Dear Friends and Family,

Denise and I want to first-off say thank you to everyone who made our time in the U.S.A. such an encouragement. Your love and generosity blessed us greatly. We love our home church in the States and definitely feel the support that we so desperately desire.

We arrived back in Macapá just over 5 weeks ago. It has been a whirlwind since we got home. On our way home to Brazil, I began to get sick with the flu. It was the worst flu I have ever experienced. For the first 10 days here in Brazil I barely left my bed… Not exactly what I had in mind for our first weeks back, but in many ways it was good for me. God was speaking to me the whole time. I left the States with so much excitement, with many new ideas, and was ready to hit the ground running. The first few days I felt extremely discouraged, but God kept reminding me that ministry is a marathon, not a sprint, and that everything would work in his timing. It was good for me to let go and release everything to him. I also am so thankful for Denise who took care of me – and Jonas – while also adjusting to being back in Brazil. I really lucked out in the wife department! Many people were curious about how Jonas would do with our transition back to Brazil. He did great. He didn’t skip a beat, almost as if he was never gone. It is amazing how adaptive children can be.

Jonas loves our cat, “Lucy”. Not sure how Lucy feels about Jonas.

Jonas practicing for the worship band.

Jonas doesn’t know what to think of the new baby in the church.

Once I began to feel better, we began to work through getting things reorganized, implementing a few new ideas that God placed on our hearts, and connecting with the individuals in the church. Presently we are so excited for what God is doing in Vineyard Viva. There seems to be a tangible excitement that can be felt throughout the congregation.

This month we also had some special visitors. Michael Hansen, the Lead Pastor at my home church in Delaware County, and Derek Blaylock, a Vineyard Pastor out of San Antonio Texas, came for a short visit. Our time with them was great. While they were here we did leadership training, worship team training, they also participated with our homeless outreach ministry, and Derek preached at our Sunday service. We also did a baptism after the service.

Service last Sunday

During the service

Denise translating for Derek

Getting ready for baptisms

Baptisms

Homeless outreach ministry

Jonas shares a love for Bert’s Bees with Michael

About 20 years ago, God put Brazil on Derek’s heart and he has been praying for Brazil ever since. This was his first time visiting Brazil and it was such a joy to witness what God was doing in him. Derek was so moved to be around the people that he had been praying for since his early adulthood. He was often overwhelmed to the point of tears by God’s faithfulness in connecting him here, and that a visit had finally come to fruition.

A Prayer Request:

We have been praying about whether we should go to two services. This last week while Michael and Derek were at the church, we had around 80 people (including children). Although our numbers were higher because of the baptism and the guest speakers, we feel like the writing is on the wall. We are running out of space in our little church. What a great problem to have! We are not quite at the place where we could move to a larger location, so going to two services might be our best option. The practice of multiple church services is not extremely common here in Brazil, so we really need God’s direction in this area.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We love hearing from you!

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise

Contribution Link: https://xingu.org/opportunities/giving/meyer-ministries/

Powered by WPeMatico