Archives for October 24, 2014

With Pastor and Mrs. Samuel Vitalino

(written by Mary Beeke)

On Friday, we were driven back to São Paulo, where a group of us flew to Salvador for a mini-FIEL conference which dealt with the same general theme. Joel spoke on how the Holy Spirit works genuine repentance and on the indwelling work of the Spirit in the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4). On Sunday, he preached at Igreja Presbiteriana de Brotas, whose pastor is Samuel Vitalino, on Philippians 1:21. For the Sunday school he preached on coping with affliction. After the sermons, we met a blind man who was wonderfully converted from a spirit form of worship similar to black magic. His eyes have been truly opened to the gospel.

With Pastor Josafa Vasconcelos, at the Church in Salvador

Joel’s first trip to Brazil years ago was in response to Dr. Manuel Canuto’s invitation to the Puritan Project, where he met Pastor Josafá Vasconcelos, who has since become a close friend. (My husband even dedicated one of his books to this very dear brother.) This present trip ended with Joel preaching the first time in Pastor Josafá’s church, with Dr. Canuto in attendance. It was a very emotional experience for them. There is nothing like a mutual love for the Lord Jesus Christ to bind friends together. He preached on Hebrews 12:1–2. As Pastor Josafá eases into retirement over the next years, the plan is for Daniel Silveira, one of our present PRTS students, to take up the mantle. Daniel, his wife Flávia, and their daughter Isabel have brought Brazilian warmth to our church and seminary communities here in Grand Rapids.

After the service Sunday evening, so many young people wanted to ask my husband questions, that he offered to have a sit-down, twenty-minute Q&A session—a session that quickly turned into an hour of great questions.

We had time to see Salvador Monday morning. Samuel Vitalino was our able tour guide. Salvador is a coastal city of nearly three million, and a place of much religion: few evangelicals, many Pentecostals and Roman Catholics, but also a large presence of the cult Candomblé, which is a mix of African worship and Roman Catholicism. Many of the souvenirs have idolatrous significance. The slaves that were brought here in the 1700’s and 1800’s were from the same parts of Africa as those brought to America. We saw the public square where slaves were publicly beaten. In 1888, Princess Isabel set all the slaves free. Racism is absent in the church. At the conference and at all the churches that we visited, there is a beautiful mix of different ethnic backgrounds. We loved the Brazilian folks before, and we love them even more now.

As I write this account of our trip, my dear husband is sitting next to me. Reading is his normal airplane activity. But the last eleven days, two consecutive trips for him which involved speaking 22 times, have worn him out. The page he is attempting to proofread is entitled “Learning to Enjoy Meditation.” But I think he is actually taking a power nap. I do love him so very much. 🙂

(written by Mary Beeke)

We are thinking it is Joel’s twelfth trip to Brazil, and it is my fourth. We met in Detroit, him flying in from Seattle and me from Grand Rapids, then on to São Paulo on an 11-hour overnight flight. Four hours by car—hills and curves—brought us to Águas de Lindóia, where the FIEL Conference is held. In total, it was a 31-hour trip for my husband, and 25 hours for me. The place and the people have become pleasantly familiar. This year’s conference drew 1900 people at which time they cut off the registration due to lack of accommodations for more people. About 70% of the attendees are pastors and their wives. Five to six thousand people heard the addresses through livestreaming. Many thousands more will tune in in due course, we were told. God is doing great things in Brazil.

FIEL Conference Attendees

This year’s theme was “The Work of the Holy Spirit.” Kevin DeYoung spoke on how the Holy Spirit speaks to us, the Spirit’s role in our holiness, and on the conscience. R.C. Sproul Jr. spoke on the Holy Spirit as Lord and Giver of life and on sanctification. You may recall R.C. lost his wife about two years ago to leukemia. Their eight children range in age from 4 to 20 now. He spoke of how God is glorified through struggles, and that He sends trials for our good and for His glory. Deep ways—I can’t imagine. The tears flowed—his and ours. The Brazilian speakers were Davi Charles Gomes, Franklin Ferreira, Leandro Lima, Mauro Meister, and Silas Campos. Skilled interpreters were Heber Campos Jr. and Eros Pasquini.

Most of the FIEL Speakers and Wives

Joel’s first two addresses were on the importance of the Holy Spirit’s saving work and on the Spirit’s role in bringing believers to full assurance of faith. For his last address, which was the closing address of the conference, he decided to change it to something that the people could go home with, something to encourage and inspire them, something to apply all the other messages to their hearts. The Lord helped him in a wonderful way as he preached from Revelation 21:1–8 on the glory that awaits God’s people as the culmination of the Holy Spirit’s saving work in their lives.

It was great for us to meet old friends again. Joel enjoyed seeing Augustus Nicodemus Lopes again, a friend who served as president of Mackenzie University for ten years and is now pastoring a church of twelve hundred. We are also very fond of Bill and Mary Barkley. Bill translated and published Meet the Puritans in Portuguese. What warm, loving friends they are! And of course, we again enjoyed immensely our time with Tiago Santos and Rick Denham, able leaders of FIEL.

PRTS Alumnus Roberto Azevedo and Wife Marta. God has used them to plant 8 churches in Brazil.

Between the addresses, many people like to have their pictures taken with the speakers, have them sign books, and show appreciation and affection. There was lots of boisterous talking, smiling, and hugging. My husband’s new book, in Portuguese, Puritan Reformed Spirituality, sold 650 copies, and his Living for God’s Glory sold 300 copies. It is very special to hear how God has used books and past sermons and addresses to touch people’s lives. A sampling of some of the stories we heard were:

• Two formerly Pentecostal pastors told Joel that reading Living for God’s Glory was used by God to enable them to fully embrace Calvinism, which has transformed their lives and ministries.
• Several people told Joel that after his talk on family worship a few years back that they started family worship for the first time and were blessed in doing so. Others revived the practice. One brother told Joel movingly that his quotation of Thomas Brooks that a family without daily prayer is like a house without a roof exposed to all the storms of heaven deeply convicted him. He started doing family worship again, and his family’s life has been transformed.
• One husband told my husband that the Holy Spirit used his and Steve Lawson’s addresses two years ago to deliver his wife from spiritual bondage. She found freedom in the gospel for the first time in her life.
• One woman told us with tears how my husband’s address on the Spirit’s work in bringing His people to heaven where they will gaze on His face forever was an overwhelming blessing to her. She also said that a blind man sat next to her and wept throughout the address, longing for the day when he will be able to see Christ forever.
• Several ladies told me how my book on kindness and speeches a few years ago impacted their family life.

(to be continued in part 2)