January 26, 2010

São Luís Report

Many are probably wondering about the end result of our trip to Maranhão--besides the adventures with exotic wildlife and culinary novelties. After all, one of the main purposes of our trip was to get an idea of where we will be ministering on our second term.

As we began our trip there were two places on our mind: the capital city of São Luís, and an interior town called Chapadinha. I must confess that I was much more interested in Chapadinha than in Maranhão. Much of this has to do with the fact that I am much more at home in the "sticks" than I am in the big city.

Upon our arrival in Maranhão God clearly shut the door for a visit to Chapadinha. Accepting this as God's leading we began to concentrate on the various needs and opportunities in the capital city. Francisco Bezerra--a Brazilian missionary who has worked in the city for many years--took us around to many areas where there is a tremendous need. One in particular caught our attention.

The above picture shows the greater São Luís area. The three main arrows in the middle show the direction in which the city is growing. Many of the places that are blank on the map are actually blocked off and being sold to residential developers.

This is a closer look at the area we want to target. The large circle to the left shows the Olho d'Agua neighborhood. As you can see it is well-developed. It is also growing very quickly. Immediately to the right of that, in the seemingly blank space marked off by the rectangle (following the road labeled MA 203), are large tracts of land. Some of these are completly empty, while others are marked off for residential development. Many are dotted with houses in various states of construction. There are even some fully functional gated communities.

On the day we did the drive-through we did not have much time to stop and take pictures. We did get this one, however, which shows the residential buildup between Olho d'Agua and Raposa.

This is the entrance to an upscale gated community currently being built. How upscale, you ask? Just to the right of the picture is a helipad.

As we considered this option, God brought a confirmation our way. Valderlene (standing next to Itacyara in this picture) is a graduate of our seminary, and has been working as a single missionary in São Luís since then. We made a point of visiting her, and as we shared our vision with her it became obvious that she is "on the same page". Also, her area of expertise (childrens' ministries) would fill a great need in the inception of a church plant. We do not know how all the details will work out, but we are happy to consider Valderlene as a member of our ministry team.

We also spent some time with a young couple who live in the Olho d'Agua neighborhood who have expressed an interest in helping get the church off the ground.

As we drove along and shared ideas about how a ministry could be begun in this section of town we passed this lighthouse. This gave me an idea: what if we called the church "Igreja Batista Farol do Evangelho" (Lighthouse of the Gospel Baptist Church--it sounds better in Portuguese). Besides the obvious landmark, there is another huge reason why I think that name is hugely appropriate...and I will talk about that in another post.

For now, please pray for us as we wrap up our first term (including several ministries in which we are currently involved), go on furlough, and prepare for this exciting next step in our ministry.

Talk back to the missionary: If you were going to start a church, what kind of ministries would you begin with (children's, music, community outreach, etc)? Let us know in the comments section.

Posted by Andrew on January 26, 2010 12:12 PM.

Comments

Posted by: V W Peters at February 11, 2010 6:04 PM

Posted by: Andrew at February 11, 2010 6:08 PM