Life in Christ has a way of growing. Our families grow, our ministries grow, our wisdom grows (and gray hairs with it!) and time goes on. Growth even hurts sometimes, but the results are well worth it. That is our update in a nutshell: growth in all areas of our lives, and we praise God for it!
Family Life Grows
I have included much proof of our cute, growing kids in this update – many fun photos! The girls are truly a joy to us; walking, running, jibber-jabbering and interacting with the world around them. They are just starting to learn words and use them. Some Portuguese, others in English. They have a way of attracting attention wherever we go and spreading God’s joy everywhere. I was watching videos of the girls the other day, and Anna came over, wanting to get up in my lap. I pulled her up when Becca came quickly over, also wanting up. With both girls in my lap, we watched videos for minutes on end and I was overcome with thankfulness to the Lord for all His goodness to us.
Ministry Life Grows
We recently celebrated a landmark moment in our cell group/discipleship ministry as our sector of cell groups multiplied and I became a sector leader. A sector leader is over anywhere from 3-12 cell groups. To become a sector leader, you need to not only have been successful in multiplying your own cell group, but also have raised up at least 3 other leaders who are under you, each one leading their own cell groups. Ruth and I are currently discipling seven different couples, three of which are leading cell groups (including our wonderful fellow missionaries Edson & Kelly Lee and John & Silvia Eisenmann). We have 5 healthy cell groups under us, with 2 more that have recently been started and 2 others that are nearly ready to multiply. Soon we will have 9! Praise God! This growth not only signifies more and more lives being touched by God in and through cell groups and discipleship, but also more and more leaders being raised up, doing the work of the Kingdom. We are so thankful to see the fruit that Jesus is bearing through us and we are so thankful for you who are a vital part of this ministry.
In addition to this, we continue to have opportunities to minister to the body of Christ here in Brazil. Ruth and I recently traveled to the PAZ base in Belém, the large capital of the state of Pará, to speak to the youth about Romance Real (“Royal/Real Romance”). The grandmas watched the twins back in Santarém while 500 miles down the Amazon River we got to tell our story and teach biblical principles on relationships and dating. I also taught about worship and led them in praise & worship. After the 2-hour workshop, I prayed over all who wanted prayer and a girl came forward to receive Christ as her savior — without any kind of invitation! When I told this story to the worship pastor here in Santarém, he smiled and said, “She probably realized that she didn’t have a true relationship with God.” God was truly working!
Pray for Us!
The harvest we’re reaping now is the result of the prayer and support that you sowed yesterday. For continued success and growth tomorrow we need your prayers of thanks and intercession today!
- Praise God for our family! Pray for wisdom and strength as we seek to raise our family in biblical principles the world needs to see lived out
- Praise God for the growth in our cell groups! Pray for the new leaders being raised up and continued growth in all members of our groups
- Praise God for our ministry opportunities and results! Pray for upcoming ministry opportunities in July, August and October (more on that to come).
- Praise God for his faithfulness to us! Pray for an abundant overflow in our lives to be able to overflow into other lives.
It’s hard for us to always put into words how much we appreciate you for all your love and support. It might even sound like a broken record sometimes, but we mean it when we say that we couldn’t do this without you!
Praise God that in Christ, life is always growing!
P.S. — Don’t forget to click these pictures to see them nice and big!