Tális began coming to the Let's Start Talking (LST) English classes about six months ago. Because most of the LST workers only stay for weeks at a time, he ended up reading through parts of the English Bible with about four different people. After some time he began to show interest in the Bible itself over and above English alone. So he began a Bible study in Portuguese. After a couple months of that and with what he had already learned from reading through the Bible in English, Tális was ready to take what he had learned seriously. He's the one that came to our house on Thanksgiving day to speak with John; he's the one that said he wanted to be one of us - a member of our church family.
Tális brought a friend to church once and then brought that same friend back to our Halloween party. Jefferson decided to return to the monthly English worship soon after. John preached a message on the futility of trying to be a Christian on your own. He said everyone who claims Christ as his leader must also claim the church family and be a part of it. He made the point that you can't have one without the other. Jefferson was intrigued by this idea and asked for further study with John. After only about five studies, Jefferson was ready to be baptized. He had already been studying on his own and had a very good grasp of basic Bible knowledge. He had just never been exposed to a church where he thought he fit in.
When Tális (in the water with John) heard about Jefferson's decision, they decided to take the step together. It was a beautiful day at the Comunidade de Cristo when two friends became brothers.
Praise God the Most High!
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