God has been doing some incredible exciting things as we move toward the launch of the newest Baptist church in Sao Paulo.  Our different ministry teams are coming together in remarkable ways.

Each day something new happens.  We recently added the missing drummer to the worship band.  They are awesome!  Salva has been praying for some missing pieces for the Conexão Kids ministry.  This week we added two key couples!  God is bringing together a group of people that want to serve him with their gifts in order to see the neighborhood reached for Christ!

Even he website has begun taking shape.  You can check it out on www.conexaonovageracao.com.br! :-)  Pray with us this final week before the launch on August 22 that all would go well and a few more of the pieces would fall into place.  It's been a lot of work, but man, there is nothing like the feeling of planting a new church!

If you're interested in helping out or just want to find out more, contact us.  We'd be happy to answer your questions!

As we move toward the inauguration on August 22, we have a lot to do.  I'll try to keep this sight updated... because we need you to be praying! Seriously, you all are greatly appreciated.  Thank you for standing in the gap with us.  I know our contact has not been a one-source deal such as this website, but a mixture of email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  But still, we want to make an conscious effort to keep you abreast of all the latest happenings.

If you don't see this updated, drop me a line.  (I'll do anything to hear from you!!!)  :-)

Together in His service,
Steve

We've been meeting individually with those that turned out and are ready to get started with the teaching of the core group. You never have a second chance to get started out right, so we want to get this foundation solid from the get-go!   Training starts officially this Sunday morning!

Thanks again for your prayers.

Sunday morning at 9:30 we'll have a presentation and cast the vision for all that have signed on to be part of the new work in this neighborhood.  It's amazing that there is no church specifically and intentionally reaching out to this group.

Keep praying and we'll update you more on this and other events that are coming up in the next few weeks!

On the vine!
Steve

If you would... permit me reminisce a bit...

Twenty-Five Years Ago

Times have definitely changed, especially in the willingness to go overseas. Twenty five years ago, I couldn't get people to come visit me on the field.  Now, everyone wants to make a short-term missions trip.  It's extremely popular...

Back then the phone calls to the states cost a dollar a minute.   Seriously, you could not drop coins in at the phone booth fast enough to make a call to the states!  Now they are free with Skype.

Then there was snail mail and I would wait for letters for months and some things still haven't arrived, like some books I needed for a series I was preparing.  God blessed anyway!  But now it only takes milliseconds for the email to get here... or we Instant Message (sometimes with video).  Or waiting for the monthly check so you could by food.  Now there are a million ways to get the money into an account.  There may not be money, but there are a million ways to get it there!

I remember that my bookshelves had notebooks of carbon copied letters (literally carbon copied) I had written to people that supported us financially and in prayer.  Now I have an Outlook .pst file and it's all there.

My absolute favorite thing when I visited other missionaries that lived several hours away (like the Larry and Roseanne Thornburg in Madrid or Gary and Carolyn Shafer in Barcelona) was to peruse their libraries, find a book I liked, and take it and get it photocopied.  The copyshop would put a plastic binding on it and I'd have something to read back in the town I served in with an evangelical population of one!!! Now, I have over 4,000 Christian books on my computer and can buy almost anything on Amazon.  (Shipping still gets me though).

So what prompted this post.  Today, I tried to schedule a meeting with a guy we are planting a church with and he told me he was on the road on a business trip... back in a few days!  It really got me thinking... Times have changed.

Technology has made the world a different place.  It's made mission work different too.  I can't say that I prefer one or the other... What I can say is that I want to use the best of each.  The old days of being with the people face to face and building deeper relationships from which to work are extremely important.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.   But using technology to make this happen is definitely the way to go!

Our True Motivation

We just can't forget that key factor... All missionary work must be motivated by love... be it with or without technology...  People knew if you were real back in the old days... and they know whether or not you're real today.

I still love going into an area and just meeting people and sharing Christ with these new found friends.  Some will accept Christ and that is a rush!  Others won't.  But loving people is the key.  You can't write people off because they didn't respond as you wanted them to.  Love isn't like that.  It loves people anyway.  We should be trusting God's timing.  It's much better than ours.  We have a job to do.  There a great unfinished task that we are hoping to see fulfilled in our lifetimes.

One thing is for sure... It's such a privilege to serve God in this missionary capacity.  It was 25 years ago and it continues to be so today... and I'm starting to have a few old war stories to tell others myself.

I love to teach the Word.  Yet, although I know I can get across any idea, I also know that a national might communicate that same thought in a more powerful way.  But again, this keeps us dependent upon God and His power.  And that's the part I like.  It is incredible to witness the Lord at work in ways that are unmistakeably happening by the moving of His hand.

This is why we want to build a prayer team from both here and around the world.  We want to see God's hand move in the neighborhood of Chákara Klabin!  This section of Vila Mariana used to be a huge favela or slum area.  In fact, it was the largest favela of the city of São Paulo at one time.  This was all razed and new construction has created an upper middle class neighborhood of houses and high rise apartments.

Will you join our prayer team?  Just a few minutes a day praying for the hearts of these people would do wonders.  There is nothing we can do to make it happen.  This must be a work of God.  Won't you join us?  Start today and let's see what God can do!

Or in other words…

• Quem nasce no Estado de São Paulo é Paulista.
• Quem nasce na cidade de São Paulo é paulistano.

Exemplo:

• Quem nasce em Campinas, é campinense, paulista e brasileiro.
• Quem nasce na cidade de São Paulo, é paulistano, paulista e brasileiro.

The principle:  Connect with people for the Gospel's Sake.

I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. ^ Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.  - 1 Co 9:22-23.

Within the bounds of God's Word, the apostle Paul (Sao Paulo) would not offend the Jew, Gentile, or those weak in understanding the Gospel message.  Of course, this is not compromising the Word or Truth, but rather reaching a point... humbling yourself... to where you can share the Gospel and see people come into a relationship with Christ.

And Soccer?

And yes, this is where the soccer tie comes into play.  If you like the Sao Paulo soccer club, you’re a Paulistano.  And that's me (while living here in Sampa).  Church leaders that don't even care about soccer have told us, "you have to have a team" if you want to be effective here as a missionary.  Even if it's a different team than everyone else, you still gain credibility.  You need to be for Sao Paulo, Corinthians, Santos, Flamengos, Palmeiras, etc.  If you have no team, you'll never have an open forum to talk about anything, including the Gospel!

I wonder what team Paul rooted for?  ...I have to think it would have been Sao Paulo, his namesake.  But he may have been for Santos (Saints) just as easily.

Please pray for us that God would continue to open a door for the Word, the we might share the mystery of Christ with a lost and needy world!  -Colossians 4:2-6.

… and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Short term mission trips are a great way to have your eyes opened, your faith strengthened, and your soul refreshed! Nothing is more exciting and life-changing than stepping out of your culture and comfort zones to do something for Christ!

The Megacities offer some rare opportunities to reach out with God’s love.  The Sao Paulo metroplex, with its nearly 23,000,000 people has it all.  A myriad of classes, races, and religions exist here.   There are pockets everywhere with people groups that are barely being reached.  The upper middle class is less than 2% evangelized!

We begin with prayer.  Then we engage people using a creative blend of sports, music, food, and English.  Once we have the contact with people, the opportunities are limitless!

This year, we are going to bring teams in to help with several of the areas in which we’ll be working.  If you are interested, please contact us so we can talk more about the opportunities that exist to serve the Lord and others here in Sao Paulo!

So, with that, let us just offer a simple wish from our family to yours...
that this New Year, 2010, be filled with all the blessings that only God can give for you and yours.

Happy New Year!
the Marlin Family

Steve, Salva, Anna, Alexandra, Adrienne... and Mel

(Yeah... I finally broke down and we now have a little dog... but that's another post!
By the way, Mel means "Honey" in Portuguese).