Prayer Requests:
            1. For my mother and father-in-law’s aging illnesses;

2. That the church in São Lourenço may find her vision/purpose from the Lord;
3. Wisdom for Bio to have better time management;
4. Strength for Dayse as she juggles family, ill parents, and ministry;
5. That our daughters may discover the Lord through us and His church.

May the God of peace and grace bless you.

Bio and Dayse Nascimento

Dear friends and beloved ones in Christ,

First of all we would like to thank our good Lord for those wonderful and relaxing days with your friends in US (NM and TX) and with our spiritual family at OHC. A heartfelt thank you to all those who prayed for us, served us meals, spent time visiting with us, emotionally and financially supported us. Again, it was a wonderful time for my family and I.

>>> Furlough 2011

We also would like to highlight a few latest news in our ministry:

During the month of July, the church in São Lourenço had a very fun and productive VBS.    See photos in the link below:

>>> VBS in São Lourenço

Last Saturday (6) I taught at the church in Curado, where we offered a one-day seminar on how to serve better during church worship services. There were men from several churches in Recife area. It was a fun and instructive afternoon. 

>>> Serving Better at Worship

Last Sunday (7) another soul surrendered her life to Christ in baptism. Pray for Iris as she grows in Christ and for her daily walk with Him.

>>> Iris' Baptism

Below you will see a short but important list of prayer requests:

1. Pray for my father-in-law whom we suspect has Alzheimer and my mother, who is with dementia. 

2. Pray for time management as I return to ministerial activities and preparing lessons.

3. Pray for Jasmin's feet surgery in September.

4. Pray that our churches may never lose focus of evangelism.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, 

a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

in Christ,

Bio and Dayse 

Dear friends, brothers in Christ, and supporters:

It’s that time of the year when we come to ask you to pray at least once for that same prayer request.  Officially yesterday started our national wide exaggerated version of Mardi Gras (Carnival). It’s the time of the year when people give full vent to their craves and fierceness.

• Please, pray that the Lord will protect those brothers who still have to keep their routines, going out to work amidst the city in agitation.
• Please, pray for those will be attending “spiritual” retreats.
• Please, pray that our light may shine in this pitch-darkness.

Shalom to all,

Bio and the Nascimento Family

PS: An aftermath note: the church camp went alright. Thank the LORD we had no accidents and we had a very edifying atmosphere. Thank you for all your prayers.

Grace and peace to all:

Vacation is over, the girls are back to school, and ministry is in full gear.

Below you will see some highlights in our life/ministry and several prayer requests:

l  My ministry in this first semester of 2011 will have a greater focus towards public teaching. I will be teaching every day of the week except Fridays at different places and on various themes: Minor Prophets, the Book of Daniel, Riches in God's Eyes, Proverbs, English through the book of 1John, etc.  Teaching at the Escola da Bíblia (Book of Daniel) is one highest peak of my week.    Please, pray that I may have discipline to prepare myself for each class, and wisdom and strength to give my best.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Bio.Zugzwang/CursosEscolaDaBiblia_20111#

l  Djalma and Edilson were baptized on the same day and added to the family of Christ nearly at the same minute, like Esau and Jacob. Their baptisms were different of others though. First, they are grownup head of family men, who will bring along with them wives and children to church. Second, the whole process of reaching them out, opening the Scriptures, baptisms, and discipleship are being conducted by members of the church.   There is no involvement at all of any leader! This is a great sign for us.

Pray that these men may grow in the imitation of Christ and that the church may grow in her independence and maturation.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Bio.Zugzwang/EdilsonEDjalma_Baptims#

l   We have a ministry in our church called Hope Project. Through it we send 12 poor children from our congregation to a private school, where they have a chance to a decent education. At this part of the country, the public school system is very inefficient. This is an individual ministry where members from our American sponsoring congregation sponsor one child for US$ 600/year or only US$ 50/month.  If you’re interested in joining this visionary ministry, please, feel free to contact us. I can arrange a Skype conversation to explain you father details.         PLEASE, pray that the previous sponsors will continue on their commitment for 2011 school year and that others will step up into this ministry.  

l  In January we had a high moment for churches of Christ in Northeast of Brazil—The 25^th Christian Congress. This year's theme was “Being Like Jesus”. Sermons from the Beatitudes were very appropriate for the current context of our churches. The event was held on a very beautiful green area of Recife, yet the best part was the fellowship in seeing brothers and sisters we long hadn't seen.   Pray for our churches in this part of the world.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_GkeaaNEJw&feature=youtube_gdata

            http://congressocristao.com/

We hope and pray that Jesus Christ is growing in you as your only Lord.

Best regards in Him,

Bio and Dayse

Hannah, Yasmin, and Dara Nascimento

Provérbios em PDF

Arquivos em PDF com temas e breves reflexões de Provérbios.

Click Aqui

Dear friends and supporters:

We hope that your Holiday Seasons was surrounded by family, relatives, friends, and specially God’s peace.

Once again we would like to share with you some highlights in our ministry and family here under the equator line. These highlights are in chronological order.

·         Towards the end of every year we have our Dream’s Day. It’s a time we take to share our visions of how our church should be, in what areas we need to grow. This year we rented a nice place, and after some leisure time we had a round table of sharing our dreams and casting out visions for the future. It was edifying.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Bio.Zugzwang/DreamDay_Nov2010

·         Paula was the last person in São Lourenço to be baptized and saved in Christ in the year of 2010. Please, pray that Paula and many other young Christians will grow in their faith and that our evangelization won’t lose momentum next year.   In evangelizing we find purpose for our Christian walk.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Bio.Zugzwang/PaulaSBaptim#

·         Did you know that our daughter Jasmine loves dancing ballet? Well, last December she participated in a public performance.  We were so proud of her!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Bio.Zugzwang/YasminBallet#

·         One of the high moments in the church is our “Natal Dá Vida” (Christmas Gives Life or Christmas of Life). Every year we collect donations and near Christmas day we give one food basket to a homeless person from São Lourenço da Mata. This year we did it a bit different—instead of going out to reach them, we invited them to a special service, handed the food basket, brought them a message from Jesus to their souls, and fed them with a meal at the end. Each year we want to improve this ministry. We realize that feeding their bodies is nothing without giving them a chance to feed their souls and get to know Jesus.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Bio.Zugzwang/NatalDaVida2010#

May the presence of God go with you in each of your steps throughout 2011.

Blessings,

Bio & Dayse, Hannah, Yasmin, and Dara NASCIMENTO