Bauman's Blog

Restore Brazil in September with Ronaldo Lidório

Recently I was asking some of the staff at my church who is on the forefront of missions thinking in Brazil.  They all said Ronaldo Lidório.  Then recently at a conference I had an opportunity to hear Ronaldo speak, and I understood why.  He has a brilliant mind, an impressive resume, and linguistic skills that are incredible.  At the same time he appears to be a very humble man.

Igreja Presbiteriana da Barra has been a supporter of Ronaldo´s work for a few years now.  He was planning on making a visit to the church on Sept 4, so we are holding him over for a day to join us for a special Restore Brazil meeting on Sept 5.  Join us!

 

"Revolutionary Christianity" and anti-institutionalism

I thought this was a profound quote from "To Change The World" by James Davidson Hunter.

"Observers who contend that the anti-institutional trends that signal an exodus from congregational life are a healthy development - a sign of a new "revolutionary" expression of Christianity - are profoundly misguided.  The reason is that such trends are rooted, in fact, in a consumer logic that makes individual choice central and the self sovereign...  Such trends are less an expression in revolutionary Christianity than of modern individualism and consumerism, the effect of which will undermine the only structure capable of constructively resisting the worst of contemporary culture."

Restore Brazil in Peru

I arrived at the tiny airport in Piura, Peru, last night a bit exhausted, but excited to see what God has in store.  We at Restore Brazil are committed to planting Gospel-centered churches in Brazil, as well as serving church planters and pastors with training, coaching, and mentoring.  Recently, through a friend Renato Vargens, we decided to take part in organizaing a pastor's conference in the North of Peru to reach pastors.  Four pastors are traveling with me for this conference, all of them Brazilians (no English for me this week!)

Piura is a good sized state (500,000) in a heavily Catholic region, with very little evangelical presence.  The majority of pastors here are not trained in theology, and a local missionary told me that they basically learn much of their theology from televangelists, primarily neo-pentecostal televangelists.  Additionally, the churches here lack resources in every way, so we hope to discover ways to help.

We are planning a two-day conference where we hope to saturate 100+ Peruvian pastors with Gospel-centered theology and church planting concepts.  Speaking at the conference will be myself, Renato Vargens, Judiclay Silva Santos, Jean Pires, and Leandro, a Brazil missionary and popular blogger at http://www.pulpitocristao.com/.

While we are not changing our focus to reach Brazil, we believe occasional conferences such as these can serve the greater community of pastors in South America.  Join us in prayer that God would use this conference to reach Peruvians and that this largely unreached region would see more Gospel fruit in the future.

 

 

 

Recap of "The Mission and the City" with Ed Stetzer

Just eight weeks after our annual church planting conference, we decided to host Ed Stetzer for a one day event here in Rio de Janeiro.  Ed had already a couple of speaking engagements in Brazil, and we wanted to make sure that he had a chance to visit the cidade marvilhosa.  Coming to Brazil and not visiting Rio is actually quite tragic.  

Lu and I spent two days with Ed and Donna showing them all the sights in Rio.  It was a wonderful time together.

For those in the States with so many conferences to choose from, it may not seem like a big deal to host someone who speaks hundreds of times a year at churches and conferences in America.  But for us overseas, the travel itineraries of men like these only bring them to Brazil once or twice in a lifetime.  

Ed spoke on church revitalization, mission, and movements.  He did an excellent job.  We had over 100 pastors, church planters, and leaders participate, which is pretty good considering it was a Saturday in the middle of a holiday season in Brazil.  

More importantly, God is developing a network - hopefully into a movement, of pastors and church planters who have a desire to pastor and plant Gospel centered churches.  Churches that exist for the glory of Jesus Christ and the renewal of the city.

Link to photos of The Mission and the City

Recap Article on the conference in Portuguese