Life never seems to slow down.

This coming Saturday evening the church will be hosting a couples gathering. The guest speaker will be Mike Landon, who was a missionary to Brazil for a few years and is currently ministering with a (non-Brazilian) church in Connecticut. He has visited us before, once to conduct a seminar on conflict resolution, and again for the annual church retreat last September. He and his wife are a great encouragement to our little congregation. My wife Christiane has been busy with another lady from the church, Teresa, organizing the decorations and menu for the couples gathering.

The series on spiritual disciplines continues in the adult Sunday School. Though I was only going to speak once on the discipline of Bible study (distinct from Bible reading and memorization), there was so much interest that I've split it into three lessons. The first lesson was on motivation to study God's written word, the second was on how to study the Bible (hermeneutics) and the third will be on resources to aid in Bible study. Those who committed a couple of weeks ago to read the New Testament in three months appear still to be on board, and we are in the middle of the Gospel according to Luke at the time of this writing.

More attention needs to be given, I believe, to getting to know people who are not yet disciples and sharing with them the Good News. Too much of the church's focus has been on meetings, and not enough on going out to meet people. Personally, I am feeling very convicted about my lack of focus on outreach, and hope to begin setting up evangelistic Bible studies as soon as possible. To this end I am attempting to develop a new study to use in presenting the Good News.

This coming Sunday I'll be preaching on the topic of love. Ricardo was supposed to preach, but his work as a painter (painting houses and businesses, not art) has him working really odd hours lately and has not allowed him time to prepare anything for the past couple of weeks. So, I'm "pinch-hitting" for him.

Please join us in prayer for the following concerns:

-- For spiritual renewal and revival in the congregation, together with numerical growth.

-- For the church to find a new, better location for the annual retreat in September. The place we usually rent in Pennsylvania is diminishing in quality and is no longer large enough for all of us with our Hispanic brethren participating.

-- For my family's financial situation. We still need to raise $600 from churches in monthly support so I can avoid going back to a second job.

-- For my plans to return to school in the fall for further job training so I'll be better able to support my family in ministry.

-- For Christiane's naturalization process. She received notice from the U.S. immigration service this past week that her interview and tests are sheduled for April 28. Please pray that she has energy and time to study, as well as a good memory for what she's studying.

-- For the advance of the Good News that Jesus is Lord both among Brazilian immigrants in the U.S. and other countries as well as in Brazil.