One more period of our journey in Timor came to an end… It was much more intense this time… however we could experience the presence of the Lord and His faithfulness throughout all the experiences… in the heat of the battles, challenges and in the triumphs too.
We had 50 people at our home to celebrate a party organized by the church that we were connected to. The Bible Study group and the worship team prepared a delicious dinner.
The School of Worship was very special!!! Because of school holidays we had lots of teenagers, even some of our neighbors. The Workshops in the mornings helped them with basic lessons on keyboard, guitar, drums and dance… it was fun. In the afternoons, the worship time and the Word were in Tetum language and had the attendance of about 60 young people from different churches. Seeds were once again sowed in the heart of this new generation of worshippers growing in each Timorese church.
After 15 months of lots, lots of hard work serving the Lord in Timor, André returned to Brazil at the beginning of this month. “André, it was a blessing having you with us, you made big difference in the lives of many people here, for the international community as well as the Timorese… we’ll miss you!!! Your involvement in the social projects, church ministries will certainly be rewarded by the Lord…”
The challenge of gathering 24 denominations to pray required much prayer, talk and perseverance… coming to the point that the local coordinators were discouraged to move on… jeopardizing even the event accomplishment. We knew there would be opposition coming from the enemy, difficulty and battles against the Global Day of Prayer on the Sunday of the 11th of May. But God gave us favor to overcome every obstacle.
The construction of Mr. Manuel’s house, in the village of Mota kiik is moving on a fast pace!!! We already have the foundation and soon the pillars and the walls. This project has also beneficiated the people through the purchase of local materials and jobs for local workers. We believe that the spiritual blessing has also been imparted in the families through relationship, sharing the word and our daily testimony. We’ll soon share photos from the land site, so you can follow up and pray.
One more dream came true… on the 28th and 29 of March we had the first Couples’ Retreat for Pastors. We had the attendance of 08 pastors with their wives; leaders from several churches and regions in the country. We believe that this step is the beginning of what the Lord wants to perform in the foundation of the Timorese society – the FAMILY.
In February we had the visit of a group of 13 pastors and leaders from Hong Kong and Macau. In that visionary trip, they could visit some government offices and also visit chiefs of villages in the district of Liquiça. It was awesome meeting our friends, Ps Olinto (Brazilian in Macau) and Ps Edmund (ICA – HK).
2007 was a year of peace in Timor, with less violence or instability on the capital streets, although the root of the problem hasn’t been solved yet. We have experienced the constant care from the Lord in each battle; despite the difficulties we always experience His deliverance and victories.
We praise God for the opportunities to serve the Timorese churches and families; we thank our Brazilian church CEC for the support (local church); Transformation Alliance (partner in the field); our beloved sponsors and intercessors that have been an example and reference with their support during this journey.