I am very grateful for the church family of Igreja Presbiteriana da Barra (Barra Presbyterian Church). Since I arrived in Brazil, they have been a huge part of my life. I have been serving as the Executive Pastor there since January of 2010. The church has always welcomed my wife and I with open arms. They have welcomed a "estrangeiro/foreigner" like a true brother in Christ. Luciane has been a part of the church for nearly 12 years. We also have developed a great friendship with and respect for Pastor Antonio Carlos, who has been a mentor, friend, and pastor to us.
Over the past several months we are sensing that God is calling us to focus more on our work with Restore Brazil and Acts 29 Brazil. Just to give you an idea, the Restore meetings began with a handful of pastors and church planters in our aparment and we now have upwards of 70 men meeting monthly. God has been tremendously blessing our ministry to pastors and the workload has continued to increase - increase to the point that I can no longer serve effectively as an Executive Pastor at IP Barra, for this season. This was a difficult decision to make, but I've made the decision to officially step down as a pastor at IP Barra to focus in the coming months on Acts 29 and Restore Brazil. We have the support of Pr Antonio as well as the leadership at the church. The timing seems to be God's timing in every aspect of this decision.
Once we establish a stronger team and infrastructure for A29 and Restore Brazil, down the road, we are praying about planting a new church. We are already praying, discussing, and making some initial plans for this new project. In the meantime, I plan to stay engaged in both IP Barra as a member as well as at Union Church, where I will be preaching a couple of times per month.
We appreciate your prayers, that God would guide us, Acts 29 and Restore Brazil, that He would bless the continuing work at IP Barra, and guide our future endeavors by His grace.
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