Each month we are featuring a different overeas office, giving you snapshots and stories of the joys and struggles of ministry in that part of the world. This month the spotlight is on Brazil. We'd like you to meet Leandro Tarrataca, one of our dynamic and energetic Bible teachers who leads our Brazil office.
Email Updates from Leandro
I am involved with ministry in Brazil and to the Portuguese speaking world. As you know there are about 230 million Portuguese speaking people around the world, in the western world is only behind English and Spanish. So it is a huge work, especially because there are not many sound Bible teachers to the Portuguese world. Here goes my heart to you....
March--One of the high points to me [from a recent conference] was a girl that came and told me she is in our SMS [scripture texting] program. She told me how she has been blessed by the messages on her cell phone once a week. She is passing them on to her friends--20 of them! And one of her friends is passing them on to his friends! I found it very exciting. We are asking God to bring us more financial partners so we're able to send messages at least four days per week, and to a large number of people. Then, people like this girl would not only be edified but also friends and family, and we would keep the discipleship cycle going on more often to more people.
January--We launched the campaign, "For a brand New Year get into the Book" (Or something like that in English). So far we have had two seminars presenting the importance of the Bible in the believer's life. We also presented ideas on how people could read their Bibles in a more effective way. At the end, we had an appeal inviting people to take a commitment and engage with Bible reading and Bible study. So far 300 hundred people have made a commitment. By next month we will be launching some web tools in order to encourage people into the Book!
September-October--There are two things that always amaze me in the work of our God... There are no boundaries for His Word and for His People. His Word always works everywhere, the Word of our God surpasses any cultural challenge and His gifts to His people are perfect and so precise...
That's exactly what we found during these last two months. We worked in so many different settings such as youth evangelism, a Brazilian Air Force, radio, internet, television and Bible seminars with hundreds of people from across Brazil. And guess what? God worked in a special, specific and wonderful way in each situation. In every single occasion, I watched people laugh, cry, be reconciled with one another and, more important, with God. As I said, God's Word has no boundaries. Below you will find some of my ministry updates.
- 14 days of youth outreach in public schools. We visited over 10 public schools in Mogi das Cruzes. We shared God's Word to 2,000 young people and teachers. These events were a partnership between Verdade Biblica and a Youth group from America, Desoto Youth Ministry. 600 hundred kids expressed their desire in receive Jesus as their personal Savior. Follow-up will be done by partnership with local churches.
- On the 21st, I had a joy to speak to the Brazilian Air Force. 120 soldiers expressed their desire in receive Jesus as their personal Savior. Follow-up will be done by chaplains.
- On the 30th, I preached at the Presbyterian Church of Suzano where approximately 200 young people gathered. The interesting thing was this--it was an English service!
- Recorded a series on the Gospel of John by a special request of the Bible Broadcast Network. This series will be use permanently on their Web site and will be used to reach all the Portuguese speaking people as a training program.
- We had our Bible Seminar in Serra Negra. The audience was a mix of all kinds of people. We had pastors, believers and unbelievers. It was a great time of fellowship and Bible teaching. We heard great testimonies by the end of the conference, but one grabbed my attention came from a lady who has been suffering with severe depression. She went to our conference--her family pushed her there... At the very end she told me, "I can not explain, but something happened inside of me! I feel that there is some sort of a new power, a new life. I feel like fruits will be produced in my life. I feel alive again... Thank you, thank you, thank you..." With joy in my heart, I just want to join this lady and say with her, "Thank you!"
Brothers, partners of this ministry, thank you for helping us with your prayers and financial support. You made all this ministry possible! Above all, glory be to God who gave us His Word, His gifts and made us one and the same people--His church. Once again Muito Obrigado (thanks a lot)!
June--Some highlights.... 1) Bob Beasley [Canadian Director] and I worked together in different Bible teaching settings--small ones, big ones. The Lord really blessed us as many came to Christ and others were restored by the power of God's Word. 2) Preached at the Harvest Celebration. Around 200 people gathered at a special event to hear the Word of God, most of them young people in their twenties. Many of the young people shared the desire to pursue ministry as pastors or missionaries. Please pray for... Recording a New Testament Survey for BBN; new nook to be launched in September; the Webtelevision to be launched in September.
May--Monday, I had a very powerful encounter with a man named Rogerio. He is a journalist and a very gifted man. As a matter of fact, Rogerio's gift has helped our ministry to communicate in major newspapers. But this week, he was not feeling well. He invited me for a cup of coffee so we could chat personally. When I got there, he was very distress and crying. The reason was because he suffers from a rare degenerative disease, and day by day he is losing his ability to move. He is only in his 50's and is losing the ability of typing and walking and is not able to hold his youngest daughter on his lap. I could have given him many Bible verses. I could have given him many inspirational stories. But I decided just to cry with him. It was like the words of Paul yelled in my head: "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." I prayed for him and left his home/office. It was powerful! Rogerio is consecrating his talent to deliver God's message by partnering with us, but he is running against time. Tuesday morning, he wrote to me. Here are his words:
"After our time together, I felt more secure and confident, and I feel like I can better understand God's message. There is always a reason for us to keep on doing the best we can, for his grace is all that we need."
Funny, after my time with Rogerio I had the exactly feeling. His grace, that's all we need.
April--This is one of the most difficult times in my ministry; every month I ask God: "Lord is this the month I will have to shut down the whole thing?" So far by His grace and the sacrifice of many, it sounds like He is saying: "Not yet."
Even though this is a hard time as we have seen many good opportunities to go away for lack of resources, I praise him for His care with me. He gave me a wonderful wife who understands when I explain to her that our groceries will have to wait. He gave me a group of five people who are not my staff; they are my brothers in Christ; they are co-workers willing to face the same difficulties because they believe in what we do. They see the results in people's life, so they keep going. They do not give up...five people! They produce television, Internet content, radio, publications and special events, among other things.... What a blessing.... As the Word of God says: "A friend loves at all times. And a brother is born for adversity."
Not only did they become more than friends, but many others who came along are putting their hearts in this ministry. On my end, I am doing everything I can to keep the ministry reaching as many people as we can. I find myself teaching, writing, preaching, recording for TV, recording for radio and many other activities--even working as a consultant to business companies. This amount of work is really time consuming, but it's worth it. Like the special event we had in February when 20 teens committed their lives to Jesus.
And of course I do not want to be only a preacher or a Bible teacher. I want to be a husband and a father, so it has been a challenge to balance all those things. But thanks to God I am still playing soccer with my 6 year old Leonardo, taking my two-year-old Melina bike rides and playing chess with my 16 year old Jeniffer. I also enjoy watching a nice movie and eating popcorn with my dear wife, Julie, but I want to take her for special dinner one of these days.
Brazil's Website: www.verdadebiblica.net
"I discovered this program some time ago and became spiritually much better. There's nothing better than listen to God's Word at the beginning of the day. I had a very turbulent moment in my life and considered giving up, but as I listened to the program, I got new strength."
(Testimony from Brazil)