Transforming lives through the Word

Since we returned from the States last year, Lalia and I have been attending a church plant here in São Paulo, Igreja Batista Nações Unidas (see photo, Pastor Luiz Sayão). About a year old, it is a Brazilian Baptist church, but with a non-traditional model. The mission statement is simple: “Transformando Vidas Pela Palavra” (Transforming lives through the Word). We meet in a convention center located on one of the major urban expressways. The preaching is expository. The teaching ministry avoids the Sunday school mold and focuses on biblical theology, even to the point of testing students with periodic exams.

At the pastor’s request, I started teaching a Sunday afternoon English Bible class (just before the worship celebration). Internally, the class is known as a “bridge” event to serve those who are searching for spiritual meaning. We are enjoying the smallness of the congregation, after spending four years in a mega-church (by Brazilian standards) environment.

Last night during the worship celebration we heard from a missionary sponsored by the church, who works with evangelism in the Middle East. Until God transformed him, he was a member of Hamas, in charge of rigging bombs for use on targets in Israel. Now he risks his life to take the explosive power of the gospel to his fellow Palestinians and peoples in North Africa.