When we came to Brazil this time, We had a short list of things we wanted to accomplish no matter what.
One of those things was to go back to Lajedo and get re-acquainted with Pastor Eliane and her church “Casa de Oracao” (House of Prayer)
This church was one of the places we preached at last time we were here and where our good friend Ebenezer eventually became an associate. It was a surprise to him as well as to us that he was ordained as a pastor in the church this time, but a fitting tribute to the time he has served there.
We fell in love with Lajedo the first time we were here. It is a desert town of about 25,000 and the economy is agriculture based.
Those of you who know that Sandra and I are farmers will appreciate how much we enjoyed seeing folks riding horses in from the country complete with stock saddles and ropes on the cantles. We saw a holstein cow and a 3 day old calf being driven down one of the main streets, and a walk through the town had us browsing through a couple of the dozens of feed and farm supply stores.
Pra Eliane, Ebenezer, another pastor and ourselves went to visit a man who was sick with prostrate cancer during one of the days we were there, and as we all prayed for him, as they led he and his wife to pray to accept Jesus as their Lord, I was touched by how much their farmhouse reminded me of farmhouses back home. Built to deal with the desert heat, it was constructed different, but the straw hats hanging by the door, the buckets and tools scattered around, the big kitchen and table, and of course the milkbarn and the herd of holsteins and milk goats just across the fence certainly made me feel a kinship with these folks.
Our time of ministry there was powerful and impacting. As well as preaching, we visited the childrens home Casa de Oracao supports, we visited and prayerwalked one of the poorer neighborhoods and another church that was being assaulted by theft and vandalism.
And we made new friends. We discussed the possibility of using Lajedo as a base to do some community evangelism into the desert country next time we come down, as there are dozens of little communities so far back in the desert that they are cut off from what we consider the normal amenities of electricity, running water, or communications.
We were treated so well in this place that it was difficult to leave. We were given a room in a pousada, (the brazilian equivelent of a motel) our meals were supplied, and everyone was so friendly.
How soon we are able to return depends on a lot of things, but I definitely want to return.
click on the picture at the top of this article and follow it to our flickr photo stream for a set of pics from this beautiful city and our ministry there.
carl
