Church based training

Today I heard some good news. A church in the Northeast USA decided to start up some in church courses. They had 28 signed up and I am thinking it is a church of a couple hundred. That is a great group! I am encouraged because it seems a few weeks ago I had a conversation or I saw that most churches are not getting many out for anything besides church, and sometimes not even for church. It is my understanding that there is not a lot of biblical training going on in the US.

Here in Brazil in general I think it is a little different. In some places it is different in that there is some training happening; in other places or church denominations members  barely leave the church. Of course there needs to be some kind of balance, as we should be striving to know the Scriptures and then go out and put into practice what we have learned. We can't just spend all of our time in the church and we shouldn't just barely be in church or go only when it is convenient. 

It seems like a shift is happening with pastors as many pastors have been burnt out. The role of a pastor is a do all job in the church. Yet in the Bible the saints are charged with doing ministry. The church should be a large group of workers serving one another and the pastor is the equipper of the saints for the work of the ministry. So church based training should be a thing. Are you prepared for ministry? What types of ministry? Does your church have leaders who can step up if and when the pastor is absent? 

The shift with pastors is that some see value in being bi-vocational. Another part of it is that there are less and less pastors available and churches are closing. Some have called it a leadership crisis. So where are we going to get our leaders from? This is an argument for church based training. Historically we ship off our youth to Bible colleges and they become pastors and leaders and that is good too. Yet what about possible leaders within the church who have jobs and families or financial difficulties. Is the only route Bible college? While certainly it is a good route and helpful, in the biblical requirements in I Timothy and Titus you won't find Bible college on the list. You will find character traits and skills that can be developed with proper training and mentoring in a local church. 

So I am excited that there is some vision for church based training out there, and I exhort you to think about this and see what is happening in your church. This last weekend we had a training module on Counseling and it was awesome! We try to do four modules per year. Doesn't seem like much, but over years you really see all the subjects covered. In August we will be starting a year furlough; if you are interested in what your church can be doing or how I can help, please let me know! 

Bits January

Those baptized this month! 

We are excited for this month for a couple reasons. We are going to have our new boss Randy Richner and his wife Cindy in town for a retreat with our colleagues. Then he is going to teach a module on Biblical counseling at the church. We always like having modules at the church and see them as great growth tools. 

The construction in Tupanatinga is going really well! We are close; not sure we will be using the building before next month’s update but it is possible and should be at least really close. We had a huge gift come in last night to finish off all we need and so we are about to be in a big buying stage for the remaining finishes on the building. 

The girls went to Camp Paradise this month that ABWE started more than 50 years ago and our colleague Dan Cook runs. They had a really fun time with a few others from our church as well as a couple counselors from our church. We are excited that the group that goes has really grown. The girls both got camper of the week for their cabins and won three theme nights with costumes that Sarah made. They were pretty excited about that.

Heading home from camp excited

Egyptian night

While the girls were at camp we missed going to Tupanatinga and then we had Covid! So we missed church in Tupanatinga for a couple of weeks which we really hated missing! But we were pleased that they kept meeting and had a good service even though we were not present. We are going to be gone for a while starting in July and we are working on how they will be cared for in our absence. For now the plan is spread out; a mixture of having services on their own; Chico has preached a couple of times there; then we can send some leaders from the church in Arcoverde as well. 

My brother Phil visiting

This month we have thought more in depth on legalism and faithfulness. Can we be too legalistic requiring or demanding our member’s presence in church activities or do we just say whatever is fine. It comes down to motives that we cannot always see. What we would like to develop is member
s who really want to be present and serve because of their love for Jesus, not out of a sense of obligation for their salvation, or a sense of debt. We consider it a privilege to serve as missionaries of the gospel and we thank you all for allowing us that privilege. 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and our little insects (Their camp rooms were named after insects this year) Esperança (leaf bug) and Juninha (lady bug) 

Joe Smith and Jane Doe in church planting

Lately I have read a lot about church planting processes as well as done some training and observing. We have two distinct church plants going on and it is interesting seeing the differences between the two. In the United States I don't think Christians often think about the processes that churches go through in the life of their church as we mostly attend well established churches. I participated in some training that looked to the book of Acts and saw that local churches progress over long periods of time; basically a church starts, gets established, raises leaders, does ministry and over time grows, fizzles, fades, maintains; it really all depends. Sometimes it is obvious the goal is to grow and even multiply and sometimes it is to just survive. 

In church planting with Paul in Acts we see a process where he goes and gathers believers through gospel preaching, makes disciples, strengthens those disciples, chooses leaders, goes through tribulation, all with prayer and fasting. If you look at the letters, it was hard to have a smooth process in any of these churches; there were always kinks and details to be worked out. There are details to be worked out, doctrine and practice to be determined, and real people with which to work. 

We are at the point right now in Arcoverde where we are working on establishing leaders. This gets me excited because we want our people to own the church here, to be established as leaders here that will grow themselves and help grow others. There is a temptation in churches to be happy with the status quo. We have people like that in our church as well. I want to challenge them to greater service within the church. It doesn't have to be full time, but I want them to consider if church edification should be included in their values and priorities. Is it only full time pastors who should be involved in the edification of the church or the expansion of God's kingdom? 

Looking practically I can see how our members could help us start new churches. One main avenue is through preaching. The heavier time consumer of ministry is preaching and teaching. If we have members stepping up to lead small groups, preach, and lead other ministry areas, that would open up more time for church planting. As it stands we have stopped visiting one city for some reasons, but part of it is time constraints. Another thing that could happen is hiring someone from within the church to be another pastor/administrator here, but at this time the church doesn't have the finances coming in that would allow for it. So if we had heavier givers or more givers (in our church in Arcoverde) we would be able to hire someone. In time we feel we will have more Bible studies in that city but for now it is on hold. 

So my question is how you, if you are a church member, can be involved in the edification of the church and maybe even church planting. Maybe it is just to give more, but hopefully it is more than that. Don't underestimate how much it helps when members are deciding to grow spiritually and then helping teach or lead or volunteer in a godly manner. Taking on visitation of elderly, hospital visits, being proactive in teaching and serving and/or many other tasks helps pastors as well. Awareness and being proactive might be what is most needed in the church today. I may be wrong, but I don't think the average church member thinks about church planting as something that involves them. It can though! 

Some churches are dying; other communities don't have solid gospel churches. US churches need to mobilize to impede the gospel influence from fading. See what you can do to be proactive in growing God's kingdom! 

 

Bits December

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We have had a great holiday season so far. It is our third in a row in Brasil and the plans are to have the next one in the US Lord willing. We are planning a furlough from July 2022 until June 2023! The girls are going to attend a school in the US, in the Chattanooga area and we will have a chance to visit some of our supporting churches as well. If you would like a visit, please reach out with some possible dates! 

This month started out with our fourth module of the year. This time Dan Cook (colleague who lives in Recife, our state capital) and I taught the Good Soil seminar. It went really well and our people learned a lot in regards to evangelism and discipleship. 

Following that we picked up Jeremiah and Cindy Cook from the airport for their two weeks here. This was their fourth trip to visit us dating back to our Amazon days when their trip home made us think they would never visit us again! Cindy works in the women's ministry of a large church in Chattanooga that puts on a women's tea every Christmas. For the last two years she put it on in Tupanatinga for the women there. Sarah and her had a great time hosting it this year and we were at maximum capacity. Next time we should have the new building and be able to fit more women! 

Jeremiah, a member of the Chattanooga SWAT team as well as a Sargent in the police force, has had plenty of opportunities to teach here in our state. This trip he had a couple opportunities as well. It was neat translating for him as he prayed for the police forces during his teaching time. His training was also very practical and the service members enjoyed the interaction. He had lots of questions in both trainings. 

This month we received a big blessing from a great friend who pushed us through phase two of the construction in Tupanatinga! This means that Lord willing, if our projections are correct, we will not have to stop the construction work in Tupanatinga and can complete both phases! We are really excited about this and about God's provision. (Before that gift we received another substantial gift that kept the work going when we were slightly nervous it would have to stop for lack of finances). Praise the Lord for His provision!

Thank you all for your support and prayers. We are excited for what God is doing here! 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and our organizers Evie and Anna Claire who received almost no toys for Christmas this year. They are growing up! 

Bits November

Last month I started by saying what a terrible month…. But this month has been pretty good. It started off well because of a great visit with Pastor Ken Lowe. We had several good events with him. The first one had to do with the leadership group we are forming in the church. Leadership is really important and we have not taken it lightly these years. We think it is important not to rush people into leadership just because of a need. The Bible has qualifications for leadership for a reason; to protect everyone involved! 

In our leadership meeting with Ken we looked at Acts and how churches were planted; in each church there was an establishing work, a strengthening work and then a leadership was formed. Our guys saw why leadership is needed and it really opened their eyes about being a church that looks to plant other churches. We had a follow up meeting last week and looked at a map of our area to see where churches could be planted around us. We could tell they were processing all this and that planting churches as a church had never really occurred to them, as this important responsibility often doesn’t occur to us in church. Now we will see how this affects them as they ponder their role in planting churches.

The building in Tupanatinga is really going up! God always sends gifts in the right timing and so far we haven’t had to stop! We were considering a little pause in buying things but even that was cancelled for now. We are hoping that in the next few months we can have the inauguration of the sanctuary. We would love to continue on to the kid’s building right after depending on our resources at the time. 

Evelyn has entered the youth group here in Arcoverde which has been excited. Sarah Rogers, the short termer is heading up the organization with the help of our colleagues Roger and Marcy. It has been neat seeing some action with youth around here as we have not had much of a focus on this age. Pray that God would bring us a good group that can grow as disciples and encourage the church. 

Speaking of our colleagues; we had a great Thanksgiving with them as we had a great Thanksgiving spread, a great time together as well as eating leftovers at night. We have one more colleague, Dan Cook who came from Recife to celebrate. We will also be teaching Good Soil, a seminar on Evangelism and Discipleship, this weekend! Pray we have a good turnout for our final module of the year. We are heading into the holiday season which in Brazil extends a couple months into the New Year as it is their summer. Events tend to slow down, attendance lowers, and we make decisions going into the next year. Please pray for wisdom with our time! 

Thank you all for your love and support and prayers. 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and our youth group attender, nursery worker Evelyn and our home edit professional Anna Claire (for those of you familiar with home editing; our pantry, closet and other areas have all been edited this month by a little 8 year old hard worker). 

Bits October

I preached a city event for
churches in Tupanatinga

What a terrible month. Ever have those months? So it wasn’t that terrible for us personally as much as bad things happening with people we love around us. Poor choices have tough consequences and pastoring during those times can be difficult. A good bit of time, prayer, energy was spent on a couple different situations this month and so it was good to have a time to get away this last week. We had an ABWE meeting to go to in another city which took us out of town for a couple days and when we flew back to Recife we stayed at the beach for a couple days while we waited for a Pastor and his wife to arrive and help minister in the Sertão for about ten days.

Relaxing time at a rural
house in Tupanatinga

Dr. Ken and Amy Lowe were missionaries in Portugal for 17 years and we connected through Servant Leaders. He has a similar vision for Leadership Training within the church. He teaches courses and I invited him down mainly as a mentor, but also to help teach modules and cast a vision for leadership training. On Tuesday we are gathering some of the main leaders in the church to talk about leadership. We hope to have elders and deacons in the future but have taken it slowly. Pray this meeting goes well for us! 

Kid's day! 

Thursday he will be helping the pastors of the city work through some of those ideas and then Saturday and Sunday we have a module on Bible Study Methods. It is neat to see our church sign up and participate in these modules. We were interrupted some this year, but it seems like we have a good group that likes to participate. We would really like to have a good group that practices what they learn and grows in their leadership in their home and with their friends and family. Sometimes we see evident growth, sometimes it seems like we are taking steps back, but overall we can tell that God is developing a good group of disciple-makers and it is neat to be a part of what God is doing. 

Construction progress! From no dirt to filled in!

The Tupanatinga church has seen visitors most services! The construction is moving along as well! Pretty soon I will be making more urgent requests for financial help with it, but for now we have seen some Brazilians being active. One member of our church in Arcoverde decided to donate ten sacks of cement per month; another member of the Tupanatinga church paid a larger bill and said it was his donation. Others from the church have been involved in getting things organized for the construction. The guy who designed the project and is overseeing the work refuses to be paid even though things are tight for him right now. There is a good excitement in the church and for good reason. 

So I started off saying it was a terrible month, but we had some great events happen as well. We did a concert at our church that went well one Saturday night. Then we had a big activity for kid's day that was lots of fun for everyone. 

Thanks for your prayers! They are sustaining just as God’s grace is sustaining. 

All for HIS glory,

Girls and their books

David, Sarah and our home editors; I guess you need to watch about home edit to know what that means, but basically the girls have gotten into house organization 

Bits September

Evie helping with kids and
participating in a women's Bible study

Evelyn turned twelve years old this month! She had a nice dinner with her good friend Julia.
Evie has not had much luck with friends here. Anna Claire has about 50 girls her age at church (take that number to be slightly exaggerated), but Evie’s age is mostly boys. Her best friend for a couple years when we moved here was Alice who moved to Tupanatinga; so Evie still sees her but she isn’t around as much. After that she has met some girls, but last year she was really praying for a good friend. We got a call one day from a friend wondering if his daughter could come over and play with Evie. It turned out they had a lot in common and are both just really good girls. So she comes over on Wednesdays and they hang out and sometimes see each other on the weekend as well, like this month when Julie participated in our New Testament module. Well, this month we learned the Julie is also moving away, to the capital city of Recife, which will limit how often Evie gets to see her. While Evie is disappointed she has had a great attitude. Pray God will bless her with more good friends! 

Anna Claire insisted on
helping fill this hole

Construction is at full stride in Tupanatinga! I got to work a couple of times there; when I say work what I really mean is play in the dirt. Anna Claire has enjoyed filling the holes with dirt whenever we visit the site. We are hoping the building goes up quickly and that we have enough to finish it! We have a good bit saved, but it is going quickly. If you would like to contribute you can send it to ABWE and designate it for the Carrel church planting fund. 

Sarah’s counseling has ups and downs. Sometimes it seems like miracles happen and other times like the counselee ignored everything, but for the most part they are growing. Sarah and I have been able to counsel together a few times together and it is neat to work together and see progress. This month she helped a couple ladies with their two year olds. One of them immediately went out and advertised in the church. Sarah is even planning a parenting class with another woman in the church. Speaking of classes, Sarah has one more class to go before her dissertation year. She has done very well academically. She also was very involved this month with the weekly women’s meetings and a baby shower. 

Tupanatinga construction

This month I have felt has been a problem solving month. Lots of issues to deal with which leaves you a little tired. Pray that our rest would be in the Lord and that we can see problems as growth opportunities. I was recently gifted a book where the author says he feels like he writes a bunch of different books with the same content in them, just the title that changes. The gospel affects all areas of life and the gospel is important in our problem solving opportunities as well. 

Please pray for us this month as we have services, trips, a concert, counseling, a course, and who knows what else! Thanks so much!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my twelve year old servant (I mean that she has a good servant hearted spirit), and my other little baby sitting helper 

Evie opening presents

Evie after her surgery to take out
her adenoid