Italian Report - June, 2008
Italian Report - June, 2008
WHY DID I DECIDE TO BE A PREACHER?
God answers prayer! The day I was born, my mother started praying I would become a preacher. She never told me she was praying for this, but my mom and dad showed me the way.
In 1952, I enrolled in college at Oklahoma A & M at Stillwater, Oklahoma. I went to worship Sunday morning and the church received me with open arms. There were many other students there. Eldred Stevens was the preacher and he was a good one. He was preaching a series of sermons on world religions each Sunday night. It was a big thing. The elders put a big ad in the paper each week. One week it would be on the Baptist Church, one week on Pentecostalism, etc. This drew big crowds. When he preached on Roman Catholicism even the local priest was present. The next day he called Bro. Stevens and challenged him to a four day public debate. Naturally, Eldred accepted the challenge. I was there every night. Eldred did a masterful job. He built a fire in my soul. Eldred loved to teach young men to preach. He had classes for all the young men each Sunday afternoon. I decided I wanted to become a preacher. Eldred encouraged me to transfer to Central Christian College (the forerunner of Oklahoma Christian University) located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I sat at the feet of L. R. Wilson, Roy H. Lanier, Sr., Hugo McCord, Joe Spaulding and the other fine Christian teachers. This changed my whole life.
MY HEALTH
I have had a hard time for the last year and I still have a long way to go. However, I am doing a lot better. Last week I had to have Vitrectomy surgery on my left eye, as well as some laser procedures done and it went well. I am able to work most every day corresponding with the churches and preachers in Italy. I also receive several letters, E-mails and phone calls each week, almost every day.
PROBLEMS IN ITALY
All churches have their problems from time to time. This is true here in the States and also in Italy. This problem has to do with instrumental music. I know of three churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that use them and perhaps there are others. Recently, a front page article in the Oklahoma City area told that the largest Church of Christ in Oklahoma City had instituted musical instruments in their worship.
This is not our problem in Italy. We do not have a single congregation that uses instruments. Our problem is the problem that is sweeping America - the desire to have unity with the Christian churches in Italy in spite of what they teach and practice.
Recently, the congregation that we began in Rome held a lectureship near Rome and asked a Christian Church missionary to be one of the principal speakers. I was shocked. Immediately, I wrote to Vittorio Vitalone, my son in the faith, objecting. I wrote the elders of the church in Rome also. Several other former missionaries wrote to them. Another Italian preacher (another son in the faith) told the Roman elders that he could not attend the lectures in good faith and he didn’t. I asked them why they didn’t just go ahead and ask other denominational church preachers to speak. The conservative Christian churches have existed in Italy for over 50 years. We have talked with them again and again, with no avail. We went our own way and let them do the same. I warned the brethren to “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, for a little yeast ruins the entire lump”. I also pointed out, “How can two men walk together except they be agreed?” Vittorio and the Roman elders replied that they were just trying to unify the churches and that the use of instrumental music was not used in the church at Rome and would not be used.
GOOD NEWS
Other than this all goes well in Italy. I have heard of 29 Baptisms since my last report. They have had some great lectures and gospel meetings. The churches are growing. I stay in contact with them weekly. I am happy to be able to work with them even though I still have to remain in bed.
God bless all of you. I am thankful for the elders at Prestoncrest who are not afraid to take a stand for the truth.
Until next time,
Charles Moore
posted in Missions, Europe | 0 Comments
On April 11-12 we hosted a retreat for the servant leaders of the Curitiba congregation. Decision-making was the theme. Jerry and Gilberto led the men’s sessions and Gail led the women. The men discussed how to make the best decisions and how to lead the congregation to growth and maturity. The women talked about how to encourage the men and how to avoid conflict. The purpose of these retreats is to prepare competent men to serve as elders in the near future.
During the week of April 14-18, Jerry taught a course on Spiritual Growth for Leaders at the preacher training school in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. He teaches this class and one on Lay Counseling to each group of students that pass through the school. The elders at this church and the teachers at the school have been very supportive of our work and often ask us to help out with graduates of the school as they work with congregations throughout the country.
We traveled to Campinas, São Paulo, on April 30 and spent 6 days at our final retreat with the Brasília team before they move to the capital in January of 2009. This was a training and integration retreat with the leaders of the Brasília congregation and the project support team all present. We did individual counseling with each of the 3 couples, group counseling with all of them and integration exercises with the team and the leaders. Others on the support team dealt with financial concerns, moving issues and how to conduct effective meetings.
Jerry had a once in a lifetime experience! He traveled to Europe and met up with Kristofer after classes were finished. They spent three days in London, 4 days in Greece and 2 days in Oxford before going their separate ways, Jerry back to Brazil and Kris to Dallas. They went to Delphi, Corinth, and Athens and took a boat tour of 3 islands. The highlight for Jerry was getting to preach for the Athens Church of Christ where Dino Roussos is the evangelist (he is also supported by Prestoncrest). Jerry’s sermon was translated into Greek, Russian and Belgium. Kris and Jerry were moved to be able to stand where the apostle Paul preached on Mars Hill and where he stood trial in Corinth.
Another setback over the past weeks was the news that, because of construction at the local primary school, our youth club for neighborhood children has had to be suspended indefinitely. This has been frustrating for us, because the youth club was going very well. So far we have not been able to find a suitable alternative venue. The plans for our congregational Youth Day in June are going ahead, and Tristan, Leslie, David, and Emma continue to work with our own group of young people to put plans together for this event.
Dear Friends,
Easter weekend is huge in the Brazilian church. The men have their biggest yearly event, ENOC (National Encounter of Christian Workers), at the camp in São Paulo. The young single women gather at a retreat center nearby (ENOCÍTA), and the married women meet in Campinas at ENOCA. This year Jerry was a keynote speaker for the 450 men at ENOC and Gail spoke to 60 young single women at ENOCÍTA.
At these events we always spend considerable time counseling with Christians from all over the country and setting up workshops and seminars for the rest of the year. The week following these national encounters is an intensive study for church workers in Campinas. This year we were two of the featured speakers. Jerry spoke to the whole group on Family and then we split into men and women where Gail directed the women’s group and Jerry the men’s. These retreats give us the opportunity to spend quality time with preachers and elders and deacons from all parts of the country.
We spent the first week in April in the city of Uberlandia (3/4 Million) in the state of Minas Gerais. Golf Course Road in Midland, TX is supporting a full-time Brazilian coouple in this city and has been looking for another couple to help them out. We interviewed a potential couple and evaluated how the two couples would work together, including psychological testing and group dynamics. It was a very productive week and we believe both couples benefited from our time together. We were pleased to be able to worship with the loving and growing congregation of about 60 members. Jerry gave the Bible lesson and the sermon.
At the moment our Tuesday night Youth Club is off because of the spring school break, and it is scheduled to resume in mid April. However, this restart may have to be delayed because of construction work in the school. During the first weeks of Youth Club we regularly saw 12-15 kids every week. Tristan has done a great job with planning a weekly life lesson, and David McCready has done well planning the games. 
For the moment our youth emphasis is focused on planning a Youth Day, a first for the Stirling church, which is scheduled for June. There will be more information as plans take shape, but Tristan and Leslie are working with David and Emma McCready, as well as our young people, to put things together.
We have had several very good studies so far from the Gospel of Mark, and recently she said she thinks that her 12-year old son, Robin, would also like to study with me. He is very frustrated with the confirmation classes at their church because he wants to know what the Bible says. Apparently the classes are more about ethics and politics. I hope this develops further. Robin is at about my favorite age to teach, and he is special anyway.