Affected by the Gospel

During this time of transition between ministries, we have been privileged to sit under the ministries God has entrusted to both Sharon and my families. Last week I heard my brother preach the word faithfully in the morning service and then had the same treat in the evening, this time by my father. My mind takes me back to a recent service in Joao Pessoa where we were pastoring. I asked the congregation to raise their hands if the majority of their close family was unregenerate. At least 90% raised their hands and my heart sunk. I have so much to be grateful for! The greatest of all treasures has changed the lives of the ones we love the most!

Last evening I was deeply affected once again by the gospel. We attended New Life Baptist Congregation, a congregation I had a part in helping get started with dad back in 2002. My brother and family have been helping there in the past year. The choir (a dozen out of 35 who attend) brought a series of 8 songs reflecting on the blood shed by Christ for our sins. After the music, my brother brought our attention to Mark 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. He focused his brief thoughts on the last three words of this verse. Ransom - price paid for our rescue, For - not so much "in benefit of" but rather "in the place of", Many - those who will repent and believe! The exposition combined with James passion and zeal for the lost impacted me greatly. I am so glad that we are moving south with such a strong message, as well as a brother and family who are committed to a God-centered proclomation of the gospel. May God glorify himself through His message and our faithfulness to proclaim it in São José.

Praying for a House

Just a quick update for the three of you who check our blog ... :) We arrived in Curitiba safely last week. Our car was waiting for us when we got here and our belongings are waiting in São Paulo for us to release them once we find a house to rent. Last week, David and I traveled to São José along with James and Christen to look for a house. We found one that would have been a good option, but someone else is ahead of us on the waiting list and we won't know until this weekend whether they got it or not. Even then, we still would have to be approved as renters -- a process which can take several days. The amount of documentation that realties here require just for renting is amazing and often frustrating.

Yesterday, David drove back to São José with his dad to keep looking for a house. There just aren't that many available and of the ones that are available, most of them are not good options for us due to size, location and/or price. However, we are confident that God has called us to serve Him in São José and that He has the right house for us there. We have to patiently wait on Him while we pray and continue looking for a house.

Here are some specific prayer requests:

* patience as we wait for God's clear direction
* quick approval as renters once we find a house
* safe arrival of our belongings
* contentment as we adjust to living in a new place
* opportunities with our neighbors to share the gospel and have home Bible studies


This is a picture of the house we are on the waiting list for, just so you can have an idea.

Thank you for your prayers for us.

Current Events

Hello All,

As of recent the Lord has encouraged our hearts in very visible ways. Unfortunately we are more inclined to notice and cling to these blessings, as if they were better simply because we notice them. May God help us realize that each day comes loaded with benefits from the Almighty!

First off - we are grateful to have been with family for Christmas, and for the opportunity to survey the city of Florianópolis in Southern Brazil. We drove up and down different neighborhoods, looked at real estate and rental options, and even slipped in a steak house. We believe God is directing us to a city of 200K called São José, just outside Florianópolis. We believe this to be an area deficient of gospel proclamation. May God direct and bless our endeavors!



Second, we had a wonderful week of teen camp last week. 85 teenagers showed up and I believe God visited us there! We encorporated a stronger emphasis on spiritual matters, and the difference was evident. For example - one cabin of guys showed up on Monday ready to party, but by Wednesday, they repented of their attitudes, and even shared the gospel with a lost soul in their cabin. The comment as I heard it was: "We have'nt acted like Christians yet this week, but we are committed to doing that now!" This kind of change of mind seems to be evidence of the Holy Spirit's work! I was very encouraged on Friday evening as one of the teens gave evidence of saving grace in his life with a wonderful testimony of genuine conversion! Praise God!

Last, but not least, we are grateful for a 21 year old named Israel. He attended our church all day on Sunday at his own will. After the service, one of our deacons began sharing Christ with him. After a while I was invited to the conversation, and so I too questioned his reasons for wanting to be saved. Israel made a profession, but I would ask for your prayers for him. He seemed to be looking for relief from his problems, vs. redemption from his sin! I was as clear as I know how and my visits to his house have already begun! May this be true repentence and genuine conversion, and may Israel follow Christ all the days of his life!

These are some of the joys. There are many more that are brewing and we will keep you posted! God bless you all and please do not forget us in your daily talks with our Sovereign Lord!

Happy 2009!

With all the Christmas activities at church and then getting ready for a three-week trip to visit family in South Brazil, I've neglected to keep up with our blog. This will be a quick summary of the month of December for us.

Since every Saturday night, the men, women and teens each have their own meeting, they each also had their own Christmas party. I spoke at the women's Christmas get-together and David spoke at the men's and teens' get-togethers.


This is a pretty typical cake to have at parties. Gotta love the huge chocolate shavings on top. So good!

One of the families at Valentina have a little beach house that they graciously make available to the church for special occasions. The men had their Christmas party there.

The teens went to the beach at night and had fun playing games in the sand.



I taught the kids a couple of new Christmas songs and had them present them at our Christmas service. The picture doesn't do it justice, but the kids all dressed up in costumes -- angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph, wise men -- and sang their songs. The first song started off by inviting children from different lands to come see the newborn Jesus, so some of the kids were dressed in outfits from different countries (hence the little boy wearing a sombrero in the manger scene) and they gathered around Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. It was a lot of work to put that short presentation together, but it was worth it and the kids did a great job.


The past couple of weeks we have been in Curitiba spending time with our families. We had some difficulty getting here since we forgot to take any kind of document for Gabriel to travel and then our flights kept getting delayed, but we made it only about 7 hours after we were originally supposed to have gotten in.

Gabriel is having fun playing with his cousins. He especially loves to follow Jeremiah around, who is less than a year older than Gabriel. I can see those two getting into a lot of trouble together ...



David and Gabriel model their Christmas presents -- their soccer team jersey. Note: I do not claim this team. I cheer for a team that's actually good. Haha.

My parents, Gabriel and I at the New Year's Eve service at the church where David grew up. The service started at 9 PM and David was the special speaker. Then we had supper around 10:30 and everyone stayed until past midnight to bring in the new year together.

So that's it in a nutshell. Tomorrow David heads to Florianopolis with his brother and Dad, so I'm guessing our next blog will be about his trip. Happy New Year from the Taylors in Brazil!

Thanksgiving in Brazil

Because Thanksgiving Day is not a recognized holiday here in Brazil, we had a very untraditional day. We left on Tuesday of last week to go to the little beach town of Pipa with the Reiner family for a couple days of camping.

Our "tent"

Exploring the campground with Daddy

Different ...

The place we stayed at was beautiful and unique and we had fun spending time at the beach, exploring our campground and walking down the streets of Pipa at night.

Gabriel loves playing at the beach

Beautiful scenery

In Pipa one night

We walked by this torch and Gabriel said "ot, ot". I took a picture because it's the first word he has said without being prompted.

We celebrated Thanksgiving Day by eating some great turkey sandwiches at a bakery in town. I'm not being facetious -- these were beautiful, Panera Bread quality sandwiches and that is hard to find here in Brazil.

We headed home that afternoon on what was supposed to be a two-hour trip. But our car began to overheat and no matter how much water David put in the radiator, it would quickly leak out and the car would overheat again. After several stops, we finally found a mechanic who said he could temporarily fix the problem so that we could at least get home that night. By this time, it was dark and we were getting hungry and Gabriel was getting impatient. To add to the problems, we hardly had any cash on us and a lot of places here still don't take credit cards. We were literally looking for change under the car seats and in our pockets to get enough to pay our mechanic and get some food to eat at the mechanic's mom's little eatery beside his shop. Thankfully, food and car repairs are much cheaper here in Brazil than in the States.

On our way home ... at one point we had to cross a river and this guy rowed us across

As I sat at the table eating rice and beans and waiting for the car to be fixed, I couldn't help but think of family and friends in the States and miss them a bit more than usual. Perhaps because it was supposed to be a special holiday, I was feeling a little sad that we were at that place and in that situation. I had to tell myself that I was being given the opportunity to put the Thanksgiving spirit into practice that evening and that I have so much to be thankful for.

We finally made it home that night almost seven hours after we left Pipa. But we made it home safely and Gabriel fell asleep for most of the trip and our car is now repaired.