First Communion (Emanuel Congregation)

Sunday, July 7th 2007
First Communion of Beatriz Lima and Breno Landmeier, from Emanuel Congregation, in Maia - Porto.

Free booklets through the Internet

The Portuguese Evangelical Lutheran Church is launching a project for delivering literature through the Internet.

We are offering free booklets, in PDF format, about Stress, Depression, Loneliness, Drugs and other subjects.

Our first step was print 10.000 flyers to advertise our website and the booklets available. To print these flyers, we had the support of Concordia Lutheran Church of San Antonio, Texas, to whom we want to say thank you very much. We also would like to thank Raquel Figur, from CAN-DO Missions, for doing the flyer's design.

These flyers were first distributed by the college students from Florida, USA, who came to Portugal beginning of May on a CAN-DO Mission's Trip.

On the Pentecost Sunday, the Emanuel congregation of Maia started the flyer distribution among its members, including the youth.

Next Sunday, June 3rd, the flyers will be distributed to the Consolação congregation members in Lisbon.

Thank You!!

Dear Aaron, Amy, Beth, Brian, Chris, Christine, Dan, Leah, Liisa, Luke, Kelly, Mark, Mary, Matt, Mike, Scott, Todd, Travis, Vicki, Landon and Pastor Nilo,

It’s already been a week since you are gone, but the mark you left is still here. Each of us keeps the memory of the beauty of your smile, the sound of your songs, the hard work you’ve done, the care with the seniors, the strength of the youth, the effort to overcome the language obstacles, the emotion of every hug you left.

Our church has grown with your presence. Our Congregations had the privilege of being served, more than being a servant.

The Portuguese Evangelical Lutheran Church wants to say thank you to each one of you for coming to Portugal, and for the blessed days we have lived together. In every possible ways, through the power of God, we’ll do all we can to make the seeds you’ve planted grow and produce many fruits.

Special thanks to Ron for leading Can-Do to Portugal! Your vision and support made possible the presence of this fabulous group with us, last week. Your Portuguese brothers and sisters wish you all the blessings on your new ministry at the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, in Saint Louis, MO. Come back to visit us!

Ron Scherch, Pastor Nilo Figur and Pastor Jonas Flor in Lisbon (January 2006)

May the grace of God be with every one of you in your home, study and work.

Thank you very much! Come back soon!

All of your brothers from IELP

See you later!

The last day has, unfortunately, arrived. Everyone woke up very early in the morning, so that we could leave to Lisbon at 6 am. (Which turned to 7 am, because of some delayers), but we still had time for a last picture in front of Porto's Church. The trip was fine, almost everyone sleeped for a while (except our two kind-of-nerds), and we were all fresh when we arrived in Lisbon.

The service was a very beautiful moment. Vicar Landon played guitar with the Church's band, and our American choir sang one more time one of their beautiful songs. The was also something that most of us were not expecting: a little girl was Baptized, which someone said was the most beautiful way to end the mission trip. After the service, we took some time to take pictures with the Congregation and people who hosted them in Porto, and then we had luch with the Lutheran Lisboetas.

After lunch, we all went for a walk around Lisbon, for some sightseeing, and some had even decided to try some local pastry.

Saying goodbye has never been easy. In between many people crying, promises of visits, picture taking and hugs, we all could see how important this mission trip was for everyone.

Thank you very much, our friends! May God bless you in everything you do, and help you spreading His Gospel wherever you go.

Oh, Portugal!

This time, the day started in a very different way: with the smell of french toast and fried bacon. Thanks to some volunteers, they were able to bring to the Portuguese some of the American culture, and at the same time miss no more (or ... not so much!) home.



After that, we went to the beach. Although the sun did not show up too much, it was a wonderful morning. We had a worship moment, with a smal message from Vicar Landon (we should built our faith in stone, not in sand like there) and communion. Then, we spend some time enjoying the beautiful place there.

Baywatch

For lunch, we went to Mrs Tania's home, where a magnific barbecue was waiting for us. Once again, we sang for Mary and Mike's birthdays, with another chocolate cake.

We spent some time with the children in the afternoon (we will post that as soon as we get the photos), and the service was at 8 pm. CAN DO choir also sang, and in the end they had opportunity to take pictures with all the congregation and, finally, enjoy a delicious hot dog.

This was a bit of their last full day of contact with Lutherans from Portugal. Get ready for looooooooots of photos of their last day with us, that we will post as soon as possible.

Getting famous

Hello! Today was another wonderful day! Early in the morning, we got separated into three groups which delivered the pamphlets to the neighbourhood houses. Then, we went to a nursing home in the city, Santa Casa da Misericórdia (Holy House of Mercy), where we knew how some old people lived while helped by these charity institution. The group visited the building, talked to the eldest and sang some songs to entertain them.

Later, after coming back home for lunch, we were taken to the Metro station, to go to a city mall. There we were able to buy some souvenirs and know a bit more of the Portuguese habits on their freetime.

This night was a very especial one. We took part in a concert organized by the Congregation, which also counted on a musical play and some hip hip songs. We couldn't forget our friends that got older that week, so we sang "Happy Birthday To You!" to Mike and Mary.

As it was Mike's birthday, the women in the Congregation decided to make a surprise for him. So, when we arrived home, there was a giant chocolate cake!

Tomorrow is another big day. We're going to work with children and have some more contact with the congregation. Don't miss the following chapter...

Time to know Oporto

THE SISTERS ARE BACK! :D Thanks to God, Kelley recovered faster than we could have ever imagined, and fortunately she didn't miss any more than the hard-working day. Both sisters could finaly join the rest of the group in our adventures.

Our first stop was in a Port wine Cellar, Croft. We learnt a bit about how they make port wine and had the opportunity to try a nice Ruby wine. Muito bom!

Then we walked down to a place by the river Douro. After lots of individual pictures, we could finally gather everybody for a group photo.

Before lunchtime, we still had some time to go to Serra do Pilar, a high place near one of Oporto's bridges, to do some sightseeing, listen to Mr Reinaldo's explanations about the city and do more sightseeing.

Our lunch was a pic-nic in the City Park, but unfortunately our batteries were too low and we were not able to take pictures of that. However, we can say it was a very nice. :D

After lunch, we went to Fernando Pessoa University, where we visited the Communication and Health departments. We also had a surprise, as some of us appeared in the College's News on television, which we were not expecting. We will soon post the links to the website where you can find the videos.

Finaly, to finish our work day, we went to Bristol School Institute, where we took part in the students' classes. In between teaching English, learning new things about the country and playing some games, I think we all had lots of fun there.

It was a very blessed day. We hope that the good weather you've brought may come back soon, as we have lots of work outside. Check this blog later for some more information about the next chapter...