November 3, 2006
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy
endureth for ever.
Psalm 136:1
Dear All,
November is here, and once again we look forward to celebrating
Thanksgiving. We have so many reasons to give thanks to the Lord.
First, we thank God because He has sustained our lives and ministry
throughout these years. Second, we give thanks to God for your
faithful partnership in prayer and for your financial support.
Third, we are thankful to God for permitting us to work under
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its partner, the Independent
Presbyterian Church of Brazil.
Since our last letter in August, many things have happened.
New church development in the Federal District
The Presbytery of the Federal District is very large. It covers
the entire states of Tocantins and Goias as well as the Federal
District of Brasilia. Few IPI churches have been established.
During a mission consultation with the IPI’s Board of National
Mission in September a project that I proposed for new church
development was approved in its entirety.
It is an attempt to plant three new congregations a year for
the next four years. In 2007, we will plant congregations in Paranoa,
Occidental, and Palmas in, respectively, the Federal District
and the states of Goias and Tocantins. Two former students of
ours from the Lay Missionary Training Center, Geber and Adriana
Ferreira, will begin the work in Occidental. We are still interviewing
candidates for the two other positions.
Rural churches
The executive committee of the presbytery has approved a project
I wrote to try to revitalize rural churches, especially in the
state of Goias. These churches have been without installed pastors
for over 25 years. I met with two of these rural congregations.
They agreed on their common needs and decided to unite for a period
of four years. The presbytery will provide some financial support
for the next three years. In September, the sessions of the two
churches interviewed and unanimously approved the call of Nilza
Severino Santos to serve as their missionary for the year 2007.
She graduated from the Lay Missionary Training of Central West
of Brasil in 2001. She is also a third-year student at the extension
of the seminary in Brasilia where we now work. Since Nilza graduated
from a missionary training school of the denomination, the presbytery
will authorize her to give Communion and baptize people without
having to wait for a minister ordained to the Word and Sacrament
to be present. We hope that the two congregations will grow and
be able to call their own pastors in 2010.
Missionary retreat
On October 15 we flew to São Paulo and then went on to
Aguas de Lindoia for a week-long retreat along with all PC(USA)
missionaries from South America and the Caribbean. The Rev. Dr.
Marian McClure, formerly the director of the Worldwide Ministries
Division, was our Bible teacher. She brought us an inspiring study
on I Peter. “Hope” was the main theme. God gives “Hope”
because Jesus Christ is alive and will return again. It was a
nice retreat.
We have learned that the Mission Connections office is planning
an all-out “blitz” for October 2007 in which they
will send a missionary to spend a week witnessing in 120 PC(USA)
presbyteries (out of a total of 173 presbyteries). The purpose
is to lift up our mission personnel all over the world and the
important work they do with partner churches in 65 countries.
Please write to Bruce
Whearty for more information or call him at (800)728-7228
x5826. He’d be very happy to inform you about this great
event. Please don’t wait. Pray and participate!
We thank God for your faithful support! We are
now in our 25th year of mission service of the Lord through
PCUSA with our partner church in Brazil. When we arrived in
Brazil, we were one of the youngest missionary couples. Now
we are one of the wisest!
Work at the extension of the seminary here in Brasilia is moving
along fine. Our last class in 2006 will be this month, with graduation
planned for March 2007. Four students will graduate this month.
They are exciting about finishing their studies because it has
been a long four years of study and travel.
Our dear brother and moderator, the Rev. Assir Pereira, was re-elected
as the moderator of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil
for another four years. You may have heard about the other election:
Brazilians re-elected Mr. Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva
as their president for another four years. We hope he will survive
all the pressures and will do a good job!
We thank God for your faithful support! We are now in our 25th
year of mission service of the Lord through PCUSA with our partner
church in Brazil. When we arrived in Brazil, we were one of the
youngest missionary couples. Now we are one of the wisest! Please
continue to lift us up in your prayers for God’s direction
and guidance as we look toward our next re-appointment in the
beginning of 2008.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
In Christ,
Michael and Irene Sivalee
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 45 |
