The most important news first. Last week, two guys decided they wanted to give their lives to Christ and were baptized on Sunday!!!! One of them is a great guy named Talis. He started reading with LST in June. He read with Ryan through July and August, and I started reading with him when Ryan left. I have watched his interest in Jesus grow strongly in such a way that his life is now completely different. Each week, he told me about how starting LST and meeting the church has changed his life. (Isn't that what it's all about? Lives changed by the love of Jesus.) I can see the joy he has now because of Christ. He was so excited to be baptized! He kept telling me, “Sunday will be the great day!” And it was! For more than one reason. At the end of October, Talis brought his friend Jefferson by the church to hang out for a few minutes, meet some people, and speak English. A few days later, Jefferson came to our LST Costume Party. He enjoyed everyone so much he came to our next English worship service. There, John, the American missionary, talked about how everyone has things they don’t like about “church” but the church is God's people and is therefore an important aspect of our lives as followers of Jesus. He also offered to study the Bible with anyone who wanted to so that they could see that the way many churches and Christians act sometimes nowadays isn’t the only way and isn’t the way it should be. Jefferson really related to that talk and took John up on his Bible study offer. It didn’t take him long to make the decision to follow Christ. Now we have two new brothers in Christ! The angels in Heaven are rejoicing, as is the Comunidade de Cristo church!!
Talis being reborn
Jefferson saying goodbye to the old him
Our two new brothers!
Praise God for He is doing great work here in Natal, Brazil!!
Last week we also celebrated a very important holiday, twice. On Thursday, we took the day off to enjoy it with the other Americans at the church as well as some special Brazilian friends. We had most of the traditional foods: turkey (flavored with peaches, pineapples, and figs), stuffing, sweet potato casserole (which I loved, for the first time ever. Way to go Samantha!), green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes. For dessert Cyndi cooked some delicious pies. Afterwards, we all got together to talk about what we’re thankful for. I, of course, was (and am) thankful to be in Brazil participating in the Lord’s work here. Marisa, one of the missionaries, said that at this time last year, the church leadership was in deep prayer about their outreach and about help in their work. She is thankful that God answered her prayer by sending so many workers this year. Later, a bunch of us played Quiddler, a super fun card game. I am way too competitive when it comes to card games. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit helped to keep my competitiveness under control and show Christian love to my fellow cardplayers. And it was okay that I didn’t get first place. Second (or maybe it was third...) isn’t so bad. ;)
The following Saturday we LST workers organized a Thanksgiving celebration for all of our readers. The women missionaries and LST workers cooked a big meal, complete with Turkey, dressing, broccoli-rice casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pecan pie (my fave!), chocolate pie, and pumpkin pie. It was a hit! A big THANK YOU to Cyndi for organizing the dinner part and for cooking most of those delicious dishes. Everyone loved the food, or at least one dish. I had been telling a reader about how great dressing was for several days, so he was eager to try it. I asked him how he liked it, and he said, “Oh it was good. But I couldn’t eat every day because it’s so heavy.” He was relieved to know we didn’t eat all that food everyday. Although some of them do think it’s strange that we don’t eat the same kind of food daily. (They eat beans and rice here every day, sometimes twice a day.) Cyndi received a care package of Thanksgiving goodies the day before, so they got to enjoy some authentic tastes from the USA. YUM!
Go here to see tons of pictures of our LST Thanksgiving celebration. Bookmark this page. We'll have more photos of all our LST adventures here in Natal.
Before eating, we started with a slideshow presentation of the history of Thanksgiving. I told them about the pilgrims, the Indians, and how we celebrate today. Then we gave them the opportunity to reflect on what they’re thankful for and thank God for it. Everyone wrote what they are thankful for on a leaf and hung it on our Tree of Thanks. Some of my favorites include “For God” (complete with drawing – done by a 4 year old, CUTE), “My divorce” (that would be an interesting story), “I’m thankful to God touched my heart and guide my way to His home and His teachings,” and “All the bad things that didn’t happened!”
My new favorite Thanksgiving tradition
Right before we chowed down, we got in a semicircle and sang “Thank You, Lord” and “Give Thanks.” It was so cool to hear all those voices joining together to sing thanks to God. Then we had a prayer and everyone dug in! All in all, it was a MARVELOUS day! We’re still enjoying the leftovers too. Another Thanksgiving tradition we couldn’t do without…
This wouldn’t be a proper Thanksgiving post if I didn’t mention a few of the things I’m thankful for, right? I won’t mention being in Natal, since that’s probably obvious. (Although I guess by saying that I did mention it. Haha.) I’m very thankful for the Holy Spirit, who has been helping me in reading sessions and teaching me so much about myself, God’s work and Word, and the love of Jesus. I give thanks everyday for people who love, support, and care and pray for me. The list is way too long to mention everyone here. I’m also thankful for the opportunity to experience another culture, learn another language, and live among such great people. Lastly, I’m thankful for LST and the ability to speak English. Without those, I just might not be here. :)
I hope you all had as blessed a Thanksgiving as I did! May the Holy Spirit help you realize all you have to be thankful for and may God continue to place things in your life throughout the year to come that you can thank Him for this time next year!
“You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118:28-29 (NIV)
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