Outreach and Missions

PCUSA – Gartrell

To:  PASADENA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Brief statement of Faith: 
Jesus Christ must be central in our lives.  Acts 4:12 tells us that There is No other Name Under Heaven, whereby we must be Saved."
It is "at the name of Jesus that everyone shall bow, in heaven, in earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 10-11. This we believe.  If we did not believe this, there would be no point in our being missionaries overseas.  JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.  We need to know Jesus and make Him known. 

A letter from Dorothy and Gordon Gartrell in Brazil

May 24, 2006

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

It’s exciting to look at the church where we worked in the city of Salvador and see growth, new leadership, plus a variety of activities.
When we return to Brazil on July 6, we will be starting new work in Recife, a city of a million and a half people in northeast Brazil. The Independent Presbyterian Church (IPI) wants us to begin a church in the neighborhood where our children’s school is located. When we arrive we will rent an apartment, buy a car, meet our neighbors, and find musically inclined Presbyterians to help lead worship. We want to participate in community activities that expose us to folks who yearn to know Christ. Later, we’ll rent a store-front building to hold regular meetings.

We are busy trying to decide what to take to Brazil and what to store here and are buying the few things that we can’t buy there. This year we have shared the story about our ministry of church planting and evangelism with many people of all ages. We encountered folks interested in missions with many questions. We also encountered a few with distorted ideas. We tried to present the truth, while implanting in everyone a thirst to know more about missions.

Our son, John, will stay in the United States. He’ll be a sophomore at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. Elizabeth, a twelfth-grader, and Daniel, a seventh-grader, will go with us and study at the American School in Recife.

Please pray for us as we pack, say good-bye, and prepare to begin a new ministry. We need your prayers for physical strength, wisdom for the many important decisions to be made, patience in all the challenges that will occur, and the ability to step back and laugh at life.

God Bless You,

Gordon and Dorothy Gartrell