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First Baptist Church (The PIB) Florianópolis

Andrew's musings on Sunday 26th September

Well – what a Sunday! Thank you for praying. It went well, but was pretty exhausting.

In the morning we had the English group at the PIB – the second study on Exodus – Yahweh, the God who preserves, transforms and employs Moses as a saviour of his people. The group was great in terms of numbers and good comments and questions – I am deliberately going fairly slowly, and encouraging more participation. A good morning.

Before that, I had spoken with Paulo Solonca, pastor of the PIB. He will be travelling throughout November and has asked me to preach there on all available Sunday evenings – suggesting a short series. I am now committed to three dates and will probably do the three “Why Jesus came” passages in Mark.

In the afternoon the meeting of the Peregrinos went well – more new people – Alex and Sara’s lounge totally full. We met at their house near the airport to facilitate the “church crawl” on to Carianos Baptist, in the same neighbourhood, for the evening service. In order to keep things simple, we only looked at the opening verses of Gen 2 – the seventh day. I should have known better: that passage is not simple. But after a happy excursion through Exodus 20 via Psalms 92 and 95 to Hebrews 3 and 4, we all certainly felt fed. A good afternoon.

And so to Carianos. This neighbourhood near Florianópolis airport has a large Baptist church which is in a state of trauma following the withdrawal of its entire leadership who wished to take it into the G12 movement. The church resisted, but is now in a state of shock, and suffering from a lack of Bible teaching over many years. Levi, Adriana and their son Edson,(ex-members of IBVN and close associates of our church group)are now members there, with Levi in a leading role. He is teaching through Mark with their Youth leaders, using the material I did at IBVN!

The evening service was no great surprise, but the kind of ‘praise’ still makes us sad. Hyped-up emotions, shallow, subjective and repetitive songs, dancing girls at the front – we have seen it all lots of times now. And yet, there was no surprise either in the freedom when I got up to speak. These folks are really Christians – converted under a minimalist gospel, never given any food since, they are not unbelievers, just chronically malnourished babies, who have never had a good feed since birth. The impact of the word was most encouraging, with the people desperate for more. If this were the only church in such a state, the solution would be simple – go and work there, preaching and teaching regularly. And the need is so drastic, something in me wants to do just that. But in fact Carianos is just one of many – we need to work on at the strategic level. But oh for the hungry to be fed!

The day ended with exhaustion (three different sermons in one day, in two languages, is no joke!) and real joy. We ate tapioca pancakes, north-eastern style, together with Levi and others in a little roadside café in Carianos, before the short drive to home and bed. A good evening.

Expository Group 2004 - Maranata Bible Institute

Praying for the new pastor - Campeche Baptist Church

Silas' Ordination Service at Campeche

Some of you have been wanting to know (a) what happened at the Peregrinos' meeting on Saturday; and (b) how the week at Maranata went. Having returned on Saturday 18th with what one calls 'flu for want of expert medical knowledge – sore throat, stuffy head, blocked ears, temperature, loss of appetite, inability to breathe properly, therefore inability to sleep – you get the idea, we haven't felt like blogging. We’re not totally better, but guilt is beginning to bite. The call of the Blog can no longer be ignored!

Peregrinos

While we were in Britain the Peregrinos had started to meet on Sunday afternoons at 5.00, seeing themselves as a local church, rather than a support group while we all look for churches. We were glad that this step was taken in such a way as to maintain a certain separation between us and our wider ministry and the moment of formation of the new church.

On Saturday 11 September, our first weekend back here, we had a long lunch with the whole group. Culture shock was operating as normal at that stage – we experienced considerable frustration as the conversation rolled on through the afternoon without getting to the point so far as we were concerned. Brits get down to issues so fast – a trait which we find difficult to cope with each time we get back to the UK. This time it worked the other way, but when the issue of Church finally came up the quality and depth of the discussion rewarded the wait. The outcome was that the whole group confirmed the decision to think of ourselves as a local church, this time including our involvement and ministry within the body. It was agreed that we should continue to meet on Sundays for prayer, praise, hearing the Word of God, communion and mutual encouragement, and on a weeknight for discussions of principles and practice of church life as we seek to work out who we are and where we are going. Please pray especially for these weeknight meetings, to reach biblically based conclusions.

So on Sunday 12 September, 14 adults (including 4 visitors) and children met at Beto and Zete's house, Andrew began a series on Genesis, producing a work sheet for the children to fill in during the study, Beto printed some songs, and we participated in the Lord's Supper together. Afterward, there was time for snacks and talk – both light and serious.

The pattern was repeated on the following Sunday, only at Marquito’s house, in the room his (Spiritist) mother uses to give Portuguese lessons. She contracted Marquito for a list of house-jobs in exchange for the use of her classroom – if we use it again we will all need to muck in! It was the perfect size to accommodate all the newcomers. On this occasion we were joined by Juliano and Priscila Heyse, Apollo and Rebeca, and Valdir and Miriam Noll, Samuel and Milena, and Rafael Liebich, the son of a colleague at IBE who Andrew first met on the internet. (Also visiting was Caroline, a distant relative of Andrew's.) Some of you may remember some of these names as belonging to the Cacupé group where we started in 2000. They want to support this new venture, having prayed and yearned for a biblical ministry of the Word in Florianópolis for many years. Rafael is a gifted musician, who may be able to help us in that area if he stays – once we have worked out as a group some principles regarding what we do musically.

The number of children in a small group (6 under 10, plus two early teens) makes for a particular challenge in terms of inclusion, illustration and explanation, but we seem to have got off to a good start. It helps that all are obedient, well-taught and interested.


Maranata

Our first full week back was taken up with the annual intensive week on exposition at the Maranata Bible Institute, Paraná. It was probably a mistake to go so soon, and we found ourselves running just to be ready, only travelling on the Monday night, arriving at 06.00 at Apucarana bus station, and being driven to the seminary in darkish fog with a full teaching day ahead on the Tuesday. By Wednesday Andrew was regretting the decision to come so soon after coming back, with tiredness and the sensation of swimming through treacle just to speak in Portuguese. But by Friday the course just seemed too short, the language was flowing and the feedback from the students was most encouraging. The quality of their 5 minute “sermonettes” was again higher and more coherent than most of the preaching we hear in our city. A small but very able group, most were from São Paulo state, but two from Acre. If you look on a map you can see that that is a world of difference!

Contact with the students was particularly good this year. As well as a constant stream of questions in class time, and conversations with Andrew on the ‘temple steps’ i.e. outside the chapel, there was opportunity for both of us to meet with students for a lanche ('high tea') before the evening class at 19.00, or jantar (dinner) afterwards - and sometimes both!! Nor did the eating stop there: every lunchtime was spent with a different couple on the teaching staff, and on Friday a 'junta panela' (bring and share) churrasco (barbecue) with all. Despite rather full stomachs, we were particularly pleased that time with the students had been programmed in for us, and found it encouraging to hear comments from this year's and last year's group, on the value of the week in orientating them towards an expositive preaching ministry. Please pray that they would really be able to follow through on that commitment as they go into placements or longer term ministries with churches. Pray for grace to preach Christ as Judge and Saviour. Not all will get the encouragement they need, and some will face opposition.

You are aware to some degree that Maranata is passing through a time of great difficulty. The situation is coming to a head, and this year we could really feel a heaviness in the atmosphere. The problem has become known in the locality, and, through gossip, in other areas of Brazil. Please pray on for that situation to be resolved in a way that glorifies God. Thank God that Andrew felt helped as he brought the early morning devotional talks each day of our visit – on each occasion seeking to bring a word of encouragement.

By the Thursday Cora was struggling with 'flu, and tempted to say she was not well enough to speak to the female students at their afternoon prayer meeting. However, she wanted to bring some encouragement and perspective on our experiences in and our attitude to, ministry, from what Jesus says, in Luke's account, to the 72 he sent out to minister. So with much nervousness, she kept the commitment. And then collapsed into bed until the following morning! Again, strength was given to fulfil a teaching commitment with Leda (the only girl in Andrew’s class) and another female student, on preparing interactive bible studies. After we had 'closed in prayer' she remembered a most important point: Application! So we discussed it – there was still time. But oh dear, what a reminder that we "have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us" (11 Cor. 4:7). Please pray for fruit from this ministry in the lives of these female students.

IBE – Ordination

The day of our return to Floripa, Saturday 18 September, we learned that one of the recent graduates from IBE, Silas, was about to be ordained and received as Pastor at Campeche Baptist Church. We know the student and we know the church well, so despite the night on the bus, it was decided that Andrew had to go. The event was something of an eye-opener – not least the fact that Brazilian Baptists are actually pretty high-church when it comes to ordination practice! But the service was good, a real encouragement, and if Silas ministers in the light of Pastor Jota’s sermon he will do a good work in that part of the island. (The second photo shows the moment of praying for Silas and his family as he is received as Pastor of the church.)


Next Sunday

Next Sunday – 26th – will be busy for Andrew: 11.00 study with the English Group at the PIB (Exodus); 17.00 preaching with the Peregrinos (Genesis); and 19.30 preaching at Carianos Baptist church, near the airport (Joshua 1). Please pray for continued restoration of health and good voice.

Peregrinos' lunch

BACK TO WORK.

After the summer break in England, we are settling back to life in Florianópolis.

We are in reasonably good shape - slept well on the flight, in spite of a very hot floor where our feet were supposed to be. Didn't need to use the standard issue blankets, because the air-conditioning wasn't making any impact on us. Immigration at Sao Paulo took 1and 1/2 hours, during which Andrew had an interesting conversation with an English navigator (Oil Platform captain) with modernist views about the Bible. 'Of course, miracles are impossible, and against the laws of physics, but it is ok to give people religious stories and rules so that they will behave well' was his patronising attitude to Christianity. With a shock I realised that this is exactly what our student friends face daily at the local university. Post-modernism is less brutal in its atheism. However, this man was open to think about Andrew's challenges to his view, and we hope that he will take up the Bible again (he is from an Anglican background) and see what the miracles really teach us about the person of Jesus.

Having been stamped through by a friendly official, we reclaimed our baggage to go through Customs, then immediately got rid of it again for the connecting flight to Floripa. Straight to the 'Balloon Cafe' where we enjoyed pão de queijo, fresh orange juice and café média com leite, and got talking with the waitress who had come to work in Sao Paulo from Fortaleza. The Portuguese was functioning - the warm Brazilian smiles worked their magic – and suddenly we felt at home!

We were met with warm hugs and kisses at Florianópolis airport by Levi, Adriana, Edson, Rafael, Beto and Sarah. Beto and Sarah drove us home, and we entered an apartment freshly cleaned by Zete and Sheila. I had been dreading coming back to layers of dust but instead the surfaces were clean and the floors shiny. What a welcome back!

Although jet-lagged, we can feel the benefit of the two months' rest and recreation in the UK, and are ready to take up where we left off.

The first matter of priority is the status of the Peregrinos group. Saturday lunch (11 September) has been planned, so please pray for us as we meet with the whole group from 12.00 (16.00 UK time) onwards. There is no agenda, but we are anticipating some discussion about the group after lunch.

The Peregrinos have been meeting on Sunday afternoons at 17.00 for praise and Bible study, and we would like to preserve this time as it is, without being distracted by discussions about the nature of the group. In the morning there is a possibility that we will go to the PIB (First Baptist) although we have not yet been able to establish the status of the English Bible Study Group.

On Monday we are off to Maranata Bible Institute for a week's teaching on homiletics, by bus as the car needs a new clutch and general servicing. Please pray that the work of this seminary, which is under severe attack at present, will continue, as the Lord permits and overrules.

Other local commitments like preaching in churches, Andrew's teaching on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Baptist Seminary (IBE), and Cora's bible studies for women will begin again after our return from Maranata. We would also like to begin some sort of 'Christian world view' discussion groups for the younger members of the Peregrinos group and for student contacts from the university, perhaps using films as a lead-in to conversation. There are also women in the district who are open to the gospel, and who might come to an evangelistic bible study - but we are waiting to see what happens with the Peregrinos before initiating this. Please pray for wisdom and discernment in what we do and how we schedule our time.

I am thankful to have completed the required 10 modules for Level 1 of the BADL course with the Evangelical Theological College of Wales, and am now commencing Level 2 with two modules this semester: Greek Text I focusing on John's Gospel chapters1-4, and Pneumatology. It is always a challenge to maintain a rhythm of study while travelling with Andrew on ministry commitments, so please pray for me to have physical stamina and good concentration, while fulfilling my role as ‘first lady’.

Finally, Bec and Tom both got excellent A-level results, which made the stresses of being apart over the past two years seem worthwhile. We had a good time re-grouping as a family in our new home in Haywards Heath. The highlights were our time away at the Carey Family Conference in August, and a family day out at The Oval, watching England v the West Indies. Bec and Tom are now finding it strange to be completely on their own, but coping with domestic tasks. We are thankful for e-mail, MSN chatting facilities, web-cams and microphones, which all make frequent communication easy. Please remember them both in their walk with God. Pray for Bec as she continues with her part-time waitressing job and begins a training course on pregnancy crisis counselling from Monday; and Tom as he gets some journalistic work-experience and re-applies for a university place this autumn.

Thank you for your partnership in this work. May we all glorify him in this next term of service.