Conferences, Evangelistic Outreach and Encounters...

Wow!  Are we seriously already more than halfway through November???  Well, I have now been here in Santarém, Brazil for 2 1/2 months and an update from me is long overdue.  The week of October 21-26, there were two big conferences going on here at our main PAZ church.  The first conference was the MDA Conference.  This is a national conference that happens every year and is for pastors and leaders from all over Brazil.  Just to explain really quickly, MDA is a model used in the PAZ churches with an emphasis on one-on-one discipleship  and cell groups (small groups).  The heart shows the MDA Vision.  This year I decided to participate in the conference and it was a great experience.  Speakers from all over Brazil came to speak and impart the vision of having a “cell church” and the importance of one-on-one discipleship.  The conference was Tuesday - Saturday early morning to early afternoon.  Each day was filled with a wonderful time of worship and teaching.

During the same week, beginning on Wednesday night we began our big cell group celebration.  Wednesday night is the night most of our cell groups meet all over the city of Santarém.  On this particular night, there were several groups multiplying.  When a group grows to a certain size, the group multiplies and then there are 2 groups.  It was planned that at 8pm a few of the pastors from Igreja da Paz would speak for a few minutes on the television and that when Pastor Abe said the word “fogo” (fire) people in all of the cell groups would set off fireworks all over the city.  Just imagine more than 2,000 cell groups setting off fireworks all over the city.  It was quite a sound!  

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights were the big celebration of the multiplication of so many groups.  Each night was filled with music, preaching and lots of celebrating.  The cell groups at the church are divided into regions which are represented by different colors.  Many people came dressed to support their region.  

Another big event recently was Minha Esperança Brasil (My Hope Brazil).  This was a 3 night evangelistic project that was shown on TV in all of Brazil in association with the Billy Graham Association.  The first two nights were 30 minute programs with brief testimonies from well-known Brazilians and brief messages from Billy and Franklin Graham.  On the third night, the movie “A Vow to Cherish” was shown.  The idea behind this project was to invite people to your home each night to watch the program as an evangelistic outreach to the unsaved.  I am not sure of the final numbers but I believe that just from our main PAZ church here in Santarém, there were over 1,000 decisions for Christ made.  Just think of all the other churches participating in the whole of Brazil!!!  God is awesome!

I am really excited because this weekend I will be working at the Encontro (Encounter) for adolescents.  Some of you may remember that I went on this same retreat for adults at the end of September.  This time I get to be behind the scenes working.  I will doing many different things including being a part of the drama pieces.  I get to be the Holy Spirit, an angel, one of the ten virgins and also a patricinha (a prissy girl that dresses all in pink).  I will try to get pictures to show you all.  Please pray for this weekend that the youth would be open to the work the Lord wants to do in each of their hearts.

Be looking for another update soon with more news about what is going on here in the Amazon!   

Camping is so much fun!

Interesting Story/Fact

Ok so its been awhile since I have updated and I have been trying to keep track of stories and things that go on that I find interesting to be able to use in my updates.  Something you may be interested to know is that I ride a motorcycle here in Brazil on a weekly basis.  Yes, Cautious Claire rides a motorcycle.  Well, actually its a taxi but on a motorcycle.  Its quite convenient.  But seriously, pray for my safety not only on the motorcycle but just in general.  I do a lot of walking in the city as well.  

A little over a month ago, I was getting ready to go to cell group when we had a power outage.  This doesn´t happen all the time but it is about a weekly occurrence usually at night when we are sleeping though.  This time though it was right when it was starting to get dark.  Well, I found some candles thankfully because I had to finish getting ready.  So I ended up getting ready in the bathroom with two candles on a tiny table doing my very best to put on makeup without getting too close to the candle.  It was quite the scenario.  

To see more photos of my time here in Brazil click here

Also check out my bio on the PAZ website click here