July 4, 2006

Mission to Santos and Betim

Greetings from Brazil,

I just got back from our mission to Santos and Betim,

All I can say is wow. Santos is the home of our good friends Nelson and Anna. They pastor as church of about 20 years, and are about 3 or 4 years into the Revival. It is a wonderful church with mature and seasoned leaders and a hungry and fired up congregation.

On our first night, you could tell that only the heavens were the limit. We go so many places that we have to plow and and labor for breakthrough. These guys however, come hungry and set no limits on what Jesus can do, or for how long. It reminded me of the early days of the Gloryhouse in Jacksonville, only much larger and more mature.

The church itself is narrow and very long. It kind of violates all the rules about how comfortable a bldg has to be to have a large congregation. It is about 12 white plastic chairs wide, plus an isle, and over 50 isles long. This does not include the large platform, kitchen, bookstore, bathrooms and other rooms that add to the length. I joked with them that they had to have binoculars to see from the front to the back. It is the kind of place where you can hide in the back if you want to. This did not happen, as people worshiped from the front to the back. The manifestations of the Spirit were evident all the way back to the back row! What a great time! The Word flowed, miracles occurred and the fire was simply raining nightly. What a noise to raise up to the heavenlies. My interpreter David Gomez, Candi and I were simply too blessed. The oil flowed, the new wine was poured out in abundance, and our fellowship with Nelson and Anna was rich. All of you would of loved to be there.

Santos is one of the two sister cities on the coast to be colonized. It is where the exploration of the interior of the continent began. The original culture was Roman Catholic, and the city reflects this. In recent years tho, the cities spiritual base has changed. The Key to the City is now hanging in Nelson and Anna’s church. A recent Mayor dedicated the city to Jesus in a public ceremony, and gave the Key to Nelson for good keeping. This is changing the climate of the area. Nelson drove David and I around the city the first night we arrived. There is still much to do, and churchs like Nelsons are gearing up for the fight. They are valiantly taking the heavenlies and opening them up in worship.

On to Betim…

You may remember from the February newsletter our experience in the Betim 4SQUARE CHRUCH. We came and so did the fire. The pastor met us at a church where Dan was ministering, and attended a Zadok members gathereing. He invited us and we accepted 3 nights of meetings. The first night we thought they were a seasoned revival church, then found out that they had never had meetings like that before. The fire and anointing just fell, and they went to heaven. One the last night of meetings, the general superintendent of that area came to see what all the noise was about. One of his secretaties had come to the meeting and had been overwealmed in God. She told the gen, supt, and he came to see. He got so drunk in the Spirit that he left early and got lost in the parking lot, unable to find his car. He was supposed to invite us to a large local function to minister, but the Carnaval interfered with his plans. We lost contact with him, but not the church. Well, to make a long story very short. Right after that experience, Jesus moved in him, he quit the 4Square and formed his own church. He attended the meetings last week and got overwealmed again, He enjoyed quite a bit of floor time, and received and prophetic Word from God. Quite an experience for him to be sure.

The pastors of the church began to tell the leadership of their desire to move forward and found something new. One of the leaders told the new gen. supt. about it, and two Sundays ago, he took over the church. The pastors were immeadiatly out of a church, pension, ordaination, and congregation. Welcome to the life of faith outside the box! This all occurred while we were in Santos. Our meetings in Betim started several days after our return from Santos. By the time we got there, the pastor has a new bldg, a congregation of over 120, his leaders and a new anointing. They had time to paint, and refresh the bldg, gather the ones that wanted to continue in revival, and were ready for our 5 night revival. From the very first moment, it was fiery. Many times you could not hear in the building for the roar of the people. It was not the noise of the band tho,, they only had one guitar! It was the noise of the hungry and thirsty pressing into God!

During the next 4 nights, it got deeper and deeper. Many repentances, many dedications, many miracles and manifestations of the Presence of God. The last night any in the church that did not speak in tongues were filled and spoke freely. What a great God we serve! I am meeting with the pastors again this Thursday for fellowship, and to see how to further equip and minister to them. What a great report.

Thanks for your friendship and support, you are marking the lives and destinies of thousands in this nation. Awesome!

Jeff and Candi in Belo Horizonte Brazil