Santana, Amapa, Brazil Report
by Brian Larsen SOC Director
Even after the first week of school in the city of Santana, Amapa, Brazil, we could see that what Pr. Lucifrancis Barbosa Tavares testified in his own words this School of Christ is a parting of waters concerning the impact that the School of Christ was having in the church and his ministry was real and timely. This time of intense teaching and seeking God left a definite mark the present history of the church as a before and after.
Here are a few testimonies from graduates:
One sister testified that she wanted to praise God by lifting up her hands just like she saw the others doing in times of prayer and worship. She couldn't lift her left arm so she asked to be prayed for. In one of the lessons in the Faith series, she declared and put her faith in action and the Lord healed her instantly. She came to the altar with both hands up. She also testified that she had been praying for one of her friends to be saved, and so after the first week of school she invited her neighbour to come to service and she accepted that very day Jesus as her Saviour.
Brother Raelle, a military policeman, testified that through the first week he heard from his own 14 year old daughter say that the School of Christ was wonderful and she liked it so much. Brother Raelle asked her the reason for her feelings since she was not attending the School. His daughter responded that since you have been a student in the School of Christ, you have become a totally different man and it's been long since you treated me so good.
One of the pastors that is in charge of a city, his wife, testified that she couldn't stay longer than 10 minutes on her knees to pray because her nerves and bones hurt badly. It was impossible to stay in prayer like that. The first day was extremely difficult to her, yet she tried hard to fulfill the established prayer time in class. She says that she was touched by God and in the second hour of prayer, she did not want to stand but just to keep praying on her knees in the presence of God.
The night of July 15th, a Thursday night after our fasting day, we spent another extraordinary time with God, a real encounter with the Lord. At the end of the last lesson, I invited the students to make an altar unto the Lord. That night many were baptized in the Holy Ghost. A sister received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and healing in her right arm as well. She had fallen down the stairs nine months ago and broke the arm and it had never healed.
The pastor secretary of the State Convention of Amapá, now in his 70's, declared that "the church needed urgently to return to the basics, prayer, fasting and discipline. If not the church was destined to failure. He said, Praise God for the School of Christ because it brought us back to the true Gospel. We have learned through the years that true education is that which produces changes. Everything we learned in the School of Christ has produced and will produce more changes in our ministry and in our walk to the heavenly places. These changes are about the perfecting of our attitude and how we act as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to give thanks first to our God who put these glorious times together. This School of Christ does not finish today, but has just begun. It will be a permanent walk in the growth of our spiritual knowledge within the ministry."
A Pastor President who pastors in a city near the Brazilian-French Guyana border said, "This School has fed us with prophetic words. It is making us to walk on the certainty of the Word of God. It has left us with the responsibility that the Apostle Paul gave to the young Timothy in II Timothy 2:15, 'Study to show thyself approved unto God,' I thank God for our Pastor President, Pr. Lucifrancis Barbosa Tavares, and his concern for the teaching and studying of God's Word in the state of Amapa. This reminds me of the concern the church had in Thessalonica when Paul ministered in Acts 17:11. That church demonstrated love in checking every teaching with the Word of God. Especially in those times when many teachings and doctrines were rising with illusions of men, we hear the Apostle Paul telling to us to study the Word, to preach the Word. It is no wonder why our Church has grown, become stronger, and is standing strong in the battle against the devil. As we learned in the School of Christ that our warfare is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and all that comes against the Church. We know that greater is He that is with us than he that is against us, and the gates of hell shall not prevail."
It was a blessing to be with these 300 students and also to have my father-in-law, Rev. James Dumas, with us representing his home church Bethel Pentecostal Fellowship of Patterson, LA. His testimony, his leadership assistance, his preaching in the local churches and graduation message left an impact in the lives of all involved. We thank him from taking time off of work and his schedule to be with and give of himself to the School of Christ in Brazil.
I believe that the two weeks we taught the School in Santana will produce eternal fruits. The Pastor President of the city of Santana but also the Pastor President (Superintendent) of the state of Amapa, Pr. Lucifrances, participated as a student and took much interest for more than a year to promote the School in his area and make all the preparations necessary for the School to be a success. We thank the Lord that there are Pastors that still desire a true move of God and spiritual growth in their churches. He is overseeing more than 70 churches that reach deep into the jungles of the Amazon. The work is great but he was left encouraged just as we were remembering how God had moved mightily in our midst. We also give praise to God because we even had a number of students that were Baptized in the Holy Spirit for the first time.
Thank you again for the support that never ceases for this ministry to continue here in South America.
God Bless,
Brian Larsen
|
