José Carlos Pezini (Mission Staff) - December 2014 Update
Portuguese-Language Ministries Coordinator
Dear Brothers, Sisters and Friends in Christ,
Merry Christmas to you all. I pray that God brings much joy to your heart during this Advent season.
As this year comes to an end, I would like to thank you for your love, prayers and support for our ministry. This year was a blessing. God is multiplying our ministry since we returned to Brazil.
I am involved in training and equipping church planting pastors as well as advising them through retreats and personal mentoring. I reached about one hundred pastors this year through retreats. With personal mentoring I advised 40 pastors with two Skype conversations per month and two retreats.
Even though I will have a three-day seminar to train new mentors in February of next year I already have some pastors who are mentoring others under my care:
Rev. Matheus Abrahão in Porto Alegre, RS; Rev. Fernando Lyra in Passo Fundo RS; Rev. Mario de Góis in São José do Rio Preto SP; Rev. Casso Mendonça in Campinas SP; Rev. Erivaldo Moura in Campinas SP; Rev. Eleazar Rodrigues in Itapetininga SP; Rev. Helio Paulo in Rio de Janeiro RJ; Rev. Marcio Tenponi Rio de Janeiro, RJ; and Rev, Fabio Quintanilha in Rio de Janeiro RJ. As you can see, God surprises us every day by opening doors that we think are more than we can handle.
In our last mentoring retreat this year we decided to study the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero. It was an amazing decision because we experienced brokenness such that I have never seen before. God brought healing. Many pastors cried like babies as they opened their hearts and started talking about their weaknesses and needs. Below you can read the testimony of Rev. Fabio Quintanilha:
A Testimony from Rev. Fabio Quintanilha
November 2014
It was just a year ago that I was here in this very place. I was anxious, confused, sad, and downtrodden. My prayer for help was the one the psalmist affirms in Psalm 40.
Today, exactly one year later, my life has changed. I do not feel anxious or sad. I feel restored. The Lord drew me from a muddy pit and set me upon a rock. He made my ways firm and put a new song on my lips. I saw in this place a place of restoration. There are still many who need to be restored, and I know that the Lord will continue working in my heart.
Thank you, God, for your kindness and for using my brothers to bless my life. My prayer for today:
Father, today, November 5th, at the end of this marvelous retreat, I feel myself restored. I already feel that the wounds of my heart are not aching as they had been. They are only a memory now, and I am making a new beginning.
As David prayed asking for the restoration of your joy, I also prayed and the Lord responded. I return home to my wife and children a new man.
My emotions are settled. I feel myself pardoned, and I find myself firm in the love of the Lord. Therefore, I do not need to do anything for the Lord to love me. Thank you,
Thank you for supporting this ministry that is changing lives!
Amount needed in 2015
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