Chrisstmas Program - December 19, 2010

Sunday evening our church had their annual Christmas program. The church wasn't as filled as I had hoped. Half of the kid's parents did not attend, but several did come and the gospel was presented. The membeers of our church really enjoyed the program.
The little children sang a song about Jesus the Lord is Christmas while holding picture letters that spelled JESUS.
The adolescents performed a musical play about Jesus is God's present to you and told the story of Christmas. The play focused on Christmas being for children, poor, old, and rich people; in short, He came for everyone. They did a superb job. It was the biggest production we have done in our little church, but it was the perfect year and had wonderful kids to work with.

The adolescent choir sang songs about Christ.

Mary told her story and then Adriana sang a solo about Mary's experience.

The shepherds told their story and then the angels appeared.

The choir sang, "Gloria in Excelsis"

Five kids told the story of Simeon and Anna giving their declaration of seeing the promised Messiah.

The wisemen also told their story of their jouney to find the child in Bethlehem and the gifts they gave that were fit for a King. The gold represented God's divinity, Frankensense symbolized His purity, and the Myrrh was a symbol of His death.

The chior ended the play with a song that ended with "It was Jesus' birthday, the His birth was a present was for you."

Ceilings in Campo Verde Church - December 15, 2010

With the help of three teens from our Imperial Church in Cuiabá, Don Peffer was able to put ceilings in the upper rooms of our church in Campo Verde. They are made of plastic, but durable and the termites won't eat them. We had trouble with birds coming in inspite of all the work Don did in trying to keep them out by using a foam that hardens to fill in the gaps of the roof. The rooms upstairs are now brighter, cleaner, and much prettier. We use these rooms for the youth group, class rooms, and extra activities.

Women's Chistmas Party - December 11, 2010

Our annual Christmas party was a real joy with around 20 ladies and teens participating. Zoe Peffer led the singing and gave the devotional. After playing a fun game, we opened up presents. as each number was called that person could choose the gift of there chice and it was always a surprise. It was such fun to see their reactions. And the best part of the party was all the delicious treats.

Making Pizzas - December 4, 2010

Our upstairs rooms needed the ceilings put in. Two different weeks the church sold pizzas to raise money for wood and the plastic ceiling material. when I get some pictures of the ceilings I will publish in another post. The teens had fun mounting the pizzas and also eating some at the youth group that night.

Seminary Graduation - November 27,2010

Our bible seminary, Seminário Batista Bereana had four students graduate with a theology degree and three students from the basic Bible course. Two of the graduates were Anderson from our church in Aparecida and Adalberto from our church in Imperial. His wife Josiane received a diploma from the basic course. Pastor Eleazar from our Tijucal church gave the graduation message.

Adalberto and Josiane came up every weekend to Campo Verde for three months to minister while Don and Zoe Peffer were in the states. They are seeking the Lord's will as to where God wants them to serve as a pastor. We have three churches that need a Brazilian pastor.

Anderson wants to continue his education and plans to enter the university, but will continue working in our Aparecida church.

Janus and Sheila from the Baptist church also completed the theology degree and are also looking for the Lord's will for full time ministry. They plan to get married in 2011.

Teacher Training - November 27,2010

Cristiane was in the first adolescent group I had when I worked in our Tijucal church years ago. She is now a mom of two boys and a public school teacher. When Child Evangelism came to Cuiabá to do teacher training, I took Cristiane to the two week training. She felt the call of the Lord and told me she wanted to dedicate her life to child evangelism. She continued in her training and is now qualified to train others. What a joy to see one of my former Sunday School kids now leading and training others in our church! Cris organized a training course at our Imperial church. On November 27, I participated in the first of three Saturdays of training. Cris taught them how to share the Gospel and lead a child to Christ. The students trained sharing the gospel to each other. I taught two sessions, discipline in the classroom and Bible revision games. I love to teach the importance of revision and various games to use. We had lots of fun playing some of the games. They also loved getting some free material to make their own games.

Novembeer 2 - Finados

Every November 2, is a national holiday called "Finados", translated in English as the day of the dead. It is similer to Memorial Day where people put new flowers on the graves in memory of their loved ones. Most of the graves are covered entirely with granite and many have little houses built over them with curtain covered windows. Inside these little houses are flowers, figurines, and other memorabilia. People also put lighted candles on the graves or at the bottom of the cross to light the way to heaven for the spirits/souls of those who have passed away. This is a Catholic and Spiritist belief. I find it sad that so many do not know Christ as their personal Savior and have the assurance of eternal life. Several evangelical groups were passing out tracts.

Brazilian Elections

October 3 was Brazilian elections for president, governors, federal senators, and state and federal representatives. Brazil has many political parties. Many people work for the campaign passing out little cards witht the picture of the candidate with their number. They also stand along the streets waving flags of their candidate. Each candidate has a number. The television gives and hour of free propaganda for the candidates at noon and again in the evening every day. Some candidates only receive 30 seconds, but the presidential candidates get 10 miniutes each.

On election day, a person votes on an electronic machine by pressing the buttons of the number of their candidate. By computer the votes are tallied instantly. If a candidate for presidente and governor doesn't win over 5o per cent of the vote a second election is held for the the top two candidates. The run off election for president and some governors was October 31 and the first women president in Brasil was elected, Dilma Jouseff.

Adolescent Retreat

" Life, what is Yours?" was the theme for our annual adolescent retreat in October. It was based on James 4:14: "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." There was a group of 30 well behaved kids. Eight of the kids were from Campo Verde and three of those accepted Christ as their personal Savior. It was neat to see the teens leading the praise time and even two of the workers children sang a special number. Everybody enjoyed the messages, games, competition, and Bible memory. some kids memorized 20 verses.

Micael was selected my the leaders to be the Best Camper for his participation, attitude, service, and leadership. Hungrey adolescents were served great food, but then had to wash the dishes and pans. It was fun to see them so happy and willing to work.