It's really all in the timing

   I have arrived, safe and sound, and am being will cared for by the church here. Still trying to get used to the language, timings and customs of Brazil, but I am a lot less tired than I thought I might be (the month working in France might have helped greatly with that). I have yet to move into my own place, and am hoping that this will happen later this week, but until then I get to spend time with Pastor Tomas and Carol and their little one, Samuel. I have to say that it is a great blessing that there are little ones here as well, as I already miss the little ones at Hebron. They cannot be replaced, of course, but it’s nice to have someone to sing all the mainly music songs with here too!

   Many reading this blog will already have heard how Igreja Rio (River Church - RIO is also an acronym for Relevant, Integrated and Organic) was founded out of a missionary group called Voz Na Rua (The Voice on the Street), but for the benefit of those who haven't heard, I will recount it quickly again here, because it is relevant to understand the timing of the big changes occurring in the church I have arrived to help. 

   Voz na Rua started about 8 years ago when Tomas went to see the movie "The Book of Eli" and thought that this would be a great opportunity to find an audience who would be open to receiving some bibles. If you have not seen the movie the Book of Eli, I have just spoiled it for you - his book was the bible, Sorry, not sorry, you've had 8 years to see it. Tomas got a group of people together and they went to as many viewings of the film at as many cinemas as they could manage and handed out pocket copies of the bible for people to take home and explore. Once the film had left the cinema, the group was left with some copies of the bible and decided that they wanted to take them out onto the streets, and so Voz na Rua was born.

   To begin with this group was made up of young people from churches from around the city, and their mission into the city grew, every Friday night they would meet together to worship, pray and learn together, before they went out on to the streets to meet the needs of those who were most vulnerable, and the work lasted until the early hours of the morning. The work also expanded to include camps, projects with people addicted to crack cocaine, schools programmes and work in the youth prisons. The group grew and became a place for many to explore their faith and to be discipled. This was the period that I was involved in the group in my second year of mission with Latin Link.

   In January 2015 I returned to Brazil and Tomas had started to see a need for this group (now 60+ strong) to plant a church for the people they were receiving, and so started the dream and a period of prayer for the planting of a church, so Igreja Rio was born. Now there was a place for the people who had been reached to feel a part of a community that was theirs. Voz na Rua continued with its Encounters of Grace on Friday nights and the church grew, from its inception 2 years ago, to today with more than 300 people and four services on a Sunday. In this time they have managed to find a space and renovate it, and to outgrow this renovation, and today I find myself having landed in Brazil and been handed the task to help the church grow its community outreach at the same time as the church is taking the leap into moving into a bigger (more expensive) location, to accommodate the people that are spilling out of the original space.

   It is a very exciting time for the church here, and Tomas and the leadership team here has a gift for dreaming big and are willing to work hard to see those dreams accomplished. This church prays together well to see the will of God in their community and have a great heart to disciple those that come through the doors. There is a lot of work to be done.

   The space that the church is moving into is the shell of an old famous restaurant that went out of business recently, and though the space is big and there is a lot of work, and a lot of money to raise, the church community is excited and fully behind the work. On Saturday we started doing some basic building work, moving the old furniture and taking down glass partitions and moving all the tables and chairs out of the way of the professional builders. David Meredith once began a conference in Edinburgh with a devotional in which he said “70% of ministry is moving chairs” and this is what I found myself doing on the first Saturday of my time in Brazil, exemplifying the universality of the ministry work.

This week be praying for us as we:

-       Prepare the new space for the renovations needed

-       That the space will be ready to move into in the first week of September (changes happen either very slowly or VERY quickly here)

-       Pray for me as I prepare to meet the fellowship at the church and plan some outreach projects

-       Pray for Tomas, Carol and Samuel as a family during this very busy time at the church which alongside a full time job, and a Toddler, would be a challenge for anyone!

All my love and Blessings.

I haven’t managed to take many photo’s yet, so here is one of little Samuel, my new favourite model! More to follow.