Jul 11 2008
German Team Update
Luciano and his wife Rosângela learned Hunsrik as children from their parents in the interior of Brazil’s south where immigrants from all over Europe came seeking a better life. Their families have been Catholic longer than any of them can remember. With this many years of family and societal traditions change comes at a high price. Friends often ridicule you and family can cut you off. However, this couple continues to pay the price as they learn more and more about God through Bible teaching. Their journey has been one that the team has been watching carefully and praying over.
Recently they studied the Ten Commandments and the issue of idols and images came again to the forefront. They have accepted that their worship of the saints through images as well as their prayer to the dead is a sin but now they are wrestling with what to with the images that are family heirlooms. Those who have walked this path understand the ties that exist with those who have gone before us being bound up in the images of the saints or Mary. Pray for Luciano and his wife to be set free from their past.
Recently the team has struggled through a series of difficulties both physically and spiritually that have begun to take their toll. Both IMB and national team members grow weary in the face of illness and spiritual darkness, and even spiritual attack, and this can leave one feeling as if the wind has been taken away. Often the difficult and dark days are a prelude to blessing and growth that is coming if we will but persevere.
Pray for the team and those in the churches to persevere. Pray for deliverance from evil and to love God, neighbor, and enemy alike. Many in the churches face persecution on a daily basis at work and at home. Also, pray that God would bring new workers to the harvest from among the Hunsrik. There are so many that have yet to hear that Jesus is so much more than a ceramic image.