Living Bread Ministries
Planting Churches Among the Desperately Poor
New Church Plant is Experiencing Growth
Pastor Lindomar and Marilu visiting the community
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.
Growing Church Needs Help Caring for the Community
Progress of the building project
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.
Love Wins - A Testimony of Grace and Forgiveness
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.
Youth Camp Update
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.
Update From Brazil
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.
Merry Christmas!
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.
Sponsor a Teen for Youth Camp!
Instead, we require that every student who wants to go to camp passes the school year. Additionally, they must participate in local fund raising efforts with their churches. Granted, the amount of money they are able to raise is minuscule, but it does teach them the satisfaction of working toward a goal.
Another blessing about camp is that we send the youth from all of our churches to the same camp at the same time. This is exciting because they are the future leaders of their churches and communities. At camp they build friendships that will hopefully lead to strong bonds between the church plants.
Are you able to help send one of our youth to camp? The cost is $90 per person. Your help with a full or partial sponsorship will be a blessing for them and will help us train future leaders.
Social Justice in the Old Testament
Social Justice has become a hot topic in the media recently. A quick online search will produce a myriad of definitions; which are based on one's view of politics, religion, and philosophy.The current main stream interpretation of social justice is a forced redistribution of wealth, similar to socialist and communist programs.
Social justice is however, discussed very clearly in the Bible. Chapter 58 of the book of Isaiah refers to it as part of true religion and love for God: "I tell you what it really means to worship the Lord. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused! Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don't turn away your relatives" (v 6-7). Chapter 59 clearly condemns social injustice: "All you think about is sin; you leave ruin and destruction wherever you go. You don't know how to live in peace or to bear with others. The roads you make are crooked; your followers cannot find peace" (v 7b-8).
There are over 2,100 verses of Scripture dealing with poverty and justice. The Lord God loves the poor and He blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. Caring for the poor and needy are conditions of our blessings. Isaiah chapter 58 verses 9-14 gives a list of "if…then" statements from the Lord, making clear the types of religious practices that are pleasing to Him and worthy of His blessing.
If the church, the body of Christ, is obedient to do what Scripture teaches about caring for the poor and needy, then there will not be a need for government agencies and other humanitarian agencies (good as they may be) to care for them. God calls us to humble ourselves and "share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house…" (Isa 58:5, 7). In his commentary on the book of Isaiah, John Calvin states that "uprightness and righteousness are divided into two parts; first, that we should injure nobody; and secondly, that we should bestow our wealth and abundance on the poor and needy. And these two ought to be joined together…."¹
It is clear from Scripture that social justice is not about a forced redistribution of wealth. It is about loving God and your neighbor as yourself. It is about living as citizens of the Kingdom of God,surrendered to the lordship of Christ, with a passion to see God's Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
For more content from Barbara Hubbard visit her blog Walking with the Poor.
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¹ John Calvin, Commentary On The Book of The Prophet Isaiah, vol. 8
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2009), 233.
Land Dedication in Vila Safira
Children from Vila Safira Singing Praise
It is a great blessing for the church to have this property. They have cleaned it up and fenced it in on their own. Now they are gathering for worship at the property regularly.
To learn more about LBM and read testimonies of God's grace among the poor and needy check out our current newsletter.
A Glimpse of the Kingdom
Jussania was an alcoholic who lives in Vila Safira. After beginning a church plant there 18 months ago Pastor Jocelito started visiting her. Jocelito has a heart for addicts as he once was one. He was especially drawn to Jussania because she was alone. Her addiction had lead to her estrangement from her family and neighbors. This is one of the primary difficulties of poverty, broken relationships.
Jussania
Imagine you are an aging widow in a majority world slum. Your addiction has destroyed years of your life. Your behavior has resulted in everyone turning their backs on you. You can’t work because of the alcohol, but in reality you have no education, can’t read, and have no marketable skills; all of which contributed to your hopelessness and eventual alcohol addiction to begin with. With no Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, etc. your situation would become progressively more drastic as you aged and were unable to even collect recyclables for income.
As a result of the gospel witness of Pastor Jocelito and the church plant, through both word and deed, Jussania has been reconciled to God. As a result she has received victory over her addiction. She is now part of a kingdom community and has been reconciled with her family. This is a huge blessing for a widow in a majority world slum.
Since she is close to retirement age and has little hope of finding employment the church has decided to pay (out of their own resources) into the Brazilian version of Social Security for her. While this will not provide a huge income it will allow her to draw a small pension that should keep her from going hungry. In addition, when the time comes, her children are now willing to take her in and help care for her.
This is a great illustration of how making disciples transforms communities. Jussania has repented of her sin and trusted in Christ. The personal transformation resulting from being reconciled to God has led to reconciliation to her children and neighbors. It has also lead to her entrance into a local body of believers that is being taught to obey all that Christ has commanded. As a result of this they are reaching out to the widows among them and helping to care for them, but this is not a one sided equation. Jussania is now faithfully serving in the church. Every week she helps to prepare the bread they serve to the children on Sunday mornings. She also helps care for other women and children in the church.
Church planting in essential among all people groups especially the poor and needy. The type of transformation we see above cannot be accomplished by government or humanitarian work alone. It can only be done by the grace of God through the advancement of the Kingdom of God. This is primarily the work of the local church.
