Thursday, November 18, 2004
Encontro da Fé Reformada – Encounter of the Reformed Faith – Manaus 2004
For the fourth time we made the trek to Manaus. It is a long way – on the way back, we spent 8 hours and 40 minutes actually inside aeroplanes. Even allowing for two stops en route, this is a lot of time. It is far enough for the climate to be utterly different. At home, in spring, we still have blankets on the bed; in Manaus, at any time of year, long trousers are a form of torture.
But it is worth it. This year’s conference was one of the best – the preaching really coming together in a most coherent way, and a general sense of joy and encouragement in the whole event. Having Conrad Mbewe again was a particular help: as an interpreted preacher he is one of the best. He brings together a profound and biblical theology, a pastor's heart and a tremendous explanatory gift, with short sentences and concrete illustrations. The fact that he is not just another white representative of past or present colonial powers, coming rather from one of the world’s poorest countries, also brings something special in terms of his reception in Brazil.
The conference theme was The Church. Having been teaching Ecclesiology through the semester, I have been very conscious of the interaction between confusion regarding the gospel and confusion regarding the church. Even at the level of form and structure, and of practice in its gatherings, the church reflects what it believes about God, Sin, Christ and Salvation in him. The Church is a gospel issue! For this reason, the sheer coherence and sanity of the conference was such a blessing.
If I were to highlight two moments (and I do not want to downplay others!) Conrad’s expositions on The Unity of the Church and Jôer Batista’s expositions on The Church and Missions were particularly helpful. It is so good to hear something realistic, biblical and positive within the reformed scene on both these subjects. Similarly, Davi Gomes’ talk on church growth (he stood in for Solano Portela) did not simply criticize the “Church Growth Movement” (as we were perhaps expecting) but challenged us to a Biblical positiveness and readiness to self-critique where numerical growth is not happening. We were so grateful for the personal encouragement and challenge through these brothers.
Jaime Marcelino was indefatigable in organization and passion for the event. In a city where most of the Presbyterians are not particularly committed to the maintenance or recovery of their own theological heritage, the pastor of the Cidade Nova Presbyterian Church is swimming against the tide. Please pray for him, as he lives in a situation of considerable tension.
For us another blessing of the conference was to stay with Givan and Pamela Alves. Pamela was a colleague in UFM, who gave us much helpful advice re Bec and Tom’s schooling, involved as she was in the education of missionary children up the Amazon. She came for holiday with us in October 2000, visiting Florianópolis, and travelling with us to the FIEL conference. At that event she met Givan, a Presbyterian pastor from Manaus, and they married about 6 months later. They are now three, Jonathan being two years old already. A week with a lively bi-lingual two-year-old is pretty interesting! They are currently in the process of launching an international school in their neighbourhood on the edge of the city, and starting a church in their home. Fellowship was a great joy and encouragement.
And so home. We are still recovering from the two hours difference (it is always harder going east, isn’t it?!) But classes on Tuesday and Wednesday nights have gone well. Today Cora has her Greek exam, and I am lunching with a guy who left Vida Nova a little before us, and has not really been in a church since. So life goes on.
Thank you for your prayers regarding the Manaus trip. It was certainly a blessed time.
For the fourth time we made the trek to Manaus. It is a long way – on the way back, we spent 8 hours and 40 minutes actually inside aeroplanes. Even allowing for two stops en route, this is a lot of time. It is far enough for the climate to be utterly different. At home, in spring, we still have blankets on the bed; in Manaus, at any time of year, long trousers are a form of torture.
But it is worth it. This year’s conference was one of the best – the preaching really coming together in a most coherent way, and a general sense of joy and encouragement in the whole event. Having Conrad Mbewe again was a particular help: as an interpreted preacher he is one of the best. He brings together a profound and biblical theology, a pastor's heart and a tremendous explanatory gift, with short sentences and concrete illustrations. The fact that he is not just another white representative of past or present colonial powers, coming rather from one of the world’s poorest countries, also brings something special in terms of his reception in Brazil.
The conference theme was The Church. Having been teaching Ecclesiology through the semester, I have been very conscious of the interaction between confusion regarding the gospel and confusion regarding the church. Even at the level of form and structure, and of practice in its gatherings, the church reflects what it believes about God, Sin, Christ and Salvation in him. The Church is a gospel issue! For this reason, the sheer coherence and sanity of the conference was such a blessing.
If I were to highlight two moments (and I do not want to downplay others!) Conrad’s expositions on The Unity of the Church and Jôer Batista’s expositions on The Church and Missions were particularly helpful. It is so good to hear something realistic, biblical and positive within the reformed scene on both these subjects. Similarly, Davi Gomes’ talk on church growth (he stood in for Solano Portela) did not simply criticize the “Church Growth Movement” (as we were perhaps expecting) but challenged us to a Biblical positiveness and readiness to self-critique where numerical growth is not happening. We were so grateful for the personal encouragement and challenge through these brothers.
Jaime Marcelino was indefatigable in organization and passion for the event. In a city where most of the Presbyterians are not particularly committed to the maintenance or recovery of their own theological heritage, the pastor of the Cidade Nova Presbyterian Church is swimming against the tide. Please pray for him, as he lives in a situation of considerable tension.
For us another blessing of the conference was to stay with Givan and Pamela Alves. Pamela was a colleague in UFM, who gave us much helpful advice re Bec and Tom’s schooling, involved as she was in the education of missionary children up the Amazon. She came for holiday with us in October 2000, visiting Florianópolis, and travelling with us to the FIEL conference. At that event she met Givan, a Presbyterian pastor from Manaus, and they married about 6 months later. They are now three, Jonathan being two years old already. A week with a lively bi-lingual two-year-old is pretty interesting! They are currently in the process of launching an international school in their neighbourhood on the edge of the city, and starting a church in their home. Fellowship was a great joy and encouragement.
And so home. We are still recovering from the two hours difference (it is always harder going east, isn’t it?!) But classes on Tuesday and Wednesday nights have gone well. Today Cora has her Greek exam, and I am lunching with a guy who left Vida Nova a little before us, and has not really been in a church since. So life goes on.
Thank you for your prayers regarding the Manaus trip. It was certainly a blessed time.
# posted by Andrew and Cora @ 7:04:00 am 
