Hey Friends and Family!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all! We hope that you are doing well, that your faith is prospering in every good endeavor, and that the joy of the Lord would increase for you as we enter into a very special time in the church calendar. This will be our last newsletter for the year as we are looking forward to focusing on the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. We will also be taking some time as a family to refresh and unwind before heading into a very busy new year in 2024.

We are entering this season with celebration! God has been working in the churches here, bringing people to Himself in faith, growing leaders, working miracles (yes, real miracles), growing families, and strengthening the community. Recently, we celebrated all of this with a large baptism and worship service (more on that below).

Thank you for your prayers regarding vision for the next season. Our prayers, conversations, and strategy meetings have been fruitful, and we think that we have some solid direction for the next season of ministry here in Brazil. We look forward to discussing that with you in the new year.

Our family is doing well. We all experienced a bout of illness that left us out of commission for two weeks, but we have now fully recovered. We looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with our missions partners, putting up our Christmas tree, watching Elf and It’s a Wonderful Life, and enjoying our 2nd Christmas in Brazil together. 

We do plan on returning for stateside assignment next August. We found a ministry in Houston that provides vehicles for missionaries who are back stateside and have submitted our application. They told us to apply now, so we did. Please pray that they can provide a vehicle for us when we return home.

Every year during this season, I always make the time to read St. Athanasius’ essay called On The Incarnation. It is a beautiful reflection on the reasons for, and outcomes of, Jesus’s incarnation. I want to leave you with an excerpt:

“For in speaking of the appearance of the Savior amongst us, we must needs speak also of the origin of men, that you may know that the reason of his coming down was because of us, and that our transgression called forth the loving-kindness of the Word, that the Lord should both make haste to help us and appear among men…

For by his becoming man, the Savior was to accomplish both works of love: first, in putting away death from us and renewing us again; secondly, being unseen and invisible, in manifesting and making himself known by his works to be the Word of the Father, and the ruler and king of the universe.”

God’s Immense Grace To You All!

Much Love, 

Derek, Amanda, Selah, Amaris, Josiah, and Adalee

Thank you all for your prayers and support on behalf of the ministry here in Macapa. This last year has been a fruitful one for our two churches. Last Sunday week we rented a space to throw a party! We have had 20 people commit their lives to Jesus and join the church by taking their first steps in obedience through baptism. As you can see, God has been working in both young and old, and men and women. This is the result of the Holy Spirit empowering not only the pastors but also small group leaders and everyday disciple-makers committed to seeing what the Father is doing and joining Him in it. 

This is not only the result of the work here. Your intercession on our behalf, your generous financial contributions, and your encouraging communication to us here – it all makes an impact for the Kingdom!

Praise God for the lives that He is changing here, and thank you for all that you are and everything that you do!

Prayer Support – We always need more prayer support! If you know someone that might be interested in receiving these updates and praying with us please send this link. They will get an introductory letter about us and the mission when they sign up. 

Financial Support – ln this coming year we will have some one-time ministry expenses. If you are able contribute, please use the link below:

Hey Friends and Family!

Happy fall to you all! Our favorite season in the United States was always fall. As the weather cools off, ball season starts up, and the rhythms of school, play, work, and church get into full swing. We miss the changing seasons. Here in Brazil, we have two seasons: hot and dry or hot and wet! We are in the dry season, which will last another 6-8 weeks. 

As our other pastors return from furlough or come back from paternity leave, Amanda and I are able to hand back over some of the extra responsibilities that we have been attending to during this last season. This is allowing us to both focus and double down on some core areas. This is also allowing for additional time in our prayer investment, relational outreach, and the new small group that we are fostering in our neighborhood. 

This last month, Derek and Adalee flew to Belem to visit with some of our leadership – Steve and Elba Dolan. After much prayer, fasting, discernment, study, and discussion, we think we have narrowed down the region where God is calling us to when our time in Macapa is complete. The trip allowed us to discuss this and begin the corporate discernment process.  It was a great visit and Adalee had a blast! She adores Elba, and we appreciate the time that Elba took to dote on her. Elba exemplifies the Kingdom value of welcoming and attending to children. 

We also celebrated Selah’s 11th Birthday! She had a great time celebrating together with our family and her best friend here.  

Outside of some regular, seasonal flu, our family is doing well, and we are integrating into the rhythms and culture of our new community. 

Below, we discuss a very special holiday: Dia das Crianças!

Below are our prayer requests. Please keep them in mind and pray for us in these various endeavors. Your prayers ARE greatly appreciated and greatly needed. 

Much Love, 

Derek, Amanda, Selah, Amaris, Josiah, and Adalee

On October 12, 1923, Rio de Janeiro hosted the South American Children’s Congress. The congress brought together scholars and politicians from several countries to foster dialogue and raise solutions around education, health, food, and safety of children. As a result of the success of this conference, Brazil mandated that October 12 would be recognized as Dia das Crianças in Brazil to honor its children, commemorate the value of childhood, and recognize the sacred trust of developing the nation’s children. 

This holiday coincides with a federal holiday called Our Lady of Aparecida, which commemorates Mary’s Immaculate Conception of Jesus. As such, everybody takes the day off work and throws a big party! 

Here, children are given gifts and special treats, and there are often parties or family gatherings held to honor the kids. Here it seems as if more presents are exchanged on this day than on Christmas. 

Our churches came together to host a special event to commemorate this day with the community. We see in the Gospels the special care and attention that Jesus has for children and seek to emulate that. We have learned that if we approach the children in an incredibly intentional way by practicing the critical Kingdom value and spiritual discipline of welcoming and attending to the presence of children in a corporate manner, that Jesus is especially present to us!

Mathew 18: 1- 5 states: 

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

The word ‘welcome’ in verse 5 is the word dechomai. It means to embrace, pay full attention to, and offer hospitality to someone. Jesus explicitly states here that when we offer welcome – offer dechomai – to a child – we also receive His presence and encounter the Kingdom of God!

This is something that our family has gotten to lean into ministerially in a very special way during this season. Amanda is in charge of the children’s ministry at Vineyard Viva, and we both frequently serve in the nursery or as teachers for children’s church. We can attest to the truthfulness of the above verses. We have encountered Jesus in a special way as we attended to these precious kiddos that God has entrusted to this community.

Prayer Support – The success of our church planting here is very much dependent upon the faithful and fervent prayer of God’s people. If you know someone that might be interested in receiving these updates and praying with us please send this link. They will get an introductory letter about us and the mission when they sign up. 

Financial Support – We are continually amazed at the generosity and provision we receive from you all. If you would like to contribute, please use the link below:

Hey Friends and Family!

We are sure your fall season is off to an active start!  Ours sure is. This month’s update will be a shorter one because we have quite a bit of ministry activity this month. 

Our kids have made some new friends in the neighborhood! They have a group of friends that they now see and play with daily. They have all but claimed a giant tree in the field across form our house and are working diligently on constructing a tree fort. This has been wonderful for them, and getting to know a few of these families has been quite encouraging. 

This is an important month for both our family and for the mission. We are currently hosting a team from the United States here in Macapa! We love having teams come down because it allows folks to experience cross-cultural ministry, make lasting connections with the people here, and enables our supporters to see firsthand our churches’ passion, work ethic, and spiritual vitality. 

We just had a team come down last month to visit the river ministry and water filter project, and we have another team coming down in early October to support our new church planting efforts in other cities. Perhaps you can be the next team down!

Next week, Adalee and Derek are flying to Belem to meet with the leadership to discuss where we believe the Lord is leading us after our time in Macapa. Please pray for discernment for all involved and for a good trip. We hope to update everyone in the near future on these plans. 

Below are our prayer requests. Please keep them in mind and pray for us in these various endeavors. Your prayers ARE making a difference. 

Much Love, 

Derek, Amanda, Selah, Amaris, Josiah, and Adalee

Prayer Support – The success of our church planting here is very much dependent upon the faithful and fervent prayer of God’s people. If you know someone that might be interested in receiving these updates and praying with us please send this link. They will get an introductory letter about us and the mission when they sign up. 

Financial Support – We are continually amazed at the generosity and provision we receive from you all. If you would like to contribute, please use the link below:

Hey Friends and Family!

We are sure that so many of you are in the hectic days of back to school! Some of you are sending your kiddos off to school for the first time, some to college for the first time, and some to new campuses. Amid new activities, new seasons, and new complications, we hope you know that we love you, we appreciate it. Thank you for your encouragement and support. 

This month was an exciting month of firsts for us as well!

For the first time, we have all four kids in school. Adalee officially started kindergarten. We have met some new neighbors for the first time, made some new friends, led worship in Portuguese for the first time, and had our first small group meeting in the neighborhood (more on that below). 

Here is a quick story from Amanda:

On our daily walks around the neighborhood, the kids and I have made an acquaintance with a mom and her 2 daughters- a 6-year-old and a baby. As our familiarity (and my Portuguese) has increased, we have become friends. I noticed the baby has a severe cleft lip, but I never mentioned it. About 3 weeks ago, the mom stopped me and mentioned they were raising money so that the baby (now 5 months old) could have surgery. They will have to travel to another city for the surgery, which is very expensive. I talked to Derek, and we gave what we could, and even reached out to some other friends who gave as well. The mother was brought to tears. The next week she came by our house to visit and to let the girls play. We have invited neighbors over for meals and have been invited to their houses for meals, but this is the first time somebody casually dropped by, uninvited, for a chat. This brought me great joy and a sense of belonging! Since then, this woman has come to our monthly neighborhood social and weekly small group Bible study. It is amazing how a consistent smile and a friendly hello (when you literally feel like all you can say is hello) can open the door to a relationship. This relationship has been so life-giving to me. Please continue to pray that I can understand and speak Portuguese well and have meaningful conversations about Jesus with her. Please also pray for the family as they travel and for the baby as she has this surgery.

Below are our prayer requests. Please keep them in mind and pray for us in these various endeavors. Your prayers ARE making a difference. 

Much Love, 

Derek, Amanda, Selah, Amaris, Josiah, and Adalee

Recently, the assistant pastors at our central church welcomed a new baby! While they are out on maternity leave, they asked if we could co-lead their small group. Amanda and I thoroughly enjoy this group of folks. This group is important not only for the formation of the members but also as a core training ground for leadership in the church. 

Additionally, in the last several newsletters, we have written about our efforts to prayer-walk our neighborhood, the intentionality with which we engage our neighbors on the street and around shared meals, and that we sensed God was stirring up new work. As a result of those efforts this last week, we had our first small group meeting in our neighborhood! This is a group of folks from this neighborhood or some nearby neighborhoods in Marabaxio, a small community where we live. 

We have started leading worship in these settings. Amanda and I are both enjoying this and working hard to expand our repertoire of songs. We have learned enough of the language that we can generally follow along with what people are saying, and we greatly appreciate everyone’s patience as we endeavor to listen to them in our new language and the Holy Spirit simultaneously.

This is also essential training for us, and what God has done here is essentially the methodology for church planting we intend to use in the future. Please pray for formation, fruitfulness, joy, and understanding as we continue to meet. 

Prayer Support – The success of our church planting here is very much dependent upon the faithful and fervent prayer of God’s people. If you know someone that might be interested in receiving these updates and praying with us please send this link. They will get an introductory letter about us and the mission when they sign up. 

Financial Support – We are continually amazed at the generosity and provision we receive from you all. It does look like we will have an extended season of unfavorable exchange rates, and we will need to raise additional support to get us back to monthly break-even. If you would like to contribute, please use the link below: