Hello Friends and Family, 

This month we come off of a much needed Sabbatical and enter the final countdown until we leave for Brazil! We are excited to move down and begin our time with the wonderful Brazilian people and with Xingu Mission. It’s the final countdown! (I know the voice in your head was the lead singer from the band Europe singing that last line!) 

Amanda and I are excited to partner with you in these endeavors and we need your feedback. Below we have some ideas for how we can maintain significant connection to you all as we transition into this new season. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

As we stated in the video, Amanda and I deeply appreciate your partnership and we strongly desire to have our relationship be more pastoral and dynamic than is typically possible via newsletter alone. We are experimenting with way to facilitate better communication with you all. Please save the date for Sunday September 17th @ 7 p.m. CST for our first partnership meeting. More details and a zoom link to follow. 

Would you please provide answers to the three questions below to help us gauge wether you find this format helpful and useful? Please answer the first question and then click begin which will advance you to the next question. After answering the final question you are all set!

While visiting Tennessee to say goodbye to my (Derek’s) aunt and uncle we had the opportunity to spend multiple Sundays and Wednesday attending this wonderful Baptist church where my uncle serves as a deacon. This church really loved on our family, extended hospitality, prayed for us, is committing to prayer partnership, and is considering eventually sending short term missions teams down as our relationships develops. 

During our last Sunday worship service at the church the Lord laid on my heart that there was someone in the congregation that was struggling with pain in their right leg. This was previously unknown to me until that moment. I told the pastor and he announced this from the front and invited whomever this was to come forward during worship to receive prayer for this issue. 

An older lady did come forward and told me that she had been experiencing excruciating pain in her right leg. She was under pain management, traveled often to a pain management clinic, and at that moment she would rate her pain as an 8/10 on the pain scale. 

We prayed a simple prayer asking Jesus to heal her. She reported that immediately the pain decreased to about a 2/10 on the pain scale, and she stood up! She had gained additional flexibility and mobility in her leg, was able to stand on one foot and extend it, and was able to walk without any significant issues!

She called me a few days letter to report that her leg was still feeling great, and that her family had noticed a change in her demeanor due to her not having to live in so much pain! Even more than that, she experienced a heightened sense of God’s love for her!

In the Vineyard we have a saying that “faith is spelled R-I-S-K.” Announcing these sorts of impressions and asking for these types of healing is always a risk, and yet we lean in. The Lord does desires to show His love to people in every possible way, and that includes physical wellbeing. If you have the opportunity to pray for people – go for it! Jesus always invites us to participate in sharing his love to the world. Everyone gets to play!

As we reported in the last newsletter, we are at 100% commitment for our financial needs! Thank you all for your love and generosity. Additionally, nearly everyone has successfully setup their giving. If you have not had a chance to do so yet would you please click the button below which will take you to our secure contributions website. If you experience any issue with the system please email me at derek.blaylock@xingu.org.