The real Jesus

Hello family and friends, and friends that are like family. After two months in Brazil, we are finally doing some ministry. We are learning the language, making friends with many nationals, and little by little we are getting closer to our people group. There are several challenges that I would like for you to pray and considered when you think of us, and pray for us:
1. What is worse, to never have heard the name of Jesus, or to have a heard of another Jesus? In one hand, the majority of people here have a distorted perception of Jesus and salvation. For 70+% of the population Jesus is a wimp, a Jesus who needs his mama to approve what he does, a Jesus who can’t really save anybody because people here are trying to save themselves, and he is cool about it. On the other hand, some of the “evangelical” influence portraits Jesus as a big genie who will do anything for you, if you say the right things; by the way, you can find the magic words to say inside his magic lamp (the Bible). According to this perception, He would make you rich, give you power, and take away the pain, if you find the right combination of words and have enough faith, in your faith. I was wondering, what’s worst, to have a totally wrong idea of who Jesus is, or to have never heard the name of Jesus? For the majority of people here, the Jesus that they have heard about, is a false Jesus, and is not the Jesus of the Bible. Please pray that God may reveal himself to our people group through the light of scripture who Jesus really is, and how He alone is able to save by faith alone. Pray that He may use our lives to communicated both verbally, and with our life style who He really is. Pray that people around us may always see Him. Pray for a mighty harvest.

Making new friends/ Haciendo nuevos amigos

The last couple of weeks have been really good, we are making new friends everyday (non Japanese yet), and we are really exited because most of our new friends are not believers yet. This week, one of the guys we met invited us to his house, and this coming Sunday we are going to begin a weekly bible study, with the possibility to start a church. God is really showing Himself n an amazing way, and we can only praise Him for that. We know that our primary task here right now is to learn Portuguese, but God is opening doors everyday with people n need of salvation. Please pray not only for this possible new church, but also for an amazing harvest that results in many disciples.

Las ultimas dos semanas han sido muy emocionantes, estamos haciendo nuevos amigos casi todos los días (ningún Japonés aun), y estamos bien emocionados por que la mayoría de nuestros nuevos amigos no son creyentes aun. Esta semana uno de ellos nos invito a su casa, y este Domingo vamos a iniciar un estudio bíblico en su casa con la posibilidad de que iniciar una iglesia. Dios se ha estado manifestando en nuestras vidas de una manera asombrosa, y solo nos queda darle la Gloria por eso. Sabemos que nuestra tarea principal por el momento es aprender portugués, pero Dios ha estado abriendo puertas todos los días con gente que necesita de salvación. Por favor oren por esta posible nueva iglesia, pero aun mas oren por una cosecha abundante que resulte en muchos discípulos y nuevas iglesias.