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April 18 He Led Captivity Captive
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” Ephesians 4:7,8 NKJV I woke up this morning thinking of this phrase, "He led captivity captive." That is quite a thought, isn't it? Sometimes, when we don't get answers to our prayers, or at least not the answers we want, we realize later that was a good thing. Other times, it just seems wrong. We know that we live in a broken, fallen world, and one day all things will be set right. And we know that the Kingdom of God is here, and it is coming soon. These are both true. When Jesus was on earth, He came to set the captives free. With each healing and miracle, the Kingdom of God would break through and set things right in this broken, fallen world. And in Jesus' death and resurrection, He led captivity captive. And He gave gifts to men. May the Holy Spirit reveal to each of us what He is trying to tell us. END.
April 14 Olivia Turns 14!Hi Everyone, We are sure proud of our 14 year old! We were just out on a boat trip together with a team from Ontario. It was amazing to watch our girls pitching in, holding crying babies during the sermons, translating for the English speakers and just, in general, growing up. How did that happen? I kind of miss the early years, when they were little, but I am trying to adapt. Rick. Where is my focus?Where is My Focus?
I often feel like I am walking along a narrow mountain path among the cliffs and thick fog and clouds. Sometimes I can see parts of the path way up ahead where the fog is lifted. Most of the path I cannot see. But I can always see where to place the next step. And sometimes I can see a few steps in a row. I have to be careful not to focus on myself or my problems. By keeping my focus on Jesus the next step of obedience is always easy. And occasionally, when I look back I am amazed at how far along the path one step of obedience after another can carry us.
Here are some photos of a recent ministry trip to Tijuca. We had to walk a couple of kilometers through a lot of puddles to get there, and slept in the one-room schoolhouse.
END
March 27 Easter Sunday morningWe had a big feast at our church Easter Sunday morning, to celebrate the ressurection! This has become a tradition for us at the Mirante church.
On another line of thought, here are a few remarks from A. W. Tozer.
When Something Right Can Go Wrong.
1. When in our determination to be bold we become brazen
2. When in our desire to be frank we become rude
3. When in our effort to be watchful we become suspicious
4. When we seek to be serious and become somber
5. When we mean to be conscientious and become overscrupulous
END
Ross and LarryRoss Hansen was just here for a couple of weeks. It was so good to see him again. He came with a businessman from Chilliwack, Larry Dekoff. It was a great time of encouragement for me, having them both stay with us a few days.
Ross and Bud, and their families were the first missionaries to join us here in Altamira. Ross is currently home on a year's leave, putting their children through a year of school in Canada. They are praying and evaluating what God would have them do next.
Ross took the plane out for a good flight while he was here. It sure does shorten the travel time to get way out to the farflung communities.
END.
March 24 Good Friday Baptism “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The Mirante Church had a baptism service Good Friday, in the morning. I am always amazed at how a group of believers can grow, in numbers and in maturity.
March 22 FreedomJesus died to set us free.
Free from bondage to...everything.
How many people this Easter week-end don't have a clue?
How many don't have a chance to hear the gospel message in a way they can understand it?
Maybe some of your friends? Maybe they are locked in materialism? Or poverty? Or they have a monster in the closet from their past that they can't tell anyone about? Or maybe they are living in a remote community and no one ever goes there with a clear gospel message?
Let's make the best use possible of each day.
END.
March 18 The Law of the Big MoJohn Maxwell says that momentum is a leader's best friend. He points out how Moses was reminding the Isrealites about when they started gaining momentum. "And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities." I feel like Xtreme Mercy has some momentum here in Brazil now. And I am excited about moving forwrad.
March 07 Pick up Ross in MarabáMonday morning at 4:30 a.m. Clenildo and I were driving out of Altamira, heading for Marabá. I was looking forward to spending the time with Clenildo, and to see if he would see what I saw in Marabá. After about 7 hours of gravel road we had decided to drive straight through and have a late lunch in Marabá...until we got to the bridge that was under construction. We ended up having supper in Marabá.
When we first arrived at the property the man's wife told us, "The property is sold. They made a deal with another business. I heard the man say, 'Don't sell it to anyone else, I'm bringing you the money.'" Upon further investigation, there is another big company in Marabá interested but there have been no commitments made. The first person to come up with the money can buy the place. This seems reasonable to me, because the property is priced way under market value due to another significant opportunity available to the sellers.
The next day we picked up Ross and Larry Dekkoff at the airport. (Ross is here for two weeks with a businessman from Canada).
The photos that follow were taken on the 14 acre property.
That evening we prepared to leave for Altamira by fueling up the pickup. The gal at the pumps asked me where we were from and what we were doing. I explained that we were missionaries with Igreja da Vinha.
"I know Igreja da Vinha."
"You do? It is only known in the Xingu."
"I know. I was visting Altamira and I went to a church called Igreja da Vinha, near the Mirante Park. I gave my heart to the Lord there. This town does not have any churches like that. When you come here, make sure you tell me, so I can come and help you plant a church here."
Meanwhile Clenildo got in a conversation with the other gas attendant.
"I want to go to your church when you come to Marabá. I want to go to church somewhere where it is fun to serve God. We don't have any churches like that here in Marabá."
So we have the push factor, people who want to be part of planting a church in Marabá, and we have the pull factor, the people in Marabá who want us to come. February 13 Extreme Mercy LeadershipIn June 2006, we had some meetings that have turned out to be Summit Meetings. During these meetings we prayed, thought, brain-stormed and wrote out some ways we would like to restructure the mission organization for growth. This has turned out to be tremendously helpful for us all. Since then we have been meeting as leaders to work out the details as to how we organize smaller teams which will somehow reflect our values of autonomy and accountability.
Last week, during one of these meetings, the Leadership team released us, the Bergens, to pursue the launching of a new church-planting base in Marabá. This included a fund-raising budget, strategy document and the encouragement to develop a board and register the Marabá Base.
I really sense God's approval in this. This has been confirmed, in part, by the eager anticipation of our family, the approval of our leadership team, and an unprecedented response to an email regarding our recent survey trip there last month. The real test of approval will be to see what happens as we move forward in this direction. We now have some Brazilian families praying about moving with us. We will be able to talk about this more as we get property and a budget to work with.
Yahoo!
CristoválAnni and Via just got back from Cristovál. This is a Youth Retreat for our church's "youth of all ages." It was a roaring success, with a lot of preparation which really paid off. The camp construction now includes a meeting hall, mess hall, four large rooms for hanging hammocks for sleeping and some bathrooms. Added to this Clenildo and some of the local leaders built an "obstacle course" for the youth, a "jail", where you could send anyone for 25 cents, and they had to stay there for one hour, or until someone rescued them with a 25 cent release card. The four Igreja da Vinha churches in Altamira that participated each had their youth prepare special numbers to present in front of the larger group, which were rated by a panel of "judges." All of these activities centered around some really good ministry and worship times. Our daughters said their favorite parts of the three day retreat were the preaching/ministry times and showing their friends how to play a card game called Dutch Blitz.
The Porto de Moz churches also said they had a very special time during Cristovál, with good participation and a special sense of the presence of the Lord.
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