The Love of a Brother

     It was a rainy Monday night at the church in Pires Ferreira, they didn’t have all the materials, and only a couple of men showed up to join pastor Egberto for the weekly bible study. They chatted for a while before returning home. Suddenly one of them shared that he had spoken with Francis, the non-believing brother of Mr. Black, an elderly member of our church. These brothers hadn’t spoken in years and individually expressed the desire to be reconciled.     
     Mr. Black lives just across the street from the church, so they walked over to his house and shared with him what Francis had said and asked him if he was willing to speak with his brother, to which he replied, “Yes!”
     They called Francis and asked if he would mind them coming over that same night. When he agreed, they all piled into a car and drove across town to Francis’ house, where the two brothers spoke, asked for forgiveness and made peace. It was a raw emotional time; they shed many tears and embraced. Since that night Francis has brought his family to church on Sundays and has joined the men’s group on several occasions.
     God is at work in the hearts of these brothers and this is also the result of bi-monthly men’s small groups, in which they have grown in unity as they share about life, pray, and do ministry together, whether visiting a church member or a non-believer in order to share the gospel.
     We never know how God is at work and the lives He is touching because of our obedience to Him. This is only one story of the work that God is doing in Brazil. Avant has a long lasting history in Brazil and the church continues to grow, thrive and expand. The ministry is thriving, believers are coming to know Christ through Bible studies, radio ministry and many other outreach events. We desire to have more families reconciled because of the power of the gospel. We are thankful for those who have gone and dedicated their lives so that people like Francis and Mr. Black can hear of the gospel. We are thankful for those who have raised up and mentored local leaders like Pastor Egberto so that they can follow the calling the Lord has placed on their lives.
     We look forward to how God will continue to use bible studies and the growing church in Brazil to be a light for those that have yet to hear the good news of the gospel.