Paulino's Testimony

The Story: Paulino and I (Brian) met pretty early on when we arrived in Brazil. He had contact with the staff before we arrived and contact with the Cross Cultural Project that we host every summer. He was not a Christian when we met, but was interested in studying the Bible, particularly the life of Christ. Through the study of the Word, experiencing the Christian community of the campus ministry and the church and living with a believer Paulino's life was changed. God used all these things at different times in his life to remove the scales from his eyes and allow him to see his need for Christ and to accept Christ as his savior.

Trouble: If you are having trouble understanding him, listen to it twice. He says the word "culture" towards the end that will be hard to decipher with an untrained ear. We also have the Portuguese version available as well.
 

What Happens in Bahia, Stays in Bahia.

Last week we traveled to Vitoria da Conquista, Bahia. Bahia is the state directly north of us and Vitoria da Conquista is one of the larger cities in the state. We traveled there to visit with Caio (baiano) and his family. We stayed in Conquista for two days and then traveled to a beach town called Porto Seguro with his family, it was a really good time for us, strengthened our relationship with Caio and his family. It was also very refreshing to have people care for us.

Caio's family is different than the majority of students we come in contact here. His parents are Christians, married, living together and seem like they really respect each other and are friends, which is uncommon here. Caio has one brother, Victor, who is currently in the USA as an exchange student in Washington state, and a sister Gabriella. We really enjoyed our time with this family.

Below are a few photos of our travels.

On the airplane, just in case we go down in the jungle.

Caio's father has three farms, we visited one of them that has cattle and mandioca.

Mandioca. Its like a potato. Grows underground and you can prepare it many different ways.

Downtown Porto Seguro at night.

Porto Seguro by day.

Us with Caio and his sister Gabi.

Brazil flag on left, Bahia state flag on right.

Thanks for reading.

-brian

Shootout in Serra

I cut and pasted an article from TV Globo a Brazilian news source about a shootout between the police and some people in a favela in our city. Our church has been working in this favela with a group called Luzeiro, they mainly work with children in this favela. The plan is to serve the children in hopes of connecting to their parents/guardians.

Two men robbed a bank and fled into this favela, the article does not say if these men are from this particular favela. One person ended up dying during the shootout. The occupants of the favela responded by burning a city bus which is pictured below. 

NOW: Please pray for wisdom as how we should approach the situation. Our church was already planning on serving with Luzeiro this Saturday. Also pray for the staff of Luzeiro, which is a staff team made up of different nationalities serving here in Belo Horizonte.  

-brian


26/11/2012 17h20 - Atualizado em 26/11/2012 22h19

Policiais e suspeitos trocam tiros no Aglomerado da Serra, em BH

Às 17h10, PM confirmou que uma pessoa morreu no tiroteio.
Um ônibus foi incendiado e ficou completamente destruído.

 

Polícia Militar ocupa o Aglomerado da Serra, em BH,
e troca tiro com suspeitos
(Foto: Reprodução/TV Globo)

Policiais e suspeitos se envolveram em uma troca de tiros, na tarde desta segunda-feira (26), no Aglomerado da Serra, na Região Centro-Sul de Belo Horizonte. Às 17h10, a Polícia Militar (PM) confirmou que uma pessoa morreu durante o tiroteio, que aconteceu nas proximidades da Vila Nossa Senhora de Fátima.

Toda a região foi isolada pela PM, que ocupou as ruas do aglomerado. Um helicóptero da corporação também foi utilizado na operação.

O clima ficou tenso na área. Um ônibus da linha 9031 foi incendiado e ficou completamente destruído, mas ninguém ficou ferido, segundo o Corpo de Bombeiros. Após as chamas terem sido controladas, algumas pessoas, muitas delas crianças, invadiram o coletivo. Elas arrancaram o cofre que fica embaixo da cadeira do cobrador e saíram carregando o objeto pelas ruas.

Ônibus ficou completamente após ser incendidado no Aglomerado da Serra (Foto: Reprodução/TV Globo)

An Afternoon with Galo

Clube Atlético Minero is one of the soccer teams in our city, somehow Abbey and I chose to cheer for them. They are not that good, they've won 1 Brazilian National Title/Brasilierão in the history of the club and that was back in 1950. The mascot of the team is the galo or rooster, but roosters here are a little more intimidating as rooster fights were very popular here in the past.  This year Galo has done fairly well, currently they are in 3rd place in the league standings. They also have a guy named Ronaldinho Gaucho who played for Barcelona and A.C. Milan earlier in his career, he is two time FIFA player of the year, which means at the height of his career he was voted the best soccer player in the world. Ronaldinho is past his prime yet is still one of the best players on the field.

Galo fans exiting the metrô

Proof we actually attended the game

Estádio Independencia

These people want Ronaldinho to stay with the team, rumor is he will leave Galo for another team.

Galo!!!! This section was the craziest of all.

This is soccer in S.America. Security is a must.

The stadium was nice, Galo is playing here while they renovate the Minerão for the World Cup.

Ronaldinho!!!

Galo fans love R49.

Is that Ronaldinho?....nope just some cheap mask.


 Galo tied that day 2-2 but almost on command Ronaldinho scored the game-tying goal as the game was nearing the end. We actually didn't see it, we just heard the noise of the crowd as we left early to make our way home.

Shout out....

I want to give a big shout out to Mary-Frances Bowley and give a plug for her new book The White Umbrella. Not only is Mrs. Bowley an amazing woman of Christ, and a supporter of us, she is the founder of an organization in Atlanta, GA called Wellspring Living. Several websites have been reviewing her new book and I wanted to make sure the three people who subscribe to this blog know about it and what the Lord is doing through her and her organization.

Check out the book here: The White Umbrella and here

White Umbrella campaign: here

Check out the organization here: Wellspring Living

Looking Ahead

The last month I (Brian) took part in four separate meetings/retreats/conferences per say. The first was a church retreat we had at the beginning of September, the second was our annual Staff Stimulus in the middle, the third was Campus Outreach Campus Directors Training in Birmingham, Al and the last and most recent was the Catalyst Conference in Duluth, GA. Not only did I take part in all of these but Alan Andrioni, (Campus Director at UFMG) did as well. It was a avalanche of ideas, practical ideas on how we can do our jobs better and large abstract ideas on how we can move the ministry forward.  Here are some of the big take aways: (none of these are my original ideas)

• If we feel bad or get down when things are not going well/growing, we will take the credit when things are going well/growing. 
• Tradition is not the mission.
• Don't worry about resistance, worry when there is no resistance.
• Focus, focus, focus.
• God has given us bigger responsibilities than our work. 

Alan and I have been meeting once a week to discuss in detail more of what we learned and what we are learning. We are excited at where God is moving us and are excited for the future.

Abraço & Thanks 4 Reading.

-brian

Spiderman, The Joker, Roberto Justus and Santa Claus

What do Spiderman, The Joker, Roberto Justus and Santa Claus have in common? They were all present at a costume party in the Spring here in Belo Horizonte. All these stars are involved in some Bible study or Discipleship group of some sort. A couple are believers and one is studying the Bible specifically the life of Jesus.

Spider-Man = Paulino. He recently graduated from PUC-Minas and is going through the new members class at our church. When I met him a year ago he was not a believer but full of questions.
The Joker = Caio. Caio and I are studying the book along with Marco Túlio. We just finished chapter 15 today and his questions are more focused and direct. When I met him, he had many doubts and questions.

Roberto Justus = Me. Roberto Justus is the Brazilian Donald Trump. He has a lot of money, fires people but also host several different shows here in Brazil. Just like me or not.
Santa Claus = Marco Túlio. MT became a believer a couple of years ago and is studying John with Caio and I. He has great insight and helps me a ton understand Portuguese and does a great job explaining things.

Here is another picture of Caio and Marco Túlio. Minus the face paint and red suit.


Thank you for reading the blog. Supporting us financially and praying for us. Thank you!

Books in Brazil

Brazil lacks Gospel-Centered books. I could expound upon this but the reason I am posting this is to draw attention to what the Gospel Coalition and Editora Feil is doing. They are trying to raise money to translate a book by D.A. Carson into Portuguese. Trust me, it is hard to find solid books in bookstores here and when you do they are expensive. If you like to donate go to the website or click on this link.  Gospel Coalition  Thanks for reading.

Here is a little information I copied from the Gospel Coalition website:

Portuguese Translation Project

The God Who is There by D. A. Carson

Goal: $14,200 - PRIORITY PROJECT

78% Raised, $3,155 to go

 

 

 Resource

In February 2009, Don Carson presented a 14-part seminar entitled “The God Who Is There” at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. This series will serve the church well because it simultaneously evangelizes non-Christians and edifies Christians by explaining the Bible’s storyline in a non-reductionistic way. It’s one thing to know the Bible’s storyline, but it’s another to know one’s role in God’s ongoing story of redemption. “The God Who Is There” engages people at the worldview-level.

 

Language

The Portuguese language spread during the colonial era, most prominently to Brazil, Mozambique, Angola and Portugal. Worldwide, there are approximately 178 million first language Portuguese speakers. Brazil constitutes the largest, where nearly 100% speak the language. It is a nation that has made great progress, but still finds itself facing challenges of corruption, poverty, crime, and racial strife. Brazil is predominantly Catholic. But the Church is hemorrhaging at the seams, losing scores of followers to Evangelical Christianity and Spiritism. One of the great needs of Brazilian Christians today is for solid, biblical literature for evangelism and discipling Christians. The most widely sold and read books in Brazil have to do with magic, the occult, and communicating with the dead, thus materials are needed, together with the Bible, to oppose falsehood and expose the truth. (Operation World)

Geography of the Language
The primary countries with Portuguese-speaking populations are Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Cape Verde, Sao Tome & Principe.

Brazil Demographics
Population: 203,429,773
88.6% Literacy Rate
Internet users 75.9M; 37.4% of the population
16.34% Protestant

 

Publishing Partner

This project is in collaboration with Editora FIEL. Their mission is to spread among Portuguese-speaking peoples worldwide the truths of biblical Christianity, the contours of which have been shaped by the doctrines of sovereign grace, which gave birth to the Reformation and center upon the glorious redeeming work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the only Mediator between God and man.

Esmeraldas

Welcome to Esmeraldas!

One week ago we had our final retreat with the CCP outside of a city called Esmeraldas. We visit these little hotel like places(although they are nothing like hotels, think summer camp facilities with a Brazilian twist) to get outside the city and to encourage students to look at Christ and what He says about the big questions of life. This year we used chapters from More Than a Carpenter, Basic Christianity and The Reason for God. We read a chapter from each book and then divided into smaller groups and had discussion groups. Some of the questions discussed were:

Is it possible to separate the teachings of Jesus from the deity of Jesus?
Do you find it offensive that Jesus claimed to be God?
If the resurrection is real and historically accurate how does that change the way we look at Jesus?

The questions and the groups themselves are set up to get people thinking and talking about things they normally don't think about or feel comfortable talking about. This is one of my favorite weekends of the year because you can see the wheels turning in people's heads. For the first time many people understand the Gospel during this weekend and also understand the implications of what it means to believe the Gospel. And the implication is that your life will change. Pray for the students at PUC-Minas, pray for God to reveal Himself.

Discussion Group from the weekend.

Douglas, Bruno & Brian

Cross Cultural Project 2012

Photos from this years Cross Cultural Project.

Thursday Lunch

Johnny & Karel

The Kitchen during Thursday Lunch.

Happy people @ Lunch

Festa Junina

Cindi, Abbey, Paula

 

 

Festa Junina

Thank you for all your support and prayers.

Cross Cultural Project 2012

 We are three weeks into this years Cross-Cultural Project or CCP. The CCP is where we invite students from Campus Outreach franchises in the United States to come work with us here in Belo Horizonte. This year we have students from Troy University and Berry College, five students are working exclusively with us at PUC-Minas.

We have also moved closer to campus. A lot closer to campus. It takes about 20 seconds to get to campus, its across the street.

I will try to post pictures later.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support.

Brian

Pelé

Here is an interesting article on how we are all like Pelé.

Just like Pelé

Enjoy.

Moving?

Last Week,
 Abbey and I looked at 3 apartments near the campus of PUC-Minas. You might be asking your self Why? Didn't you just move into the apartment your in? Why yes, we have been in this apartment for one year, its nice, we like our neighbors (they are very helpful), the neighborhood is nice. Abbey can walk to the grocery store,bakery, etc.  So why move? I guess the simple answer is that we want students on the campus of PUC-Minas to meet Jesus. We live 6 miles from campus, 6 miles is not very far if you live in Peachtree City, GA or Birmingham, AL, but 6 miles is very long if you live in Belo Horizonte. On average my commute takes around 25-35 minutes one way. Sometimes it can take closer to an hour. I have also noticed that I have not adjusted to the driving like I've adjusted to the language. My capacity for language is growing, I can speak and listen to Portuguese longer than I could when I arrived but driving is tiring. Constant stopping and going with a manual is not fun, and when you get on the "highway" the large trucks are not fun to deal with either add in motorcycles passing by you on both sides and it puts Talladega to shame. If we move to the neighborhood PUC-Minas is in then I could walk to the campus, have students over for lunch, and have Bible studies in the house more frequently. I will keep you updated on this process, thanks for reading.

New Website!

Check out the new Campus Outreach website. All the Campus Outreach franchises can be found in one area, you can watch talks by John Piper and Matt Chandler. You can learn where Belo Horizonte, Brasil is on the map. Need I say more.

www.campusoutreach.org

Our Neighborhood-Cruzeiro

Cruzeiro- The name of our neighborhood.

Abbey and I went walking around the neighborhood and I took my camera. I thought some people might enjoy what our neighborhood looks like.

We live on Rua Artur Joviano

Quiet Street, right now at least

Local Gym

When the lights are blinking, get out of the way.

Crosswalk

Local private school

The place we buy our fruits & vegetables

The local grocery store.  Infamous for long lines and disgruntled customers

Our Apartment Building

The Excellent Adventures of Brian & Abbey-US Edition

We spent 2.5 weeks in February in the United States of America. We arrived on the 12th and left on the 29th. Our main objective for visiting was to attend the First Bible Church-Decatur, AL missions conference. We also visited with supporters and friends throughout our time.
From the 12th-20th we spent time in the Atlanta metro area, visiting supporters and friends throughout the area. The 20th-23rd we spent time in Birmingham,AL. We visited friends and supporters and then headed to Decatur,AL from the 23rd-26th for the missions conference. From the 26th-29th time was spent in Peachtree City, GA. Our time was tiring but good, we were running low on energy and then we ran into Decatur, AL and were very encouraged by First Bible and are still riding the high from the missions conference.

First Bible Decatur Missions Conference 2012

For those who care about FOOD:
FOOD                                                              Visited
Chick-fil-A                                                           8
Mexican                                                               3 ( i know, I need to pick it up in this area next time)
Sandwich Place (Firehouse, Panera)                   4 (I love a good sandwich)

We had a great time in the US and are excited to be back in Belo. Thanks to all who grabbed a breakfast, lunch or dinner with us. We enjoyed hearing about whats going on in your lives.

So long United States of America

We are flying out later today from Atlanta. Its been a very tiring 2.5 weeks only equaled by the encouragement we have received by so many supporters and friends. I wanted to post a video I showed at the Missions Conference last weekend for those who couldn't make it to the conference.
The video was made by Lee Cunningham, who is raising support to work with our church. Find out more about Lee here.

I will talk more about our time in the states when we get back to Brazil.

Do Work Son!

The World Cup is bringing a lot of opportunities to Brazil for a lot of different people in different social classes. Check this article out from ESPN about how prisoners are building World Cup stadiums in Brazil.

Labor Slaves, prisoners helping World Cup prep

Brazilians love Walt Disney (FACT)

Many Brazilians visit the United States every year. They like Florida because of the climate and because of Disney and the theme parks in Orlando. CNN released a story on what the Brazilians are bringing to the states: $. Which is good news in a sagging economy.  Click the link for the article.


Florida's tourism gets a boost from a Brazilian invasion

PDF

 

From the 25-29 we held our annual Projeto de Férias at a pousada not to far from Belo. We took the content from Campus Outreach's National Conference and we modified it to fit our needs.  The PDF consisted of talks from J.D. Greear, Matt Chandler, John Piper, and Trip Lee. We had small group discussions and personal bible study time. It was a great time for everybody involved. Non-Christians were challenged and young Christians were strengthened by the teaching and fellowship. Thank you for your prayers, God is moving in the lives of college students in Belo Horizonte.

You can access the talks here at the Campus Outreach National Conference website:
http://conationalconference.com/

Welcome to 2012

According to the Mayan calendar the world will end this year. So I better get to updating you on our lives here in the Brasil.

Christmas/Natal
Went well, it was our first Christmas away from our families but we enjoyed the relaxing vibe of Brazil during December. Not once did I hear someone tell me how many shopping days left until Christmas.  It was also different to hear screaming children at midnight on Christmas Eve or early Christmas morning.  The tradition in Brasil is to eat dinner around 10pm and then open presents around midnight and then to hang out until 2am or so.  We were in bed by 11pm but had a hard time sleeping due to the excited squeals of children.

New Years Eve/Reviellon
We attended a party sponsored by our church. It started at 10pm and did not end until the wee hours of the morning. We left around 1245am because we had to get up early the next day but we were the first ones to leave and everyone asked why we were leaving so early.  The nights festivities consisted of talking, eating, and watching some fireworks. It was good fun.

Yesterday we returned from a 5 day conference we had called PDF. And no it wasn't sponsored by Adobe. PDF= Projeto de Férias.  I will talk more about this later.