What I will take from 2006

I took this afternoon to translate some retrospective that I've done at my brazilian blog, this is the objective of this blog, but I have not done so much as I would like, but this is the moment to share it again! This year I have plant so many things that it is difficult to think 2006 as a year, because as you will see I have lots of things to be developed with basis build this year:

Hospital - I stayed a weekend at hospital because of a kidney stone, but it was not so complicated as the pneumonia my doughter got. She spent 16 days at hospital, I think my life stopped completely, it is hard to move on things while your thinks are on people you love. But it was a time when we could know better God's mercy and grace, mainly with the reaction of our friends and friends of my kid.

Projeto Mandaqui- This year we could really move on this church planting project. Though we are few yet, we spent the year preparing ourselves and dreaming for our mission. Even with serious problems that happened to each family of our project, we could end this year with weekly regular meetings, and I thought it as a great conquer! Next year will be the time to spread our project and to leverage our base group. I expect also that being on Mosaic conference, Origins at May, will be very important to return Brazil motivated a lot and also better prepared to build an innovative community that should spread a vivid message to North Zone of São Paulo.

Emergent Conversation- I should also highlight how good was to start meeting with other folks in São Paulo that are well interested to Emergent Church. We started with Sandro Baggio that have a great emergent community called Projeto 242, we started to meet, to learn and discuss what we have found at websites, at books and at our current evangelical context. We had just five meetings but those was very deep when I learned a lot. Next year we are preparing to promote some events to all people in order to have emergent church issues better known, our first event will be in March, I will let you know how it will be.

Nooma - At those meetings, I was presented to those DVDs, I have got very enthusiastic with this very rich material, not only for how spirituality is dealt but also for seeing a kind of communication that could talk to everyone whithout focusing just evangelical people. I could import all collection and apply to some meetings at Mandaqui Project, I am planning also to reach a larger people on January with some sessions at my home.

Tag - retrospective; 2006

My reading in 2006

As I have already done at my brazilian blog, I would like to highlight five books from all I read this year, due to Mandaqui Project I have been directed my reading to prepare myself for this mission, here you have:

The Emerging Church, Eddie Gibbs e Ryan Bolger - I thought it a very well prepared book about paradigm shift with post-modernity and how some communities are dealing with that, I could even dedicate some posts in my brazilian blog to describe the ten factors present to most emergent churches once this book is not translated to portuguese, and I doubt it will. As I have seen in other blogs and after reading it, I thought it a great book to understand Emergent Church.

The Shaping of things to come, Michael Frost e Alan Hirsch - despite the fact I've been reading this book since October and not finished yet, I thought it another great book to understand the emergent church, I thought content very rich and very well based.

Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell - I started to know Nooma, this year and I have got very well impressed with the way Rob Bell deals with spirituality, I saw this book as basis for the theology purposed at Nooma.

Everybody is Normal Till you get to know them, John Ortberg - I think community matters so much, community issues are so important to be discussed and so complicated to live! Author discusses the main matters to be shared and facilitates understanding of this issue, I think John Ortberg simplicity and good mood helps a lot to translate concepts to overall people in community, I think of his books as very good to work at church.

Leadership from Unlikely voices, Dave Flemming - nothing as a leadership book with christian basis without all the business things that most pastors love to apply at church!.

Tag - books; 2006

Unbeatable!

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Originally uploaded by Lufe Batista.

Yesterday we had our second round of Monopoly (Disney edition), and my doughter did it again! By first time I thought it was due her posessions of companies, but yesterday my wife got all companies and even with those got very close to bankruptcy, but I couldn't avoid it!
Once again we set midnight to close everything, but I went bankruptcy prior to that.
Though Maria Ester is not at all very used to change and to the rents table, she showed to be very lucky, some times the best strategy is not to have one!


Tags - monopoly

Close to Christmas!

Christmas dinner is next Sunday! Wow! If were not the Christmas songs last service I would not figure out we were on Christmas time! As I spent last week in Bogota at work, my December got very shorter, Saturday was my only free time to buy gifts for family.
Last Friday we did our last meeting at Projeto Mandaqui, we remember of the kings` gifts for Jesus and changed gifts between one another. We might spent the new year day together, and after, we will have January out, just returning on February, I will spend a week out on this month as my other folks too.
I believe we have got a good improvement when we started to meet weekly after October, we haven`t many people joining us as I wished, but I have a great hope that people will come on the dynamics of our relationships, as far as we have a weekly meeting, we will have allways this opportunity to bring new people here.
We are planing a small camping retreat at Carnaval, a particular retreat for people like us, young couples with little children, this might be another opportunity to have new people with us, and an opportunity to get focus on our project.
My hope is on God that things will happen in 2007 for Projeto Mandaqui!

Tags - Church planting