Powerful Worship and Clinic Preparations

This morning, our team was up bright and early to eat breakfast at 6:15 Rio Time (5:15 Eastern Time). It wasn’t but just a few minutes later that we were loading our bus with items for every area of our clinic. We left at 7:30 Rio time for an hour long drive to the Church on the Solid Ground in the favela of Santissimo, which is on the Western Side of the Rio de Janeiro metro area. Singing praise songs to the Lord,  our team pulled into the favela at 8:30 Rio Time, and we were greeted by many loving people from the church.

After our team spent some time loading equipment and supplies and getting it in place all around the church campus, we began to enjoy the church’s Praise Team leading us in worship. We were overwhelmed with God’s presence as we sang “Shout to The Lord ” in Portuguese and English at the same time together! Pastor Pedro is not just a great preacher and pastor, he is a gifted singer and he does a great job leading his church in worship.  He has been serving at his current church for a little over two years, and is leading churches because of the time and love that Ray and Sharon Fairchild invested in him during their time in Rio as IMB Missionaries. Pastor Pedro shared that since he came to this church, he has been praying for a mission team to come and partner with him to share Jesus with the people of Santissimo, and this upcoming week is a tremendous answer to his prayers.  He encouraged Greg Boston to come and pray for the week of clinic, and for Pastor Scott before he brought the sermon for the morning.

Scott shared from Acts 2:42-47, about how God desires to fill followers of Christ all over the world with His power and use us to build His Kingdom. The early church was made up of ordinary people like you and me, but when they sought God’s cleansing in their lives and cried out honestly to Him in prayer to use them, God’s presence and power fell down from heaven in their worship. As they worshiped Jesus fervently, they grew closer to Him than ever before – even to the point of sharing their possessions when needed. This is the kind of fellowship that is sorely lacking in too many churches today, but God can bring it quickly when His people fall in love with Jesus again.  Finally, our team and our new friends in church loudly said Amen when Scott shared the fruit of a church that is in love with Jesus – “And The Lord added to them daily those who were being saved.” (Verse 47). It is our desire, and it should be our desire as churches, that we are Kingdom-growing churches. Churches that are in love with Jesus are sharing Jesus and seeing people saved.  This should be the driving passion that we have every day, not just when we are on mission trips away from home.

Scott’s message led into a time of response and prayer.  The Mission Team and Church gathered around a gentleman who has been waiting for life-saving surgery. Because of the healthcare system in Brazil, he has had to wait now for over two years. We surrounded him and asked God to either heal him supernaturally or provide a way for him to get the surgery he needs. We also gathered together around the altar and cried out for the lost people of Santissimo. We begged God to use our team this week. We thanked God for all the people praying for us at home. As we said “Amen,” we knew we had experienced God’s presence today.  We also had a reassurance inside us from the Holy Spirit that God is with us and He is going to protect us and empower us this week.  We were surprised by the church with a time of refreshments and fellowship after church and enjoyed that before we left for the day.

This afternoon, we went shopping at a hippie feira (flea market), and then we had a time of training and preparation for our clinic. Sharon, Greg, and Jerry showed us how the clinic would work and then we practiced sharing the Gospel together. We are looking forward to what God will do this week!

Prayer partners, please intercede for us to have a good night’s rest. It is crucial that we get some sleep tonight because we are about to have four very long days of hard work. Also, please pray for us to have a smooth setup tomorrow morning, and for God to draw many, many people to us so that we can share His love to them and tell them about Jesus.  Thank you for being our prayer warriors and for all the ways you are supporting us!  By praying for us, you are enabling the Gospel to be shared with every soul we encounter, and you are a part of every life that will be brought to Christ this week.  God bless you all!

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