Since God Leads the Gospel Work and Our Members Dedicate Themselves to the Gospel

At present, I’m carrying out my gospel duty as a missionary in São Paulo, Brazil. I’ve learned what mindset I need to have for the gospel after experiencing God’s grace. So I would like to share the realization through this writing in the Elohist.

The Church of God in São Paulo manages the branch church in Ribeirão Preto. In 2019, the Ribeirão Preto Branch Church was granted a new temple under God’s grace. We were so grateful and worried at the same time, because Ribeirão Preto was 300 ㎞ [190 miles] away from São Paulo and so it was difficult for our members to go and help its construction.

While I was urgently in need of help, unexpectedly one brother who worked at a construction industry in São Paulo said he would help with the work. He hardly came to Zion before, and I thought he wasn’t interested in helping with the church work, but he even took a leave from his work to give a helping hand. For a week, the brother worked hard from 6 a.m., staying in Ribeirão Preto. I worked with the brother, but could never keep up with him. He did two or three men’s share, and as a result, the construction work finished within only one week. After the construction was over, the brother arrived in São Paulo in the early morning of the Sabbath, attended the worship service, and received the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven.

There is another brother whose faith grew through the construction work. The brother works with tiles. Although he received baptism a few years ago, he was in a difficult situation for keeping his faith. He lived in Mata Grande which is 31 hours away from São Paulo by car, and there was no Zion. Fortunately, while he was in São Paulo to meet his sister, Ribeirão Preto temple construction began. Hearing the news of the construction, the brother willingly gave a helping hand, and as a result, the interiors of the temple were beautifully decorated.

After graciously completing the construction of the temple, the brother returned to São Paulo, and steadily studied the Bible to grow his faith. Unlike his original plan of staying only for one month, he stayed in his sister’s for over three months and kept all the weekly worship services as well as the annual feasts. During the Feast of the Pentecost, he actively participated in preaching and even bore fruits of the gospel. Being determined to preach in his hometown with firm faith in Father and Mother, the brother returned to Mata Grande.

Before long, we received a call from the brother, and heard that more than ten souls were waiting to receive the truth of life. Not long before, the brother found it difficult to keep a worship service by himself. How amazing his change was! I wanted to get there at once, but I couldn’t do so because there were also many members waiting to study the Bible nearby São Paulo.

Before the autumn feasts began, we received a phone call from the brother once again. He said dozens of people were eagerly waiting for a missionary to come there. As the brother was urging us to send a prophet there, a deacon and assistant overseer went there to visit him. When he got there, he found out that the brother had already preached the gospel even to the region of Floresta which is nearby Mata Grande. While the deacon stayed there for ten days, a total of 33 souls received a new life and 20 of them attended worship services. Even after the deacon returned, we constantly heard the fragrances of Zion that they kept worship services in two regions. The brother had just begun his life of faith, but when I heard how he prayed later, I could realize how he was able to lead such many souls to salvation.

“The work of the New Covenant gospel, which saves souls, is done not by us, but by Father and Mother. I firmly believe that the gospel work of finding our lost brothers and sisters all around the world will take place in my hometown too.”

Our God is the One who leads the gospel work. Though I’m in Brazil as a missionary, sometimes instead of focusing on God, I would be distracted by surrounding environments and be hesitant. Even so, São Paulo Zion was able to receive much blessing because God always sent gospel workers in time and led the gospel work in the vast land of Brazil. And the members started walking the life of faith to be of help to God who leads the gospel work. How lovely they must have looked in the eyes of God as they try to give a helping hand to their Parents.

There is no doubt about the fact that I was entrusted with the mission of preaching the gospel in Brazil, not because I was needed, but because God wants to plant conviction and courage in me to believe that nothing is impossible under His blessings. I will do my best to uphold my gospel mission in this place where God sent me. Then later, the newly constructed branch church, too, will be filled with faithful souls, and beautiful Zions will be established in the region of Mata Grande and Floresta as well. I’m confident that everything is possible in the gospel work led by God.