by Randal Matheny, in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil 1 July 2002

From the street, fireworks have sounded all month! And at home and in the church, there have been many reasons to celebrate as well.

Walk with me through the corridor of June, 2002, for an overview of what happened in the church in Sao Jose dos Campos (SJC), in our ministry, and around the country.

All in the Family

Last night I had a privilege nearly as great as baptizing my sons. Micah baptized Bruno into Christ, after he and Joel studied with him for a couple of months. It was a joy seeing my children being used by the Lord to bring others to salvation.

Bruno is the 15-year-old son of Peruvian parents, naturalized Brazilians. They live the next block down on our street. He is good friends with Micah and Joel. One of the good influences on his life has been the Christian camp sessions over the past couple of years, as well as his friendship with the boys and his participation in our home group studies.

Bruno's family may not react well to his decision, so please keep him in your prayers.

All in the Family II

Micah started working with me in the office the last week of the month. He's managed to "fit me in" for three half-days a week. He and Joel do stay busy with schoolwork, basketball, swimming, and church activities. (One more in August: youth group.)

Big Challenge

The Sao Jose church has been scheduled to plan the next National Christian Workers Encounter during Easter weekend, 2003. The men decided June 16 to accept the invitation of the Christian camp board to coordinate the event.

That will be a big responsibility for our small congregation, but we have good people to work with.

The SJC church

It seems it's taken the congregation the first semester of the year to adjust from Alvaro Pestana's leaving in January. Alvaro and Otavio Carvalho began the church in SJC, so his exit required some changes. He was supported by the congregation for full-time work, so now we have no one person to fill his shoes. During this time, Otavio and I have taught the brethren, as Alvaro also did, that the work belongs to us all and as members of the body, we all have our part to do.

Home Groups

In June we finished in our home study groups the thirteen-week series "People Jesus Praised." It was a fascinating effort, and at the end of each discussion we asked ourselves, "What must we do to hear the same compliment Jesus paid this person/group?"

I write the study outlines and questions for our three groups in SJC.

Bible School

June also concluded our second-quarter Bible school study on "Great Doctrines of the Bible," based on Walter Swain's work published by Star Bible. I translated the chapters as we went and administered the classes. The book was used for preacher training schools in India and summarizes well the various topics treated.

Next quarter, I continue teaching the adults Bible class with the subject "An Hour with God." We'll examine how to spend time alone with the Lord in Scripture and prayer.

World Cup Month

This past month all eyes were glued to the TV as Brazil worked its way through the competition to capture its fifth World Cup championship. The green and yellow colors of the flag flew everywhere, from banners, clothes, cars, windows. That affects one's work, but we enjoyed the festive atmosphere, and also enjoyed seeing the U.S. team go further than expected.

Publications

We printed a second edition of our seven-lesson evangelistic study, "Know God."

The Bible correspondence course, "Jesus Christ, the Simple Way," went through its fourth printing since we've been publishing it.

Birthdays

Joel turned sweet 16 on the 12th and Leila turned 10 on the 16th of June. Micah had his turn May 5 when he hit 19. Vicki refused to tell her new age May 1.

Around Brazil

The new mission team for Porto Alegre arrived at the end of June to add to the work already being done there by the two congregations. On the minus side, Rick and Monika Sandoval left the city of Vitoria to return permanently to the U.S.

Total Transformation

It's countdown for the Total Transformation course in São Paulo July 13.

This time will be different since we'll be holding the course in a hotel which Francisco Bezerra, editor of Edificacao Magazine, arranged for us. (Usually, the course is held in a church's building.)

We have invited all the area congregations to participate, but since we don't have a congregation that is promoting the course, it presents a special challenge. We hope it will work to our advantage, with the course being seen as not one congregation's event, but as a service to all. The downside of that could be that, since it's not any congregation's effort, none will feel the need to advertise it or encourage the brethren to participate.

So pray that the churches will support this effort and that the course will be a blessing to the Sao Paulo Christians.

Total Transformation II

We've invaded the year 2003 to begin scheduling the course. A brother from Sorocaba, to the west of São Paulo, requested a date for them, so since this year's slots were already filled, we nudged into next year and set it for January 10-11.

From Taguatinga, in the Federal District near Brasilia, where I'm set to teach the course in September, Joao sent this note: "Yesterday we talked about your coming in September. We're anxious and needing a lot of encouragement. I believe that God will use you that we might be transformed."

Newsletter Help

Cheryl Hissong, a friend from college days, is giving us a hand with our newsletter and websites. How about giving her a hand? Thanks, Cheryl!

Wrap-up

Please pray for these tidbits of news, that in each moment and situation, the Lord may be glorified by our work and lives.

Thanks for your prayers, support, and encouragement. Our Lord helps those who helps others.

Randal & family You can read this newsletter and more on our website at bzeal.cjb.net E-mail: randalm@uol.com.br

Mailing Address: Caixa Postal 11 Sao Jose dos Campos, SP 1220-970 - Brazil

Tel.: (11-55-12) 3942-7753

Alvaro, together with Otavio and Valeria Carvalho, was sent in 1988 to begin the church in SJC by the Nove de Julho church in Sao Paulo. He worked here until the end of 2001.

Alvaro now directs the preacher training program in Campo Grande and serves as president of the National Bible Seminary, based in Sao Paulo, with several nuclei around the country.

He studied at the Institute of Biblical Studies, an early training program of the Sao Paulo mission team, and has his master's degree in Classical Languages (Koine Greek) from the University of Sao Paulo.

He has written several books and is a columnist for Edification Magazine.