Wednesday, May 02, 2007
A Igreja dos Peregrinos
Things are moving on so fast that we feel we must give a rapid and general update on the church. Please read and pray for the following...
Meetings in the University Chapel
Meeting at the Chapel on Sundays from 5.00 to 7.00 pm has been a great relief after a year of moving furniture around every Sunday to accommodate everyone. We have really been enjoying singing ‘properly’ again, with no worries about neighbours, and the very “live” chapel acoustic amplifying our voices. We use a simple accompaniment of acoustic guitar and a ‘shaker’. Things could be better: a maracatu practice occurs most Sundays at the same time in the acoustic shell the other side of the campus square. The main effect of this is the reverberation of the vast bass drum, which creates a sense of “worship in a war zone.” But we are getting used to it. The attention to the preaching has been really good. Pray that the Word preached will be effective for the glory of God.
Numerical growth
Meeting at the Chapel has given us plenty of room for expansion! We are now numbering more than 40 on most Sundays. And it has not only been Sunday: a great encouragement recently was seeing 17 at a Friday prayer meeting. This still takes place in our apartment. Although some members are being slow to catch on, we are really trying to emphasise the necessity of prayer as the centre of all preaching, evangelism and community life. Pray that we might know the Spirit inspiring us to pray more.
This numerical growth is being felt at the level of church membership. We now have a good group of people in the process of integration into the church - a group numbering almost as many as are currently members. Most are young, but among them some with great gifts and a degree of proven experience.
Growth in understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ
We rejoice how personal conversations and formal bible studies have been used by the Holy Spirit to help people come into a first or clearer understanding of the gospel. It is very hard to describe the doctrinal vagueness of the faith of many converted people – the distinction between first understanding or clearer understanding can be very blurred. We are becoming used to the phrase, “I was converted today!” Recently, someone was describing how she had been baptized after becoming convicted that there is a God and she should live a better life, but without mentioning the name of Jesus once in her testimony! The past, present and eschatological significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection had never been explained to her at all. Another young woman had been taught that a public prayer of ‘decision’ (ref: Rom. 10: 9,10) is required to become a Christian, so if in our church we don’t require this, how can anyone become or be known to be a Christian? It took a long time to show her that it is what one actually believes about Jesus – i.e. the content of the public confession - that is essential and of the utmost importance. Others struggle with the obvious deceptions of so-called ‘miracle workers’ and false prophets, unable to break free emotionally from loyalty-ties to family or friends who are completely taken in and test nothing from a Biblical perspective. Pray for many more to understand the message of Christ.
In the words of one young man who has been a member for a year: “The preaching on Easter Sunday about the resurrected Jesus coming as judge (from Acts 17) was a big shock to me. I realize I need to understand the gospel better and read more.” So he is starting with How to Read the Bible for all it’s Worth. Others have been borrowing, and appreciating, books from our growing lending library of Portuguese Christian books. The Soul of Science, showing how Christians had pioneered early science, recently proved illuminating to two chemistry students. A student historian watching a video on the Reformation commented that she had been taught in history that the Waldensians were a heretical sect. Fascinated by the Protestant perspective on them and Luther, she has borrowed Bettenson’s Documents of the Christian Church to delve further into church history.
The library has recently grown significantly with the arrival of eight boxes of excellent books from Belem. With the closure of the Evening Bible School there, Graham Nash sent us the books he himself had purchased to boost that library, and we are now inheriting them. André Costa has been doing a thorough job of cataloguing the two collections, so that they can be used together without confusion. We are not talking vast numbers of books - perhaps still less than 1000 - but the quality of the collection is high, with repeat copies of many key volumes.
Growth in spiritual depth
Numbers and intellectual progress are not the only focus. We rejoice in signs of spiritual seriousness, and yet still feel how flimsy everything is. Please pray for deep roots, for hearts as well as minds filled with the knowledge of the love of God in Christ.
The beginnings of an evangelistic rhythm
We are just starting to see regular attenders who are not Christians, and are starting to put in place occasional meetings in order to explain the gospel especially for such people. This is a VERY welcome development, and needs to go further. Please pray for a fervent spirit of prayer for this element of church life, and for people to be called, encouraged and trained up to take this work forward.
Leadership
The pressing need of the Peregrinos is for leadership and a stabilizing structure as we move towards the point next year when we will have a long period out of Brazil. We still experience some frustration in terms of willingness to see the need for leadership, and to really commit to the basic responsibilities of membership. We are certainly being sanctified in terms of patience, forbearance, humility and love and dependence on the Lord! On the other hand, there are signs of hope, and as the church grows, some are starting to carry the weight. Please pray that there might be some adequate leadership in place by the end of this year, well before we begin an extended time in the UK in 2008.
Please remember how young this church is. Not all are students, but even a good number of the non-students are only in their early twenties. Anyone over 25 is automatically a mature role model! This is exciting and scary. We need to be developing an in-depth leadership, with training and investment in the younger people built in.
Things are moving on so fast that we feel we must give a rapid and general update on the church. Please read and pray for the following...
Meetings in the University Chapel
Meeting at the Chapel on Sundays from 5.00 to 7.00 pm has been a great relief after a year of moving furniture around every Sunday to accommodate everyone. We have really been enjoying singing ‘properly’ again, with no worries about neighbours, and the very “live” chapel acoustic amplifying our voices. We use a simple accompaniment of acoustic guitar and a ‘shaker’. Things could be better: a maracatu practice occurs most Sundays at the same time in the acoustic shell the other side of the campus square. The main effect of this is the reverberation of the vast bass drum, which creates a sense of “worship in a war zone.” But we are getting used to it. The attention to the preaching has been really good. Pray that the Word preached will be effective for the glory of God.
Numerical growth
Meeting at the Chapel has given us plenty of room for expansion! We are now numbering more than 40 on most Sundays. And it has not only been Sunday: a great encouragement recently was seeing 17 at a Friday prayer meeting. This still takes place in our apartment. Although some members are being slow to catch on, we are really trying to emphasise the necessity of prayer as the centre of all preaching, evangelism and community life. Pray that we might know the Spirit inspiring us to pray more.
This numerical growth is being felt at the level of church membership. We now have a good group of people in the process of integration into the church - a group numbering almost as many as are currently members. Most are young, but among them some with great gifts and a degree of proven experience.
Growth in understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ
We rejoice how personal conversations and formal bible studies have been used by the Holy Spirit to help people come into a first or clearer understanding of the gospel. It is very hard to describe the doctrinal vagueness of the faith of many converted people – the distinction between first understanding or clearer understanding can be very blurred. We are becoming used to the phrase, “I was converted today!” Recently, someone was describing how she had been baptized after becoming convicted that there is a God and she should live a better life, but without mentioning the name of Jesus once in her testimony! The past, present and eschatological significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection had never been explained to her at all. Another young woman had been taught that a public prayer of ‘decision’ (ref: Rom. 10: 9,10) is required to become a Christian, so if in our church we don’t require this, how can anyone become or be known to be a Christian? It took a long time to show her that it is what one actually believes about Jesus – i.e. the content of the public confession - that is essential and of the utmost importance. Others struggle with the obvious deceptions of so-called ‘miracle workers’ and false prophets, unable to break free emotionally from loyalty-ties to family or friends who are completely taken in and test nothing from a Biblical perspective. Pray for many more to understand the message of Christ.
In the words of one young man who has been a member for a year: “The preaching on Easter Sunday about the resurrected Jesus coming as judge (from Acts 17) was a big shock to me. I realize I need to understand the gospel better and read more.” So he is starting with How to Read the Bible for all it’s Worth. Others have been borrowing, and appreciating, books from our growing lending library of Portuguese Christian books. The Soul of Science, showing how Christians had pioneered early science, recently proved illuminating to two chemistry students. A student historian watching a video on the Reformation commented that she had been taught in history that the Waldensians were a heretical sect. Fascinated by the Protestant perspective on them and Luther, she has borrowed Bettenson’s Documents of the Christian Church to delve further into church history.
The library has recently grown significantly with the arrival of eight boxes of excellent books from Belem. With the closure of the Evening Bible School there, Graham Nash sent us the books he himself had purchased to boost that library, and we are now inheriting them. André Costa has been doing a thorough job of cataloguing the two collections, so that they can be used together without confusion. We are not talking vast numbers of books - perhaps still less than 1000 - but the quality of the collection is high, with repeat copies of many key volumes.
Growth in spiritual depth
Numbers and intellectual progress are not the only focus. We rejoice in signs of spiritual seriousness, and yet still feel how flimsy everything is. Please pray for deep roots, for hearts as well as minds filled with the knowledge of the love of God in Christ.
The beginnings of an evangelistic rhythm
We are just starting to see regular attenders who are not Christians, and are starting to put in place occasional meetings in order to explain the gospel especially for such people. This is a VERY welcome development, and needs to go further. Please pray for a fervent spirit of prayer for this element of church life, and for people to be called, encouraged and trained up to take this work forward.
Leadership
The pressing need of the Peregrinos is for leadership and a stabilizing structure as we move towards the point next year when we will have a long period out of Brazil. We still experience some frustration in terms of willingness to see the need for leadership, and to really commit to the basic responsibilities of membership. We are certainly being sanctified in terms of patience, forbearance, humility and love and dependence on the Lord! On the other hand, there are signs of hope, and as the church grows, some are starting to carry the weight. Please pray that there might be some adequate leadership in place by the end of this year, well before we begin an extended time in the UK in 2008.
Please remember how young this church is. Not all are students, but even a good number of the non-students are only in their early twenties. Anyone over 25 is automatically a mature role model! This is exciting and scary. We need to be developing an in-depth leadership, with training and investment in the younger people built in.
# posted by Andrew and Cora @ 1:29:00 pm 
