September Month of Prayer for the Gaúcho People

IMB Missionaries Jeff and Cam Dunson Write:  The Metropolitan Porto Alegre area in South Brazil is home to more than 5 million Urban Gaúchos, less than 1% of whom have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. September is a key month in the history of the Gaúcho people, as it serves as the anniversary of their failed civil war against Brazil many years ago. This war has marked the psyche of the Gaúchos, and millions will turn out to celebrate their culture and heritage in civil war reenactments and celebrations this month. The Month of Prayer for the Gaúcho People recognizes the spiritual significance of this month and draws together believers across geographical and denominational lines to take a stand and declare that September is a turning point when through prayer, the people who have lived in darkness WILL see a great light, and that the gospel will take firm root and spread throughout this needy land. Pray that God would raise up prayer warriors this month to stand with us and the Gaúchos before the throne of God and declare that Porto Alegre will become a place where God is greatly glorified.

September 30 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for the Whitenton family who have just begun a year of Portuguese language study in the city of Riberão Preto and are scheduled to arrive in Porto Alegre in July of 2011. Pray that God will give them the wisdom and patience to learn the language so that they can be able to communicate and minister to the Brazilian people. Please pray that they will be able to continue to learn about the Brazilian culture and people so that they can better understand how to relate to them. Pray that the recent friendships that have been formed with Brazilian nationals can materialize into opportunities for ministry. Pray that the Whitenton family will continue to grow strong in their relationship and walk with the Lord.

September 29 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for newly appointed IMB missionaries Dee and Laura, who are preparing for service in Porto Alegre. They are currently in training in Virginia and will be going to mega-city training in Canada the first of October. Pray for smooth transitions with their 3 young children and for their family to grow together even when facing adversity. Their visas are still in process, so pray for God to place government officials where needed to expedite their visas and approve them without hesitation. Pray for easy language acquisition as they will be immersed in full time language learning once they reach Brazil. Finally and foremost, pray for them to have boldness to share their faith and that Christ will be glorified in all they say and do.

September 28 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for IMB missionaries Mike and Donna and their two children as they serve in the city of Caxias in the mountains on the outskirts of Metropolitan Porto Alegre. Ask that God would bless their relationships with their Brazilian colleagues and give them great fruit in their work. Also ask for God’s blessing on the schooling of their children, protection over their family and blessing on their marriage.

September 27 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

God is at work in the greater Caxias area on the outskirts of Metropolitan Porto Alegre, gathering 10 missionary couples from 4 different Baptist agencies in the last two years! We expect 2 more couples to arrive before the end of the year. Since most of these couples and agencies do not know each other, we recognize that this is not a coordinated human effort, but God at work. You have prayed for laborers in the harvest fields of Rio Grande do Sul. God is answering that prayer! Pray that the missionaries, the established churches and the new churches would sense God at work among them, that they would work together in unity, and that God would bring great fruit from their labors.

September 26 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for D., a new believer planting a church in an area on the outskirts of Porto Alegre. While still unsaved, D. had a dream in which he built a church to which people fled from danger. He quit his job and began to build a building, and then shortly after, met a missionary who led him to Christ. D. is now growing in the Lord and leading a small group of believers. Please pray that D. would grow quickly in his faith in Christ and that this church plant would grow strong and reproduce other churches.

September 25 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for IMB missionaries Bill and Cheryl, who work with upper-class professional Gaúchos in the Metropolitan Porto Alegre area. Pray for protection over them, and ask that God would give them clear direction in where they should focus their efforts and with whom they should work. Pray that God would enable them to group their evangelistic contacts together for evangelistic Bible studies, and that these would bear fruit in professionals receiving Christ and growing in their faith in churches spreading throughout the area.

September 24 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for IMB missionaries Jeff and Cam Dunson and their sons Blake and Parker. Jeff serves as the Team Strategy Leader for the IMB missionaries in Metropolitan Porto Alegre and works with Brazilians to help produce new, reproducing churches. Please pray for spiritual, physical, and financial protection for the Dunsons. Ask that God would give them tremendous supernatural wisdom in knowing how, where, and with whom to work. Also ask God to grant them much fruit for His glory and His power to proclaim His Word and the fullness of His gospel as they should.

September 23 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for the church planting efforts throughout the Metropolitan Porto Alegre area. Over 5 million people live in this area of vast urban sprawl, and there is only about one Baptist church for every 125,000 people. Pray that God would raise up workers for the harvest who have a heart for starting and multiplying new churches. Pray that God would pour out His Spirit in a way that has never been seen before, resulting in unity that would propel His Kingdom forward in dramatic new ways.

September 22 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for E. and the church plant in the coastal city of Tramandaí. This church has tremendous potential to impact not only the permanent residents of the town, but also the millions of tourists who flock to the coast during the Summer months of January-March. Pray that E. would be able to provide solid, stable leadership, and that God would give Him innovative strategies to spread the Gospel and grow God’s Kingdom on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul.

September 21 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

As part of a seminary class assignment, V. started an evangelistic Bible study with a group of elderly Catholic ladies a number of years ago. The ladies all ended up giving their lives to Christ as they studied the scriptures. Pray that this group would continue and that more would join and give their lives to Christ. Also pray that God would provide solid leadership and transform this Bible study into a self-sustaining and growing church.

September 20 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for P., an evangelist and church planter in the city of Novo Hamburgo, in greater Porto Alegre. P. has a heart for evangelism and church planting, but has received little support for his passions from those around him. Despite this, he has started two new Baptist works. Please pray that these works will thrive and grow, and that God would raise up more leaders to walk alongside P. in his work. Pray that God would bless P. both spiritually and financially and would continue to grow his desire to see the Kingdom of God spread throughout his city.

September 19 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for A.L., the pastor of a church in the city of Guaíba who has a passion to lead his local Baptist Association to have a vision for church planting. Pray that God will give him strategies and the wisdom to know how to cast a new vision for expansion in an area where there has been little growth of new churches up until this point. Pray that new churches will be started and will thrive throughout this vast and needy area.

September 18 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for V., a church planter in the city of Sobradino. V. started this new church a year and a half ago with evangelistic Bible studies. Pray that V. will be filled with God’s Spirit and will have wisdom and courage as he proclaims God’s Word. Also pray that the group will grow in numbers and maturity and will be firmly established in a short period of time.

September 17 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for R. and the church plant in the Vila Jardim neighborhood of Porto Alegre. This church plant started several years ago, but has struggled to take hold in an area saturated with voodoo-like spiritism and drugs. Pray that God would push back the strongholds that hold the neighborhood in darkness and that the gospel would take firm root. Pray that R. would be able to dedicate the necessary time to evangelizing the neighborhood and conducting Bible studies. Pray for much fruit.

September 16 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for E. and T., who are planting a church in what used to be a carpenter’s shop in the neighborhood called “The Place of the Skull” in the city of Gravataí. E. gave up a career as a physicist to go into the ministry and is working bivocationally so that he can devote as much time as possible to the ministry. Please pray that God would bless E. with wisdom, patience, and a vision for multiplying the church throughout the rapidly expanding area where they are located.

September 15 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for the social outreach efforts of the church plant in Partenon and Mont’ Serrat Baptist Church on an island in the Guaíba river in Porto Alegre. The project has involved women from the churches going and providing food, love, and practical help to the poorest of the poor who survive off of the scraps of recycled organic garbage dumped on the island for pigs to eat. Pray that God would enable His servants to show His love and care for those who have been cast off by society in such a way that they would embrace His love and come to salvation. Pray that a church would be established on the island in short order, and that it would become a shining example of how a community can be transformed by the love of Christ and His church.

September 14 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for the new church plant in the Lomba do Pinheiro area of Porto Alegre. This church plant in a shockingly destitute slum was started by the new church in the Partenon neighborhood and is the result of several years of social outreach in the community. Pray that God would bless this new church start with growth and physical and spiritual protection, as well as provide them with the financial resources to help effect positive physical change in the lives of those in this needy community.

September 13 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for G. and R. and the church plant in the Porto Alegre neighborhood of Partenon. This church started several years ago in a neighborhood which contains one of the largest prisons in the state and is dominated by spiritism, drugs, and violence. The church has been characterized by vibrant worship and an active outreach to the poor and destitute around them. This new church plant is currently planting another new church and has a social action project in another area of the city. Please pray that God would keep G. and R. strong , and that He would continue to grow the work in Partenon and expand their vision for starting new works and reaching more people for Christ.

September 12 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for E., who is currently serving as the Executive Director for the State Baptist Convention of Rio Grande do Sul. E. took office during a period of chaos in the Convention and brought fiscal and administrative stability and accountability. His vision for church planting has helped push the Baptist Convention forward. He will be stepping down because of health reasons as soon as his replacement is found. Please pray that God will heal E., and will guide those who will be selecting the new Executive Director to choose someone with strong ethics, good interpersonal and organizational skills, and most of all, a vision for church planting and the expansion of the Kingdom.

September 11 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for A. and S., who are starting a church in the downtown area of the city of Gravataí on the outskirts of Porto Alegre. When they first started the work, they sold homemade baked goods out of the trunk of their old car just to have money to eat. The church currently meets in a storefront and is drawing a mix of people from both the downtown area and the outlying slums. Ask God to bless A. and S.’s evangelistic efforts, and to give them wisdom in knowing how to move forward and meet the spiritual needs of a diverse group of people.

September 10 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for B. and B., a young couple with the Brazilian Baptist Home Mission Board who are working to plant a new church in Porto Alegre. Pray that God would give them wisdom and maturity, as well as great favor with the people in the community they are trying to reach. Ask that God would multiply their efforts and give them His power and grace as they face opposition from spiritist and other religious groups.

September 9 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for R., who was involved in helping start several new churches in greater Porto Alegre. He is currently on staff of a church and seeking to recruit and mentor new church planters in the city. Pray that he will maintain his vision and focus on church planting and that God would bless his dedication with a flood of new churches spreading through the Metropolitan Porto Alegre area.

September 8 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for G. and his family and who are planting a church in a slum area in the city of Gravataí near the capital city of Porto Alegre. The church has been meeting for several years in the open courtyard of a local public school. The church has excellent relationships with school officials and has more children than adults, but has not seen much numerical growth since their initial beginnings. G. and his family have sacrificed much and are involved in helping another church plant more than two hours away. Please pray that they and the church would grow in maturity and numbers, and that God would bless them with more strong leaders to come alongside G. and his wife.

September 7 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for F. and A. This young couple planted a church in a slum area on the outskirts of Porto Alegre and then handed the reigns over to another couple and moved on to a staff position at a large church in another state. They have since returned to Porto Alegre and are searching for God’s will for their lives, including whether God would have them plant another church in the Gaúcho capital.

September 6 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for E., a new believer in the Italian immigrant community of Alto Caraá on the outskirts of the Southern Brazilian megacity of Porto Alegre. E. was the first believer in Jesus Christ in the history of his county, and has since been involved in leading a few of his neighbors to Christ. He is being discipled and is learning how to lead the new church that God is forming in his community. Please pray that he will remain strong in the Lord, and that the Holy Spirit will bless his testimony and life with great fruit. Also pray for the new believers as they are facing persecution from their Catholic neighbors.

September 5 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for R., a new church planter in a poor slum on the rural outskirts of the Southern Brazilian megacity of Porto Alegre. The church plant started several years ago, and has met in homes, a school, and rented facilities. They are currently meeting in a former grocery store. R. and his wife A. moved into the community and stepped into leadership at the church plant a few months ago. Please pray that they will be able to provide stability and build relationships which will enable them to share the gospel and build a solid foundation in Christ for the work. Pray that this church plant will soon begin to birth other church plants and that R. and A. will be encouraged and stay strong and holy in the Lord.

September 4 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for the church planting work in the Menino Deus neighborhood of the city of Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil. This upper middle class neighborhood is strategically located and the residents have shown openness to the gospel. Several church small groups and outreaches to athletes have proven to be successful, but actual church planting has not yet gotten off the ground. Please pray that God would raise up workers for the harvest, and that in short order, we will be able to celebrate in how God has raised up a vibrant, reproducing Christian community in Menino Deus.

September 3 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for the church planting efforts among the urban poor in the city of São Leopoldo in the Southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. A simple church was planted under IMB leadership several years ago that ended up not surviving long term. However, one of the leaders who was trained in that church planting effort later started a new group in his home using what he learned. That group is now thriving and has twenty people participating in weekly Bible study and church life. Please pray for A. and T. as they lead this group, and ask the Father to multiply their reach and to use this group both as a mother church to other simple churches and an example to other leaders of how to plant new churches.

September 2 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

Please pray for L and L, a church planting couple in the unreached Mega City of Porto Alegre, in South Brazil. After completing an internship in a simple church plant on the outskirts of the city, L declared that he would “plant a church in Porto Alegre or die.” This couple and their young child are now looking for the most strategic place in the city and the best way to plant to make the biggest potential impact. Please pray that God would lead them to the right location and strategy, and that they would have tremendous wisdom to go along with their passion to reach this vitally important city.

September 1 Prayer Request for the Gáucho People

The Metropolitan Porto Alegre area in South Brazil is home to more than 5 million Urban Gaúchos, less than 1% of whom have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. September is a key month in the history of the Gaúcho people, as it serves as the anniversary of their failed civil war against Brazil many years ago. This war has marked the psyche of the Gaúchos, and millions will turn out to celebrate their culture and heritage in civil war reenactments and celebrations this month. The Month of Prayer for the Gaúcho People recognizes the spiritual significance of this month and draws together believers across geographical and denominational lines to take a stand and declare that September is a turning point when through prayer, the people who have lived in darkness WILL see a great light, and that the gospel will take firm root and spread throughout this needy land. Pray that God would raise up prayer warriors this month to stand with us and the Gaúchos before the throne of God and declare that Porto Alegre will become a place where God is greatly glorified.