Lyndell, Flávio, and Kerry in front of Flávio’s church.
By Kerry Bender
VP of International Missions
Last month, I had the privilege of spending time with our missionary team in Brazil. It is so exciting to see what God continues to do through the NAB partnership with Chain of Love and our missionary staff at the seminary in the Baptist Convention of Rio Grande do Sul. I was able to spend some time with Brandon and Marci Jones and their two teenage daughters who live with them in Brazil, but most of my time was spent traveling with Lyndell and Paulo Campbell-Réquia and teaching an introductory course on preaching.
It was such a blessing to see the hunger that so many of these men and women had to learn more about God’s Word and how to communicate it clearly to those within and outside of the Church. The commitment of these students was impressive; all of them worked full-time jobs during the day and then came to class from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. I was also amazed at the organizational structure and the creative delivery of the course through an online and seat-based hybrid that traveled each evening to a different location; Lyndell did an amazing job pulling all of this off, with the help of Paulo and others on staff at the seminary. Through this ingenious method, I was able to visit multiple churches and meet the majority of the students face to face.
There are so many stories I could talk about, but I want to take just a minute to describe my last day in Brazil, which was a Sunday. Flávio was one of the students in the class I was teaching . . .
With the calendar full of activities, end-of-school-year events, and school award ceremonies, May can feel like a second December. Not only can the mayhem of May lead to chaos for students and their families, but it can also bring on that same chaos for youth workers.
In the midst of a jam-packed May, we invite NAB youth workers to take a moment for themselves to connect with other NAB youth workers. Next week, May 18 at 11:00 a.m. (EST), April Wahl (EYELET member) and Wayne Stapleton (VP of Cross-Cultural Engagement and Emerging Leaders) will be hosting a Zoom call just for you.
This hour-long call will be an opportunity to share your voice about what you would like to see and how you are willing to assist in helping The Landing provide a growing and deeper connection to our NAB youth workers. We will begin with an introduction by April and Wayne, who will share more about The Landing, as well as the content and stories they’re looking for. We will also provide a time for you as youth workers to share stories about your ministry context.
Click the button below to register for the Zoom call.
As we previously announced, Ken Solberg, the regional minister for the Saskatchewan Baptist Association retired at the end of October 2022. This means the SBA is now actively seeking the individual God has set aside as the next regional minister. This is a full-time position, working with the fourteen churches in Saskatchewan. You can find the job post and how to apply by clicking on the link below.