We seek to invest in each of our national church planters among the urban poor by providing them with a basic pastor library.  In addition, we provide ongoing resources periodically to help continue their spiritual growth.  The initial library costs $150 with additional books ranging from $15 to $65.  For most of our church planters these are the only resource materials they have.


     Recently we were able to provide our church planters with two book written by Theologian and Missiologist Rene Padilla.  These books will help equip them to lead their churches in caring for their communities spiritually and physically.  Will you help us continue to invest in the lives of national church planters among the urban poor?  You can give online below or send your tax deductible gift to Living Bread Ministries, 154 Lisa Place, Lynchburg VA 24502.

     In March of this year we met a man named Daniel.  He is an addict who sniffs paint thinner to get high.  He is in complete bondage to his addiction and it is destroying his life and his body.  Pastor Magioli led Daniel to the Lord and since then Daniel has come to see his addiction and has asked for help.  In faith our church plant in Vila Nova has helped Daniel get into a evangelical drug rehab center that has a very good record of success.  The church bought his toiletries, bedding, and collected clothes for him.  They are also giving financially to cover the cost of his rehab.  We are looking for partners to provide $1000 to cover the remaining cost of his treatment for 6 months.


Will help the church care for this young man?  During his time in treatment he will spend several hours a day in Bible classes and ministry training so that when he leaves he will be better equipped to minister as a member of Igreja Batista Viva.

     They provide food baskets for families.  They do not meet all of the needs, but they provide enough to keep the people from eating from the garbage to survive.  They also provide fellowship meals at the churches and breakfast before Sunday school.  In addition, they deliver food to the elderly and handicapped members of the churches and community.  Finally, they try and keep a pantry of food available to meet emergency needs that arise.

     This partnership between Living Bread and our church plants is making a great impact among the poor and needy in southern Brazil.  Lives are being changed as the church is faithful to its mission of witnessing to the gospel of the kingdom of God in both word and deed.  To date we have been funding these ministries from our general budget, but need to find sponsors to continue this important work.

     Will you consider giving at least $20 per month or making a special investment of $240 to help our church plants continue to care for the poor and needy in southern Brazil?  For a special gift please click below.  If you are able to give monthly please contact us at info@livingbread.org or (434) 401-1267.

     We are excited about all the Lord is doing with our church planting ministry among the very poor in South America.  Please take a few moments to read our June - August newsletter and learn about our two new church plants, as well as updates on how the Lord is blessing our  existing works.  There is also a wonderful testimony of grace and forgiveness.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

    A few weeks ago when we were in Brazil the pastor of the church plant in Capao da Canoa was sharing about the difficulty and struggles he was having in the community.  In Brazil the very poor are often preyed upon by peddlers of the prosperity gospel.  Unfortunately, the people there often lump all evangelicals into that camp and as a result Pastor Lindomar was being kept at arms length by the people in his community.  He was heart broken over the situation and asked us to be in prayer.


     Yesterday, we received word from him of how the Lord was answering prayer.  Just in the past few weeks he has been able to begin Bible studies in five different homes.  The average attendance to Sunday worship services has grown to twenty.  He has two new believers who are being discipled for baptism and church membership.  Finally, this week they are having a scavenger hunt in the community.  It will culminate on Saturday night where they will share a meal and he will explain the significance of Easter and provide a small gift for the children.

     Pastor Lindomar and his wife Marilu are so happy to be a part of expanding the Kingdom of God in their community.  The sadness from several weeks ago has been replaced with a renewed joy and trust in the Lord.  Please pray for them as church planting among the poor and needy is very hard and discouragement is a constant struggle.

     One of our church plants among the poor and needy in Porto Alegre, Brazil is in the process of building a new kitchen and three classrooms for the children of the church.  They own their facility and are trying to accommodate the large number of children attending.  They are building the kitchen to facilitate the various feeding programs they offer to the hungry members and the community.  We have waited to see if they could complete the building project solely with resources from Brazil and specifically the church.


     They have given sacrificially of their resources and other churches in Brazil have helped.  In addition, qualified men from the church are doing the work and using the opportunity to train some of the young men in construction.  Unfortunately, having exhausted their resources, they have come to a stopping point.  They lack $6500 to finish the project.  We would like to be an encouragement to them by helping with as much of the remaining amount as possible.  You can help by making a donation below or sending your tax deductible gift to Living Bread Ministries, 154 Lisa Pl, Lynchburg VA 24502.  Thank you for your help in equipping this church to continue to care for its members and community.

     A couple of weeks ago in a Brazilian slum we witnessed one of the most powerful testimonies of forgiveness and grace we have ever seen.  While leading a short term mission team ministering among our church plants in Porto Alegre, Brazil we got word of a terrible situation.  A young boy from the church plant in Vila Safira had been hit by a motorcycle driven by a local drug dealer.  He was not killed, but had some rather serious injuries to his mouth and face.

     The boys had placed four large rocks in the street to use as soccer goals, like using cones.  Apparently, the drug dealer was angry because the boys left the rocks in the street and it was assumed that he hit the little boy on purpose as retribution.  Needless to say the scene got out of control.  When the boy's family began to confront the drug dealer his friends brought out guns.  It left the community in a very volatile situation.


     On our last day in Brazil we were listening to a devotion led by the pastor of the church plant in Vila Safira.  A young man and his girlfriend came and quietly stood in the doorway of the little chapel.  When the devotion was over the pastor greeted them and invited them inside.  He then told us that the man was the person driving the motorcycle and it was his first time to ever visit the church.

     His girlfriend began to weep as they shared how heartbroken they were over the situation and they began to ask for forgiveness.  Immediately, the mother of the little boy who had been hit went to them and began to weep and tightly hug the young woman.  The pastor hugged the young man and shared the Gospel of grace with them both.  The little boy who had been hit came in and told them that he forgave them and hugged them. 

     That young drug dealer and his girlfriend experienced something they had never imagined.  They encountered people who have been transformed by the love of God who demonstrated that same love and grace to them.  It was such a sweet time.  In fact the young couple spent the rest of the morning with us.  I fully expect that in the future this young couple will be gloriously saved and will join the body of Christ in transforming Vila Safira for the glory of God.

     We want to thank everyone who gave to sponsor the youth for camp this year.  Through the generosity of our partners we were able to send 24 youth to camp.  They came from each of our church plants and it was a great time for them to build friendships which we hope will lead to these churches ministering together in the future.


     Two of the young boys from the church plant in Vila Safira came to know the Lord.  One of them is struggling with the imprisonment of his mother for drug dealing.  It is comforting to know that now he will have the Lord Jesus and the body of Christ in Vila Safira to care for him as he is left in a difficult situation.

     If you would like to sponsor a child for camp in the future you can give by clicking the link below.  Your sponsorship will be a great blessing in their lives.

     I had a great day in Brazil.  I arrived in Porto Alegre, at 7:00 AM and hit the ground running.  I met with a potential church planter today.  He has been helping Pastor Magioli for several weeks and would like to be a church planter for LBM.  We talked and spent the day with Pastor Magioli and another one of our church planters.  We visited two poor communities that are in need of a church plant.  We are praying and will be making a decision about all of this soon.  Please pray with us and also that the Lord would raise up one or more sponsors to fund this church plant.  It will be our 7th since beginning LBM in early 2004.

                     

                            Me, Pastor Magioli, and Ubirata (church planter candidate)

     After lunch I went with Pastor Magioli to see the work they are doing at his church.  They are building a children's building.  Thus far all of the funds have been raised in Brazil, either among the congregation or other churches and members are doing the work.  They may end up needing some help from us, but we will see how the Lord provides.  If needed we will need to raise the money.

     Tomorrow I will visit our church plant in Vila Safira where we bought land a few months ago.  We are currently raising $35,000 to build the church a basic building.  I am looking forward to seeing the land and the vision for how they will use the building to minister to the community through a feeding program and other ministries.

     Our newsletter was mailed today and I am including a link here.  Please take a few minutes to read it and pray for us.  If you would like to help with any of these needs please let me know.

     Christmas is quickly approaching.  On behalf of everyone at Living Bread, including our staff and pastors in Brazil we hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed 2011.  This has been a great year for us.  The Lord has blessed in so many ways and we are very grateful.

     By God's grace we have seen our church plants in Brazil grow spiritually and numerically.  Several couples have gotten married and are raising their children in Christ exalting homes.  Widows and orphans are being cared for by the various church plants and their members.  In addition, we launched our 6th church plant and purchased property for one of our existing churches.  Of course, every church continues to operate feeding and clothing ministries as well as provide medicine and school supplies.  In fact, over 26,000 lbs of food was distributed in 2010.

     We have seen many doors for partnerships open this year.  I was able to share about LBM in churches in 9 states in 2010.  Lord willing we will see partnerships evolve from these visits.  More exciting are the partnerships we have built in Brazil.  Individuals and churches there are now providing over 15% of our monthly budget in Brazil. 

     I am very excited about 2011.  We are actively looking for pastors to begin new church plants; please commit this to prayer as we plan to launch a minimum of 2 churches next year.  Also, we are planning for 2 short term mission teams to work with us in southern Brazil.  We have an opportunity to present a paper at the regional EMS meeting in March, which should be great exposure for LBM and will allow us to potentially influence the strategy of other missionaries.  Finally, we are already receiving invitations to share about church planting among the poor and needy with churches in the US and Brazil in 2011.

     Thank you all for your prayers and support over the past year.  LBM is maturing into an established ministry that is not only planting churches among the poor, but is being used by God to help stimulate a church planting movement among the poor in Brazil and beyond.  We are grateful for your role in building this ministry for the glory of Jesus.