ZDolan Steve, Author at Xingu Mission

Hello,

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We pray you are blessed with this month’s update.

CDR, our community center, has been reaching out to the community to help the underprivileged with affordable education in English and tutoring services for over 20 years. In addition to providing affordable education, CDR did an outreach to the community this month by providing doctor consultations, physical therapy, fluoride treatments, diabetes, and high blood pressure testing, medical consults, physical therapy, documentation, legal counseling, and haircuts. CDR did these activities in combination with the church to create more of a bridge of friendship to our neighbors to spread the Gospel. Lots of people volunteered their services and resources, and it was successful. In addition, our service to the community got the attention of local news, which shed a very positive light on the church, and CDR.

The church is very committed to missions, and every month makes the long journey through rough roads to visit a community called Suribim. It is remote and challenging to arrive, and it takes about 4 hours to get there. The first 100 kilometers are good, but the last 50 can be tough. We have been going for many years, and the congregation is very faithful. We use our mission vehicle for most of the trips, and when it comes back, it looks like it was in a war with lots of mud and rugged terrain. Praise the Lord, He makes it all work out, and Jesus is the One glorified.

The community cup. HMMM??? When I first arrived in Altamira, this was common in many public places. It was a culture shock to me and one I thought was disgusting. I thought those days were over, given everything we have been experiencing. However, we had a person who drank some water and kindly placed it on the water jug for the next person to use. I guess old habits are hard to kill. Thankfully, for the most part, that practice has wained considerably.

Thanks and much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

We appreciate your continued prayers:

· Please pray that we will identify the new senior pastor of the Belém / Ananideiua church plant.

· Please pray for our church, leadership, and congregation to help people draw close to God as we navigate this time and leadership transition.

· Please pray for the rejection of this virus from your loved ones and its eradication.

· Please pray for our family, especially our girls, in this next phase of our lives.

· Please pray for our spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial health.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Tax-deductible donations can be written and sent to:

Please click the donate button to make a secured online donation:

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ZDolan Steve

Dolan

Dolan May Amazon Update!

Hello,

Thank you so much for your continued prayers. They are working and we feel them. We pray you are blessed with this month’s update.

The church recently had a baptism, and it was a grand celebration in the church and heaven. There was so much joy and the touching of the Holy Spirit. During the baptism, the church sang and worshiped God. The symbolism of letting the person be wholly immersed in water, being baptized into Jesus’ death on the cross, and no longer being slaves to self or sin. When they are raised out of the water, they are raised into a new life in Christ and are with Him forever. Praise the Lord, and may His transforming power be upon them and us daily. Alyssa took the photos, we love the picture of Elzira with her arms raised, filled with joy and freedom. What an expression of baptism.

Our children’s ministry, in my opinion, gets the most courageous award this month. They had over 30 children come to the church and sleepover. The time together was filled with many games, swimming, watching a film, eating hot dogs over an open fire, and very little sleep. My hat goes off to them. I do not think I would have had the energy and patience. Praise God they did, and it was beyond a big hit.

Look who turned 17 on April 18^th, Camilly. The time goes by quickly. Many years ago, a very good friend told me to slow down and enjoy every moment with my kids because time goes by so quickly. I have tried my best to practice that advice, and you know what, the time still goes by so quickly. We are very proud of Camilly and the beautiful woman she is becoming inside and out. The girls took this picture just before going to church on Mother’s day. I have some stunning women in my life.

Thanks and much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

We appreciate your continued prayers:

· Please pray that we will identify the new senior pastor of the Belém / Ananideiua church plant.

· Please pray for our church, leadership, and congregation to help people draw close to God as we navigate this time and leadership transition.

· The rejection of this virus from you, your family, and friends and to be thrown out of this universe forever.

· Please pray for our family, especially our girls, in this next phase of our lives.

· Please pray for our spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial health.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Tax-deductible donations can be written and sent to:

Please click the donate button to make a secured online donation:

If you would like to unsubscribe to this email, please reply with the word “Unsubscribe,” and I will remove you. Thanks.

ZDolan Steve

Dolan

For He has Risen! Thank you Jesus! – Dolan Update April 2022

Hello,

Happy Easter! Praise the Lord for He has risen!

Finally!!! After a two-year hiatus, we had our traditional Easter early morning church service by celebrating the Lord’s resurrection, and serving breakfast. It takes a lot of work to pull this off, and it is essentially a whole church effort. Each of the home groups was responsible for bringing an item that would be enough to feed 200 people. Everyone chipped in and made it a great and inviting time for all guests.

We started by worshipping the Lord, and then Elba shared a short message about the resurrection of Christ. Then we celebrated the good news that Jesus is alive by eating breakfast together. Members of the church prepared food at their house and then brought it to the church for all to enjoy. Elba, Camilly and Alyssa were pancake duty. A member of our church made a watermelon cake…pretty impressive.

Also, the day before, some of the children went to the church and painted eggs.

CDR, our non-profit organization, just had a graduation for 27 students from our English program. It was an exciting night, and the students worked hard to get to this point to graduate. It was so nice to have a graduation in person. We had two students address the audience in English. CDR’s goal is not only to help empower the impoverished by providing English at an affordable price but to help bridge the gap between the community and the church. So when I heard the two students speak at the graduation and give glory to God for all of His help, I felt good that it was happening.

Did you know Brazilians who speak other languages tend to have better opportunities and higher monthly salaries than people who have only a basic knowledge of another language or who only speak Portuguese? For example, a recent study of 2,400 job positions in 19 thousand companies in Brazil compared different English and Spanish levels. They found that fluency in another language could increase the monthly employee’s salary by 51%. WOW!

Here are some pictures of the celebration. We were surprised by the great turnout.

Thanks and much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

We appreciate your continued prayers:

Please pray that we will identify the new senior pastor of the Belém / Ananideiua church plant.
Please pray for our church, leadership, and congregation to help people draw close to God as we navigate this time and leadership transition.
The rejection of this virus from you, your family, and friends and to be thrown out of this universe forever.
Please pray for our family, especially our girls, in this next phase of our lives.
Please pray for our spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial health.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Tax-deductible donations can be written and sent to:

Please click the donate button to make a secured online donation:

If you would like to unsubscribe to this email, please reply with the word “Unsubscribe,” and I will remove you. Thanks.

ZDolan Steve

Dolan

Amazon Update – March 2022!

Hello,

Thank you for your support and continued prayers. If I can pray for you in any way, please let me know. Be blessed with this month update.

As I have written in years past, Carnival is Brazil’s annual “Celebration of the flesh” before the initiation of Lent on the Catholic calendar. It’s a week-long party where “anything goes,” and every city in the country shuts down, allowing full participation by the people. The Vineyard churches began “Cristoval,” a retreat for youth, away from the city, with a focus on Jesus and having a lot of good clean fun. It has been a great success throughout the years, drawing kids toward Jesus and allowing an alternative during Carnival. I do not know the exact numbers, but around 200 participants from various churches were present.

Elba got to share one of the nights, and we got to experience more than 20 youth come to Christ. We understand that many people before us were working in the lives of these youths to bring them into a complete and loving relationship with Christ. As John 4:37-38 states, “Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” That is true. We got the fantastic opportunity to see the heavens open wide and hear the cheers…HALLELUJAH!!!

As a part of the entertainment during the Cristoval, Alyssa participated in an obstacle course. She did really well. However, she forgot to wear pants, and she was all scraped up from crawling through the mud pits. OUCH!

The girls are trying to earn some extra money, and an opportunity to teach English at our school opened up. So they jumped on the chance, and they are now teaching ten children basic English. They love it and want to do a great job. The students love them as well, and they are always coming home with a small gift or something nice that the kids said to them.

Thanks and much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

We appreciate your continued prayers:

· Please pray that we will identify the new senior pastor of the Belém / Ananideiua church plant.

· Please pray for our church, leadership, and congregation to help people draw close to God as we navigate this time and leadership transition.

· The rejection of this virus from you, your family, and friends and to be thrown out of this universe forever.

· Please pray for our family, especially our girls, in this next phase of our lives.

· Please pray for our spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial health.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Tax-deductible donations can be written and sent to:

Please click the donate button to make a secured online donation:

We saw this Toucon while in Tocantis. They are beautiful.

If you would like to unsubscribe to this email, please reply with the word “Unsubscribe,” and I will remove you. Thanks.

Mar, 8

ZDolan Steve

Lesher

Bob Lesher – February 2022

FEBRUARY-2022-newsletter-1

Mar, 6

ZDolan Steve

Meyer

March 2022 Newsletter

March 2022 Newsletter
from Christopher & Denise Meyer

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks you so much for your prayers and support. Please let me know if there is any way we can be praying for you!

We are excited to give a quick update on some of the things that have been going on. Life has been going well in Macapá. Both Liam and Jonas are healthy, happy, growing and changing everyday.

Both of our churches are also doing well. Slowly but surely, people have been returning since we returned to our in-person activities six months ago. It’s nice to feel like we are starting to get a rhythm in the two churches.

Here are some of the highlights from the last few months.

Jonas enjoying the view on our way to Altamira – We traveled by boat to Altamira for a Pastor’s Retreat.

Vineyard Pastors and Leaders from Northern Brazil

Derek and Amanda with Jonas and Liam – We had visitors in Macapá. Derek and Amanda Blaylock are new missionaries with the Xingu Mission. They and their four kids will be joining us here in Macapá sometime this year.

Our New Neighborhood Small Group – We started a new small group with our neighbors.

Two pics from Vineyard Viva

Vineyard Macapá

Prayer Requests:

1) Please pray for momentum and continued growth in our churches and for our leaders.

2) Pray daily continued grace for our household of four as well.

We appreciate your prayers and support, and love hearing from you.

In His Service,

Christopher & Denise

Contribution Link

ZDolan Steve

Dolan

Amazon Update – February 2022!

Hello,

Thank you for your continued prayers. If I can pray for you in anyway, please let me know. Be blessed with this month update.

Last Sunday, we told the church our plans to move to Belém / Ananideiua to plant a new church. It did not seem like the news came as a surprise except for a small group of people. We believe that word must have spread about the Lord’s intentions for our lives. In addition, Elba often said on the pulpit that if the Lord calls us to another place, we are going. We were joking around and said that we were relieved that the congregation did not give a big cheer with the words “good riddance.” LOL. We are grateful for your prayers and continue to ask for more as we start the process of transition out of the Mirante and into Belém / Ananideiua. Another exceptional thing that happened at the service was this lady raised her hand to receive Christ as her Savior.

After our travels to our future church plant in Belém / Ananideiua. We arrived back in Altamira and went directly into a regional pastors conference. We invited all the pastors in the Northern part of Brazil to participate. We had over 110 pastors and leaders come and participate. Over half of them were new leaders, which we think is fantastic!
Our National leaders, Milton, Elba, and Clenildo, were the main speakers. It has been a long time since we have all gathered together. The focus of the meeting was to reinforce our values and DNA as a church. The other focus was to talk about leadership and ministerial structure. This time proved to be very helpful for our new leaders/pastors and us old-timers.

The girls are doing their best to embrace this move to Belém / Ananideiua, but I will not make light of it. It is challenging, especially for Camilly. We would be planning to move at the start of her senior year of high school. However, we are trying to think of alternatives for Camilly to graduate with her class. Please pray for our girls and a workable solution. Below are some pictures of us in Belém. One is in the city, and another in a state reserve.

We will keep you updated on our progress.

Thanks and much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

We appreciate your continued prayers:

Please pray that we will identify the new senior pastor of the Belém / Ananideiua church plant.
Please pray for our church, leadership, and congregation to help people draw close to God as we navigate this time and leadership transition.
The rejection of this virus from you, your family, and friends and to be thrown out of this universe forever.
Please pray for our family, especially our girls, in this next phase of our lives.
Please pray for our spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial health.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Tax-deductible donations can be written and sent to:

Please click the donate button to make a secured online donation:

If you would like to unsubscribe to this email, please reply with the word “Unsubscribe,” and I will remove you. Thanks.

ZDolan Steve

XM

New Places

Hello to my Wonderful Friends, Supporters, and Family!

Boy, do I have a lot of news for you these days. Life in Brazil can faithfully be compared to what it might be like to live on a rollercoaster. There is always something new around the corner, filled with both excitement and terror! I told God I wanted my life to be an adventure, and He did not disappointment!

I will start by telling you what an amazing time we had recently on our trip to Brasília, which is the capital of Brazil. Brasília is a planned city, and is certainly the most organized place I have ever visited. It is a shocking contrast to the rest of Brazil, especially in relationship to the northern region, which is where I live.We were very privileged to stay with a lovely couple and their daughters for the first few days of the trip. They were gracious enough to show us around the city to do some sightseeing. They also invited me to teach at the women’s group they have at their house every week, which was a lot of fun. We had a wonderful time with Túlio and Diana (the couple), and we know that we will remain great friends with them into the future.

Sightseeing in Brasília

Sharing at the Women’s Group

As you know, one of the reasons we went there was to attempt to get a USA visa for Ronã so we could visit the States. Unfortunately, Ronã was turned down for the visa. We are only able to try again in another 6 months. The difficultly is in proving that we will not try to live in the States illegally. We have to prove that we have significant ties to Brazil such as jobs or property. We are still in the process of trying to get a visa for Canada. Please, pray for us about this situation. The idea of not being able to go home and introduce you all to my new husband really makes me sad. Please, pray that God will make a way for us.
The other half of our trip was spent at the National InterVinha Conference. This was an amazing time with many people from Vineyard churches all over Brazil coming together. John and Eleanor Mumford (United Kingdom) , Phil and Jan Strout (USA), and David Ruis (Canada) all joined us to celebrate Brazil becoming an official association of Vineyard churches. Milton and Erika Lucas were ordained as the national leaders. It felt like a historical moment for the Vineyard in Brazil as it brought together both the northern and southern churches under one head. I personally look forward to watching churches being planted all over Brazil in the years to come, and the Kingdom of Heaven continuing to expand!

Milton Lucas teaching at InterVinha

As I said before, we are living on a rollercoaster, and soon, our lives will be taking another big turn. Ronã and I, along with our leaders, have decided to leave Portel. In July, after all the CDR classes have finished up, we will be moving back to Altamira. As you can imagine, this was a difficult decision for us. We are leaving behind the work we have started. The English school will not continue. We will be saying goodbye to the relationships we have built in the church and in the community of Portelinha. However in the end, we have concluded that Portel is not the right fit for us. I personally have been here for almost 2 years now and have put all of my strength into making it work. We believe God is simply leading us in another direction.
What we hope to do in the future is stay in Altamira for around a year or so. After that, we would like to head out again in order to find another mission base in which to become apart of. We have no idea where that might be at the moment, but we will be spending the next year praying about it, as well as visiting the other bases. While we are in Altamira, we hope to focus on a few things. Ronã will be spending most of his time working at CDR and helping with the worship team. I will also be helping with CDR, but I also plan to focus on helping my colleges, Art and Cyndi Rae, with leading both Living Waters and Celebrate Recovery groups. Because of my background, I have a special heart for those who struggle with addictions and emotional trauma. I am really excited about getting involved with these groups. Ronã is also very excited about helping CDR again and being involved with the worship team. We believe being in Altamira will also be a good time for us to transition into our first year our marriage without the added pressure of church planting.
Letting go of the school has been the most difficult part about this. It was a challenge to feel like we were letting down our students. As you know, the journey of the school has been a rollercoaster in itself, but there have been some really great moments along the way. It has been an honor to watch our students grow and learn. It has been an honor to know that we were giving them an opportunity that they wouldn’t otherwise have. It was sad to tell them the news of our leaving. We gave each of them a certificate showing that they had completed at least a portion of the course. Though it is not everything, the certificate should help them as they try to get jobs in the future.

Our class receiving their certificates.

Thank you all again for your generosity and concern for us here in Brazil. I know that all of you are on this journey with us. Please, keep us in your prayers as we go on this long and winding road. God is always leading us, even when we don’t know where. We trust in his infinite wisdom in our lives. Things often don’t make sense, but his redemption can make sense of them. He can take the pieces and make a work of art. He is our redeemer and hope in all things. I pray that you know His loving-kindness for you even in the midst of confusion and deep mystery. God bless you!
I will make a link for all our pictures below. Also, I love all your comments or questions, so please feel free to post. Thanks!

Love, Allison and Ronã

Brasília Pictures

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Sep, 16

ZDolan Steve

0

XM

September Amazon Update!

Anderson has spent most of his life working on farms taking care of cattle, breaking horses, going to rodeos, traveling extensively, and drinking a lot. A rough and tough lifestyle. He has been running this lifestyle all the while being married, and having two daughters. His wife Roseanne has been raising a family like a single parents throughout this whole time. It has been very tough for their family and for the children. When he does finally come home his little children do not even acknowledge him. Roseanne has such a giving, servant heart and has been very faithful to him and their family. She serves at the church faithfully, and prays for her husband regularly. Last month, while he was in town, he came to church and heard the good news of Jesus Christ. He responded by accepting God into his life, and there were lots of tears throughout the congregation, especially Roseanne. This is an answer to prayer, and it is Anderson’s desire to change his ways and get focused on the important things in life. Please pray for Anderson and his family that he will overcome the many challenges that face him and that he will refocus his priorities to the Lord and his family. As well as the other lives being surrendered over to the Lord.

A couple of years ago Brazil started the work at Belo Monte to create the 3^rd largest hydroelectric dam in the world. It is massive. Our somewhat little sleepy town was essentially turned upside down trying to accommodate the huge influx of people. This has presented many challenges and opportunities. During this time we have had the honor to meet new people and help guide them into a relationship with God. There has been much fruit and just the other night we drove about 60 kilometers to participate in one of our home groups at the job site. The home group had lots of people in attendance new and old. The leader is passionate about helping people come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Elba had the opportunity to share and during the prayer time it felt like God was touching people’s hurts, losses, and health.

In these communities where the workers and their families live, there are no churches. We are so fortunate for the Lord’s favor to be able to have some home churches to the over 10,000 people that live in this area. Please pray for more continued favor, and expansion of the home churches.

The family is doing well. Elba enjoyed her trip back to the States especially since it was not freezing. She sent us pictures of her eating Donatos pizza which was not a loving act. We tried to send her pictures of us eating rice and beans but it had no effect.J The girls are doing well. CDR started teaching keyboard to anyone who is interested. Camilly jumped at the opportunity and she is loving it. Pictured below is Camilly learning how to play, and read musical notes with her teacher, Apolana. Alyssa was playing hockey in the house. She found a stick, a snorkel, and a ball and she was set to go. Here is a picture of her worship and praying to Jesus.

Please continue to pray for our spiritual, and emotional health. Also, please pray for an outreach that we are doing right now with our sister church in Brasilia. They brought some dentist here to serve the needy, and will be going out on the river to serve the people of the community. Please pray that it will go well and that people would draw closer to God through their acts of faithfulness. I will write more on the next monthly email.

Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:

The Xingu Mission

P.O Box 340785

Columbus, Ohio 43234

Or On-line donations at:

http://www.xingu.org/14d_dolan_donation.html

Aug, 31

ZDolan Steve

0

XM

August Amazon Update!

This month we were blessed to have 2 short term mission teams come and minister from The Vineyard Church of Delaware County and the Vineyard Cleveland. It was such a joy to have them here on so many levels. It is a challenge to write this month’s email because it is very difficult to quantify and give full justice to the blessing of each of the teams.

The Vineyard Church of Delaware County came and we spent time visiting several river communities in the Portel area. After their time on the river they lead a vacation bible school in the city. Richie Bouthillier just started a church in Portel and this was the first time that we got to do some church services along the river. It was really awesome. During the day we played soccer with the people of the community to create friendships, and then in the evening we had a church service. The places that we held the service were very simple, but the presence of the Lord was alive and strong. We saw some people be healed, and give their lives to the Lord. Praise the Lord!

The team from The Vineyard Church of Cleveland ministered to people along the Xingu River. After their time on the river the team led a two day evangelistic conference at one of our churches along the Transamazon highway called Brasil Novo. This was such a special blessing to the church and the surrounding community. During the day we made house to house visits inviting people to come to the church service. We also had the opportunity to pray for people in their homes and we were received well by almost all the houses. During the ministry time at church people were being healed spiritually, mentally, and physically. After the conference, the team continued their travels of more than 320 miles along the dusty and rough roads of the Transamazon Highway so they could minister to our churches in Uruará, and Santarem. These guys were real troopers and the Lord not only used the team to bless others, but I believe the team was incredibly blessed throughout their whole time here.

The pastor in Santarem was so touched because of the teams visit because during the ministry time God used one of the team leader to impart some very precious words to him. He felt so uplifted and encouraged that he said that he would not have traded this time with the team for any treasure here on this earth. Are you interested in going on a short term mission team or bringing down a team from your church? Would you like to come and work side by side with the church? We have so many opportunities and places you can come to minister. Write me back and let’s talk.

Here are some family pictures. Elba celebrated a birthday on the 18^th of July. We got a good picture of Camilly with this wood carved image of an Indian. Alyssa got to feed some fish literally by hand.

Please continue to pray for our spiritual, and emotional health.

Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:

The Xingu Mission

P.O Box 340785

Columbus, Ohio 43234

Or On-line donations at:

http://www.xingu.org/14d_dolan_donation.html

If you do come down to Brazil, you might not want to come during your birthday. Terry from the Cleveland team got the Brazilian egg and flour treatment. Happy Birthday Terry. Thanks for being such a great sport. Missionary Allison Rupert loved every moment.