{"id":6225,"date":"2018-03-03T14:50:42","date_gmt":"2018-03-03T20:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=6225"},"modified":"2018-03-03T14:50:42","modified_gmt":"2018-03-03T20:50:42","slug":"pure-simple-gospel-new-bible-belt-established-northeast-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/03\/03\/pure-simple-gospel-new-bible-belt-established-northeast-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pure and Simple Gospel: How a New Bible Belt is being Established in Northeast Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<strong>By Clay Young<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThe pure and simple gospel of Jesus Christ is as powerful today as it was over 2,000 years ago when the first gospel sermon was preached. Many claim that people simply aren\u2019t searching for a higher purpose and absolute truth any longer. Well, you would be hard pressed to convince the missionary team based in Recife, Brazil\u00a0of that. Over the past 32\u00a0years\u00a0the people of Northeast Brazil have proven time and time again that the message of the New Testament is not only appealing,\u00a0but also\u00a0has the power to transform\u00a0lives.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nIn 1981, native Tennesseans, Randy and Kathy Short,\u00a0along with\u00a0two young sons,\u00a0made the commitment to plant the first congregation of the church in Recife\u00a0and the people were receptive\u00a0to the gospel message. Over the next decade\u00a0that newly planted church\u00a0grew to\u00a0a membership of over\u00a0250.\u00a0Additionally Joe McKinney,\u00a0Joe\u00a0Jones and\u00a0Mike Pruitt,\u00a0along with others, were part of this mission team.\u00a0The Shorts returned to the\u00a0United States and began working and helping plant\u00a0congregations in Missouri.\u00a0The work was productive, but it wasn\u2019t\u00a0long before the Shorts\u00a0knew\u00a0they had truly left their hearts in Brazil. They realized\u00a0they needed to return to the work, and\u00a0to\u00a0the people,\u00a0they loved so dearly. So, in 1998 they moved back to Brazil with a lifetime\u00a0commitment. But this time\u00a0Short\u00a0had a much bigger plan. After much thought and prayer, he decided that the only way to really reach\u00a0Northeast Brazil, with over 54 million souls,\u00a0was to\u00a0begin a ministry training school. He knew that if he could train local, native men to teach and preach the gospel\u00a0their\u00a0efforts would be multiplied. With the support and oversight of the Bellevue church of Christ, in Nashville, Tennessee,\u00a0Ebenezer Ministry Training School was born.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nAs of this writing\u00a0there are 145 congregations in Northeast Brazil. This is in large part due to graduates of the school going out into small rural areas and establishing local churches. These men are to be commended for their faith and hard work, many times\u00a0facing difficult situations with\u00a0little income and support.\u00a0They truly love the Lord and want to teach as many\u00a0fellow Brazilians\u00a0as possible. The missionary team now realizes that the Northeast region is on it\u2019s way to becoming the Bible Belt of Brazil, much like our Bible Belt in the Southeastern region\u00a0of the U. S.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nSometimes all it takes is a little vision, faith, prayer and a lot of caring for the lost for the church to not only grow\u00a0but also\u00a0thrive. Unfortunately many\u00a0mission efforts\u00a0or missionaries\u00a0struggle to survive. Missionaries many times\u00a0give up and return\u00a0to their\u00a0home\u00a0congregations\u00a0because of\u00a0a lack of interest, or lack of support. But when faithful Christians\u00a0show a love of others and commit themselves to making a difference, in spite of the odds,\u00a0amazing things can happen. The apostle Paul writes\u00a0in I Corinthians 3:5-7 that \u201cI planted, you watered, but God caused the increase.\u201d If we really believe the inspired word, do our part,\u00a0and allow God to cause the growth, we will see great things happen in the Kingdom and many souls\u00a0will be\u00a0saved.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nBecause of the success of the ministry training school,\u00a0a new goal has been set forth. The decision has been made to transform the\u00a0ministry training\u00a0school into the first accredited Christian college in all of Latin America: Ebenezer Christian College. Brazilian men will be able to get\u00a0a degree in Biblical Theology, so that they will be better equipped to present the gospel message to those who are seeking and searching for the truth.\u00a0Short\u00a0has sought out godly\u00a0Brazilian\u00a0men to serve as faculty in the current school.\u00a0Nilton\u00a0Barretto, Alvaro\u00a0Pestana\u00a0and Ricardo\u00a0Sobral\u00a0serve as the teaching staff along with Short. These men are highly qualified. The\u00a0schools curriculum is comprehensive and includes\u00a0New Testament\u00a0Greek.\u00a0They are all effective\u00a0preachers and excellent Bible teachers, who\u00a0relocated their families to Recife, and\u00a0are thrilled at the goal of\u00a0establishing\u00a0a Christian college.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nThe Brazilian people are a wonderful, loving people. The culture\u00a0is rich and\u00a0opportunities for sharing the message of God\u2019s Word abound. But, it takes\u00a0a determination\u00a0and tenacity to move forward\u00a0to\u00a0make sure anyone who has a desire to study the scriptures has that opportunity.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n(Side bar)<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nIf this is the type of\u00a0mission\u00a0success story that appeals to you,\u00a0you can\u00a0become a part of this worthy cause. Pray that the hearts of thousands in Northeast Brazil will continue to soften and many will obey the gospel. Support this amazing work with a contribution that will allow the dream of the first Christian college in Latin America to be established. Make a trip to Recife, Brazil and see first hand how a ministry team can work together to turn the world upside down for Christ.\u00a0\u201cHow will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, \u2018How beautiful are the feet of those who\u00a0bring good news of good things!\u2019 \u201c\u00a0Romans 10:15.\u00a0Lives are being changed and souls are being saved\u00a0in Northeast Brazil,\u00a0all\u00a0because of the power of the pure and simple gospel of Jesus Christ.\u00a0Stateside contact: Clay Young, Development Director. Email:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:jclayyoung@mac.com\">jclayyoung@mac.com<\/a>.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0By Clay Young The pure and simple gospel of Jesus Christ is as powerful today as it was over 2,000 years ago when the first gospel sermon was preached. Many claim that people simply aren\u2019t searching for a higher purpose and absolute truth any longer. Well, you would be hard pressed to convince the missionary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,66],"tags":[1425,1426,1051,1427,1413],"class_list":["post-6225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-think-excerpts","tag-brazil","tag-clay-young","tag-feature","tag-missions","tag-september-2013","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Pure and Simple Gospel: How a New Bible Belt is being Established in Northeast Brazil - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/03\/03\/pure-simple-gospel-new-bible-belt-established-northeast-brazil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pure and Simple Gospel: How a New Bible Belt is being Established in Northeast Brazil - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0By Clay Young The pure and simple gospel of Jesus Christ is as powerful today as it was over 2,000 years ago when the first gospel sermon was preached. 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