Ministry in Portugal -- 14 Years "Before the Mast"

    Portugal has a glorious history at sea. Dana wrote a book about whaling prior to "Moby Dick", which was called "Six Years Before the Mast". He served his time, he didn't grow rich, but he got the experience. I sometimes feel that way about Portugal. We had great adventures in that beautiful country, we made great friends there, our boys were all born there, and we actually did accomplish something! We established an ongoing denomination of 4 Presbyterian churches in Lisbon: Telheiras, Barreiro, Carnaxide, and downtown (Campo de Ourique). 

    You can visit their site: http://presbiteriana.com.sapo.pt/ (in Portuguese! For those who know Spanish, it's a breeze...). Actually, you can also see there an article I wrote for "O Presbiteriano" (The Presbyterian): http://presbiteriano.com.sapo.pt/2008.htm (pay no attention to the OLD picture... I just sent them a new one!). It is the 7th in a series of 10 articles on Presbyterianism.

    But for those who don't speak Portuguese, you may want to see some pictures of our beloved brothers:  http://presbiteriana.com.sapo.pt/carnaxide.htm 

    We also taught in the Portuguese Bible Institute of Greater Europe Mission, helping train students and pastors for ministry in many Evangelical churches.

    Ministry in Portugal was hard, however. So many people are mere nominal Christians and are resistant to hearing more about the LIVING Christ. We passed out THOUSANDS of tracts and flyers. We organized coffee houses, children's clubs, youth meetings, concerts, puppet shows -- to very little avail. A few came. A few stayed. But our testimony was given. God sends the fruit as pleases Him. PRAY FOR PORTUGAL!

***more later, so tune in again....***