I just got back from a fifteen day trip visiting churches and
missionaries in Altamira and Porto de Moz.
It is so satisfying to look around and see how the Lord has been
leading us us as a team out here. All the missionaries are able to do
what they came here to do. The good news is being spread to an
ever-widening circle.
When you leave a strawberry plant in your garden for several years it
will continue to stay alive, but the berries become smaller and the
growth of the plant will slow down. A good gardener will dig up the
plant, break it apart and plant the new smaller plants in several
different locations. The leaves turn green, rapid growth begins again,
and the plant becomes even more fruitful than before. This is what I
saw on my journey. New churches are being planted and young churches
are thriving.
Chris Patterson took this photo of his 4 year old son Ben playing
soccer with a Brazilian cowboy near a near church in the Assurini. The
more I study this photo, the more I sense a very familiar feeling.
Imagine Ben was trying to play the goalie and the cowboy had a whole
team behind him. “I’ll just obey what I think God is saying for this
next step, and let’s see what happens.” This guy probably looks as big
to Ben as Goliath looked to David, or as the giants looked to the 12
Israelites who were sent to spy out the promised land, or as witnessing
to your unsaved friend looks to you.
Moses told the Israelites, “When you go to war against your enemies and
see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be
afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of
Egypt, will be with you. When you are about to go into battle, the
priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: ‘Hear, O
Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be
fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give away to panic
before them. For the Lord you God is the one who goes with you to fight
for you against your enemies to give you victory.'” Deuteronomy 20:1-4
END.
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