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May 24, 2010

I was getting a building permit from the Marabá Department of Public Works a few days ago, glad for the shelter of the small crowded office. Sheets of driving rain, thunder and lightening do not combine well with motorbike riding. Four men and a lady were passionately discussing the future of Marabá, the rapid growth and the the possibility of becoming a state capital. The “chefe” behind the big desk asked me if I was with a Canadian mining company. “No. I am a missionary.” The man in the corner with the big muscles and the black “fiscalização” shirt looked up, “Are you the guy who is over there in Folha 6 working with the youth?” The word “fiscalização” carries the idea, “We try to find things that are wrong in order to give you fines!” “Yes,” I responded. “We are planting a church and helping our neighbors” Raised eyebrows peered at me from under has black ‘fiscalização” ball cap,“But don’t you have a soccer field?” I nodded and invited him to come see us. “I already have. That is a very good thing you are doing.” Immediately everyone in the room started thanking me for helping the youth in our neighborhood. “Thank-you.” “Yes, thank you for helping our youth.” “Yes. Thank you for working there.” The chefe gave me a 40% discount on the building permit. This was way across town. I extend their thanks to you. Your prayers and donations make this work possible.
It has been a busy year and a half as we work to plant this church in Marabá. We are so grateful to be developing this community of peace. We have fixed up a meeting place, a mission office, a guest house, done grounds work, built fences, a shop and a house, and we bought a tractor. Most importantly we have hosted several conferences and established weekly worship and small group meetings. Our small church is packed every Sunday. The Lord is transforming lives.
Our youth are asking for more training. They eagerly participate in everything. Several are starting to lead smaller discipleship groups. In order for our church to grow we need a bigger building. We can do one more expansion on our existing meeting area. This will move us from a packed out 100 to a reasonable 200. From there we may be able to go to two services as we plan for a bigger building. And the “carrot” our youth are dreaming about? “We are going to plant our first church in the interior soon.” We really need a good van to do outreaches with these youth.
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Marabá Church Expansion Project.m4v

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We started meeting under a mango tree with about 15 people in Fall 2008.
This grew to the tractor shed, with about 50 at Christmas 2008.
Chris Weins and a team helped us put on an addition, bringing our seating capacity to about 80 during Summer 2009.
Since we often have over 100 people at our Sunday services, we are expanding once again this Summer 2010!
Rick.
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Baptism!

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“Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day
after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole
world and delighting in mankind.” Proverbs 8:30,31
I am trying to imagine God delighting “day after day” during creation
when He made an extra ugly bug, or when He gave the elephant the long
nose, or when he made the edelweiss and put it on the top of the
Matterhorn. It’s like the little girl asked her Sunday School teacher,
“Did God mean to make the giraffe with such a long neck?” Solomon goes
on to say that God delighted most in mankind. It is easy for me to
imagine that God is disgusted with the world. But maybe He is actually
delighted with the world? Maybe He chooses not to look into the
darkness too much, except with the intent of bringing people out and
into His light, where He can delight in them? Maybe God has a filter,
and He is actively seeking out people to delight in?
Jesus says God highly values people with the following characteristics:
-the poor in spirit
-those who mourn
-the meek
-those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
-the merciful
-the pure in heart
-the peacemakers
-those who are persecuted for righteousness
-those who are insulted and criticized because they are Christians
Last Sunday we had a glimpse of God’s delight. We had planned a baptism
and a potluck. We woke up to dark clouds and rain. By 9:30 a.m. it was
still raining, but the first people started showing up. The rain worked
like a filter. Only those who really wanted to came. After a short
service we walked through our fields to the river. The joy of the Lord
was among us. The things of the world grew dimmer for awhile, and the
delight of being with God’s people and in His presence was all around.
After the baptism someone ran for the volleyball and the youth stopped
at the flooded volleyball court for awhile. “Today, the rain doesn’t
matter.” Then we had lunch together. The youth were just acting crazy,
singing Christian songs out loud, no instruments, off key. The word
“carefree” comes to mind. It is kind of like when people first get
saved and the heavy weight of sin first falls away. Maybe the children
of Israel felt like this crossing through the Red Sea. Maybe the
Russians felt like this when the wall came down. Maybe the Americans
felt like this when they burned the tea in Boston. Maybe the pioneers
in Manitoba felt like this when they first got a homestead. For awhile,
nothing matters. Freedom is within sight. This feeling really makes
missionary work feel like a worthwhile endeavour.
For a couple of weeks now a loose paraphrase of Paul’s feelings when he
was before King Agrippa has been ringing in my head. “But for these
chains I wish all people could become what I am.”
…except that I don’t have any chains.
Thank you so much for your prayers, support and friendship, and for
working with us on this missionary endeavour. May God bless you with a
sense of the hope you are giving to many people, and the great
multitudes you will bless through their testimonies and activities in
the years to come.
Rick Bergen.
PS We captured some of the emotions of last Sunday on a four minute
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhrqsD6Fkvs .
PPS After watching this video, if you have a youth group who would like
to challenge us to a game of volleyball, please write me an email. Hey,
you might even be able to talk us into a small soccer tournament.
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You are invited to watch a video of our Easter Highlights, including

our Passion Play. It is 4 minutes and 33 seconds long. Just click on

this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_boV1GFNHaE

After our big Easter service last night, when I finally stepped into

our bedroom about 10:30 p.m., I surprised a big rat. I stepped into

cartoon character big hunter mode as I chased him around our crowded

room with the big pellet gun I got from Ross. It took about an hour,

and I had to move all our furniture and unpack some shelves, but I

finally got him, much to Deanna’s relief. That part of our Easter

week-end is not in our video. Still, the video has a lot of action,

thanks to our great team, and I highly recommend it.

Warmly,

Rick Bergen.

PS If the video link does not work, type in www.youtube.com and then

type rickbergen in the search box.

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Maraba Encontro Retreat Jan 2010

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Please watch this short video of the testimonies of the youth in our
church in Maraba. We are so grateful for how God is working in the
lives of people in our neighborhood. It is very difficult for me to
watch this video without weeping because of God’s mercy and love.
During one of the first week-ends of this year we planned a spiritual
retreat. Thirteen leaders came from Altamira to help. From Friday to
Sunday the guys sought God in one camp while the girls sought God
another camp. The retreat involved silence, teaching, repentance, good
food, tears and joy. At the Sunday church service we asked if anyone
wanted to share what God had done in their lives.
Video in English (6 minutes):
Video em Portuguese (9 minutos):
This is our most important video to date. It captures the process of
God transforming lives.
After the mountaintop experience we all returned to the where we live
everyday. What the video does not show is the homes these kids returned
to. One boy’s dad stabbed his mother before Christmas. She blocked the
knife with her arm, so the knife cut right through her forearm. Another
girl’s brother was shot and killed a few doors from our house, while
she and many of this group were practicing the Christmas play. Other of
these youth need to stay awake all night on party nights to protect
their younger siblings from their mom’s drunken boyfriend and his
friends. But things look different now. (Interesting to me, these
disfunctional parents are just big, broken kids themselves. They
welcome us into their homes. We’re becoming friends. Their own stories
tear you up).
Please pray for Dianne, Jobel, Romulo, ZeZinho, Yara, big Luanna,
little Luanna, Anni, Via, Emma, JohnLennon, Maico, Adriana, Sarah,
Pablo, Marques, Kayele, Aline, Bruno, Sammi, Fransisco and Barbara, to
name a few. They are at a very tender place in their spiritual lives.
The devil would love to take them out, but greater is He who is in us
than He who is in the world. These are becoming the pillars of the
Maraba church.
And please don’t forget to pray for Ivanildo and Monica, who work with
us. They do a large percentage of the day to day pastoring, along with
Deanna, Anni, Via and Emma. Bella and I play support and coaching
roles. We appreciate your prayers too.

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Fifteen Day Trip

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I just got back from a fifteen day trip visiting churches and
missionaries in Altamira and Porto de Moz.

It is so satisfying to look around and see how the Lord has been
leading us us as a team out here. All the missionaries are able to do
what they came here to do. The good news is being spread to an
ever-widening circle.

When you leave a strawberry plant in your garden for several years it
will continue to stay alive, but the berries become smaller and the
growth of the plant will slow down. A good gardener will dig up the
plant, break it apart and plant the new smaller plants in several
different locations. The leaves turn green, rapid growth begins again,
and the plant becomes even more fruitful than before. This is what I
saw on my journey. New churches are being planted and young churches
are thriving.

Chris Patterson took this photo of his 4 year old son Ben playing
soccer with a Brazilian cowboy near a near church in the Assurini. The
more I study this photo, the more I sense a very familiar feeling.
Imagine Ben was trying to play the goalie and the cowboy had a whole
team behind him. “I’ll just obey what I think God is saying for this
next step, and let’s see what happens.” This guy probably looks as big
to Ben as Goliath looked to David, or as the giants looked to the 12
Israelites who were sent to spy out the promised land, or as witnessing
to your unsaved friend looks to you.

Moses told the Israelites, “When you go to war against your enemies and
see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be
afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of
Egypt, will be with you. When you are about to go into battle, the
priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: ‘Hear, O
Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be
fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give away to panic
before them. For the Lord you God is the one who goes with you to fight
for you against your enemies to give you victory.'” Deuteronomy 20:1-4

END.

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