Naugy

Well, this week flew by quickly.

Seriously.

We got to enjoy the great city of Naugatuck, Connecticut! We did a lot of service projects throughout the week and enjoyed Friday night's Big Event. I got the opportunity to preach the Gospel. For whatever reason, I felt very disconnected from my sermon. I'm sure I said what God was leading me to say, but there was something odd to it. It just seemed as if it wasn't as powerful, or meaningful, or personal as any other time I've preached. Is this Foul Play, or God trying to speak to me about the way I presented it? Everyone I talked to said it was a great Gospel presentation. That it was very raw and unhindered. Maybe it was my nerves, or maybe it was something bigger. I'll be praying a good bit about this. It'd be great if you would, too!

On a less serious note, I discovered a wonderful game on Friday night, as well--Ga-Ga. Friends, you can bet that I'll be teaching you all how to play when I come back to Texas!

Prayer Requests:

Rest. I need it.

The people of New England.

The family and friends of the missionary who passed away in Maine.

Transformation to continue in my life. I feel that I've grown already!

Is this Brazil?

Greetings from Brazil!

Not really.

But it feels like it!

This week we're at work with a Brazilian church in Danbury, Connecticut called All Nations Igreja Batista (Portuguese for Baptist Church). There's so much to cover in this post. Yesterday (Sunday), we attended all three of their services. (Spanish, English and Portuguese). Each service had a different pastor and crowd. And all were great. We'll be working with Youth and Young Adults this week, visiting homes, inviting people to come to the Youth/Young Adult service that we get the pleasure of leading on Friday.

We've met great people here at the church. I've heard some great testimonies, some AWESOME preaching, and we've got to hang out with a lot of the Youth/Young Adults. I got the pleasure of giving my testimony at a birthday party, and I'll get to stand up and preach at the service on Friday.

God's been doing some great work here in New England. He's opening my eyes to many things, and I'm excited to get the pleasure of letting God work through me.

Prayer Requests:

All Nations Baptist Church. A lot of members (But they still have a bunch) have had to move back to Brazil for different reasons.

Spiritual growth.

A humble and learning heart.

New England in general.

God's will to be done.

Thursday

Wow. So I finally made my way to Connecticut on Tuesday. I thought the day would never come. I've learned quite a bit about myself and the people thus far. According to Craig, another Summer Missionary, NAMB has rated the New England area the third most difficult place in the world to be a missionary. It even tops a few of the hostile areas, and places where the Gospel is illegal. Yesterday (Wednesday), we were out promoting a concert that the church we are currently with is putting on, by merely asking businesses if we could hang our signs in their windows, or leave fliers on their tables. Almost all of the businesses agreed to let us have a spot, but we ran into a couple of them that didn't or couldn't allow us to do so. Along with businesses, we also visited churches, and asked them to promote our concert. One church we went to was under construction, and some of the workers were rather hostile toward us. They asked us if we were there from Texas to save their souls. Of course, they laughed it off, as did we, though rather nervously. One of our team members asked him if he had any spiritual beliefs (which he obviously didn't), and he made it quite obvious that he didn't want to talk about it. Just to give you an idea of the general consensus on faith, here.

Erwin McManus writes in his book "Chasing Daylight," that we have opportunities to seize our divine moments. That the spiritual leaders are the ones who plunge headfirst into doing the will of God. He also writes of Henry Blackaby's teaching, that we should look for what God is doing, then follow in suit, which has inspired tons of Christians to get into the work of the Lord. However, one thing this leaves out is, "What is God dreaming of doing?" Of course, this question should be taken loosely, as God can obviously do anything He wants. But how this question applies is that God may be calling us to do new things. We just need to take the initiative, step forward, and do so. I'm hoping to grow in this and apply it to my life. I'm ready to break out of the chains of this world.

One other thing that a LOT of people suffer from here, is the idea of Unitarian Christianity. It's sad that these people think that they're true Christians. We know that all roads do NOT lead to the same mountaintop. Nor do all roads lead to any mountaintop. We know that Christ is THE way, THE truth, and THE life.

Today, we will be out on the University of Connecticut evangelizing. Talk about getting out of the comfort zone.

Prayer Requests:

For God to revolutionize my life into doing His will and not my own.

For God's Spirit to move me to do what He wants.

That the people of New England would be open to Christ and the Gospel.

Boldness to challenge Unitarian beliefs and ideas.