2015 was an exciting year for the churches in Brazil. In June, all previous ten sectors of the church in Sao Paulo (Igreja de Cristo Internacional de São Paulo) started to meet together in one location on Sundays in order to draw strength from each other and become united again. In the second semester of the year, we saw the church baptize and restore more than 60 souls (it had been less than 20 in the first semester), at a third of the rate we used to baptize and restore souls before 2003, but this time with less hurry, and waiting more on the Spirit to convince everyone of their own sin.
It was so inspiring to see so many children of disciples become baptized, including some of the children of our beloved long-time leaders.
Also, after much prayer, discussion, and tough decisions, we managed to tidy up our budget and as of July 2016 we will, after 29 long years, become self-supporting! We are so grateful for the church in New York, who in 1987 planted a mustard seed in Brazil, and later the churches in Florida, who have been helping and partnering with us not only financially, but also getting involved with us with much love and perseverance for two decades! They model for us what we want to become for other churches, as we continue to plant missions and give of ourselves to others.
Our baby church in Goiania, that started in 2010 after a brother moved there due to work reasons, finally started to grow more quickly in 2015. They had sacrificially grown to about eight disciples until 2014, and after we sent them a support mission, the church went from eight at the beginning of 2015 to 22 saved souls in December. They meet at a house church and routinely have around 50 people in their home!
Before 2003, we had been sending new missions in Brazil on average just over every two years, our last one in 2001. After a long 15-year hiatus, we’re excited to send again a mission team to Ribeirao Preto, a city with a metropolitan region of 1.1 million people in the state of Sao Paulo. This planting mission is the first effort to be funded by the Brazilian Missions Fund (BMF), that the Brazilian churches formed just over a year ago.
Our plan is for all forthcoming missions to be a collaborative effort from all Brazilian churches. Although every new mission will have a sister church, who will partner more closely with the new mission, all churches will help with finances and disciples. This way we hope to see every one of the 27 states and federation unit to have at least one church within our generation.
The BMF has already served as a potent tool in helping the Brazilian churches become more united and work more closely together, as we strive towards a higher goal. Even though we have a lot of work ahead of us, already we see the power of unity and friendship in our relationships. What a blast it is when we can do God’s work surrounded by friends.
I want to close with the story of Karla, a sister in Brasilia, who is an example of the repentance and close walk with God that all Brazilian disciples are striving for. Karla was part of the fellowship in Brasilia many years ago but wasn’t strong in her walk with God. After many attempts at helping her to repent of her ongoing sin, she was disfellowshipped, at a time of great sadness for her and the church. However, she came back several months later, and decided to change for good.
Since after being restored, Karla got married and has consistently been sharing her faith. In the subway, she always shares her faith in the women’s car. One day, after having her invitation turned down by a woman, Karla walked out of the car and a third woman ran after her. You know, this woman had been seeing Karla reach out to different women day after day, and was curious to know what Karla was inviting them for. Karla shared her faith with her, and when this woman arrived home that night, she shared with her husband: “Honey, I’ve found the church we’re looking for.” After studying the Bible for three months, she and her husband were baptized a couple of weeks ago. Surely God honors repentance and uses broken sinners for his glory!