Scoffer Surrenders to Christ Just Days Before Drowning

Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.

June 3, 2018

Dear Friends,

We were very excited to be able to minister in Porto Rico this month! Oh, but it wasn’t the one in the Caribbean Sea. Actually, it is a small town in our state located on the banks of the Paraná River. Our outreach team went to help a local missionary share the gospel in public schools and parks for a week. Every outreach experience is different, of course, but some are very remarkable, like Porto Rico was. During our gospel skit presentations, there was one man who kept loudly interrupting the speaker by making jokes and trying to ridicule our efforts to share the gospel. It was necessary to have a couple of our men escort him from the platform more than once.

Before and during our presentations we pray for the Lord to guide us and use all that is done for people to hear and accept the gospel and this man was certainly being a hindrance. On the human level, he made our team angry and frustrated, but the Lord helped one of our preachers to see that the man´s behavior was the result of a spiritual battle going on in his mind and spirit. The preacher began a personal conversation with the man and asked him about his relationship with God. The man admitted that he felt totally alone in the world and was seeking attention. The preacher shared with him that Jesus Christ loved him and gave his life so that he could be saved and have an eternal relationship with God. The man listened and then returned to watch the rest of the presentations and testimonies. At the end of the service an invitation was given for anyone who had trusted in Jesus Christ to come forward to make a public profession and the man who was earlier causing a scene, stepped forward. The local pastor took the man aside and again explained the gospel to him to be sure that he understood the message. He assured the pastor that he understood and that he was surrendering his life to Christ.

A few days later our team went to work in a neighboring town. When they got on the highway to return to our headquarters the local missionary in Porto Rico called the team to share the sad news that that man had drowned in the Paraná River just that morning! Our joy and hope is that he is now in the presence of Jesus Christ. That remarkable event helped us realize again, and even more strongly, just how vital our ministry is. The likelihood that he would decide to go to a church service on his own accord was very slim, but because we took the gospel into the public square where he and many others were, that man got to hear the truth of God´s saving grace and we believe that already he is already in the presence of the Lord.

Just as the agitator in the crowd served to remind us to look for opportunities in our aggravations, my cell phone crash opened a door for me to share Christ with the iPhone tech guys last month. When I took my phone in to be repaired I had to wait at the counter for nearly 30 minutes. There were two technicians sitting there and no other customers. I started a casual conversation with them that led them to ask me what I am doing here in Brazil. That gave me a chance to share my testimony of coming to Christ as Lord and Savior through the Scriptures and to invite them to come to our church to know more. I pray that God will help me to constantly be aware of the open doors around us, if we will just pay attention.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry here Curitiba, Brazil.

In Christ´s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser

Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]hotmail.com

For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online


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