Bits October

Boom. We have land for the church. God blessed us with a gift of land from money from the sale of land in a different part of Brazil. We did not even imagine we would receive this and we have been rejoicing since we found out of its probability. This month we will start drawing up plans for the development of the property in phases as the church here grows. We look forward to presenting that to you soon, but if you are just too excited and want to give to whatever it will be you can send money to our ABWE account and reserve it for the church plant construction (David and Sarah Carrel sub-account 006). 

(We have the lots in the middle; 6 lots and 1200 square meters)

Wednesday night we had a party at our training center as we finished going through the Story of Hope this month. We had some good conversations about salvation and are looking forward to one over lunch on Sunday. Please pray for God to continue to work in their hearts in regard to Him. Also pray as we make decisions on our next step as far as studies go. At the moment of writing this, times, locations and child care are issues to work through as we think about what would be best for the work here. At the moment we are planning a Sunday night study and a Wednesday night study. 

This month we traveled to Fortaleza, Brazil for a conference for all the ABWE Brazil missionaries. It was awesome. We have lived on 3 different fields in Brazil and many of our colleagues are great friends. We shared conversation over meals, fun in the sun (or pool) and ideas from ministry with many of them. 

We also stayed a couple of days more for some separate meetings about strategy in Brazil. I have the task of working on some church/seminary education ideas. Please pray for wisdom as we try to organize training that would work for the churches in Brazil as they develop leaders. 

This Saturday we will have the English conversation and the following Saturday we will be watching “Facing the Giants” with the football team. The following weekend we will have the last NT module in Recife. Sarah is also wanting to start an afternoon coffee for ladies. Are those enough prayer requests for you all? We appreciate your prayers so much!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, ms project lady Evie, and the little one that makes her daddy stand at the door before he leaves each day to hear her say bye in a strong southern accent (compare it to what a sheep says). 

Bits September

This month has been exciting on the church front here. Our best friends here Francisco and Bia accepted Christ. Salvation is so beautiful; and to witness the process of understanding the gospel and it culminating into a point of realization and acceptance is thrilling. They are both hungry and thirsty for righteousness and say that there is so much to learn. We have also taken some steps as far as a future property goes. Later this month I will send out more information on what is happening with this and how you can help.

Evelyn’s birthday party went really well and we had quite a crowd at CeTAK where we held it. One of our main goals now is to get people exposed to the building and then give invites for some new studies there at the end of this month. We have been friends with some people that do not always show too much interest in God, but with some difficulties that come up, you start to see them show more interest. Pray that God can use us to help them out during these times. We will be doing some movie nights and hopefully start a new Bible study there by the end of the month. Pray that there will be some crossover of people from other social networks like soccer, football and English. 

This month (week of the 19th) we have All-Brazil, a conference for all the ABWE missionaries in Brazil held every three years. We are excited to see so many friends/colleagues as well as participate in training/services/worship. The girls will have child care provided. Pray they do well in their classes and that Sarah and I will be able to have some relaxing time together. 

Evelyn is five now, in school and doing really well with Portuguese. She keeps getting injured with swings though! This month a swing broke while I was pushing her and she had a hard fall to the ground and then last weekend a swing busted her lip open! She is doing fine though. Anna Claire is very mobile and dangerous and has such a cute smile that at only 1 year and 6 months she already knows how manipulative it can be. :) Here is a video showing Evie’s birthday party and the past few months.

We have some interest in short term groups and we are excited! If you have any interest in doing a youth event in February, a football clinic once high school football is done in the winter (any level coach/player would be helpful), or any other type of trip, please let me know! 

All for HIS glory!

David, Sarah, our little Brazilian American bilingual 5 year old and our quick little climbing monkey.

Behave wisely/ Se comporta com sabedoria

"I will behave wisely in a perfect way,
Oh, when will you come to me?
I will walk within my house with a perfect heart."
David says this in the 101st Psalm in verse 2.

Behaving wisely is a difficult thing to do all the time. We may make some wise moves every once in a while, but on a consistent basis is difficult to do. "In a perfect way" is even harder. How do we know perfect behavior? We must be immersed in the Bible to understand how to live perfectly.

Then we need God. Because being perfect is no easy task; in fact, it is an impossible task without God. I can try my hardest on my own, but ultimately I fail when I do not give God the controls; when I do not willingly submit to His will in my life.

The most difficult place to live perfectly is in your own house. I think that in the public eye I do alright usually, but my house is a different story. David did not talk about just having a good reputation outside of the walls of his house, he wanted to have a perfect heart within his own house.

Life is full time. We do not just need God once a week, we need Him for all of life.

Seguirei o caminho da integridade; quando virás ao meu encontro?
Em minha casa viverei de coração íntegro. 

Davi fala isto em Salmos 101:2.
O caminho da integridade não é fácil. Talvez sejamos sábios de vez em quando, mas é difícil ser sábio continuamente. Integridade quer dizer que sempre agimos com caráter boa, mesmo que seja na escuridão quando parece que ninguém nos vê. Como é que podemos agir perfeitamente? Precisamos da Bíblia para nos guiar.

E precisamos de Deus. Ser perfeito não é tarefa fácil; na verdade, é impossível sem Deus. Eu posso me esforçar muito, mas enfim, eu vou falhar quando não dou os controles para Deus; quando eu não submeto minha vida para a vontade de Deus.

O lugar mais difícil viver com integridade é na sua própria casa. Nos olhos do público eu ago razoável normalmente, mas dentro da casa é outra história. David não só falou sobre ter uma boa reputação fora das paredes da casa, mas queria integridade dentro da casa também.

A vida é tempo integral. Não só precisamos de Deus uma vez por semana, precisamos dEle for toda a vida.

Humility and trends

I am a big fan of humility. I have always wanted to be a professional humble person, but for now I am just a fan living the dream by watching from my favorite lounge chair. When I was a kid my mom challenged us to memorize the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7. I never did it, but I tried a couple times. Humility is an underlying theme in the part of the sermon that talks about our actions such as giving, fasting and praying. Our character does not just affect those areas in our life, it affects all of our actions. Either humility or pride plays out daily in all aspects of our lives. 

But in today’s world the culture pushes us out of the humble prayer closet. Actions go public easily. We see each other’s every move on social media. Here in Brazil the offering often involves walking up in front of the church to give. And the trend of the selfie… well, that just deserves a post of its own. It seems that we do whatever to call attention to ourselves, when our real job is to call attention to someone just a little more important than us. 

I don’t want to offer a list of suggestions; you can do that below. I just want to offer the first: that is, to be aware of God’s call to humility. Be conscious of the words of Jesus and the words of Scripture that call for humility.

Bits August

And we've got ourselves a big school girl. Evelyn started school this month and is doing great. Sarah and I are both proud of her progress in the Abeka homeschool curriculum and with her portuguese. She will turn 5 this month and is growing up super quickly. Here is a quick message from her: "Hi, my name is Evie. My birthday is in three weeks and it is going to be Doc McStuffins."

Our Bible study group has entered the New Testament in our study of the Story of Hope. We continue to have great conversations with them and look forward to finishing the study and culminating in a good talk about salvation.

I started teaching English in an English school this past month and have 14 students and the permission to talk about whatever I want to (as long as I finish their curriculum). In one class I was asked how to know for sure you are going to heaven. I am glad for the chances that God has given us through English to talk about Him. We have people interested in coming here short term and I have told them that they can have an immediate impact just through English.

Another trip that would be great is football; yes, american football, the one that started this weekend. I am helping coach/play with this brand new team in this soccer country. They are pretty low level; so any football knowledge helps!

We continue to develop relationships and make new ones by playing sports, going to the park and most recently going out for ice cream. People are everywhere and intentionality is key.

We were able to finish our Old Testament modules in Recife this past month. We did a small training for a church with using Good Soil materials (Story of Hope and Way to Joy) and then preached in 3 different churches.

Sarah has a couple different parties this month (Bia's baby shower and Evie's bday party). Pray those go well as we will have new people around.

Thanks so much for your prayers! This last month we prayed over some land that we saw that is at a good price and in our target location. I also have been praying about a church that is already built that does not have a congregation. But most of all I am praying for the actual future church; the salvation of the people that will make up the church! God bless!

All for HIS glory,
David, Sarah, my little schoolgirl that asked for the keys to the car last night, and my little monkey who turned her nose up at a homemade chocolate chip cookie last night to reach for cold leftover broccoli and loved it.

Urgency and the Spirit

War in the Middle East; another suicide of the rich and famous; and a continuous changing world that can be radically offended by all different types of actions. As Christians, how do we know how to approach people with the gospel?

The Word of God has the answer to the world's problems. So do we just give it to them straight? Do we jump into the streets throwing the Word here and there to see where it hits? Do we call out sin as we see it?

The problem with this approach is in God's command to make disciples. So many in this world are immediately offended at anything and as soon as we start to preach anything they distance themselves even further from our loving God.

In reality, what we need is discernment. We need wisdom in how to deal with others. Some may be ready to embrace the gospel with their whole lives, while others just need to know that Christians care and are here to serve the world (which is true). They need a faithful friend and once they know you are there to be their friend despite their actions, then they will be more open to the gospel. Sometimes we need to preach, but sometimes we just need to hug someone.

So what I suggest is that we get in better tune with the Spirit. We need God's help. We need wisdom from above. We need divine appointments that come from our being in step with the Father. God is ready to use us but our responsibility is to be ready and available and dedicated to doing His will. We are not robots; we constantly choose whether or not to listen to the Spirit and we must constantly ask Him to guide us through our day. With the urgency of our time, we must depend on God for every decision so that others can ultimately be changed by God's marvelous grace.

Traditionalism and Sinning

Last night I preached in a tie. I am not against ties in general, but when there is a "traditionalist, you can only preach with a tie on" mentality, I am against it. In our region in Brasil this mentality exists in some evangelical churches. I went to one church in the normal dress up wear of jeans and a polo and the Pastor invited me to preach. When I stood up at the front he said, “even though he is not wearing Pastor’s clothes he is going to preach for us tonight.” Most of these churches here with this mentality are small and dying and filled with scandals. 

I compare this to the priests and leaders of the Old Testament that were separated for the work of the Lord and wore all white. In the beginning it may have been good, but after a while it turned into a pride thing. Jesus ended up calling some of them white washed sepulchers; white and pure on the outside and dead on the inside. (I wonder if that is why Hebrews talks about the priesthood of every believer).

So personally, I like to emphasize to people that as a preacher/pastor, I have the same sin capability. I have flesh and blood just like everyone else and sin just like everyone else. We all struggle and all need God’s help. 

But the problem is; we often use that mentality as a crutch. The truth is: we don’t have to sin. We have all that we need from God to never sin again. Now, before you put me with the radical group that stands on the street corners with signs condemning the world believing that they cannot sin, that is not what I am saying. 

If we constantly choose God over sin, we do not have to sin. God has given us power over sin so that we do not have to live in it any longer. We were set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18). In OT Survey class the other day I told the class that they did not have to sin; that they could live without sin. They did not believe me. I had to teach them as if it were a new truth. Could it be possible that the pendulum has swung to the opposite side of traditionalism that we no longer even think that we can go through the day without sinning? I know that is really hard to do, but if you aim for nothing you will hit it every time. 

We must choose God early in the morning and give him the controls for the day. Every day. Let’s pray more often for the Holy Spirit to have total control over our lives so that we do not choose sin over God!