Dear friends,

It’s been a busy time for us since our last link letter back in May. It feels like a lot of our energy has gone into consolidating our core church group; we’ve spent a lot of time teaching on and discussing our values and healthy practice for ministry as a lot of people have been hurt by church here in Brazil. Sunday meetings have been going well and we have moved the service time from the morning to the evening as this seems to better fit with peoples’ routines here.

We feel as though a large part of our role as pioneers is to model, train and equip others for ministry. We have invested a lot of time and effort into practical and theological training using the Vineyard Institute here in Brazil, which offers online courses with discussion groups in the local church.

In addition to the online course, I (Jimmy) went to the church we are linked with in Piratininga São Paulo, to do one of the theology modules with three of our key leaders: Walter, Ricardo and Marcelo. A highlight for us has been seeing people grow in their gifts and understanding of ministry, through being informed by Scripture and good practice modelled to them.

My pattern in the church has been to typically preach every other week, to give others opportunities and to offer feedback. It’s also been good to see people grow in confidence in various areas such as leading services, speaking and prayer ministry and seeing God use different folk within the team.

JIMMY AND KATIA ROCKS LINK LETTER NO.6 | SEPTEMBER 2016

Hello from Brazil!

CHURCHMISSIONSOCIETY.ORG/ROCKS

Name: Jimmy and Katia Rocks

Location: Florianopolis, Brazil

Our Role: We are sharing Jesus with others, church planting and helping others to do the same.

Our Call: We are called to share the good news of Jesus and his kingdom, to make committed followers of Jesus and plant new churches that will impact the local community positively. We feel called to this with words, through demonstrations of the Holy Spirit’s power and serving the local community.

Top: Ricardo, Marcelo, Walter and me heading to Piratininga São Paulo for theology training

Bottom: Thursday night Alpha

CHURCHMISSIONSOCIETY.ORG/ROCKS

It’s been great also to see the Tuesday night Bible study group grow and now members want to start a midweek prayer meeting. We have also launched two Alpha courses and both are going well. A highlight from the Monday course that Katia has been running was seeing a young lady getting to know Jesus better.

Like many Brazilians, she has a spiritualist background (the Kardecist Spiritism Doctrine followed here differs considerably in its understanding of God and offers a distorted view of who Jesus is and involves dangerous spiritual practices such as channeling spirits). She was really hungry to find out more about Jesus, leading to really good discussions.

As well as doing Alpha she attended our first prayer meeting in July, limping in as she was involved in a motorcycle accident a few weeks prior to that. However, during the meeting she received prayer and was immediately pain free and able to walk properly. The following week

she prayed a prayer asking Jesus into her life.

The evening course has been challenging due to having to

move venue as it was often double booked and there is a culture of dipping in and out of things here, meaning that people aren’t always committed to seeing things through.

However, there are three people beside leaders doing the course and it’s been great to see those guys exploring a faith in Jesus and starting to come to church services on Sunday. This past

Saturday, a young couple in our church, Igor and Vanessa, opened their home to start a youth group and they will run a Youth Alpha Course.

Our journey in planting a new church has been full of highs and lows; back in June we baptised a guy called Rodrigo who had started coming to the Bible study and services and met with Jesus in a life changing way. He came off drugs, turned his life around, started a new job and was excited by his new found faith. He asked to be baptised as he wanted to publicly affirm his faith in Jesus. Recently, however, he has started using drugs again and has cut himself off from friends despite the best efforts of people to get alongside him. Do please remember him in your prayers.

It is also economically a tough time to be here in Brazil as the economy is in recession; many of the guys involved in our church are struggling financially and at different times some families don’t have money for basics such as food or putting petrol in the car. It’s been good to see how different members of the church have banded together to offer food and other practical help.

New churches can feel fragile in the early stages and it’s also sad

“We feel as though a large part of our role as pioneers is to model, train and equip others for ministry. We have invested a lot of time and effort into practical and theological training.”

Top left: Taken during a church service

Top right: A family selfy in Curitiba!

JIMMY AND KATIA ROCKS LINK LETTER NO.6 | SEPTEMBER 2016

when people drop off or waver in commitment. A lot of our time has gone into consolidating the group and meeting with people on a one-to-one basis. Something that Katia and I are learning is that whilst we do our part and put in the work, it’s God who creates growth.

A challenge for us is building a sense of forward momentum; we have come to a point where we are seeking our own space that can be used throughout the week to serve the local community as well as for church meetings. Prayers for God’s provision for us would be welcomed.

We are also seeking to gather

equipment such as a projector, sound equipment etc. Through Church Mission Society, we have a separate project account set up to receive support towards these set up costs. If you would like to contribute as a church or individual to these costs, you can by sending funds to CMS in the usual way but request that the funds go towards the code P.BR016 – Florianopolis Church Plant. Do contact +Henry Scriven (henry.

scriven@churchmissionsociety.org) if you would like more information about the project, or Paul Read (paul.read@churchmissionsociety.org) if you would like more information about the funding requirements for all that we are involved in.

As a family we are well; we managed to have a break during the school holidays here in July and went to the city of Curitiba for a few days and spent a few days afterwards in the north of our state, including visiting a theme park. Davi has also recently moved school and is now at the preschool where Joanna is at

school. Davi has also had a few bouts of bronchitis, meaning that we’ve been to the doctors a fair few times with him.

Love,

Jimmy, Katia, Joanna & Davi

You can give online to Jimmy and Katia at: churchmissionsociety.org/rocks

Contact details: jimmyrocks1@gmail.com kkatia_700@hotmail.com

WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO PRAY FOR US

Please take time to pray for us as we continue to put our call into action

Give thanks for God’s faithfulness in raising up leaders and drawing people into the church plant here.

Praise God for those who have been doing Alpha and the way God has been at work in their lives.

Please pray for God’s provision as we seek to find a building for the church to meet and use to engage the community throughout the week.

Please pray for God to continue to build up and grow the church numerically and in maturity.

Please pray for good help, blessing and protection over us as a family.

Please pray for Rodrigo and for protection.

Above: On a family break

Left: Davi and Joanna enjoing Curitiba