Missão Xingu: Blaylocks in BrazilHello Friends, Happy October! One of the things I do miss is the fall season. Im glad you all are heading into this fun time of year with all things crisp weather, pumpkin spice, football, hunting season, fall leaves, fresh wind, great hikes, hay rides, and harvest festivals. Here in João Pessoa we are leaving behind the temperate and more rainy winter for the warmer and drier months of summer. We don’t really have an autumn season here. What Brazil does celebrate in October is Dias das Crianças – Children’s Day! This celebration is over 100 years old here in Brazil, and the history of dates back to Brazil’s hosting and promotion of an international effort for the health and betterment of children all across the world. It is a day to celebrate the joys of children and the biggest day for gift giving that we celebrate (Christmas is usually more of a family dinner affair rather than a gift exchange). This year our church celebrated this day y having the kids lead our time together. They prepared songs, demonstrated their memory verses to the church, and then lead us in the reading of scripture and interaction with God’s Word through creative expression. It was a wonderful time of celebration and joy for our church family. On a personal note – after a wonderful and mostly pain-free September – Amanda’s migraines came back with a vengeance this last month, followed by a week of battling a virus that had her bedridden. So please continue to pray for her healing and deliverance from these besetting migraines. Other than that our family is doing well. Thank you for your love and support, The Blaylocks Donations:If you would like to donate to the ministry you can do so through through the mission’s secure giving portal here: Prayer Request
The Ministry of Spiritual DirectionIn addition to our church planting efforts we have a vision to foster a network of Portuguese-speaking spiritual directors to foster pastoral health and deeper discipleship for other pastors and leaders in our network. To that end, in addition to my (Derek’s) church planting responsibilities I also serve as a spiritual director, supervisor for directors (think mentor and coach), and teaching apprentice at the School of Sustainable Faith. I am working with a master instructor and board member at the school towards the goal of developing a robust and sustained Portuguese-speaking spiritual director pipeline. Spiritual direction has been life-changing for me. Each month I have a space to process my interior life in Triadic conversation with both God and my director. I am able to bring my joys and my grief, my celebrations and my struggles, my health and my sin into the light of God’s tender attention and ministrations. My director is a really neat guy who also works as a professor of theology at a Baptist college in the US. My supervisor is a retired pentecostal pastor and instructor of spiritual direction. My supervisor’s director is a catholic monk. Spiritual directors come from all sorts of church backgrounds and walks of life. We have a long-term vision for the work here, and we desire that the pastors and leaders we work with maintain a healthy and vibrant spirituality and connection to God’s love. Spiritual direction is one such tool. We have other people in our missions organization who are trained or are training as counselors or in inner healing, and we have a robust program of missionary care. What Spiritual Direction Is In the book Sacred Companions author David Benner notes that “Spiritual direction, the jewel in the crown of soul-care relationships, has been an important part of formal relationships of Christian nurture since the earliest days of the church”. Spiritual direction may indeed be considered the most primitive form of pastoral relationship as it flows from the most fundamental aspect of spiritual growth – a focus on one’s direct experience of God. Ultimately it is only ever in cultivating this most sacred and intimate of relationships with the Holy Trinity through direct personal interaction within the context of of Christian community and under the authority of Scripture that we are spiritually transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. This is the focus of spiritual direction. Spiritual direction is a prayer process in which a person seeking help in cultivating a deeper personal relationship with God meets with another for prayer and conversation that is focused on increasing awareness of God in the midst of life experiences and facilitating surrender to God’s will. Ultimately the Holy Spirit is the true director and guide. Any authority for direction is ultimately vested soley in the Holy Spirit. The spiritual director is directive in the relationship, but that direction is nearly always in the form of directing attention to God’s activity. What Spiritual Direction Is Not Spiritual direction is not a teaching relationship. It is more focused on the directee’s locus of attention and experience than on knowledge and instruction, although some degree of instruction is possible within the director/directee relationship. Nor is spiritual direction a form of mentorship or coaching. It is more focused companioning and listening than on advice, expertise, and accountability. Likewise, spiritual direction is not counseling or therapy. Author Susan Phillips in her book Candlelight notes that “Unlike much psychotherapy, which regards the therapeutic relationship itself as the fertile soil of personal growth, spiritual direction views the relationship as situated within the larger framework of God’s gracious presence” and within the larger narrative of God’s redemptive work in history. Spiritual direction can indeed be comforting and therapeutic, but that is because the love of God and His presence is therapeutic and transformative. Spiritual direction is not authoritarian or hierarchical and it does not take the forum of a guru and a devotee. Rather, it is two friends, on equal footing before God, under His direction and leadership that form this type of relationship. Finding A Spiritual Director After reading about the discipline of spiritual direction you can probably imagine that it takes a person of a certain temperament and spiritual maturity to successfully engage in the type of disciplines that it takes to be a good spiritual director and in the type of relationship and sacred trust that exist between a director and a directee. However, spiritual directors are more than persons of a certain temperament and maturity. Most of them also receive extensive training (usually a minimum of two years), place themselves as directee under a spiritual director, and undergo regular supervision, evaluation, and on-going training. The best way to find a spiritual director is to begin inquiring within your local community for trusted spiritual directors. Ask your pastor, mentor, or some trusted friends if they know of any directors in your area. You can also always reach out to me. I have room for probably two more directees, and can easily connect you with another director if that is a better fit. Thank you for reading our updates, and for partnering with us in prayer for this initiative.
© 2025 Derek Blaylock
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