Hello, dear friend and long-time partner,
As we approach the end of the year, my heart is filled with gratitude as I remember the wonderful work that the Lord has done in our lives and, through them, in the ministry we have been carrying out at Surf Church Porto. Your faithfulness and support over the years have been a fundamental pillar for everything we have accomplished.
This is a time of celebration, as we prepare for Thanksgiving, which takes place this week on November 27, and soon after that we begin preparations for Christmas. Without a doubt, we have many reasons to thank the Lord for the year 2025, and I want to share some of those reasons with you in this letter.
Without a doubt, Surf Church Porto’s 10th anniversary was one of the highlights of this year. We had a beautiful celebration at the end of March with some very special guests in attendance. In addition, we continued this celebration at Surf Camp, which this year served more than 100 people in two camps, which are always personally memorable moments in my year. Every step, every life transformed, bears the mark of your generosity and prayers.
But without a doubt, the greatest joy of this year came as an answer to prayer.
A brief testimony: the numbers are not important, but for me, knowing that we are growing every year is important. And yes, growth comes when we multiply and know that new people are deciding to give their lives to Christ. It was Surf Camp time, and I told the Lord that I didn’t understand how, in such a special year in our history, we would not have the chance to baptize anyone. Well, the Lord heard my prayer, and at Surf Camp we had Rond, one of the boys who gave his life to Jesus, and last week we had the privilege of baptizing him and Egler, another boy who also decided to publicly announce that Jesus is the Lord of his life.
Check out this video that tells a little of the story of our family and Surf Church Porto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNP3pHOnOmw&t=50s
Last week I was at a conference where the preacher spoke about the challenges of leaders. We experience the deepest valleys, where only God knows our pain, but we also walk through the highest mountains when we witness people changing their lives because of the Gospel. Our family is well aware of its mission: to proclaim the transforming Gospel of Christ Jesus in Matosinhos, Portugal, Europe, and to the ends of the earth. And so we have done.
Today, your support for our family and the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to us strengthens the local church in Matosinhos through our leadership at Surf Church Porto, strengthens the work of the Church in Portugal through my leadership as one of the pastors on the Northern Pastors Council, strengthens the work of planting and strengthening churches throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through the leadership that our family has assumed within the Surf Church International collective, and it is precisely this new role that has contributed to the planting of churches around the world, in particular Surf Church Ayoke, a church planting project in the Philippines, where Surf Church Porto invests directly.
Check out this video about our family’s entry as leaders of the EMEA region for church planting within the Surf Church collective: https://youtu.be/2y_2KZlOXww
We want to celebrate and inspire you to continue this challenge with us. These are years of hard work, persistence, and much faithfulness and grace from the Lord. It is by Him and for Him that all things are.
Therefore, we want to end with a year-end appeal. Our family is reaching the end of 2025 with our income below our annual budget, needing to take money out of our savings to close the year. God has always been very faithful, and I am confident that the Lord will continue to sustain us. But if you feel the desire to contribute a one-time offering to help us reach the amount of €3,000 to help us close this year on a positive note, we would be very grateful! This one-time request is to ensure that we close this year without compromising what we have built together, and it does not change our vision for sustainable growth in the medium term, which we are also praying to strengthen.
Prayer request:
- We are thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness to our family and the ministry we have been doing.
- We are thankful for the joy of completing 10 years of Surf Church Porto and being able to celebrate in many special ways.
- We are thankful for the lives of each of the brothers and sisters who have walked with us on this journey.
- We praise God for the life of Rond, who gave his life to Jesus at Surf Camp, and for the life of Egler, both of whom were baptized in November.
- We praise God because His Church continues to be strong and advancing throughout the world, and we can be part of this beautiful project.
- We ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers, for the fields are full.
- We ask the Lord to continue to have mercy on us, protecting and sustaining us.
- We ask God that no one will lack anything at the end of this year!
HOW TO HELP:
🇺🇸 DONORS IN THE USA Visit: https://beonetogether.com/give-test/?framepath=%2F20779%3Fframe%3Dtrue
🇪🇺 DONORS IN EUROPE IBAN: PT50 0007 0000 0036 5316 5512 3 Account holders: Samuel Cianelli dos Anjos PayPal: @samuelcdanjos Wise: @samuelc
Update from Sam and Claudia
Portugal