The church has been focusing on trying to grow our home groups in the church. One of the ways that we believe this can happen is by using a method called Disciple Making Movement (DMM) https://www.cityteam.org/idisciple/ Churches that have implemented the DMM in some parts of the world are experiencing amazing growth and seeing people come to know the Lord. It is a strategy for making disciples and planting churches. Rick Bergen has been implementing the DMM in Maraba for over a year, and he came to Altamira to teach us how to implement the DMM. He has been mentoring our leaders during the initial phases to launch these groups.
We also had a couple’s potluck dinner at the church. We had many couples come and participate. Elba shared a message to help encourage our couples and to also share about the struggles of being married. Gary Thomas states in his book Sacred Marriage “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” That is a hard pill to swallow because just living in this world is hard enough. Being married is not that easy and it takes work. Gary Thomas also wrote “A good marriage isn't something you find; it's something you make.”
The couples had a great time playing games and just being with one another. Below is a game in which the guy picked an ordinary item and then had to declare his love to his wife. For example, the guy has a book and he has to be creative to declare his love to his wife using the book as the reference point. It was really silly and it was a struggle for a lot of the guys. It would have been a struggle for me as well. I mean unless you are passionate for books it is a long leap to try to declare your love referencing a book. J
Camilly and Alyssa continue to do well, except they are in a constant battle with lice. Lice is a big problem here and Elba is constantly picking them out of the girls’ hair. Picking lice out of people’s hair is almost like a national past time for most families here in the Amazon. Aside from the battling lice, the girls have been helping as teacher assistance at CDR in the English classes. They really enjoy interacting with the students and helping them in the learning process.
Prayer Request:
Please pray for us as we travel to Brasilia for our National Church conference. This will be a special conference because the churches will be recognized as a National Igreja da Vinha church movement. This has been a long time in the making and the Brazilian National leadership has been doing a great job to get us to this point. Big props to Milton and to my lovely wife Elba.
Please also pray for our staff and students at CDR. Just last week 3 crimes happened a couple of feet from our house, 2 guys pulled a gun on our coordinator and stole her motorbike that she just bought 2 weeks ago. This was devastating for her emotionally and financially. The day after that happened a little girl about 9 had her mom’s phone stolen from her at gun point. A guy tried to stab another guy with a machete. Please pray for protection over our staff, students, family and church members.
Please also continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. Prayer works and we feel them.
Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa
Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:
The Xingu Mission
P.O Box 340785
Columbus, Ohio 43234
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Alyssa got a new pony. J We gave away 2 puppies and have 3 left. The puppies are growing:
