Overdue Update - Lots of Good Stuff!

Okay. It has been quite a while since I put an update out there for the World Wide Web. Sorry it has taken me so long. For a number of reasons (mainly Jennifer's computer giving up the ghost and we've been slammed with good work) I haven't been much of a blogger lately. So, here is a big update that I think will be worth your reading...

Furlough:

This Thursday we will start our 27 hour trip from Porto Alegre, Brazil to Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. We are planning on being in the states on furlough from November 2nd until January 2nd (2008). We will visit churches in Colorado throughout November (Eastside in Colorado Springs; Grand Junction in Grand Junction; and Meadowlark in Ft. Collins). In December we will visit churches in Joplin, Missouri; Houston, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Arlington, Texas. Needless to say, we have our work cut out for us. We also plan on seeing family in other cities in Texas and New Mexico.

We expect furlough to be full and fun. It will be really good to see our family and supporters - especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Men's Retreat:

Last weekend (October 19-20) we had our 2nd Men's Retreat! This year has been so good for the men of our church family. We have gone from having a stagnate ministry to having a dynamic spirit-filled ministry! In this last retreat we concentrated on Spiritual Warfare - answering the questions "what is it?" and "how do we fight in it?". It was a great time of fellowship and bonding; a great time of learning and growing; and a great time of fun and awesome food! Here are a few pictures to show off the great time that we all had...

Sascha gave a talk explaining what Spiritual Warfare is.

Matt's shared with us different Christian attributes that we can use to fight effectively in Spiritual Warfare.

We had 20 guys attend this retreat (5 more than the last one!)
Top row (L to R): Paul, Bretton, Garigran, Roberto, Sascha, Alexandre, Cesar, Regis, Paulo Renato and Spencer. Bottom row (L to R): Tiago, Lauro, Jorge, Matt, Renato, Daniel, Rudinei, Gabriel, Cice and Rony.

New Brothers!

Two weeks ago Daniel gave his life to Christ! He and his family came over to our house where several others from our church met to witness his baptism. Daniel grew up in a Christian home but had never fully given himself to the Lord. He and his family are a part of the house church that meets in Paul and Ana Morrow's home. They have really being growing their relationships with each other and with the Lord in that house church. Last year Daniel's wife and two of his children were baptized.

Paul baptizes a very joyful Daniel!

This last Saturday Kevin Blume and I team baptized Garigran. We have both spent a lot of time with Garigran over the past year. He first met Kevin's family at a function for their kids' school a little over a year ago. Garigran and his family began coming to our church right when we began transitioning into house churches. He has turned from being a very closed and private person to being much more open and sharing. Although his journey is just beginning he has already come a very long way! A little over a week ago Gari told me that we was thinking about being baptized in December. When I asked him why we wanted to wait we replied "I don't need to! Can I be baptized at your house on Saturday!?" So, that was that! He came over with his family and renewed his life in Jesus!

Before: Garigran proclaiming Jesus as his Lord!

During...

After: a new creation in Christ!

Service:

After Garigran's baptism one of the house churches that we work with met out at the Chácara for a "service project". A lot of the guys at the Chácara don't get many visits from their families. Needless to say, they don't see too many birthday parties. So, we decided to throw a big birthday bash for them. Leni made hotdogs for all 20 guys and she bought them all new Bibles with our house church collection. Jennifer made 3 huge chocolate birthday cakes that were so good I don't know the right adjectives to describe them! We had a good time celebrating each one of the men's lives. We praise God that they have all been spared and that the Lord is working in them!

All gathered together to celebrate 20 birthdays!!!

I couldn't leave this picture out. I think it is safe to say that no one saw Jennifer coming with the camera! ;)

Spiritual Retreat

Last week our team escaped the city for a Spiritual Retreat. We have gone off to be renewed a couple of times before, but this was the first time that we did it without taking any children along. This was also the first time that we left Porto Alegre with the primary intent on reconnecting with God and each other through prayer, meditation, worship and conversation. It was such a blessing to us all. We left our retreat feeling more unified having spent time reflecting on the past year's blessings and discussing what may be in store for the ministry here in Porto Alegre. We are in the middle of difficult, but exciting times with the House Churches that the Lord is growing. We look forward to what He has planned with future Brazilian House Churches and leadership.

I hope that you enjoy these pictures that were taken by Kevin Blume. Our beautiful surroundings really brought a refreshing spirit to us.

The hill country outside of Porto Alegre has some stunning landscapes.

You could say that we were "basket cases" before the retreat...

but, time outdoors really brings you back to where you need to be.

The Porto Alegre Mission Team: Paul, Kevin, Benay, Matt, Jennifer & Sascha

Dave Meadows

Today at 8:30am (Brazilian time) we lost a friend, brother and colleague. James David Meadows passed from this life and started his journey home after losing his battle with cancer. He was a missionary in Brazil for over 30 years. Dave was an elder at the Church of Christ in Guarulhos, which is one of the larger Churches of Christ in the greater São Paulo area. He was respected and well liked by all. He will be missed.

Youth Devo

Along with the Men's study and lunch at our house last Saturday (see previous post below), Jennifer and I also hosted a Youth devotional that evening. Needless to say, it was a very busy day for us - but very rewarding too. We had a great time of fellowship and worship with the teens. After the devotional Jennifer served them roast with potatoes and carrots (American style). I guess you could say that it went over well!

Here are a few photos of our time singing praises together. Enjoy!

Wild at Heart Study

The Men's ministry closed out our "Wild at Heart" study this last weekend (Sept. 22nd). It was our 2nd 10-week study this year. There are a lot of wonderful and deeply spiritual things going on in the hearts of the men who have been participating in our studies. I am pleased and feel so blessed that the Lord has put it on my heart to work with the men in this capacity.

In the coming weeks we will have our 2nd Men's Retreat. Our focus will be on Spiritual Warfare (what it is and how to fight in it). I have high expectations that the Lord will do some amazing things for us and to us.

Please pray for this upcoming retreat (October 19-20). Pray for a good number of participants and for their hearts to be touched through the messages and activities.

Please also pray for the Lord to raise up a Brazilian to take more of an active role in the next study. I have been praying that a Brazilian would step into the role that I have had as facilitator and coordinator of the studies. I really want to work someone into this role as I work myself out of it.

I thank you in advance for your many prayers and your support of the work in Porto Alegre. I hope you enjoy these photos of the churrasco (Brazilian bbq) we had, ending this most recent study.

Renato, Lauro & Matt look on as Regis (far right) prepares the various types beef for our lunch.

Elisa was very interested in the workings of a good Brazilian churrasco.

Elisa and the guys wait for the meat!

Chácara Update - September

This video update of the Chácara (sha-ka-rra) was something that I put together with our teammate, Matt Rehbein. Matt goes out to the Chácara every Wednesday for a full day of fellowship, counsel and prayer with the men who are there recovering from various addictions. Our church family has been trying to help the men at the Chácara construct a new dormitory to live in by giving of our time, resources and finances. I have given updates on the progress of this construction in past posts, but this one is much different. I hope that through this video you will be able to get a better grasp of what is happening at this place where lives are literally being transformed!

To learn more about the Chácara and the men who live there I encourage you to check out Matt's blog "The Chácara". I know you will enjoy it! http://thechacara.blogspot.com/

A Look at Sunday

One of the reasons for having this blog is to communicate what our ministries are like. I thought that it might be helpful to you faithful readers out there to know what our Sunday typically looks like - since it is our fullest day.

Our church family gets together in a network of house churches, so this may be a little different than what you are used to. Just to make this a little easier I will give you a run through of our day yesterday. Let's take a look....

Jennifer started yesterday by putting together a lunch with breaded chicken and tomato sauce, accompanied by a beautiful chocolate birthday cake. This last week Claudio (Claude) and Rute (Ruth) both celebrated birthdays. So, we decided to take them and their family (they have 3 girls - Keity, Jennifer & Lhaumar) lunch to show them how much they mean to us. After all was ready we got out the door at around 12:15pm.

We drove to Claudio and Rute's house which is in the little town of Cachoerinha. With little traffic and good driving conditions it takes us 30 minutes to get there. When we arrived yesterday we started off by introducing ourselves to C & R's neighbors. Their neighbors are a young couple with a 5 month old baby boy named Samuel. This little family has really struggled lately with health issues. C & R have really been making a great effort to get to know them.

Jennifer and Elisa went into the neighbor's house with Rute and the girls while I went in and visited with Claudio. Claudio and I talked about how last week went for us and about the neighbors. C shared with me that last Sunday night he and R went over to visit. They talked to their neighbors about our church family and told them that they would be praying for their health and various struggles. Then, Claudio prayed for them. He said that the wife cried the entire time they were visiting and the husband was on the verge of tears. C really felt that this couple had never been shown the love of Jesus before. He was very glad that he was making an impact on them already.

Once the girls got back we decided to start our meal. Rute made bread and rice to share with the chicken that Jennifer prepared. It was a wonderful meal. As we gathered around the table we also shared the Lord's Supper. We each went around and shared a way in which the Lord has been blessing our life. It was really good. Afterward we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate birthday cake.

Everyone enjoyed the meal and birthday cake.

We then had our worship time for about an hour or so. We normally have a Bible study and are currently working through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, but yesterday we just sang our hearts out! As we closed our time together we took up our collection and decided to give it to the neighbors to help them pay for some medications.

At about 2:50 (two hours after arriving) we were out Claudio and Rute's door and on the way home to prepare for our 2nd house church of the day. This one meets in our home at 4pm. We were already pretty tired on the way home, knowing that the day was only half way over. Little Elisa feel asleep on the drive home (this is rare! she usually gets her 2nd wind in the car).

I have no idea how Jennifer took this picture while supporting Elisa's head with my driving! Poor thing was exhausted!

We made it home at 3:30 or so. Within 10 minutes of getting home we had a knock at the door. Tiago (James) and Lili were at the door. They came in and took a seat on the sofa while Jennifer put Elisa down for a nap and I ran all over the house cleaning up the mess we had made earlier (clearing off the table, putting away toys, sweeping, etc). I also made the bread for communion since we were fresh out.

Soon the others had arrived - Paulo Renato, Leni and her son Jorge. Because it is so much hotter these days we met in our living space downstairs that is protected from the hot sun. We sang songs and fellowshipped. We picked up where we had left off in our study of the Sermon on the Mount (same study that we are doing with C & R). This particular lesson was on adultery. It made for some pretty interesting conversation. We questioned and shared and studied. Then we took part in the Lord's Supper together. Our collection normally goes toward the construction of the dormitory at the Chácara (sha-ka-rra).

Our 2nd house church of the day (from left to right: Paulo Renato, Jorge, Jennifer, Lili, Tiago & Leni).

Afterward, Paulo Renato, Tiago and Lili stayed and visited. We had refreshments and good conversation until a little after 6pm. It is not unusual to have people in this house church stay until 7 or 7:30. We were a little grateful by the early departure this day though - just because we were already really tired.

Usually Elisa wakes up and entertains us all with her participation. However, she didn't wake up yesterday until everyone was long gone.

Once the day has come to a winding down point we (Jennifer and me) reflect on the day and how it went; whether we see people growing and maturing in their faith. Some Sundays are great and some are frustrating and of course there are days that fall somewhere in the middle.

We are all learning and trying to do what the Lord is blessing. I am very pleased with how things are going in all the house churches. The Lord is teaching us and stretching us with each moment we share with our church family. We really feel blessed to be involved in such a great ministry.

Thanks, Eastside!

I wanted to take a moment to post a "thank you" on this blog. We have 6 supporting congregations and 1 main sponsoring congregation, Eastside church of Christ.

Yesterday, Eastside had a Missions Sunday. They took the time during their worship to listen to recorded reports and watch presentations from the missionaries that they support. We are very grateful to have been a part of that special time. We hope that Missions Sunday was beneficial to the different works that Eastside is involved in. We know that not every church family does a Missions Sunday, so this is very special to us.

We are blessed to have Eastside as our sponsor and to have all the other churches and individuals who give us support. We look forward to the time we will have in our upcoming furlough to visit with you face to face about the many wonderful things that the Lord is doing in Porto Alegre.

May He bless you in all you do.

Safe and Sound

A few days ago I had the wonderful opportunity to relax and watch a few hours of TV. We lost the remote to the cable box of our TV a couple of months ago, so once a channel has been selected it usually stays there. Luckily, we had turned it to the Discovery channel just in time to see a show that is called "I Shouldn't Be Alive". Each show is an hour long and is based on the true events of a person or people who have found themselves stranded in dangerous situations - looking death straight in the face. It just so happened that on this day the Discovery channel decided to show 4 or 5 hours of different stories. There were stories of people trying to survive a deadly wrong turn in the Amazon; people stranded on an inhabitable deserted island in the Sea of Cortes (surrounded by Hammerhead sharks); and of people stuck in the middle of a crocodile infested river (one guy was bitten, but survived).

I was glued to all of these stories. It was very interesting to see how these people made it through their different ordeals. It got me thinking about how people in the Bible survived difficult situations. I am specifically referring to David fighting wild beasts to defend his flock and Daniel being thrown into the lion's den (among other stories). Does God still protect His people in times like these? When we are in certain peril can we trust in God that all will be well? I'd like to think so. Whether we are lost in the middle of the Amazon or driving the dangerous streets of Porto Alegre late at night - God is watching us and is protecting us. Accidents happen all the time to all sorts of people, but trusting that God can, will and is protecting us is important in our walk. He watched after the apostle Paul on various occasions. I believe that when we are giving ourselves completely over to the Lord, He can keep us safe and sound if he chooses.

Celebrating Prayer

Last Sunday, August 26th, we had our normal last Sunday celebration. Our celebration services are a time that we all look forward to. Normally, our church family meets in 5 different houses each Sunday, but on the last Sunday of the month we all meet in a rented room at a Sports complex in town. This particular celebration was extraordinary (far from normal). On this Sunday we had a special family prayer time. We had couples to lead prayer groups in different parts of the room. As individuals and groups felt the need they went to the different couples for prayer. Some prayer groups were small while others were large. Whatever the size, the effect was the same - overwhelmingly powerful. The power of prayer can be revealing, healing, soothing and even freeing. Maybe everyone at the celebration had a stronger sense of family through our prayer time together. I think it is possible we all left last Sunday's celebration feeling truly blessed to have been in such powerful fellowship with our Christian family.


In addition to the wonderful family prayer time that we had, we celebrated the birth in Christ of Bronwyn Blume. Bronwyn is the eldest daughter of our teammates Kevin and Benay. She was baptized in July while their family was on furlough. It is our church family's tradition to present a gift of a new Bible to members of the youth group who choose to give their lives to Christ. Afterward, all the teens gather to pray for the new brother or sister.

House Church Video

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated this blog. I hope this video makes up for it. It is a run down of the journey that our church family has been through over the last couple of years and shows how things are for us now. I am pretty excited to be able to get it on the web for all to see! Feel free to give me some feedback if you are moved to do so.

God bless you all!

Chácara Dormitory Update

Here is a recent picture to show the wonderful progress that has been made since my last update on the project.

Over the past couple of months the men of the Chácara (drug and alcohol rehabilitation center) have been working on completing a new dormitory in which they will live. We hosted a campaign of Aggies here the first week of June to help us with some of the construction. Since the Aggies have left the men of the Chácara have really been working hard - with little assistance. Our church family has been providing most of the financial support to come up with the materials. This new dormitory has been a great blessing of hope and encouragement for many people associated with the Chácara.

Men's Retreat - "Seeking Adventure"

This past weekend the men of our church family had their first ever Men's Retreat! It was such a great time!

The theme of the weekend was "Seeking Adventure". We are gearing up for a new Men's study using the book "Wild at Heart" and this retreat was just what we needed to get us going. We had great fellowship, some talks on how men need to seek adventure, some awesome food and a fun tournament of "tug-of-war"!

The times that we shared together in our "break-out" sessions after each talk were probably the best part of the retreat. I heard one guy (whom I have known to have marital problems) talk about how he had always viewed his marriage and his relationship with his wife as "a mission". He said that he recognizes now that "a mission has a beginning, a middle and an end. An adventure, however, keeps on going." He continued by saying that he wants to start viewing his relationships and his marriage as adventures. Sure there will be ups and downs - but you fight and keep going.

Hearing guys talk like this really blessed and encouraged us. Not to mention that out of the 16 guys that went on the retreat, 5 haven't yet made a decision to follow Jesus. I think it shows what kind of things the Lord is doing when one-third of the guys on the retreat were not-yet Christians. Praise the Lord!

Please pray that the Lord continue to bless and strengthen our men's ministry. Please pray that the lives, marriages and souls of these men be changed and strengthened through the Holy Spirit.

Sascha telling one of his adventurous stories...

The guys listening to one of Sascha's talks.

Being macho in our "tug-of-war" tournament.

Matt & Sascha got drug through the mud, literally! At least they came in 2nd place!

"Tug-of-War" heroes: Tiago, Renato & Silvio.

Our much anticipated lamb feast. It was incredible!

Chowing down together... baaaaaaah!

Front (knealing): Regis, "Sausage" the dog, Lauro, Spencer, Alexandre, Paul.
Back (standing): Renato, Garigran, Paulo Renato, Matt, Roberto, Ricardo, Sascha, Silvio, Tiago, Jorge.

Life of humility

Most of my "posts" on this website are fairly formal about our work in Porto Alegre. I am feeling the need to just ramble a little about life and what I am feeling and learning being a missionary in South Brazil.

I am just now coming out of a stint of anger. It is hard to be real and confess that for all to read. I don't want people to think differently or poorly of me because I can get angry. But, that is what I have been feeling.

I had an incident about 6 weeks ago that I haven't really told anyone in the states about just because I didn't want anyone to freak out. This "incident" really got to me. For some reason I allowed it to fester like a bad blister. Any little thing would set me off. I became rude and obnoxious to a lot of people.

Finally, my lovely wife pulled me aside one night and asked me what was going on. After some good conversation I felt like my attitude problem was coming from the "incident". I was seeing that Satan was using what had happened to effect me, my relationship with God, my family and my ministry. Jennifer encouraged me to spend some time specifically praying for humility. What a gift she is to me! I don't like other people telling me what I should pray for to better myself as a Christian. I think that feeling alone is a good reason why I should pray for humility. I need it.

As I began to pray I started feeling more peace in my heart. I was feeling a calm that had been missing. I know that God is not pleased with me when I am angry. He longs for me to honor him through peace and humility. Colossians chapter 3 has really been helpful to me getting back on track with a good attitude and a tender nature.

I ask that you pray for me to continue strong in my relationships and ministries. I don't want to allow Satan to have a stronghold in any area of my life. I want to be armed and ready for any "incident" that may come along. I want to be a man of humility and peace.

House Church Seminar

This last weekend we had a seminar on house churches for our church family. Bryan and Jacqueline Bost, from São Paulo, led the seminar. They have been missionaries in Brazil for 31 years and have seen and done many wonderful things in their ministry.

They worked in São Paulo for 20 years and Manuas for 5 years doing what we did in the beginning of our ministry here: having different ministries and activities to attract people to a strategically located building. For the past 6 years they have been back in São Paulo working with house churches.

When they returned to São Paulo in 2001 they had made the decision to work with house churches, without recruiting any other Christians to help them. For 2 months it was just Bryan and Jacqueline - staring at each other! Today, there are so many house churches and Christians participating in the house churches that they don't have any kind of a count. They have no idea how many disciples of Jesus have become involved! That is awesome!

We asked Bryan and Jacqueline to come to Porto Alegre to share their experiences and their stories with us. We wanted our church family to be encouraged by what the Lord has done with house churches in São Paulo and what he can do with house churches in Porto Alegre; Brazil; and the rest of the world. In total, we had 10 hours of listening to and interacting with this wonderful couple. Many of our members were able to participate and have walked away with more vision for what is possible.

I think the most important thing we learned is to pray constantly and to be faithful disciples of Christ. God will do the rest!

The 2 pictures above are from part of the seminar on Sunday morning.

The 2 pictures below are from our worship service that took place Sunday afternoon. You can literally have church anywhere - we met in a bowling alley!