
Sunday simply was wonderful, despite the rain. About 6 weeks ago we planned as a church to have a day where we have church somewhere other than the building to promote inter-relationships and provide a neutral place for visitors to come. This being the first one, we didn't focus so much on the event being evangelistic, but rather a family gathering. So, a lot of us showed up for breakfast, then we had service, lunch, 2 baptisms and fun!
One woman, who lives in Hawaii, but comes about every 6 months had just got into town and she never fails to bring someone new to church when she is here. On Sunday as she was driving to the hotel we were meeting at, she saw a man on a bicycle. He had flags from several countries on the back of his bike, and she knew by looking at him that he was a traveler. The Holy Spirit nudged her to invite him to have breakfast with us, so she did and he accepted.
Luis Carlos Rodriguez is a man in his 50s from the most southern state of Brasil, Rio Grande do Sul. Eight years ago (I believe), he was lonely and decided to travel...on his bike. So he rode. He has traveled to the farthest northern and southern tip of Brasil as well as a few other South American countries. In total he has biked more than 180,000 kilometers (about 112,000 miles). And on Sunday, he met a family of people who love Jesus. He was reluctant to eat breakfast and reluctant to stay for service, but God was wooing him.
Junior, is a man in our church going through a lot in his life right now, but over the past couple months God has been doing a work in Him. He decided a few weeks ago that Sunday he would get baptized. It was time to turn over that new leaf. So despite the freezing water of the swimming pool, he and Claudio jumped in. Claudio talked about baptism and through God's Spirit, Junior became a new man.
Luis Carlos was there. And he was listening. Claudio got out of the pool after waiting to see if anyone else spontaneously wanted to get baptized and declare their newness in Christ. And when he got out, Luis Carlos approached and asked for prayer. Through his weeping, he accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. We asked him if he wanted to get baptized, but again, reluctant, he said he had no other clothes than the ones he was wearing, and it already was a cold and wet day.
Overhearing this, Larry spoke up. He had brought an extra pair of clothes, not knowing why. Celia had brought a towel, also, not knowing why. Luis Carlos was why. So through more tears and arthritic joints, Luis Carlos got into the pool with Claudio and Rafael (who had been to church just one other time, but he also had brought extra clothes), and was declared dead to the world and alive with Christ.
180,000 kilometers of lonliness. All the while God had prepared Sunday, September 26, 2010 to be the day that lonliness would end as he encountered the God of Creation who "bikes" with him everywhere he goes.