When I was a child I remember feeling as though the two months of summer vacation was an endless golden expanse of time. My mother told me that the older I got the faster time would seem to go by. Like everyone else I have discovered this to be a sad truth. Looking back at 2009 I see that it was a very full year, however quickly it now seems to have passed.
Some of the best times have been those spent with brothers and sisters in Christ with the Brazilian church in Newark, NJ. Aside from our regular service schedule we’ve also celebrated every major holiday together, held countless cookouts at each others homes, hit the beach a few times (I don’t go in for that myself!) and held our annual church retreat. We were especially glad for the retreat this year, having lost our spot at Camp Manatawny, we found another camp which we were able to rent for a couple of days. We studied the Bible and worshiped together as well as spent a few hours with activities in the camp lake (paddle boats, swimming, etc). Click here for pictures.
For me, the real high point of 2009 took place at our church retreat when I baptized my daughter into Christ. As I’ve said elsewhere, it really doesn’t get much better than that. Her decision wasn’t made in a vacuum, of course. Since she was a little girl I’ve been reading Bible stories to her and my wife and I have prayed with her and discussed what it means to believe in God and follow Jesus. She’d been saying for a while that she wanted to be baptized, but didn’t seem serious until she spent a week away at church camp. She returned dead serious about becoming a Christian. I spent a couple of weeks studying the Bible with her nearly every evening before baptizing her at the retreat. Another girl from our congregation was similarly affected by her time at church camp and was also baptized at the retreat. We are thankful that our children are making commitments to Christ and pray to be more effective in reaching people, young and old, beyond our immediate family and fellowship as well.
Shortly after the church retreat my wife and I took our daughter and a young man from church to RevGen, a major Christian music festival in our part of the country. Click here for pictures. We had a good day there and we began to consider again the possibility of active youth ministry.
There were a number of immigration victories for some of our church members as well. One couple began the year being granted permanent visas and promptly arranged their first trip in over a decade to visit family in Brazil. Another couple received word over a month ago that their permanent visas should be available soon, and have been issued valid work permits. Another man who was actually picked up by immigration authorities over a year ago has been approved for permanency, opening the door for his wife (their son was born in the U.S. and is therefore a citizen). We rejoice with these good people and continue to pray for our friends who have their cases pending in the immigration courts.
About a month ago I was finally able to get a website up for our congregation. We are talking about splitting it into two websites, as there are Brazilian and Hispanic congregations meeting in our building and sharing leadership. For now it is one website which you can see by clicking here.
Last but not least, my brother-in-law Marcelo was approved for a visa to visit the United States in order to raise mission support! I thought it nearly impossible with our present immigration climate for him to receive this visa, but apparently the consular official looked up our record and that of my mother-in-law (she has been in the States twice to visit) and opted to give him a chance. He plans to come to the U.S. next year, so more on him in my next post where I’ll talk about goals and plans for 2010. Click here to see a photo of Marcelo, Selma and their children.
Thank you for your continued encouragement, support and prayers as we seek to promote peace and development in Brazil and throughout the Brazilian diaspora.
