Saturday 8 March 2008

4 - CONGREGATIONS

We arrived in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, on Sunday, February 3rd, at 1am. On Monday evening we went to the service at the “CRISTO” Church in the city of Porto Alegre. The pastor Reinaldo Lüdke invited me and Lídia to say a few words before the Prayers, and then he prayed for us, for the ELCK and for Kenya. All the people we met assured us of their prayers and we thank all. God heard the prayers of His people!
The next weekend (February 10th) Lídia and I went to our former congregation, “CONCÓRDIA” – Porto Alegre, where I served as pastor from 1988 to 1998, and where we were members from 1998 to 2006 during my IELB’s Presidential time.
. It was so nice to meet so many friends there and to share God’s Word and our experience in Kenya with them during the Service! Thank you, Pastor Dieter Jagnow and Pastor Roberto Kunzendorff Jr. - After this, several pastors of the circuit and their families came together and invited us for a delicious “churrasco gaúcho”, a typical barbeque of the South of Brazil.

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On February 16th, Saturday evening, we were invited to give a presentation at “São Paulo” Church, Vila Fátima, city of Cachoeirinha by Rev. Guilherme R.H.Becker, Lidia’s cousin


His two congregations came together for a joint Service. They are African/Brazilian mixed congregations, and many people asked a lot of questions about the land of their forefathers.
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On Sunday morning, February 17th, I preached at the chapel of the Lutheran University – ULBRA, city of Canoas, invited by one of the pastors in charge of the chapel, Marco Antonio Jacobsen.


Two former Presidents of the IELB were there: Rev. Dr. Johannes Gedrat and Rev. Dr. Leopoldo Heimann, both my good friends and coworkers. (Before I was elected IELB’s President in 1998, I used to be vice-president with both at their terms.) It was very nice to meet them and to meet many other friends.
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On February 24th I preached and gave a presentation at “SÃO PAULO” Church – Porto Alegre- Pastors Otomar Schlender and Klaus Kuchenbecker.. Lídia took some African clothes and handcrafts and people loved to try them on and to take pictures wearing them, and to see the handcrafts. – After the service, a TV interview mentioned in Point # 2 was made inside the church.

January and February are the months of big summer vacation in the South of Brazil, and many people went to the cost, because it’s really hot! We were surprised that every Service we preached at was attended by more than 100 people, in spite of the vacation time. Announcements about the presentations were put through Internet.