At the Doorstep of Eternity

Why do we live in the hurry of the temporal? Why is everything else important—where I am going, what I am doing—instead of the people around us? Life is so short. And really, as the “saying” goes, only what is done for eternity is what counts.

I was at the grocery store tonight and got in line to check out. The lady behind me had her hands full as I was beginning to put my items on the runner.

“Would you like to go ahead, ma’am?”
“Oh yes! Thank you!” She thanked me three times before leaving.

After some small talk with the cashier, I offered him a tract to which he accepted but then in defense he stated, “I have my own church.” Hey, no problem. Who was actually becoming a quickly, growing burden on my heart was the man behind me in line. I had seen him around the store getting his groceries. That man has cancer. His skin, his hair, --his eyes—all told this unavoidable fact. I looked to see what he was buying and it was all bright fruits and vegetables. Interesting how at a point like this in life no one has to persuade you to eat right. Offering the tract to the man, he looked at me and gave a genuine, sincere, “thank you”. Thank you's are hardly my goal; it’s the state of the soul that pleads for our compassion, for my compassion. I keep replaying his eyes, his look when he thanked me; …and I have been pleading with the Lord that He would have mercy on his life. May that man read the tract and know Jesus Christ as his Saviour!

"Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness,
and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee...."

FRIDAY AFTERNOON
And so it is that I thank my God for his protection over me. I am writing to share with you that I was in a car accident this past Friday afternoon, driving from South Carolina to North Carolina, where I was on my way to spend the evening with my brother and his family before heading to Virginia Saturday morning.
Still unclear to all involved was why two cars had stopped in the right hand lane and not on the shoulder; yet the car in front of me had managed to stop behind them. However, in the few seconds I had to either get off on the shoulder or go into the moving left lane, the delay brought the impact and the accident
was not able to be avoided.

NO ONE INJURED
With much thankfulness to the protection of the Lord, no one was hurt. The first two cars quickly left and I managed to get out of the car through the window. The driver of the car in front of me exchanged information with me and within a few minutes of the accident there were officers on the scene. I was able to contact my brother and he came out to assist me.

I did go to the emergency room on Saturday to have an x-ray done to affirm there were no internal problems. The x-ray showed that everything looked good and I was prescribed pain medication.

EVALUATE THE DAMAGE
On Monday, someone from my insurance company will come out to evaluate the damage on the car and discern whether it is worth repairing. As it is not necessary for me to be there, my brother will represent me instead. My parents have come down to South Carolina (Saturday) and we will go back up together to Virginia today. My meeting scheduled for today (August 8th) has been cancelled but I have been asked reschedule to a later date.

CONTINUED PRAYERS!
I am feeling pretty well and am greatly grateful for how the Lord protected all involved. Thank you for praying for me. Please continue to do so and I seek to pursue this path of service for our Lord.
In Christ,

Tatiana Cordeiro
Taking the Light of the Gospel to the People of BRAZIL

Furlough Update!

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs017/1102441290297/archive/1103590335292.html

Satuday Visitation

This past weekend I had the great privilege of going soul-winning with my parents. As we got in the car to head out, I thought— “Wow, so this is what it feels like to have your father lead in a spiritual activity.”

We went to our assigned area and all agreed to take turns speaking at the door (I thought of Mrs. Hosaflook, a dear lady in my home church who just loves to be the one to speak at the door). Although we didn’t have too many actually come to their door, we were able to speak to a handful of people. Thus, I had the privilege to hear my dad speak. Wow! Who taught him?! He caught the attention of his listener and made sure to mention the importance of reading the tract to know if they were in fact going to heaven. Dad has a true heart for the lost and a burden for missions. I just praise the Lord for these great blessings in my life.

IF ANY TWO AGREE IN MY NAME

One of our dear, precious ladies has an intense struggle with depression. She has been in this battle for twenty-one years. We rejoiced in her conversion this past year and began to see a difference in her countenance and spirit. More recently, however, her struggle has intensified. Tonight a group of ladies from our church went out to her home for a singspiration and blessing time. The Lord brought many verses to mind as different ones shared promises from God, examples from the Word, or personal situations in which the Lord had brought them through a difficult time. We spent three hours together and it was just such a blessing to hear our ladies give counsel to her using the Word of God. When our time came to a close, we joined hands to pray for our sister, Tânia (white shirt, flowered skirt). She´s in a real battle, but the battle is the Lord´s. Remember her in prayer!

The 84 year old Lawyer

I ride the bus a lot and on many occasions I have had an opportunity to speak with someone about the gospel. This past week as I took a bus to go downtown, I made my way in and found it full, thus standing room only. Making my way towards the middle of the bus to increase the probability of a seat becoming free, I saw that there was one open towards the back. I sat down next to an older gentleman who began to thank me for sitting there. Oh boy, this is odd, I thought. After a few moments I gave him a tract and the conversation opened immediately as he began to share what his personal belief and life perspective is. It was obvious that he felt justified by his works, citing his faithful attendance to mass, prayers to God and high ethics by which he maintained his life. He shared two grievous statements: first, that he preferred not to dwell on the thought of life after death and second, he believed that Jesus had sinned. In the first, he errs because willful ignorance cannot negate truth and the second in that we could never obtain forgiveness of sin if Jesus were not sinless (as well as His death would have been in vain, etc.)! A lawyer, age 84--I do not know how open he was to accepting something opposite his belief, but I was surely thankful for the opportunity to share what God says, which, is promised to not return void. How important it is to give God's Word to those who have been blinded by false beliefs!

Tell It Again

Last week, Vera and I went out to visit a lady who came with her husband to our church’s anniversary conference. She was home but asked if we could come back later in the afternoon. That would not be a problem—we made plans accordingly. We then went over to visit Juliana, a young girl who participates in our 10-15 year old club. She was not home but her older sister, Pamela, was. We chatted and talked and sought to turn the conversation to Jesus Christ. Bridging our conversation by asking if she had a Bible, we shared with her how a Bible teaches us many things—the most important, however, is in how to have a relationship with God. This was not the first time in this home—nor was it the first time talking to Pamela. But in previous visits here, Pamela had never shown or expressed that she would like to receive the Lord as her Saviour. As we shared the gospel with her again, she listened carefully. When the gospel had been presented and she was asked if she would like to pray to receive the Lord as her Saviour, she surprised us by saying, “yes,” she did! We reviewed some points of the gospel to make sure she understood, asked her again if she wanted to receive the Lord as her Saviour, and again she said yes. She prayed and we rejoiced. We encouraged her to take opportunities to learn more, as in Sunday services or beginning a Bible Study. Please pray for her that she will come out and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.