Pressure to compromise
RANDAL & VICKI MATHENY | YEAR 41 | SÃO JOSÉ DOS CAMPOS (SP) BRAZIL
In this week’s editorial, I used material that I plan to publish in Portuguese about who we are and what our positions ought to be. We are facing pressure here in Brazil to recant and recommend some national programs that are compromised by associations with progressives.
My name has even been singled out publicly in a national event and in a widely distributed podcast. I suppose I’ve become the black sheep of the brotherhood.
The editorial uses the phrase, “people of God,” whereas my article in Portuguese will be more direct, as I’ll use an editorial “we” (first personal plural). I hope to publish it by Wednesday of this week.
Please pray that God will preserve the church in the truth and will save us from evil actors and misguided workers.
In other news:
¶ I continue writing a short and simple devotional thought each day for the brethren in the new work at Northside. They are posted on Pagecord. Yesterday’s devotional was based on Proverbs 12.23.
¶ Southside brethren are searching for a new place to meet. They seem to be having difficulty finding something.
¶ I met Friday, June 20, with Valdir, from the Pimentas congregation in Guarulhos. We met at a roadside stop that serves breakfast. It’s located on the Via Dutra, the main artery between our cities. We talked for almost four hours.
¶ Valdir reported June 23 that a couple he studied with some time ago decided to be immersed, and it happened last night. He is a dedicated worker in the Kingdom.
¶ I’ve picked back up teaching on Wednesday nights at Northside, using David Pharr’s book for new converts, The Beginning of Our Confidence, as the basis. I translated and published it earlier this year in a beautiful book format.
¶ Vicki’s Bible reading group for women, on WhatsApp, has reached 72 members, from all over Brazil. Wherever we travel, women, both Christians and not, join the group.