XM, Author at Xingu Mission

Eric

In 2007 I was doing a survey trip with Clenildo. When we got to Marabá he wanted to look up a young girl named Aline who used to go to his church hundreds of kms away. When we moved to Marabá we drove an hour before and after church to bring her to our meetings. Eventually Aline moved closer and became the Youth Pastor. Then Eliel joined the leadership team. They modeled godly dating and marriage for the young people in our neighborhood.

This week their second baby was born. Eric.

Aline and Nicolas (the big brother)

Next Gen Missionaries?

The 25 prisoners in the cell we got to are from many different states. Some have committed crimes years ago. Many do not have anyone who comes to visit them, to encourage them, to bring them new sandals, or clothes, or basic hygiene supplies.

When I realized I would be away for several weeks and no one from our church would visit them, I prepared an 8 week plan with the 3-column Bible studies and offered a hygiene kit to those who completed all the lessons. When I got back from Africa seven guys had completed the studies. But there was quite a turnover too. Several men were transferred in or out. Eliel suggested that because it felt like those who completed the studies did them out of a hunger for God, we give everyone hygiene kits. Tuesday we went to the grocery store. Two bars of personal soap, two bars of laundry soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and two disposable razors. We also bought a few chocolates and 7 cans of aerosol deodorant as extras for the guys who completed the studies. Thursday we gave them to the prison director. We discovered the aerosol deodorant we bought was in metal canisters. This in not allowed because the guys might use these metal cans to commit suicide. We gave the aerosol spray to the guards. The director said that after we were gone he would call the guys out and hand out the kits one by one to avoid mass confusion. He is a Christian and sympathetic to our cause. He later WhatsApped me and said that was a really good day for those prisoners. They were very happy. Staying as clean as possible is one way these guys try to preserve their eroded dignity.

Thank you to those who pray and give to make this possible.

If God captures the hearts of these guys, and if they catch on to the idea of Discovery Groups, they will go from here to all over Brazil with the gospel.

Then there will be next steps, like forming these groups into gatherings or churches.

I am ready to get to the next steps.

“Hunger is the best spice.”

Kid’s Day Sunday

We love the people who love our kids.

Loving and honoring people’s children is a great church-growth community-building strategy.

Oct, 25

A Ministry Philosophy

“It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me” (John 6:45 NIV).

“As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people’” (2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV).

Four ways I am learning to help people to learn from God.

1. Discovery Groups and Disciple Making Movements – helps create environments where people can discover how God reveals Himself through His Word.

2. Immanuel Prayer – helps people personally discover Jesus. Since Jesus said He would never leave us or forsake us, where was He during those good and bad times in our lives?

3. Centering Prayer / Spiritual Formation – helps people learn to slow down and to spend personal, intimate time with God. God is polite. He waits until we have time for Him.

4. Coaching – helps people to gain traction with what they feel God is saying to them. When people act on what they feel God is calling them to do, they are more committed to producing the desired results.

I have also discovered the value of two related principles.

5. Lead through relationship, friendship, and influence more than positional authority.

6. Give as much authority as possible to the people who will have to live with the decisions. Organizations have similarities to people. For example, organizations have personalities, and they have cultures. These group personalities and cultures may change when just one person joins or leaves, or when something in the local community changes. It is important that groups learn to hear from God for themselves, and to take ownership of the results of their choices. “Organizational change without ownership is treacherous” (Clinton, R., 2012, A Ministry Philosophy, para. 7). Giving groups as much freedom as possible helps them to work hard to produce desired results.

We are starting church-planting movements, or disciple-making movements. As people and groups gain an inner certainty that they are connected to God Himself, this is incredibly motivating.

References

Clinton, R., 2012, The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development. NavPress. Kindle Edition.

Oct, 25

October 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Denise and I arrived back in Macapá early Thursday morning. Our trip back was long, but we made all of our flights and our luggage made it, too! At the moment we are just getting back into the swing of things and adjusting to our daily roles here in Macapá.

Home

We are really happy to be back and excited to start this new chapter in our lives. With that being said, our furlough in the States was so amazing, it was hard saying goodbye to all of you! It was great connecting with friends and family, and also making new friends and developing new relationships. By the end of our time Stateside, we felt very encouraged & connected to our extended family in the States. Thank you!

Most of you know this by now, but for those of you who don’t, we wanted to share some exciting news. DENISE IS PREGNANT!!! At this point Denise is just over 3 months and everything is going well. It seems like her nausea is beginning to calm down. We can’t wait to introduce the new member of our family on our next furlough!

We have a few prayer requests:

Please pray for a good doctor for Denise here in Macapá.
A new house closer to where we will be planting our new church.
Continual growth in my Português.
Wisdom and discernment in the first steps of our church plant.

Thank you to all who have committed to pray for Denise and me! And to all who support us financially, please know that we are incredibly grateful for your partnership in our ministry!

In His Service,

Christopher & Denise

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

Oct, 23

What Should I Do?

“Pastor Ricardo, I need to talk to you.”

A young man in our church really wanted to be a leader. He was coming to the 6 a.m. prayer meeting. He was pressing in. Six months into the process he got an underage girl pregnant. Previous relationships were extremely complex. “What should I do?”

How could I possibly know good council for my friend? Then I had an idea. “Read the book of Ephesians, and let’s meet back here next week. Then you can tell me what God is teaching you.”

The next week he did not show up at my house for more council.

The next week after that he did not show up either.

Three weeks later we had a group training at the church. About 20 young leaders showed up. In the group discussion my friend shared a spontaneous testimony. “Several weeks ago I didn’t know what to do. Pastor Ricardo told me read Ephesians. I learned so much stuff. I learned answers to questions I didn’t even have.” We still have not talked about the specifics about what he learned but he is moving on in God. Today this man is a rising leader in the church. He married the girl and they have a beautiful one-year-old girl.

For me, this is an example of God teaching His people.

Jefferson and Simone’s Backyard

I was going to stay at Steve and Elba’s when I went to Altamira. This is always a highlight. Then Deanna reminded me that Discovery Group Leaders stay in the homes of the people they are helping. “Oh yeah.” I phoned up Jefferson. What an awesome 18 hours. I arrived at 6:30 Friday night. I left for home after lunch the next day. We talked till I fell asleep, and we started talking again when I woke up (after personal devotions).

Different groups of monkeys were jumping through these trees the whole time we met, and chattering loudly. Some came quite close to the fence. There were many jungle sounds and a cool breeze all through the three-hour morning meeting.

This fruit is called cajarana. It is in the family of mangos.

Lemon Grass

Pineapples line Jefferson’s driveway.

Jefferson and Simone raise chickens, fish, and pigs, and most of the food they eat comes from their own property.

São Paulo

Here are a few photos from the backyard of the hotel in São Paulo.

Oct, 21

How to be Helpful

When we start interacting with other people we start defining roles. Who has the most power in this relationship? For example, we might think that “The customer is always right” giving the customer the most power, but if the store manager doesn’t agree this may cause a conflict. If you go to a doctor for help, but don’t follow the doctor’s prescription, this relationship becomes awkward.

If a well-meaning Christian wants to share their faith with a person he considers “lost”, the Christian may assume they have the power (knowledge, spiritual authority). If the “lost”person agrees then the power-over methods of evangelism may work. But what about those “lost” persons who do not agree? Many people feel betrayed by other Christians and how they represent God, or they consider Christianity irrelevant. These people still may believe in God, or the idea of God.

Christians may fear the opposite problem, that their “lost” friend will consider them a professional, but they know they are not experts. This happens in many areas of life. Li (2015) asserted that “Leaders fear engagement because they’re convinced they may not have all the answers their followers need” (p. 63).

One Christian solution to this problem is try to teach leaders everything. This can be a nine-month leadership class, or a four-year degree. As this falls short you can keep upping the bar. Many denominations require pastors to have a Master of Divinity, or PhD degrees. Other groups found that church planting multiplies rapidly even if the leaders know just a little bit more than the followers. Many hierarchical movements use this method effectively.

Shein (2009) lists some challenges with the Professional Helper model.

1. Has the Professional Helper correctly diagnosed the Client’s problem / situation?

2. Has the Professional Helper clearly communicated in a way that the Client understands?

3. Has the Professional Helper correctly assessed the capacity of the Client to follow the instructions?

4. Has the Professional Helper completely thought through the possible consequences to the Client if the Client heeds the advice?

5. Does the Professional Helper know with absolute certainty the right thing to do in the Client’s exact situation?

Some young leaders think that by acting like they know stuff, they will actually get it right sometimes. In my experience, often the less seasoned a leader is, the more sure they are of their council. They want to act like and to be considered Professionals. Young leaders are often quick to provide council to situations that are way over their pay grade.

Other people hesitate to step out in leadership because they never feel ready. When I was a young child I thought that by the time I was 30, like my dad, I would know everything, like I thought he did. When I was 30 I got married. I thought that by the time I was 58, like my dad, I would know everything I need to know about life, like I thought he did. Now that I am 56 I am learning to live with the questions.

Preparing, recognizing, and releasing leaders are often bottlenecks to church-planting movements.

What if we could learn to create environments where God could lead His people?

One man recently told me he liked the leader-has-the-power method because it is biblical. He quoted the following verse. In fact, I think he quoted the verse three times in a row, in a loud voice, in rapid succession.

^{1 Cor. 11:1} Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

I understand that this man is following his leader, and he expects his followers to follow him. He is a sincere Christian who can quote scriptures and references far better than me. We looked at another scripture, a quote by Jesus.

^{John 6:45}It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.

I am curious: What if this man gets a different type of leader? What if his leader learns to give away control, as in the Discovery Model. Will this man also give away control, and will he encourage his followers to give away control? Could this be just as biblical?

I suggest there are two principles at play here.

1. Character – Are we willing to be transparent Christians? For example, will we have people stay in our homes with us to observe how it really works as we interact with our families and life situations?

2. Control – We naturally like control. Hierarchies emphasize submission doctrines. If everyone agrees to the power structure it can work. Letting God lead His people is messier. Sometimes it feels like the difference between cowboys driving cattle and shepherds leading sheep. Both are getting their group to the desired location.

Often I find God’s priorities for getting a life in order are different than mine.

Am I willing to be a transparent learner and to help others let God be the Professional Leader?

Do you have any experience with this?

References

Li, C., (2015) The engaged leader: A strategy for your digital transformation. Wharton Digital Press, Kindle Edition.

Schein, E., (2009) Helping: How to offer, give, and receive help (pp. 48-53). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Does God Really Care?

Things felt agitated at the prison this week. There seemed to be an undercurrent of a fight brewing. Eliel felt apprehensive but we carried on as usual. Seven of the guys completed the three-column bible studies.

1) Copy the text out from the bible onto a page.

2) Re-write the story in your own words.

3) Write down what you are going to change in your life because of the story.

They handed us a thick stack of papers that were fully hand-written, all complete pages, of these studies they have done while I was travelling.

It is a miserable existance for the 25 guys in that clammy, sweaty, damp cell but they told me again that if they go to the bigger cell they will get killed. They are accused of crimes the other prisoners don’t accept. Either that, or they are not in factions. If they refuse to join factions, they are vulnerable. If they join, it is kind of a life-time commitment from what I understand. The men get coffee in the morning, and they let me try some. It is horrible. It doesn’t taste like coffee, and they say it is full of medicine to keep them calm. It tastes like bad medicine, and the bad aftertaste lasted the whole time I was there. Disgusting. And when they describe the food they start with “may God forgive me but . . . ” They don’t want to be ungrateful, but it is the same food, cooked the same way, year in and year out. It can feel nauseating. One guy told me, “I used to weigh 110 kilos. Now I am down to 57. One year and 4 months. Look how I can lift my foot up above my other knee. I could never do that before.” I asked him if he planned to keep the weight off. “Oh no. When I get out, in two weeks I’ll be right back to where I was.” I really hope these guys can get in touch with God in a way that really catches their passions so that when they get out it affects their behavior. We need transformations.

We formed two smaller groups, and about 12 of the 25 guys participated. One guy, Cesar, confided in me with our group listening. “Most people believe in God, they just don’t believe that He cares about our daily activities or prayers. They don’t think He interacts personally with us.”

This is a good spiritual observation, and I wonder if Cesar is a Person of Peace.

He hit the nail on the head. He defined a our work. We need to set up situations where interested people can connect with God in a way that feels true to them, where they sense God connecting back.

Think about it. Who wants to sign up for a religious system just because your friends are doing this, or because it is a healthy lifestyle, or out of desperation? But we long for what is real and true.

If there was a clear and easy difference between praying to God and praying to an idol, how would idol worship prosper in the old days? How would good luck charms, witchcraft, the love of money, and false religions prosper today?

On that day of judgment they will abandon the gold and silver idols they made for themselves to worship. They will leave their gods to the rodents and bats (Isaiah 2:20).

What these prisoners need is to truly sense an interaction with a living God who cares and who wants relationship.

Prayer is really important.

All the people we talked to who are having success with Discovery Groups say that prayer is really important. We need God’s Kingdom to break into our normal zones.

Please pray that the Kingdom of God will break into this jail cell in Marabá, in power.

Pray for Cesar. And for Wolverine. And António Marcos, Rodrigo, and João. These guys are from all over Brazil. They have the potential to bring the gospel to some dark places. Let’s pray they really sense God’s presence this week.

May Your Kingdom come, and Your will be done, on this earth as it is in heaven.

« »