This morning we visited Ebenezer Baptist Church aka San Pedro Baptist Church. This is the church plant Andrew and his family were involved in before they came back to the UK on furlough.
As you may be able to see from the photos, San Pedro is a very needy area. Most of the houses are built out of roughly mortared bricks and consist of one or two living spaces. Brick houses are actually a step up from the wooden huts that many still live in. I asked Andrew what happens when it rains - which it does here almost every day. His answer was that Brazilians are very good at plugging the gaps!
Its another reminder of how good we have it in the UK and how culturally defined acceptable standards of living are. In the UK a roof over your head that doesn't leak is considered a basic human right. In Brazil it is far from that. Brazil is now the 4th largest economy in the world, but many of its people still live in what we would consider to be unacceptable accomodation. In San Pedro, open sewers are the norm. Fortunately the church was built next to a handy brook!
The church was started 4 years ago as a faith venture. In Brazil, church buildings are put up before there is even a congregation. This is a significant step of faith financially for such relatively poor Christians. However the Christians believe that God will build the real 'church' (the people) when they step out in faith in this way.The UK church could learn a lot from them!
It was also striking how much nicer the church building was compared to the houses around it. Not in a flashy kind of way you understand, but just very smart and colourful. Unlike the homes around, the walls were plastered and painted, decorative curtains hung at the front and artificial flowers adorned the walls. It was testimony to the desire of the local Christians to honour God with the little they have. They would rather the church building was looked after than their own houses were improved. Andrew told us that this willingness to give to God's work was not unusual among Christians in Brazil.
A case in point was a young girl who injured herself very badly during a children's meeting at the church yesterday. She broke two teeth and had to have stitches on her chin. There's no NHS here, so there was a cost for her treatment: 70 reais, about £22. The church was all set to have an offering to pay for this, but Peter and I were able to make up what was lacking and give it as a gift from Woodgreen.
It was a real privilege to be with these believers. In Brazil the main church service is held in the evening, so only around 20 were there, however the singing was loud and enthusiastic and the people clearly loved Jesus.
Àlvaro is Pastor of the church. He is Andrew's protege and closest friend in Brazil. He was one of those who gave us such a warm welcome at the airport on Friday. I warmed to him immediately. Although he could not speak a word of English, the connection was there because of our common love for Jesus.
Peter brought greetings from Woodgreen church, and then I spoke on Psalm 47, with Andrew translating. It worked really well and we soon settled into a rhythm.
I had been told that anything less than 45 mins would be a disappointment, however because the translation took less time than I anticipated, it was only a 30 minute sermon. I was therefore faced with a phenomenon unthinkable in the UK: the congregation were disappointed I hadn't gone on for longer!
We dashed from church to the airport and caught our 1 hour flight to Tefè in good time. Our 50 seater, propeller driven airplane got us to Tefè airport safely.
When I say airport, that's a bit generous as you can probably see from the photos. Things were so relaxed that they let us take photos in front of the plane!
After a short journey we arrived at our hotel, the rather grandly named Tefè Plazza Hotel. Our rooms are - to say the least - basic, but they have air-conditioning and comfortable beds, so we are content. We are on the top floor, so the view is great: lake Tefè, next to which the town is located, is clearly visible.
Tonight we plan to go to the church which hosts the Bible School. Tomorrow, breakfast is at 7am and our lectures are from 8pm-6pm.
