Today I head home from a ten-day trip to Brazil. On a number of fronts this trip exceeded my expectations. For several years this location and conference was on my bucket list. This is the biggest of the international conferences or gatherings of biblical counselors. In fact, in Brazil over 3,500 biblical counselors have received training in the past twelve months in conferences across the nation. Thank you for those who prayed for me and my family while I was traveling.
Biblical Counseling and Brazil
Pastor Flavio Ezaledo from São Paulo, Brazil invited me to speak at the Associação Brasileira de Conselheiros Bíblicos (ABCB) annual conference. I was joined by other speakers like Jeremy Pierre from Louisville, KY, missionaries Patrick and Ann-Janel McClure, Rancy and Cindy Richner, and Bill Moore, with Brazilians Sacha Mendes, Lucas Sabatier, and others. We met in the Hotel Majestic in Águas de Lindóia. Over 1,000 conferees attended the Monday-Friday conference. The schedule was a bit different each day but basically consisted of sessions from 8:00 am-1:30 pm with a lunch/supper break from 1:30 pm-7:00 pm, followed by evening sessions from 7:00 pm-10:30 pm.
This conference and organization started in conjunction with Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries in Lafayette, Indiana.
The conference exists of five tracks. Jeremy and I both were plenary speakers and also taught in tracks 3 and 4. Other than that, all the speakers were Brazilian. The maturity of this organization and strength of what they are doing are incredible.
This is just one of several conferences throughout the year which promotes and trains biblical counseling throughout the region.
Time with Patrick and Ann-Janel McClure and Jeremy Pierre
I also had the immense privilege to spend the prior weekend and conference with Patrick and Ann-Janel McClure. As a friend and former professor, I can not be more pleased with their work. It was a great blessing spending time with the two of them and getting to know their four children.
Plus, another highlight of the week was spending time with Jeremy and his daughter Allie. He is a great partner in ministry. I appreciate his spirit, wisdom, and friendship.
Images from the Trip
Between 3:00 pm and 6:30 pm several days we went with various missionaries and local pastors out to experience the area. Some of those activities included local sights, a pottery factory, and off-roading.
Check out images from the first few days here.
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