Hello
Thank you for your continued prayers for us and the church here in Belém. So many wonderful things are happening, and the amazing part is that we know it is God’s hand at work. We are simply showing up, and God keeps pouring out His presence and blessing! I don’t usually like to use a lot of religious language, but I honestly don’t know how else to describe what we are experiencing. It is incredible to witness, and we are grateful to be part of it.
We just wrapped up ten incredible days with a team from Vineyard Cleveland. And what a whirlwind it was! During their time here, they jumped right into the life and ministry of the church. They participated in our home groups, spent time with our youth, helped with the ongoing church renovations, distributed water filters (which was scary and dramatic, I hope to write about it another time), prayed and served soup to the people in our community on the streets, and joined us for a special leadership dinner. It was a wonderful time of serving, building relationships, and encouraging one another.
We recently celebrated our very first baptisms at the church, and what a special day it was! Seven people had signed up to be baptized. Just before we began, Pastor Eben from Vineyard Cleveland sensed that there might be others who wanted to take this step of faith. He extended an invitation, encouraging anyone who felt God stirring their heart to come forward. We baptized the seven, and it was beautiful. But we weren’t finished! We extended the invitation one more time, and four more people spontaneously stepped forward, publicly professed their faith in Jesus, and were baptized!
Eleven baptisms! The church erupted with excitement, celebration, and joy. Families were cheering, crying, and you could sense that something very special was happening. We also had a mother and daughter get baptized at the same time.
Of the many experiences was watching the Cleveland team work alongside our church family on the ongoing reconstruction of our sanctuary. As you know, we are still renovating our new church building. One of our latest projects involved tearing down a section of the interior structure to create more space for our growing congregation. And when you knock down walls, you create a lot of rubble and dust! The Cleveland team jumped right in, hauling debris from inside the church to large dumpsters outside. It was hot, sweaty, exhausting work. No glamour, just hard work and willing hearts. Then, on Saturday, volunteers from our church joined in to finish removing the rubble, clean the entire sanctuary, and put everything back together in time for Sunday’s service. It was a beautiful picture of the church being the church. People from different countries, backgrounds, and walks of life working shoulder to shoulder, serving together with one purpose under Christ.
Thank you for praying, giving, encouraging, and standing with us. Even though many of you are thousands of miles away, you are very much a part of what God is doing here.
We are grateful for you!
PRAYER REQUEST:
Please pray for our family.
Please pray for our spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and financial health.
Please pray that we can find permanent land and buildings in Belem. We have identified a building and are praying that the funds will be available to purchase it. Please join us!
Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa
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