March 2002

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

More good news from the city of Fortaleza, Brazil. Last January the Presbytery of Ceará organized the new church development of Messejana into the Presbyterian Church of Messejana. I was honored to be part of the commission appointed by the Presbytery of Ceará that had organized the new church development.

The Messejana Presbyterian Church has on its membership roll 72 members, one full-time, ordained minister of Word and Sacrament, four elders, and six deacons. At this time the church is developing activities such as a Sunday school program, an evangelistic program, a pastoral care ministry, a youth group program, and a dynamic, vibrant worship service that they hope with bring newcomers to the church and also bring back "lapsed" members.

The church began to meet five years ago, led by many students from the seminary that gathered together in different houses during the week. Ordained ministers contributed by serving Communion once a month. Among those who contributed a lot to the cause of this church are the now-retired Presbyterian missionary and minister in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, the Rev. Frank Arnold, and his wife Hope. They were very happy learning that this new church development, in which they had been involved, is now an organized church. Other ministers that helped found the new church development were the Revs. Áureo Rodriguês de Oliveira and Afredo Oliva.

During the worship service a brief history of the church from its beginning to the present day was given. We learned of the difficult time they went through at the beginning, which threatened the life of the group. This difficult situation confirms, once again, that when a group of Christians embraces seriously the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, purpose of which is to transform the life of the people in the community, the power of evil will always be against it. It reminds me of when Jesus, in the Gospel of Mark, healed the possessed man in Gerasene. When Jesus transformed the life of this human being and gave him a name and a last name, Jesus was rebuked by the citizens of that community: "...and they began to beg Jesus to depart from their neighborhood" (Mark 5:17). In other words they were saying to Jesus: "Go! Get out of here! We do not like what you offering to us. Go!" Every time that a group of Christians embraces the gospel in such dimension, they will go through difficult times, as Jesus did.

But this was nothing compared to the glorious moment that these brothers and sisters and the whole Presbytery of Ceará were experiencing during that worship service. The worship service not only brought honor and glory to the name of God, it was also the celebration of victory over the difficult challenges that were faced developing the ministry of the church in that particular community.

The moment came when elders and deacons were invited to come to the front to be ordained to their respective ministries. I noticed the happiness of the members of the church. I could read their minds as they expressed their joyful feelings. They seemed to be thinking, "It has not been easy but this is the result of our perseverance in the faith. Yes, we did it! Thank you God for not leaving us alone. Thank you God for been faithful to us."

The Rev. Rosangela Santana Lima, the chairperson of the committee appointed by the Presbytery of Ceará, officially declared the name of the full–time minister to the church, the Rev. Mardônio de Souza Pereira, who has been working with this new church development for the last three years.

Following the ceremony, the congregation was invited to a reception. The Messejana Presbyterian Church became the third Presbyterian church organized within the Presbytery of Ceará in the last five years. I thank God for this experience in the life of the Presbytery of Ceará that I am serving here in Fortaleza, Brazil.

With you in the journey,

The Greens: Ricardo, Reyna, Kerry, Ashley and Richard