November 2013 Newsletter
September 21st marked the end of our ninth year in Brazil. We are blessed to know and share life with the people of Northern Brazil and we couldn’t do that without you. You are a significant part of the ministry in Brazil! Thank you!
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For six months we’ve been working on the construction of a multi-purpose building. We hope to have rough construction of Phase 1 completed by year-end, then comes all the finish work. When Phase 1 is completed the building will serve as our initial church and our community development center. Long-term plans include; Phase 2 – building the second story, and Phase 3 – a large attached auditorium.
Our team has been doing most of the construction ourselves. Our hope has been that this hands-on approach would allow us to naturally integrate into the community as real people involved in the daily business of life. This strategy has been very successful in making us accessible and allowing us to gain access to the daily lives of others. It has served to break some of the regional stereotypes about pastors and church.
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Though our multi-purpose building is long from being ready, our garage is now too small for the church. Growth is stifled because of space, and rainy season is just around the corner. As we talked about where we could move to, we thought of a nearby building that was being used as a bar. We knew its client base was pretty weak but had no idea that it would go bankrupt within a few days. As a team we thought the building was great and a good price, but before we could formally close the deal the owner came back and lowered the price.
During the week we want to use the new building as a type of community center. We envision an atmosphere that is simple, safe, and pleasant; a place that attracts people, to hang out or just stop in.
We believe this community center will create significant relationships, break-down preconceptions about church, and provide opportunities for our church body to get involved and practice their faith in a relevant way. However, it will also be administratively demanding. Please pray with us as we seek wisdom for using this new facility effectively.
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We’ve had a full couple of months with plenty of “firsts” for the church here. We held our first baptism and church picnic at the river. Five people were baptized and we had a wonderful time of fun and fellowship.
The men held the first men’s retreat including, fishing, swimming, eating, conversation, devotions and sleeping under the stars.
The first use of our new rented space was to host a celebration for national Children’s Day. We held games with many chances to win prizes, story time with puppets., and a snack along with free time to just play or jump on the trampoline. We had around 50 kids come as well as many youth and adult helpers. It was a success and we hope the kids felt cherished.
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With all that is going on in Pacajá we’re reminded that a huge challenge for the modern church is figuring out how to contextualize Christian community life. How can the church balance community and individualism? How can the church maintain community that is accessible, relevant, vibrant, fun and even spontaneous? In our region the church at large has not done a great job of this. We believe this has been one reason that so many people don’t see church as relevant, even people seeking real life change.
We’re giving a lot of attention to trying to do better than the church at large, but admittedly we’re not exactly sure how to. However we’ve been encouraged, that people seem to feel our group is a safe, fun, and relevant place. We sense a family type atmosphere amongst the group and are seeing people invest their personal time and finances to help each other and the church community. Please pray with us as we try to form a group that is serious about Jesus and is relevant to everyday life.
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Prayer requests:
· Spiritual growth for the new believers
· Wisdom to guide this growing group
· Family—health, unity, college, etc.
· Finances for the building project
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Thank you for all your support! Please keep us and this work in your prayers.
Blessings in Christ,
The Wilsons
