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