Preacher Mike?

Preacher (right) with translator (left)

For years I've felt comfortable sitting with the congregation, or behind a sound desk, listening to the preacher bringing the Word of God. For me it's always been the focal point of the service; I love praising God, but the sermon is the part of the service I most look forward to, anticipating hearing what God has to say to me.

So it has been way "out of my comfort zone" to be standing at the front bringing God's word to the people. It's something I approach with some degree of trepidation; I feel it is such a big responsibility; questions run through my mind: Am I going to be faithful to the word? Will the people 'get' my points? Will they respond? Will we get invited back?

On most of the occasions I have been invited, it has been during a missions conference or similar event at the church, so the theme of my talks have been somewhat common, although I have used various passages in the Old and New Testaments, to make different points.

This has been one of the big challenges that God has lined up for me since we've been out here. But it has been a great experience. I have had to rely fully on God; of course I have often been on the receiving end of bible teachings, whether through listening to preachers, studying the bible, or reading Christian books, but to be taking up the role of orator is very different. It takes me hours to prepare, and I always start unsure of what I'm going to say - but as I pray and meditate on the scripture, I have always arrived at the church sure of what God wants me to say.

This has been a great learning experience in reliance on, and trust in God. One of my favourite verses comes to mind:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart 

   and lean not on your own understanding 

in all your ways acknowledge him,
   and he will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:5,6)

If I'm fixing a computer, or mixing sound at the sound desk it seems that I can rely at least in part on myself - education, training, experience. For preaching, however, I have to start and finish with God. I suppose in some ways this makes it easier - He's more reliable than me!

Pastor Evandro and wife, Nélia and Mike

My last two preaches were on 27th November at the Igreja Cristã Evangélica de Santana, and on 11th December at the Assembléia de Deus - Jardim Das Industrias, both in the city of São José dos Campos. The photos are from the latter.

I thank God for the challenges and the experiences that He has brought me, and I pray that He will continue to use me in this way in 2012 if it is His will to do so. Amen.

Guitar Recital - Joshua

Hi, Joshua here!

I did this presentation last Saturday and it was really fun.

There were lots of other people who played and some people played in groups.

I hope you enjoy!! :)

Amor & Vida 2011

Easy does it ...

OM Brazil's "Amor & Vida" (Love and Life) ministry has been a great way to help local people this year. There is a team of professional volunteers who give their services for free once a month, at drop-in centres set up at different local churches. There are General Practitioners, Psychiatrists, Dentists, Opticians, Lawyers, Hairdressers and so on. There is often a live band, and always special activities for kids. At the end of the event, there is a presentation in the church itself. Also, evangelism teams venture out into the surrounding streets to chat to local people, invite them to the event at the church, and share the gospel with them. 

A job well done!

The students from OM are always on hand to help out too, and all the Leals have been involved several times this year too. We've  helped out in various ways: check out the September Newsletter for a story about Mike's experiences doing door-to-door; amongst other things, Nélia interpreted for a visiting American pastor who gave a presentation on bullying; Louissa helped to entertain the little children doing art; Josh helped putting up the gazebo and organising the football. 

This is a really great ministry, demonstrating the love of Jesus in practical ways, making a difference to people in the communities of the city. During 2011 there were altogether 4,827 people who received free professional services from this ministry! In addition to this were people who just turned up for a chat or a cup of coffee, and always plenty of children running around and having fun.

The video below gives you and idea of what goes on - watch out for us in some of the snaps ...

Louissa's Ballet Performance - Coppélia

Hi, It's Louissa

On Thursday It was my end of year ballet performance. I was a country girl and a Russian doll.

The ballet is about a man who makes a life-size doll that he calls Coppélia. The main male character falls in love with it, much to the disappointment of his girlfriend. The ballet tells the story of how she tries to win back his heart.

My ballet school is called Clara Irie and it's registered with the Royal Academy of Dance. I took my grade 3 exam in May and I passed with Merit. There has been lots of hard work all year long but I have improved a lot.

Below is a video of one of the dances:

Louissa's Flute Concert

Hi it's Louissa!

Yesterday (25th of November) it was my flute concert. I played a couple of songs:  Lullaby by F. Schubert, which you can see below and Minuet by J.S.Bach. The concert took place at my teachers house, where I have my lessons. My family went along with a student from OM who also plays the flute. 

The teacher, Beth Blanco (in the video) goes to my church and I have had lessons with her for a year - my second year learning the flute. I  am hoping to play at church during the English Service soon!

Quarter-Final football Josh

Hi, it's Josh here!

Warm-up

On Friday the 18th I played a football game for my team called Grêmio. It was the quarter-final and a very important game. We won 6-2 and I scored a goal! It was my first game for the team as I started training with them about a month ago. It has been great fun. 


I am looking forward to the semi-final on Wednesday.

Team Huddle

In action

Answer to Prayer! Car Insurance

Praise God for an answer to our prayers about car insurance!

Our car insurance is due for renewal at the end of this month, and with only 2 weeks to go, someone has offered to pay our instalments for us. This is a great relief, as car insurance here is expensive - around R$2,700 which is about £1,000. We want to say THANK YOU! to the donor (you know who you are!) and to God for His provision through others.

Who's that on the Sound Desk?

This is the Production Control Room at Primeira Igreja Batista (First Baptist Church) Campus Centro (Downtown Campus), São José dos Campos. Yes, and that's me (Mike) at the PA Desk!

We've been attending the English Language Service on Sunday mornings for a while now. They've been asking for volunteers for various ministries, and I mentioned my past Production Team experience at Holland Road. So yesterday (Sunday 13th Nov) was the first morning on the sound team. 

Since the band do their practice at 8.00 in the morning, we had to start at 7.30. It went very well, and they were very happy to have extra help as the PA team is very stretched with another service at the main campus at the same time.

PIB is often asking for musicians too, and there is also a chance that Lou and Josh will be able to help out with their musical talents, either in the main band or maybe in a youth band. It's all in the planning stages at the moment, but Josh wasted no time and sat strumming along with the band during the rehearsal.

The people attending the English Language service are a mixture of Brazilians wanting to practise their English, and also native English speakers. There are old, young, families, couples and singles. The pastor would like to offer Sunday School for the children, which is something Nélia may be able to help with in the New Year. 

So there may be a Sunday to come where the whole Leal family is serving at PIB English Service …

Dutch Ecuadorians from Latin America in Brazil

Yes, that title's a bit confusing, so let me explain!

Operation Mobilisation (OM) divides the world into Areas and Regions and Countries. Latin America is an Area, which consists of Regions (usually groups of countries), and then countries. As Brazil is big it is both a country and a region (and often called a 'field'), within the Latin America Area. Got it? 

Michael and Anneke at OM Brasil

Michael and Anneke are originally from Holland, but currently based in Ecuador. Rather than doing all their work specifically 'for OM Ecuador', they have a role across the Latin America Area. They have experience in communications and in development & planning, and they have brought these skills from Holland to Latin America, and now specifically to Brazil. In some ways their situation is similar to ours - bringing what we know from Northern Europe to South America. 

Over the last few days, they have been spending time at OM Brazil. Before I explain what they were doing with us, I'd just like to say THANK YOU! (in case they're reading our blog), and also to say how amazing it is that although the world is big to us, we are all God's children living together on one of the planets he created. To Him there is nothing odd about a Dutchman from Ecuador helping out an Englishman in Brazil, and it kind of made the world seem smaller.

Michael and Anneke spent time getting to know the team members and their roles and experiences, and learning about the ministries at OM Brazil. Since they have also done this in other Latin American countries, they were then able to help us with the preparation of our annual "Ministry Plans", and also to suggest additional ways in which we might work together or share ideas with other OM organisations in Latin America.

Some of the OM team after a coffee-break

Please pray:

• for a safe journey back to Ecuador for Michael & Anneke
• for wisdom amongst the OM Brazil team as we seek to apply what we learnt
• for a growing relationship between OM Brazil and the other Fields within  the Latin America area

Welcome to our Blog!

Hello and welcome to our Blog!

We've been in Brazil for just over a year now, and we thought it was time we made use of modern technology and provided a source of news for our friends and family. So here it is!

We'll be adding more information, stories, features and photos as we go along, so be sure to check back with us regularly, or subscribe to automatic feeds.

We hope you find it interesting and have fun reading our posts!

Love Mike, Nélia, Louissa and Joshua