Living Bread Ministries

Help Us Purchase a Building

Patrick — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:07:57 GMT

Our church plant in Capão da Canoa has been growing and recently moved into a new location. We have been renting the building but the owner recently approached the church offering to sell it because he is in financial hardship. We would like to help this young church purchase the building and free them from the monthly rent expenses. This will go a long way in helping this needy congregation be able to sustain themselves. It will also free up the funds currently going toward rent to be used for ministry in the community.

Help us purchase this building for the church in Capão da Canoa

Will you help us purchase this location for $10,000? It will help to permanently establish this local church inside this very poor community. If they are unable to secure this building they will be forced to move for the second time in three years and many in the church may not be within walking distance of the next facility.

For more information or to mail a donation contact us.

Address Change

Patrick — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:20:42 GMT

We recently relocated our office. Please note our new address below.

Living Bread Ministries
128 Chesterfield Rd
Lynchburg, VA 24502

Please use this address for all correspondence as well as donations.

Our Newest Church Planter

Patrick — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:07:00 GMT

Our staff of church planters in Brazil continues to expand. We have recently called Alexsandro to lead the work in Vila Safira. He will be joined by his wife Luciane, and their children Otavio (15), Eduarda (8), and Samuel (3). Please pray for them as they begin working in the most dangerous slum in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Pastor Alexsandro and Family

Will you partner will Alexsandro and his family to lead the church in Vila Safira and continue to minister to the needy in that community? We need $550 per month to support this family as they work to transform Vila Safira for the glory of Christ.

Training Future Worship Leaders

Patrick — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:04:00 GMT

Pastor Artenio is providing free music lessons at our church plant in Torres, in southern Brazil. Of course, his desire is to build relationships with young people and lead them to the Lord. Beyond this, he is in faith training what will become the praise team in the church. In order for there to be a worship team he will lead them to the Lord and teach them how to play.

Pr. Artenio Teaching Guitar Lessons

Students Performing During Easter Worship Service

Will join us in planting the church in Torres? We need to raise $900 per month to fully fund this work. Your investment will help ensure our ability to continue this work.

The Lord is Moving in Torres

Patrick — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:12:34 GMT

The Lord has been blessing our church plant in the city of Torres. This is our most recent church plant among the urban poor in southern Brazil. Pastor Artenio and his family moved there in February and are already seeing much fruit form the work. The church is making an impact in the community.

The young church is caring for several people and families. They are helping a single woman care for her elderly father. He is 81 and has cancer. He recently had a stroke and is bedridden. He was living with his son, but was being abused by him. Fatima took her father in, but has no resources to care for him. Therefore, the church has come alongside her and is providing food and medications. Also, Pr. Artenio is helping her deal with the government bureaucracy to ensure her Dad continues to receive his medicine.

Young Mother with a Food Kit

       The church is helping a young mother of two by providing some basic food. This young woman makes a living by combing through the garbage collecting paper to recycle. She does not earn nearly enough to care for herself much less her children. Unfortunately, she is one of many who live this way.

       The church is also caring for an elderly widow who has dementia and lives alone. They are visiting her and providing some basic food. They have begun helping a young family who is having medical issues due to complications with pregnancy. The church is providing food and medicine for them as well.

       Each of these cases is a testimony to the importance of planting mission minded churches among the poor and needy. When the church is established and people are discipled they begin to care for their community. The church is made up of poor and needy people but in partnership with LBM they are equipped to do the work of the ministry themselves.

Will you join us in planting this church? We need to raise $900 per month to fully fund this work. The ministries listed above are included in this sum.

Update on New Image and Logo

Patrick — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:59:54 GMT

       As we shared the other day we are updating our image and logo. The process is going well. We have updated our facebook page and our Twitter profile. We think they look great. What do you think?

       Our blog and website will be merged into one site which will be much nicer as it will bring all of our content to one web address. However, this means you will need to resubscribe to the blog feed or via email. We will try and send out a reminder before the change takes place but you can check periodically at www.livingbread.org to see when the new site goes live.

       Thank you for your patience during this time.

New Logo Unveiled

Patrick — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:34:44 GMT

As the ministry has grown and our work has begun to expand we have been reevaluating our logo and identity. We want to keep things simple but at the same time better communicate who we are. Over the next several weeks we will be making this transition. Below is a picture of our new logo. We will be updating our website, newsletter, etc. to reflect this new look. With this transition you may need to resubscribe to the blog, but we will let you know for sure when that time comes.

While our image may be getting a make over, our vision and mission remain the same. With your continued prayers and support we will continue to plant church among the desperately poor.

Theological Article Published

Patrick — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Our Founder and President has an article in the current issue of the online journal at globalmissiology.org. Patrick discusses the imago dei and it's implications on the mission of the church. With a functional understanding of the image of God he puts forth a clear argument that supports a comprehensive view of mission. Check out the article and let us know what you think.

The Image of God and Mission

Interview with Our Founder and President

Patrick — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:07:06 GMT

This past week our Founder and President was interviewed at Living Word Baptist Church in Forest, VA. Patrick Hubbard discussed his testimony, the work of Living Bread Ministries, and philosophy of mission among other things. If you would like to learn more please contact us.

Transportation Need

Patrick — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:09:40 GMT

Our friends at Temple Baptist Church in Madison Heights, VA have adopted LBM as their annual mission project in April. They have been faithful monthly partners with us since the early days of beginning our work. In April they will be raising support to help us meet a special need in Brazil; the need for transportation.

Our work in southern Brazil has expanded numerically and geographically. We have planted eight churches in the southern region. Our focus initially has been on the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre. However, we have begun expanding outward with two of our most recent church plants between 1 ½ and 2 hours from the city. With this geographic expansion, it has become increasingly difficult for our Brazilian leadership to continue oversight and mentorship of our church planters.

Our partners at Temple are assisting with this by helping us provide a car for our leadership in Brazil. This will help them to better visit each church plant and maintain the mentor relationships with the church planters. It will also provide transportation for the Hubbard family when they are in Brazil, as well as a secondary means of transportation for short term mission teams. As you can see this will be a huge blessing on several levels.

The goal for this project is $18,000 which will cover the cost of the car, as well as the taxes, insurance, permits, etc. Please join us in praying that the Lord would provide these funds. If you would like to join the body of Christ at Temple Baptist to contribute to this need, you may do so below. Thank you for your prayers and consideration.

Our Philosophy of Partnership

Patrick — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:09:18 GMT

      Partnership is a value that we hold in high regard. We believe strongly in cultivating interdependent partnerships as we seek to answer the Lord's calling upon Living Bread. What are interdependent partnerships? Simply put, these are partnerships where each party invests from the resources it has for the mutual benefit of all parties. In other words, we strive for partnerships that function like the body of Christ.

       This is how we interact with the national pastors and communities we are working among. Our desire is to come alongside needy pastors and communities and equip them to minister to their community. We contribute expertise and financial resources, while they contribute their local and cultural expertise, hard work, and financial resources based on what they have. Together we function as one body, each sacrificially giving from what we have to plant churches among the urban poor.

       This same principle of interdependence also marks our partnerships with our individual donors and local churches. Our desire is to invest in one another for the betterment of everyone involved. We do this by working to keep our donors informed on all aspects of the work. We also strive to be transparent at all times, as well as being accessible to answer questions. We believe true interdependent partnerships require vulnerability.

       We know that this type of relationship means we must invest in our partners. For this reason we are always eager to visit and cast the vision for LBM, or give personal updates on the work, regardless of church size or contribution amount. We also provide teaching and education on mission, partner building, and effective short term missions.

       If this philosophy of partnership resonates with you, and you would like to learn more, please contact us. For a more detailed understanding of interdependent partnerships check out the case study on our work found in the Great Commission Research Journal.

First Worship Service in Torres

Patrick — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:04:43 GMT

After several months of evangelism, in February we launched our church plant in the city of Torres in southern Brazil. This is the eighth church we have planted among the urban poor in this region. These churches have been planted in partnership with and under the oversight of the Brazilian led organization we founded.

Pastor Magioli (Director of MPV) with Pr. Artenio and His Family

Pastor Artenio and his family have settled into the community and have been building relationships. They are already helping to care for some elderly widows and leading two home Bible studies. Last week the church held its first official worship service. The church has gained a foothold in this community and, by the grace of God, will see it transformed for the glory of Christ.

We need ministry partners to help us fund this new work that has been started in faith. Will you help provide a portion of the $900 per month needed to fully fund this church plant? For individual gifts click below. If you would like to give monthly contact us.

Please follow these links to see pictures of the community and the inaugural worship service.

Partnering with an Evangelical Drug Rehab Center

Patrick — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:31:42 GMT

We are adding a new phase to our work in southern Brazil. With our mission of planting churches among the very poor we encounter many people who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, and huffing glue and paint thinner. These addictions wreak havoc on lives, families, and communities. Our pastors do their best to work with these addicts and their families, but often need help. For this reason we are entering into a strategic partnership with a local evangelical rehab center. We know this particular ministry is very effective because one of our pastors graduated from it many years ago and is now planting a church in the very community where he was a homeless crack addict.

Pastor Magioli with Daniel (a man from the community he is church planting in).
Daniel has been at the rehab center for two months.

     The program is led by Pastor Quirino and is completely faith based. They get no support from the government or denominations. It is a labor of love for Pastor Quirino and his wife; as they have dedicated their lives and personal resources to the work.

     The program is simple yet profound. The residents, currently over 70 men women and children, spend their time working around the compound and studying God's word. By the power of the Spirit people are being set free from their addictions. As you might imagine feeding 70 people three meals a day can be costly. We will be helping with that cost by providing $200 per month.

     As part of our partnership our church planters will be teaching classes at the rehab center. Pastor Jocelito is currently teaching a class on Urban Mission. Our hope is that the people in treatment will come to know the Lord and be discipled, so that we will be able to plug them into our church plants when they leave the program. This will provide a level of accountability and will also help our churches minister to others in the community. We currently have two men from our church plants in the program.

     Will you help provide the $200 a month to fund this partnership? To see pictures from the work visit our photo site. For individual gifts use the Donate button below. To give monthly please contact us.

Interdependent Church Planting Among the Urban Poor

Patrick — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:02:45 GMT

Recently, the Great Commission Research Journal published a case study on our work entitled Interdependent Church Planting Among the Urban Poor. This case study details the history of our ministry and the process that we have undertaken to build healthy interdependent partnerships with national leaders in Brazil. It's also a narrative of the Hubbard family's journey of beginning LBM from scratch in early 2004. We hope the article will be beneficial for missionaries and church planters alike.

Delivered From Drug Trafficking

Patrick — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:57:33 GMT

     The leadership of our church plant in Capao da Canoa has been reaching their community through home visitations. The people are very distrustful of the church because they are routinely preyed upon by prosperity heretics that make promises and take their money. In light of this our church members have been visiting homes and simply praying for people.

   Recently, they built a relationship with Irene. After praying with her for a couple of weeks she expressed a desire to know Jesus. They were able to immediately plug her into a home group nearby. At the home group the Lord broke her and she began confessing her sins. She shared that she was actually one of the local drug traffickers. She was being helped by her adolescent son.

       Irene said she was tired of selling drugs and asked God to free her from the life she was living. She cried out to the Lord in faith and abandoned her drug dealing. This is huge in normal circumstances, but for a poor woman living in a majority world slum it meant leaving her livelihood with no hope of a replacement. Two days later the police arrived at her house on a drug raid but found nothing.

       Irene has been serving in the church for two months. She has been seeking the Lord and desires to know his word. In February she learned that she was HIV positive. The church has continued to embrace her and are walking through life with her. In the midst of this Irene has declared that she will not abandon Jesus; he is the best thing she has ever found in her life.

Check out our current newsletter for more testimonies of our work among the poor and needy.

Please make a tax deductible donation to help us continue church planting among the desperately poor.

Helping Needy Pastors

Patrick — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:57:44 GMT

Recently, Brazil raised the minimum wage rate in the country. This was due to the economic growth they are experiencing and the related inflation. In light of this we are seeking to raise the compensation of our five church planters by $50 per month. They have modest incomes to begin with because they come from and live in the needy communities we minister to. This extra income will help them to care for their families and continue to serve the desperately poor communities they are a part of.

Four of our Church Planters

Will you help provide for our church planters as they continue to reach the urban poor in Brazil? To make a single donation please click the donate button below.

If you would like to make regular investments to assist our pastors please contact us to make arrangements.

Presenting a Case Study on Our Work

Patrick — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:38:55 GMT

On March 23-24 Patrick Hubbard, our founder, will be participating in the Southeast Regional meeting of the Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS). He will be presenting a paper entitled Church Planting in Brazilian Slums: A Case Study of Living Bread Ministries. The paper will describe the church planting process of LBM including identifying and training pastors, evangelism, discipleship, social ministry, and the the role of global partnerships. If you would like to review a copy before he presents it please contact us.

For information on the other papers being presented check out the EMS website.

Calling Our Newest Church Planter

Patrick — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:04:27 GMT

For several months we have been evangelizing a very needy community in the city of Torres in southern Brazil. Our desire has been to launch a church plant in this community but unfortunately, we have had difficulty finding church planters who want to work in the slums. As a result, one of our other pastors was evangelizing the neighborhood, when possible, in anticipation that the Lord would raise up someone to minister to this community.

Artenio, Luciane, and family

Of course, in his timing, the Lord did just this. We have called a young seminary student to begin a church planting effort in Torres. Artenio and his family will be commissioned on January 29th and will begin ministering in February. Artenio and Luciane have two children. They adopted their son when his mother died of a drug overdose.

As with all of our church plants among the poor and needy, we are beginning this one in faith. We have one partner church helping but still need to raise $900 per month to fund this church plant. This amount will provide the basic resources to launch and operate the church including: ministry expenses, support for Artenio and his family, utilities, rent, feeding ministries, etc.

Will you join us in planting a church among the poor and needy in Torres?

Hard Work Should Be Rewarded

Patrick — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:35:04 GMT

Each year we partner with our church plants to send some of the teens to camp. Just like American youth they love going to camp and its a great time of spiritual growth for them. It is especially joyful for our youth because its the one time most of them ever get out of the slums they live in. They get to enjoy three meals a day, hot showers, and an opportunity to hang out with kids from other demographic groups.

Last Year's Group

In order to qualify for a scholarship each teen must pass the school year and participate with their church in fundraising for camp. If they meet these two criteria we will provide them with a $90 scholarship to help fund camp and the transportation to and from. Will you help us bless the youth for their hard work this past year?

Share Christmas 2011 - Update

Patrick — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:13:32 GMT

Share Christmas 2011 was a big success. Through partnerships with churches and individuals in the US and Brazil our church plants were able to provide Christmas for 650 kids and youth. The school age kids received school supplies and a hygiene kit, while the younger kids received a hygiene kit and a toy.

Teen mom who received school supplies with her son and his toy truck

All of these were distributed by the church plants at worship services last week. Many mothers from the various communities expressed their gratitude for helping their children succeed in school. This outreach ministry is a way that the local churches can assist with meeting a very practical need and demonstrate to the community, as a whole, the love of Christ.

To see more pictures from the gift distributions click here.