So much has happened since I wrote you last. It is hard to catch up in a short email, so I will update quickly with an overview of what has been happening.  Please forgive my mistakes on the keyboard. It is difficult to write with the keys that have different accents & the shift key is also very hard to use.  I think I last left you with the story of our ministry work at the village.  That was on Friday of last week.

On Saturday, we started our work at the church we have been serving with all week. It is call New Life church or in Portuguese…Igreja nova Vida. It is a wonderful church and the pastor here (Carlos) really has a heart & passion for his community. Well, on Saturday, Alfred and I were split from our original team of 7 and taken to a mission church in a different neighborhood. We were given a translator and dropped off in a neighborhood where we were asked to gather children and then teach them.  (I was so wishing I had Donna Finley with me) so, Alfred and I played partner tag & red light, green light with the kids and then shared about ourselves (on a microphone so the neighborhood could hear us and come see the americanos) and then told some of the story of Joseph. We were asked to invite them to church the next night and the whole experience was kind of a blur of nervousness & excitement.

Sunday, Alfred taught the message to teenagers. We brought LHGH to Brazil!! Of course, he taught with his terrific sense of humor and the rest of our team that taught the women & men commented that they could hear the teen laughing. I am so proud of my husband. He is stepping so far out of his comfort zone on this trip (some of it by “force”) but he is doing a tremendous job and is really being open and used by our Lord. Praise God!  In the afternoon, Alfred and I were again taken to the mission church where we did a home visit before the church service. We met Maria and her husband. Maria is a believer and her husband was not. We shared our story and how it connects to God’s story and their story and invited them to church. Well, they came and they accepted Christ that night! I cannot tell you what a feeling of joy it was to see them walk in and then accept Christ!! Wow, wow, wow! I still can’t even express my feelings in words that will properly describe the experience.

Monday was a free day for us and we did a little shopping, called home & then slept…a lot!

Yesterday, we spent the morning talking to the pastor and then did another home visit. This was with a woman whose husband was on his way to work one day 2 years ago and had a stroke and fell on the train tracks. No one knew what happened to him and 2 hours later they found him passed out and thought that he was drunk. They took him to the hospital and he had surgery. Since that time he has been in a lot of pain and unable to work. The pastor had visited this family 2 times before and had not been able to get the attention of this man to talk to him or pray for him. This time we were able to see him, talk to him and pray over him.  In the evening, we were taken to the schools to talk to the students about 4 things. Stay in school. Learn English, Stay away from drugs, and the thing help you accomplish all of that…have a relationship with Christ.  It was an amazing experience. Cassie was the first to share. She spoke with boldness and shared from her heart & experiences. It was an emotional experience to watch her. I am so glad I invited both Cassie & Sammy to come on this trip. They encourage me with their faith, patience, faithfulness & joy. I also was very excited to watch Alfred teach as I have always wanted to be a “fly on the wall” at the schools he teaches at during the school year. He said he was a little rusty, but I am his number one fan!! He’s wonderful!!

Okay, that was a lot to share…I’ll leave you with that for now. Thank you so much for continuing to pray, for the messages & comments on face book. Today Alfred and I are feeling the emotions a little more as we are really missing Nathaniel.  We love you all very much and will see you soon!

-Ang

“And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 ESV)

I really appreciate last week’s devotional. Something Pastor Shane wrote really stuck with me throughout the week, “Friends, God is always pleased with humility and dependence!  This is what Jesus himself was commended for!” This is a great point and it causes me to wonder; could we be doing a better job of following Jesus’ example here? I know there are some days when I could look back and answer a great big “YES!” to that question. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. I think that my level of dependence on God is directly related to my level of humility. If I could possess greater humility, my dependence on God could increase exponentially. Have you ever made that connection? A Psalm of David helped me greatly in my efforts to figure this out.

“He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” (Psalm 25:9 ESV)

As I become more humble, I begin to realize my size compared to God. I begin to better understand how in-control He really is and how in-dependence I truly need to live. I become more open to His leading; to Him teaching me His way. When I catch a glimpse of how big and how great and how mighty and how powerful God is, I am humbled, and my dependence on Him can only be amplified. Have you caught your glimpse? Are you living humbly in-dependence? Seriously think about this one. Let’s try to be like Jesus this week!

Blessings,

Shawn

Isaiah 10:15 ESV

Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?  As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

Where do we get the power for effectiveness in ministry?  Jesus knew.  You might remember when Jesus walked the dusty road from Galilee toward the Jordan intent upon being baptized by John.  The scripture reads, “John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented and when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:14-17 (ESV).  Now gang, John was not wrong about Jesus.  Jesus truly had all the right to be the baptizer, not the baptizee.  But even Jesus depended on someone didn’t he?  He looked to The Father.   He knew that apart from the Father his effectiveness would be squashed.  Perhaps this is the message God was trying to convey to the nation of Assyria when he prompts the prophet to ask, “Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?  As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! You see, Assyria is a mere tool in the hand of God as are we.  Friends, God is always pleased with humility and dependence!  This is what Jesus himself was commended for!  So let me ask it again.  Where does the power for effectiveness in ministry come?  How about effectiveness as a husband, wife, friend, father or mother?  Jesus knows.  And so, for that reason, Jesus humbled himself not just before the Father but also before John.  He said, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting.” And he was baptized as a sign of dependence to Him who truly gives all the power for every good thing.  And God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”   Amen.

Shane

Jesus Is Coming Again

Foundations

July 24 & 25, 2010

Pastor Steve Williams

Jesus Is Coming Again from NorthPointe Church on Vimeo.

On Friday, we packed school kits to hand them out to some of the neighborhood children as they are currently on winter break and will be returning to school tomorrow. We drove about 20 minutes from the farm where we are staying to a small village-like area. When we arrived, a girl that looked about 12/13 ran up to Cristina (the full time missionary here) and embraced her. Cristina spoke to her in Portuguese and we all thought that they knew eachother. it turns out that they did not and Cristina said that these children are just so hungry for love and attention that they will take anything that they can get. No one really visits the area that they are in so they feel forgotten. Forgotten by brazilians and forgotten by God. This little girls name is Daniella and she is 14. she took off after introductions to run and get the other children. I soon found out that the adults were also hungry for love as we were embraced and talked to as though we were long lost friends. at first it was uncomfortable, but I soon realized that this was the center of Jesus~ ministry. His ministry was relational, his ministry was hands-on and he listened to people.

Our transalator, Aparacida, gathered the children and told them the story of the lost son through huge story boards. The children listened intently and responded very well. At the end, our translator had them pray for salvation and all of the children and many adults prayed that prayer. In total it looked like 4 or 5 families and I’ve continued to pray for them as the images of their tattered clothing and bare feet fill my mind as I lie in my comfortable bed at night and put on clean clothes every morning. we also gave the people food and said our goodbyes. Please pray for this village. I’ll try to update again real soon! love & peace!

Angela

-Ang

Hey it’s Cassie… Well you may or may not of heard all the crazy clumsy thing that have happened but I can’t help when the clumsiness is passed down. Yesterday I attempted to swing on a vine. Just as I swang over an edge, the vine broke and I fell flat on my back. Well today as if that wasn’t enough, I finally saw a cat here in Brazil. As I tried to pet it, a donkey was near it. That donkey was NOT fond of me. It looked at me, turned around, and kicked. Thank God I have a quick reaction time because just as it kicked I arched my back and booked it. The donkey missed me by less than an inch… Brazil is definitely interesting. I am so thankful I have had the opportunity to come. Not just for these interesting moments but for the opportunity as a young girl to get to know my personal Savior as a more personal friend. See ya!

-Cass

So, this is my first impression of Rio de Janiero:  I saw a lot of goats roaming the streets and tons of graffiti. To be fair, we only drove through Rio on our way to the next airport…still in Rio.  We flew from Rio to Vitoria and saw the beautiful scenery on our flight.  After arriving in Vitoria we took a very sketchy bus ride to the Koinonia farm (where we are staying). It was pretty dark out so I didn’t see the terrain we were driving on, but we were asked to pray at one point because our bus was sliding off  cliff. Fun times!!  When we arrived at the farm a delicious, warm meal was waiting and hospitality was the key word we experienced.  Sammy, Cassie, Alfred and I are staying in the same Casita and Gel is with some of our San Jose family.  Gel has quite a story revolving around a tripped breaker and walking in the pitch black to find someone to help.  Today was a relaxing day where we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast and then had orientation, prayer in our ministry groups and meeting with the pastors that we will be serving alongside.  Now we are in town using the full time missionaries computer (thank you, Cris) and just wanted to update our NorthPointe family.  We all love you guys and are very grateful for your continued prayer support. Tomorrow we will tour a few of the sights here in Espirito Santo and possibly ride the Brazilian banana.  We have no clue what that is and our only point of reference is the banana on Houseboats. We will check in again as soon as we can. Just know we are all doing great. Oh, and we start our work in our ministry teams on Saturday.  Friday we will go into the schools and hand out our donations of school kits. Cioa for now!!

-Angela, Alfred, Gel, Sammy & Cassie

The Church

Foundations

July 17 & 18, 2010

Pastor Shane Ham

The Church from NorthPointe Church on Vimeo.

“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13 ESV)

Sometimes I try to imagine what it must have been like to have been Paul’s apprentice. Paul seems to have filled the role of mentor in Timothy’s life, yet Paul treated him respectfully as a close friend and partner. I am very blessed that Pastor Shane has chosen to play a similar role in my life; guiding me and helping me mature. I must tell you that as the apprentice, I feel a great sense of responsibility. I want to make sure that things are done in a manner that Pastor Shane would approve of, and this can sometimes be a heavy burden. But this privilege and responsibility also stretches and shapes me, so that I can be better prepared for what God would call me to do in the future.

Who is your apprentice? To whom are you giving the great privilege and responsibility of being mentored by you? How’s it going?

Friends, we’ve got to follow Paul’s example here and help others along. I am consistent in mentoring a few different men, and I have yet to find anything more rewarding than watching a close friend mature in Christ. One of those friends just took over my role as Assimilation Coach with Celebrate Recovery, and he’ll probably do a better job with that than I did. What could happen with your ministry if you decided to raise up an apprentice? Would you have more time to dream bigger; to think more about the big picture? What will happen if you don’t? Probably nothing; and this should be one of our biggest fears.

So today, ask yourself “Who will it be?” And if you’ve already found your apprentice, pour a little more into that person this week!

Blessings,

Shawn

Preparing for Your Final

Foundations

July 10 & 11, 2010

Pastor Steve Williams

Preparing for Your Final from NorthPointe Church on Vimeo.