|
 |
| Renee's Word |
 |
Dear friends and family,
Has God ever thrown you a curve ball? My son and I have been playing pitch and catch recently. I was teaching him how to throw a curve ball, in softball that is. He had a hard time catching the ball, not because I threw it fast, but rather because I threw the ball so wildly! It's been a few years.
Have you ever passed through a period in your life where you were going in one direction and suddenly things just changed? Have you ever been tested by God in one area then unexpectedly, the outcome was very different to what you thought God had promised you, maybe even contrary?
We are big believers in faith and the power of prayer but what happens when things don't turn out like you planned? I believe that beyond any manmade idea or arrangement, God will use His creativity to make His divine purpose come to pass in each of our lives. God is more interested in my character than in my gifts or even my prosperity. How will I react? Will I lose faith or face the curve ball head on? I am convinced that whatever valley, mountain, decision or situation we face, if we allow Him, God will be in control. Exodus 3:10 God said to Moses, "I am sending you to Pharoah to bring my people out of Egypt." Just read Exodus and find out all of the "curve balls" Moses encountered. Yet God also added, "I will be with you. And this will be a sign to you that it is I who sent you."
Hey, pitcher, pitcher, throw me your best curve!
Keep your vision, Renee Murdoch |
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
Well, the year has fully kicked in now, even in Brazil. School is half way into term and the church is doing well. We have had a significant influx of families from the buildings that have been built around our church over the last year. Let me share a small testimony with you. About 6 months ago some of the intercessors at our church asked me if they could do a prayer walk around the buildings being built adjacent to our church. Of course I told them yes and thought nothing more of it. Over the next few months we experienced several unexpected visits from families living in these buildings. Several of the families have begun attending our church and now we've started an exciting cell group as a consequence. This building has 22 stories of potential and is only 90 feet from our church building. Over 15 youth who live in the surrounding area have been attending. Yesterday one of our intercessors came up to me during our evening prayer meeting and shared this word with me out of Mark 11:1-11.
"[Jesus said to them] go into the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If any one asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell them, 'The Lord needs it'" Mark 11:2-3
To us this passage spoke deeply. Directly adjacent to our church are buildings with close to 6,000 people living in them. This is the village directly ahead of us. In that village are people who are most probably new to this area because the buildings are less than one year old. We are the disciples Jesus is talking to and the colts which are tied up need to be untied. Jesus' commandment is clear, "Bring them here!" The reason is simple, He has a plan for their life, and He has need of them. The end of the story is tremendous; there was great joy as the whole village shouted, "Hosanna in the Highest."
|
 |
Light to the Nations Bible Schools |
As many of you know, we have a program in place called the GAP which trains young Brazilians and Americans in church planting and missions. This is a full time program which is having success. However, it has always been our plan to expand the GAP to a more in depth training program. It will train men and women preparing them with Bible and theological training necessary to provide a stable base as a pastor of a church. We strongly feel that this time has come.
Last month we had a tremendous meeting with some of my church planting team from Salinas and Aracajú. They both agreed to implement a Bible School which is an expansion of the GAP not only geographically but also in terms of depth of training. These schools will offer night courses to men and women desiring to be prepared to even greater service for the Lord. Our prayer is that many of those trained will end up being the pastors of the churches we plant in the Project 153 in the most needy areas of Brazil. Our Bible School will be an extension of Vision University in California, and our program initially will be a fully accredited Bachelors of Theology ofMissions, recognized in over 26 countries.
Because we are working through local churches much of the cost of these schools is already covered within the infrastructure of the local churches. However, we still need $4,500 per location (Rio, Salinas (MG) and Aracajú (SE)) to cover a small remodeling project, the purchase of a video projector, computers and classroom furniture. We are also going to incur an additional monthly cost in the administration of these three campuses. We are praying about hiring a full time administrator. His cost will be approximately $1,500 per month. I would like you to please consider and pray about what your involvement in this project could be. If we could get three of our partners to invest $4,500 this month and 15 new partners giving $100 per month we would have everything we need. The Lord has always supplied all our needs and we continue to be full of faith that these needs will also be provided. Thank you for your generosity.
|
|
Project 153 |
The more I travel and study Brazil, the more I am convinced of the need to strategically invest into the unreached areas. The easy parts of Brazil have already been reached. The rich areas of Brazil are in revival. But the difficult, poor, forgotten parts of Brazil are still unevangelized, unreached and neglected. We took data from the last census in Brazil and identified all the cities with populations listed as being under 3% Christian. The number of cities in this category was over 600. We then decided to focus on the priority cites. These were cities of over 10,000 in population. The result was 153 municipalities. These are the cities where we need your help. Unfortunately, many of the cities are so remote and forgotten that simply planting a church and forgetting about the pastor will not turn these cities around. There must be a greater investment and an ongoing push. These cities need churches, economic development, events to shake the city, along with oversight and encouragement to the new pastors. For a gift of $10,000, a city can be changed. The gift includes:
One year of support for the pastor $1,800
Training for the pastor in a Bible School $2,200
(2 1/2 years)
Three day crusade to turn the whole city $4,000
upside down
Travel and oversight for encouragement $2,000
for the pastor
A Village/City Turned to Priceless
Thousand saved Priceless
A step closer to discipling nations Priceless
I know this is a big gift but big investments produce big returns. Please pray with us about this. Our goal is to raise funds for 30 of these cities over the next 12 months. Over the next several years we will also be raising finances to purchase a small single engine Cessna 210 capable of flying into these cities and landing on small rural and private air strips, as well as, purchasing a location for the GAP in Rio. The cost of each of these is approximately $200,000 each. We are also raising funds to purchase a Mobile Crusade Unit similar to the picture above. The cost of an 18-wheeler capable of handling an event for 10,000 people is about $80,000. |
|
|
Renee and I are so thankfull for each one of you. We deeply appreciate your partnership, prayers, freindship and support. As you can see the Lord has brough us a long way in the last seven years and we continue to be in need of partners as the Lord streches our vision. Please consider sharing our ministry with a friend who you think may be interested.
If you have any prayer requests or if you have any questions about any aspect of our ministry please feel free to respond to this email. I will personaly read and respond to you.
We love you all.
Serving Him together,
Philip Murdoch
Light to the Nations | |
|
|
