Summertime

This post is a bit overdue, but that shouldn’t be surprising given my great ability to procrastinate. January was a great month here in Natal! Besides being HOTTTTT, it was also summer vacation time (well, foreveryone who didn’t have a job). Most of my readers were traveling or otherwise taking advantage of their break from classes, so I had fewer reading sessions. I tried to spend my extra time with friends from the church. We did all sorts of fun stuff. We, of course, went to the beach, visited a nursing home, studied the books of Micah and Habbakuk (which in Portuguese sounds a lot like "have a cookie." That brings a smile to my face every time) and went hiking, among other thrilling summer activities. I had missed hiking (not that I was an avid hiker in Arkansas, but I really enjoyed it when I went), so it was a great day! We took a 1 ½ hour hike through the sand dunes and ended up at an overlook with a beautiful view of the beach. You definitely won’t find that in my home state! I really want to go back to do the 3 hour hike. I think I have a few people talked into it. We’ll see…

The sand dune forest


Don't you wish we had a view like this in Arkansas?



At Comunidade de Cristo, January was a month of prayer. John Jewell challenged us to find someone to pray with as much as we could all month long and to pray individually every day. (Well, we were supposed to pray with another person every day I think, but it didn’t always work out to get together. Thank goodness for Facebook!) We were to pick one person to pray for and to pray for the church as a whole. As a result of these prayers, 3 people gave their lives to Jesus on the last Sunday in January!!! I also enjoyed getting to know my dear, sweet prayer partner better. Since it was so beneficial and successful, we extended the month of prayer into February. Two people have already turned over their lives to Jesus! Hopefully, there will be more to report when I post again after February is over.

My next story begins back in November. I went to a nearby city for a church retreat. There, I made a friend from Recife, a city about 4 hours away from Natal. My friend, Wilson, does a lot of benevolent/social work type work with the church there. I thought it all was very interesting, so he invited me and some others from my church to visit Recife and help out with a VBS in the nearby city of Sao Lourenco da Mata. So, seven of us went. Wilson organized the whole thing, and he did a wonderful job! We had about 30 kids participate in the 2-day event. We had skits, crafts, games, and puppets during the day. At night, the church there held meetings for the youth and the parents of the kids who came to the VBS. It was a great way for the church to reach out to the neighborhood. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. We also had the opportunity to participate in a very special work of the Boa Vista church in Recife. Every Wednesday night, a group walks the streets around the church handing out bread and cokes to the people who live on the streets. They’ve been doing this for about 2 years (if I remember correctly). Wilson was one of the initiators. Many of the people know the church members well, know their songs, and a few have given their lives to Jesus as a result! The whole trip was put together and led by God. I know those of us from Natal were very blessed by our participation and by the people we met. Even though he probably won’t read this, a big THANK YOU to Wilson for all of his hard work!!

The kids


I love visiting God’s people in other countries and in different cities in those countries. It always amazes me to hear Him being praised in different languages and seeing the work He's doing in other places. It’s very special to know that there are people who love Him and are serving Him in every time zone all over the world. :D

The last Sunday in January was VERY special. Three people gave their lives to Jesus! The first was Ingrid, the daughter of Tania, who's been part of the church since almost the beginning. The second was Rosendo, Geraldo's son (remember Geraldo? I wrote about him in September. Go here and read the Sept 16th post for a refresher). The third was Socorro, Geraldo's wife and Rosendo's mother. That makes three members of their family who have become Christians since September. Every Sunday, they bring a truckful of friends and relatives to the worship service, so who knows who's next.

Our three new brothers and sisters in Christ
from left to right: Socorro, Rosendo, John, and Ingrid


All in all, January was a GREAT month! And February has been pretty good too. But more about that in another post…

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” Deuteronomy 7:9