Welcome to Brazilian Outreach!

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Here are some of the latest things going on in our lives and ministry. These articles and more can be read in our Ministry Blog. (There is a Ministry Blog link in the lefthand menu that can be accessed from any page.)

Anniversary Month Starts Off with Baptism

May is always anniversary month at IBABI. This year we celebrated eight years since senior pastor Joel started the church with only eleven people in a garage. As with most anniversary months, this month will have a special sermon series, a musical (at the end of the month), special events, and a baptismal service.

This year we baptized eight people, each with their own special story.

Luis Gustavo and his wife, Denise, were saved as a result of friends inviting them to attend services at IBABI.

Two young men, Juliano and Henrique, had no prior contact with the church, but were invited to this year's youth camp, and God used that to radically change their lives. Our youth group had been faltering since our youth pastor and his wife left to start preparing to be missionaries in Africa. The salvation of these young men, and their presence has infused new life into in the youth group.

I had the privilege of baptizing the remaining four: Libinha, Eliane and their two teen-age sons. They are fruit of our fellowship groups. When we started hosting a group in our home, we inherited a young couple, Mauricio and Debora. He is a skilled musician, she is a wedding coordinator. They began inviting their friends, Libinha and Eliane (also musicians) to church and to our group. Before long, this family was attending both very faithfully. It has been awesome to watch them grow and understand that at IBABI they weren't being offered another religion, but were being invited to accept Jesus Christ by grace, through faith, and to develop a close relationship with God. It was great to see them come to know Him and take this step of being baptized.

In typical Baptist fashion, we celebrated the event with food; in typical Brazilian fashion, it was churrasco—the Brazilian term for steaks and sausages cooked over an open fire. More than fifteen friends and family members of the candidates were there, witnessing as these men and women professed their faith in Christ, and publicly declared this faith through baptism. At night, two more couples joined the church by letter. Both of these couples are already finding ministries in which to serve at IBABI.

What a great day!

Second "Café Metamorfose"

We have had a few rocky months in our Children's Ministry—Ann Janel has been so sick with this pregnancy, and some key people have decided to step down from their teams. Still, we held our second team breakfast, and the response shows that the ministry is growing stronger!

"Small Fry's" Ultrasound

Just a little video I put together from our baby's first ultrasound today. The images make him/her seem huge, but at the time of the ultrasound, he/she wasn't any longer than a Hot Wheels car (6.5 cm). Isn't God amazing?