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June 2002
Dear Friends and Partners,
One of the highlights of our ministry here in Brazil in 2002
has been our participation with Felipe Camarão Independent
Presbyterian Church. Andressa is 9 years old and Elem is 10. These
two girls are regulars at Sunday school at the small church, which
is named after the neighborhood in which it is located in the
city of Natal. Recently Andressa and Elem wanted to demonstrate
their sense of God’s grace and power through a simple skit.
They came walking down the aisle between the wooden benches in
the sanctuary and stopped midway. Elem pulled out a toy revolver,
pointed it at Andrea and said, "I am going to kill you."
Andrea said, "I am a Christian. Would you let me pray first?"
And she knelt down, put her hands together and began to pray.
In that moment, the voice of the Lord is heard saying, "Do
not harm my servant." And Elem drops the gun and kneels down
asking the Lord to forgive her.
We knew that Felipe Camarão is considered one of the poorest
and most violent neighborhoods in Natal, but the reality of the
presence of violence struck home when Andressa and Elem used this
example to express their faith in the God that wills to transform
lives from violence to peace, from despair to hope
Paul’s primary responsibility to the Independent Presbyterian
Church of Brazil (IPIB) is as a professor at the Missionary Training
Center (CTM-Northeast) located in Natal. On June 14, he will finish
the first semester with the first-year students, and his twelve
students have been a joy to teach. Between June 24 and 28, Paul
will teach an intensive class entitled "Missionary Life"
to second-year students who return each semester to the CTM from
their field assignments for two weeks of intensive classes.
Linda is very busy this year hosting Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
teams, that is, teams from presbyteries, seminaries, and local
churches who want an "up-close" involvement and partnership
with their Brazilian Presbyterian brothers and sisters. She will
host a total of seven teams this year here in Brazil, and she
will be taking two groups of our Brazilian colleagues for short-term
experiences in the U.S. Visiting teams are an extremely dynamic
aspect of our ministry. Even though hosting teams is an immense
responsibility, it is worth it just to see the encouragement everyone
receives.
These are the primary foci of our ministry, but we also have
special opportunities such as the one at Felipe Camarão
this year. At the end of 2001 the church was left without a pastor,
and Paul volunteered to be its pastor if a CTM graduate could
work with him. DaGuia, who graduated with the CTM-Northeast’s
first class, in December 2000, accepted the challenge. She works
full-time at handling day-to-day pastoral responsibilities at
the church while Paul preaches, teaches, and administers the Sacraments.
We have also recruited two other first-year CTM students to work
with us. First-year students are required to be involved in a
supervised ministry during the first year, and it must be close
to Natal since they have class every evening during the week.
They get involved on weekends with Sunday school teaching assignments,
preaching, and planning evangelism activities and social projects.
At the CTM we teach the importance of a holistic ministry, which
includes the spiritual and physical needs of a person. It is a
great experience for the students, and they are very helpful to
the churches that they serve.
The holistic ministry is expressed in a variety of ways at Felipe
Camarão. Earlier this year Paul taught a six-week class
to five young men and women in preparation for their baptisms
on April 21. Every Saturday night one of the CTM students, Canindé,
coordinates the preparation of a large quantity of soup and invites
10 to 15 needy families to the church for a meal of soup and bread.
Afterwards he leads an open-air evangelistic service, which includes
singing, Scripture reading, and preaching in front of a member’s
house.
Linda has a keen desire for every IPIB church to have a literacy
program. She didn’t waste any time at Felipe Camarão
as she arranged for an adult literacy class to begin in February
in partnership with a local university. Even in Natal, where education
is accessible, illiteracy impacts one quarter of the population.
The church members put out the word in the neighborhood that a
class was going to begin the following week and it filled up on
the first night with 25 students. One of the members of Felipe
Camarão, Luis, is participating in the class even though
he reads and writes, in order to give encouragement to others
taking the class.
We hope you can sense some of the excitement that we have being
involved in this ministry: our "regular ministry" and
the special opportunities. It is such a joy not only to have the
opportunity to teach the dedicated men and women at the CTM, but
also to have the opportunity to work side-by-side with them and
watch them grow and mature in their ministries. It is a joy to
witness the transforming power of the Lord operating in lives.
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support.
Let us know how you are doing and how we may pray for you.
Um grande abraço (a big Brazilian hug),
Paul and Linda
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 258
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