Happy Belated Easter. Praise the Lord that He is Risen. Thank you Jesus!!! As I mentioned last month, let's keep praying to Jesus for His healing upon the world. He is our only hope, especially with so much uncertainty, we need to be the light in this time of darkness. Pray the Lord's peace and comfort over you during this difficult time. If you need any prayer, please let me know.
During the past month our church family has been trying to adapt to "virtual community" as we make adjustments, along with the entire world, to adapt to this season of social distancing in the wake of COVID19. Given the circumstances, I think we are doing the best job we can with the tools and gifting that the Lord has instilled in us. However, we are still pursuing to do it better and stay connected.
On Easter we felt that it was important to celebrate communion with the church but it was completely different than years past where we had a service at the church, and shared a breakfast. This time we had some of our leaders and their families come to our house, and then we had a Zoom gathering with members of the church. It was not perfect, but we were able to feel a bit more connected to the congregation to celebrate the PERFECT sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, and the resurrection of the Lord from the grave. AMEN!
After the on-line celebration, we enjoyed a breakfast together, and then we had a candy search in the backyard. This was nice, as this brought some normalcy to our situation.
We have been doing on-line weekly services and are increasingly trying to use social media to maintain contact with our church members and friends for the last couple of weeks. We are doing our best to make the worship and sermons pleasing to the Lord, and the best possible experience for the congregation. It seems like it going well. Below are some pictures of the production. We have been working twice as hard as before trying to learn the technologies. Elba goes over and over her messages throughout the week in preparation for Sunday. It is whole different dynamic preaching to a camera, than to a congregation.
We just started back up our men´s prayer group on Thursday morning at 6am. It is a small group of men and it was really nice to be together and pray to Jesus to intercede for the church, the things going on in our lives, as well as the lives of others. As you will notice we are trying to get together and pray in a reasonably safe way.
One of the other big highlights this month was the celebration of Camilly´s 15th birthday. The 15th birthday for a girl in Brazil is HUGE. I read that “In Brazil it is widely celebrated among Brazilians, the quinceañera marks an important milestone in a girl's life. Part birthday party, part rite of passage, it symbolizes a girl's entrance into womanhood when turning 15 showcasing her purity and readiness for marriage.” Yes, to the purity, but the readiness for marriage…at the age of 15….let’s put that on the back burner until she finishes college. Well, whatever they say, we know that we are very proud of the beautiful woman that Camilly is becoming. She is a treasure and a true gift from God. Personally, seeing her all dressed up, and looking way older than 15, I was taken aback. It is going way too fast. We did our best to respect the gathering rules in place. Camilly only got to invite a handful of her friends. Even though it was limited, we really pray that she enjoyed every moment. We are very proud of her.
Continued prayers request:
· Update: Thanks everyone for your prayers on the sale of the property. We are in the process of working through the language for the contract. This is positive and we are thankful to God. Since there is a financial crisis in Brazil due to the virus, the buyers are asking that we be patient. So, I come to you again, and ask that you continue to pray for this to be finalized in its entirety, and that all parties will feel good about the whole process up to the completion of purchase and thereafter.
· Please pray for our church, leadership, and congregation that we help people draw close to God as we navigate this time.
Please pray for spiritual, physical, emotional and financial health for us.
Thanks and much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa
