Church of Jardim Emilia ready to open the doors to the local community [Photo Courtesy of the South American Division]

South America

A Family's Dream Transforms Garage into a Church in the City of Jacare

Inauguration of new place of worship was the result of a partnership between the church's administrative headquarters and the Novo Tempo de Comunicação network

Brazil | Alexandre Reis

The year was 2018. The dream of transforming their home garage into a small group had already been borne in the hearts of Gerson and Suely Souza. After accepting the challenge of transforming their home into a preaching point in Vila Ita, Jacareí, São Paulo, Brazil, the family started to organize a series of Bible studies with friends and neighbors in the neighborhood.

At the same time, at the headquarters of Rede Novo Tempo de Comunicação, located in the same city, another challenge began to mobilize employees and administrators of the institution, which would soon transform the lives of residents of the Jardim Emília neighborhood. The proposal was to build a temple in a neighborhood in the city where there was no Adventist presence.

After a few months, the meetings of the Grupo Sal da Terra that took place in the Souza family's garage were transferred to a room not far from there. The group was growing, and the first fruits of this work culminated in the baptism of nine people. At that time, the priority was to find a place that could receive people who weekly gathered to participate in the programs at the place.

Meanwhile, administrators and employees of TV Novo Tempo prayed and dreamed of a neighborhood where a new church could be founded where there was no Adventist presence. After a few months of research, property was acquired in the Jardim Emília neighborhood, near Vila Ita.

Impacto Esperança 2019, a massive book distribution initiative, was the event chosen to lay the foundation for the future church in Jardim Emília. On that occasion, administrators and employees of Rede Novo Tempo and leaders of the Adventist Church in the region of Vale do Paraíba began construction work on the main avenue in the neighborhood.

Realization of a Dream

Week after week, the bricks were laid in the building of the temple. The night of July 16, 2021, marked this birth with the church organization ceremony, transforming the former group from Vila Ita into the Adventist Church in Jardim Emília. The work was conducted by the executive secretary of the Adventist Church for the Vale do Paraíba region, Pastor Charlys Siqueira, with the presence and participation of the district pastor, Wilson Borba; Pastor Antônio Tostes, general director of Rede Novo Tempo; and Pastor Alceu de Assis Filho, Novo Tempo chaplain and local leader.

The morning of July 17 featured the opening ceremony. The Arautos do Rei quartet, Novo Tempo administrators and servants, and Adventist Church leaders for the State of São Paulo and Vale do Paraíba were also present at the event. Several people from other regions of Brazil and the world followed the service through the church's digital channels.

As it was a day of celebration, the church's baptismal tank was filled for the first time to receive 18 people who decided to be baptized. Thanks to the partnership between Rede Novo Tempo and Associação Paulista do Vale, the construction project was made possible in record time, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site

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