How do We Know Who to Work With?

Is anyone out of bounds?

Do you ever wonder who we should try to plant churches with? Some of the guys in the jail have done horrific crimes. Is there any hope for them? Is there a line when a person goes so far that God is done with them? I have a litmus test. If they are interested in learning more, they are candidates. This is a sign to me that God is working with them.

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 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 6:43-45 NIV).

Two weeks ago the prisoners were studying this text together. “What does this teach us about God?” One of the main lessons they all kept reaffirming was that God does not want people to grumble. I was trying to lead them to the fact that it is the Father who is drawing them to Himself, but they were convicted to not grumble in spite of their horrible living conditions. Still, God is drawing people to Himself. I can tell this is happening when I see people who are interested in learning more about Him.

Billy Graham was speaking at an event when someone questioned him how he could pray for and bless a certain president after some scandalous activity became public. “It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love” (Graham, B., as quoted by Marin, A., 2009, Chapter 6, Project Reclaiming, para. 2).

If we are going to be effective out in the unchurched world we cannot be appalled by sin. We do not support sin, of course, but sin is a big part of the lives of the people with whom we want to become good news. If they are interested in learning more, God is drawing them in. How can we best help God?

What are your experiences when ministering to unchurched people?

Bibliography

Marin, A., (2009), Love Is an Orientation, InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Altamira Vineyard Churches 2017

A Short Survey

Altamira has several Igreja da Vinha churches. Deanna and I participated for a few minutes in each of the four biggest churches. It is so awesome to see God at work. I wish you could all come and see what is happening.

Central Church. It gets packed on Sundays. Their people are planting in several outlying areas, and passionate about their faith. This is where we started in Altamira. From our garage we moved to a dance hall, and from there to this property.

Colina Church – The first Igreja da Vinha small group was in this location. I used to load up our white pickup truck with people from here to Central Church every Sunday, for about a year. Many others helped sacrificially for years. Kenin and Rosi have been the pastors here for many years now, and this building is always packed. They are constructing a much larger church on the side, and God is supplying for them in miraculous ways. Last week someone walked into the building and started weeping. They didn’t know him. He offered to buy the glass windows, about R$8,000 / CAD $3,200 / USD $ 2,500. I am amazed at how far they have come, and they are almost in.

Mutirão Church – They are planting a church a year now. Jefferson is the pastor. I remember when Bud met someone selling lots. The mission bought one or two because they were cheap, way out on the outskirts of the city. Now this church is here and the city limits have enveloped them and kept on growing. This is a church-plant out of Central Church.

Mirante Church – When we (Bergens) moved on from Central Church we planted the Mirante Church. Elba was on the start-up team, and soon became the senior pastor. This photo does not do justice to the amount of people here. They are more spread out because the room is bigger. This church has/is planting churches in many outlying regions.

Jail Ministry

Discovery Groups in Jail

I have been going to the jail for a couple of months now. Some weeks ago the authorities cracked down on who could visit because of an attempted escape. I have been going alone the two times, and am trying to get a group of people registered within the system.

I tell the inmates that their lives will transform if they will pay special attention to two of the Discovery Group questions.

1. Change something in your life because of the Bible Reading, and tell the group about what happened at the next week’s meeting.

2. Have a spiritual conversation in a natural way during the week, and tell the group what happened during the next week’s meeting.

If you learn to do this consistently, “This combination of study, action, and story-telling will transform you into strong, healthy Christians who have authority.”

The prisoners ask me for blank paper. Then some of them make lessons so others of them can learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. This is one of the ways they are obeying Jesus by loving your neighbor as yourself.

In the Discovery Group language, this is “Identifying and helping meet the needs of those around you.”

Ivanildo Catches Some Fish

We are experimenting with our pond.

Ivanildo put 1,000 fingerlings in our pond in January, again in February, and finally in March. Now he is working with some of the guys to catch and sell the first 1,000. Some of these tambaqui have grown to 2 kilos.

Ivanildo and some of the guys catch some fish.

Staring Down The Barrel Of A Gun

Last week we had something new happen. We were robbed at gunpoint. Full story below.

I always wondered how I would react if I were ever held at gunpoint. Would I panic? Would I try to be the hero and karate style kick the gun out of his hands? Last week I got to find out exactly what I would do.

Two weeks ago we took a leap of faith, some red heart shaped balloons and The Father’s Love Letter out to the streets to pray for the women and men who work in prostitution not knowing how we would be received.

The initial response was so much better than we anticipated. We were ready for rejection, instead we found openness and a need.

The most common prayer request is protection, and for their children.

Last Wednesday, Phil and I headed out to pray while the kids were in school . As we headed down a laneway towards the street the women work on we saw a girl we hadn’t seen since the first day. She had been in tears reading the Father’s Love Letter that we had been giving to all the women.

Since then, while I was praying for all of them, God gave me a vision, specifically for her, so I was excited to see her and she seemed happy to see us as well.

I told her that I had been hoping to see her because I felt like God had something he wanted to say to her. She allowed me to explain.

I started to explain the scene that was painted in my head and part way through she interrupted me and said, ‘This is speaking directly into a situation in my life right now.’ She explained her situation and it did fit perfectly with what I had seen. She said she had prayed that morning that God would give her a sign, show her the way.

The next part of the scene was Jesus freeing her from bondage and showing her a new path.

We were both covered in goosebumps. I told her that I also felt like I was supposed to pray over her feet, if that wasn’t too strange, would she allow me to do that right here in the street? She said, ‘Yes, please!’. So I knelt down on the rocky sidewalk, and laid my hands on her feet and prayed that she would have the courage to follow the path Jesus has for her.

After I prayed, as we walked together she said, ‘You know, I had money in my hand ready to buy a piece of land, I know now that I shouldn’t, I believe God sent you’.

We walked together to the place under the tree where her and some other girls usually wait for clients out of the sun. There was a girl there we hadn’t met yet and as I opened my mouth to introduce us, our new friend did it for me. She excitedly explained who we were and that I had just given her a revelation that spoke right into a situation in her life.

That morning while we prayed at home before leaving, I had also felt like one of the girls was suffering from stomach pain, possibly gastritis. So I asked if that was anyone of these girls.

Guess who put up her hand? She has been doing tests and was waiting to do an endoscopy to see if she has gastritis. I prayed again for her, this time for physical healing.

We left the group under the tree on a huge high! We were so excited see what God is already doing in such a short time. We approached the second group and again they introduced us to a girl who hadn’t met us before. The first woman we met was there, she has not let us pray for her yet, ‘because she is Catholic and we are Christians’ (her words not mine). This same woman said she thought she saw some guys who were looking to steal things, and everyone asked if I had a cell phone in my bag. I responded that the only thing I had was the love letters we had been giving out and if someone did want to rob us they were welcome to them.

A minute or so later I started to pray for one of the women when two motorcycles approached us. I wasn’t looking at the road and honestly, people pass and slow down or stop often-it’s the nature of what is going on there. But one of them shouted, ‘Give me your cell phones!’ I looked over and saw that one of them was pointing a gun at us.

He pointed at my bag and told me to give it to him, I obeyed and said a prayer in my head that he would read the letters. Then the one who was driving the motorcycle looked at Phil who had his hands up and was trying to look as non-threatening as possible so as to not escalate the situation.

‘Wallet! He has a wallet!’ he shouted.

Phil was also carrying a heavy backpack full of water bottles making it awkward for him to reach for his wallet, so I reached back and handed it to the guy with the gun who, quite honestly, looked terrified.

After that they drove off and I said another silent prayer that somehow Phil’s wallet would find it’s way back to us. (Make sure you read all the way to the end of this story)

So here’s the crazy thing. During that whole thing Phil and I both felt an incredible, doesn’t-make-sense-when-you-have-a-gun-pointed-at-you, sense of peace.

After they drove off the women were understandably shaken up and we all headed for the main road in case they decided to try again. A man lent us his cell phone and one of the girls called the police.

Before leaving to file a report at the police station about Phil’s wallet we asked if we could pray for the girls, and they let us, all of them, even the one who previously wouldn’t let us.

WIN!

Here’s the thing, every city has those streets you shouldn’t walk down, we are going to the places. We know this is a risk, and normally we don’t take anything of value, but that day Phil forgot to put his wallet in the car. But if he hadn’t had his wallet they may have searched him and found his phone or worse the keys to our car.

We weren’t hurt, and either were any of the women and we are so grateful for that.

We also know that what we are doing is rattling the enemy, we are trying to shine a light in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t want to flee that easily.

Ours is not a battle of flesh and blood…..

We have been back since this incident and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little more aware, Phil spend most of his time paying attention to the cars and bikes passing while I did the chatting and praying.

While we were there, one of the girls saw us and said, ‘Is it true? You guys were robbed?’

Word is spreading amongst them. They will now know too, that we came back.

They face these risks every day because they are doing the kind of ‘work’ that no one should have to do. And although it may be seen to some as a ‘choice’ I am willing to bet that not one of them dreamed of this life when they were a little girl. Do some research, you will find out.

UPDATE: Monday morning we planned to go to the Federal Police to begin the process to replace Phil’s Brazilian Permanent Residence card. But, when I woke up I felt like we weren’t supposed to go, that we were supposed to wait until Wednesday. Specifically, Wednesday.

Tuesday evening someone we don’t know tried to friend Phil on facebook. Sometimes that happens but this guy is from João Pessoa and we don’t have any friends in common. Then he messaged Phil saying something about documents he found that he thinks could be Phil’s.

Wait, WHAT?

I wrote back to him and we waited. Later my phone rang and it was the kids school calling, asking if my husband had lost some documents recently.

‘Yes, we were robbed last week’, I responded.

‘Someone found your daughters card from school and called. They gave me their number.’

I jotted the phone number down and called it.

As it turns out, this guy was driving down the highway and stopped at the side to wait for a friend, he happened to look in the grass and saw Phil’s documents lying there.

‘I have no idea why I stopped at that particular location, it must have been God’, he said.

We arranged to meet him the following morning which was…….

WEDNESDAY.

Coincidence? I think not.

All of Phil’s ID was there, including the credit card we had cancelled but that’s ok because the new one arrived, that same day!

Someone asked this week, ‘So, although this ministry is clearly something God is calling you guys into, how do you see this planting a church?’

Good question.

About 15 years ago, under a tree in Altamira, Rick Bergen met with a few guys every week to pray and read the Bible. All of them were a mess, their marriages were breaking up, they were drinking heavily, sometimes even coming to the study drunk.

Most of those men are now pastors or leaders. Their marriages and lives have been restored.

All any of us can do is look to see where the Father is working and join Him. We spent months praying about whether or not to step into this ministry, it wouldn’t leave us. The way we have seen these women responding tells us that the Father was already there, working, we’re just joining Him.

Built into the Vineyard’s DNA is going to the dark places, looking for the lost and the broken and showing them the unconditional love of the Father.

Beyond being what we do, it’s who we are.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. Isaiah 61:1

Bundle of Joy

Hello to All Our Friends and Supporters!

It is my great pleasure to tell you all that Ronã and I have a beautiful new baby boy named Oliver! He was born on May 29^th, 2017 at 10:38pm, weighing a little over 8lbs. We are so grateful for him!

It’s been about 3 weeks since he was born, and of course, our lives are changed forever. Both of us are trying to adjust to the new schedule of feeding and sleeping. We are so blessed to have Ronã’s mom staying with us to help us with the transition. She has been doing most of the cooking and cleaning. Please, pray for all of us as we learn how to be parents and for patience as we are so tired!

Ronã’s parents with baby Oliver

Though we are trying to take it slow, we are also trying to start adding some new challenges to our lives.

Last time, I told you that I was working on starting a women’s group. We were able to meet for 3 weeks before I gave birth, and they were 3 wonderful weeks. The group is exactly what I was hoping for. All the women attending have been very open with each other, and very respectful of each other. The group is on Saturday mornings for breakfast, but when lunch time comes around, they are still talking! I have to practically kick them out! 🙂 But I am so grateful that they are having such a good time with each other. We plan to start back again in the beginning of July. Thank you for your prayers, and please continue to pray for these women. They are still only just beginning to learn who they are in Christ.

This week, I have starting meeting again with the women on an individual basis. Luckily, Oliver sleeps through most of our meetings. It gives me great pleasure to encourage these women as they grow.

Ronã recently starting taking an abridged version of the Vineyard Institute course that is offered here at our church. He will also be starting the online course of Vineyard Institute. I actually completed this course a few years ago. The course is a basic theology and ministry training course. It is an excellent program with practical training for those working in the field. This will greatly help Ronã as we continue to work in ministry.

Ronã is also helping with the children’s ministry, a discipleship group, and the worship team at church. His current goals are to get as much experience as possible to prepare him for what lies ahead. Our hope is to eventually join another church plant as members of their team, and we both want to be well-rounded in what we have to offer. We are still praying about when and where to go. In August, we will be visiting a city called João Pessoa located off the coast of Brazil. There is already a missionary couple, Phil and Jen Snell, living there with their 2 children. We will be spending time with them to see if João Pessoa would be a good fit for us. Please, pray that God gives us very clear direction as we explore our options for ministry here in Brazil.

Thank you all for your continued support of our work in Brazil. Without all of you, none of this would be possible. Our focus is always the same. We want to be used in the Kingdom of God. Even in a season of great change as our family grows, we are always asking the question, “How does God want to use us now?” Please, pray with us that God would reveal himself to us in every transition of our lives.

Love, Allison and Ronã Moura

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They Are My Daughters, Planting Seeds in the Concrete Jungle, Raising Bilingual Kids

Thank you so much for all of you who pray, give and read we are so grateful for all your support and love!

‘They Are My Daughters’

‘He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,’ Isaiah 61:1

Our heart is to love our neighbours, whoever they are. We want to serve them as the Lord would have us serve them, because we know that only he can truly transform lives.

One Friday night we were driving back to our house and as we turned one corner a woman shouted out to us, we all turned and my son asked, ‘Mom, what is she doing on the corner like that? And why is she dressed like that?’

I said it was a conversation for later.

Another Friday night we saw five or six women and watched as a motorcycle pulled up and stopped in front of them.

My heart ached.

Another day, in another part of the city, in the middle of the day on a Tuesday we counted fifteen to seventeen women.

We started taking these routes purposely, at different times of the day. We started doing research. Prostitution is legal here in Paraíba, but many times minors fall pray to it, the average age of a girl starting is 12-14.

They are somebody’s baby girl.

They’ve either left home or been turned out onto the streets. With little to no education or skills, it’s often chosen as a profession because they have run out of options.

We started to realize that we were both feeling pulled in a direction that we had no idea what to do with, but it kept tapping on our hearts, invading our thoughts, that still small voice was whispering….

‘They are my daughters.’

Only one problem. We have absolutely no idea how to start or what to do.

So, we prayed. ‘Lord, if this is you calling us into this, we can’t do it without your guidance, show us how to do this Lord’.

In our research Phil came across a website for a group in Recife, Pernambuco (the next state south of us) called Shores of Grace. They started working with prostitutes and others in the streets about seven years ago. They now have a comprehensive ministry who’s priority is to show these women and men that they are loved. IF they choose to leave the work they are in, they have things in place to help them get trained and on a new path. But first, love them right where they are, no strings attached.

Last week I was able to make contact with Nic Billman, the founder of Shores of Grace. I told him how we had been feeling and that we would love to have a chance to chat with them, possibly learn from them. He invited us to come for a few days, receive training and go out with them when they minister.

We still really don’t know how this will look. Right now we have committed to praying for these women on a daily basis, praying that God would continue to show us what it is He would have us do.

Leaning on Him and not our own understanding. We will keep you posted as we move forward.

For more information about Shores of Grace you can visit their website: https://shoresofgrace.com

PLANTING SEEDS IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE

Living in the Amazon basin, seeds are easier to plant. In fact, we once had several different vegetables and fruits start to sprout up where a broken pipe from our kitchen spilled onto the ground.

Similarly, getting to know people happens more easily, walk around your neighbourhood as the sun is setting and you will find them sitting outside their houses, enjoying the cooler temperatures of the late afternoon and sipping cafezinhos. You sit and begin to chat, the seeds of relationship sprout.

Living here, in a big city, a concrete jungle, it’s difficult to find soil to throw seeds on, people tile the sidewalks. Walking around our neighbourhood here at sunset we find a few people, the ones with dogs, but our conversations are shorter, in passing. The seeds of relationship don’t sprout as quickly.

So, we have to have patience and be creative. Find ways to spend more time with people.

One of the ways missionaries in other parts of the country have done this is to fill a need by opening an english school.

Learning english is Brazil is a much desired skill. It opens many doors.

João Pessoa has as many english schools as any Canadian town has Tim Horton’s. Opening another one here isn’t really filling a need.

Saying that, having native english speakers to practice your english with is hard to come by. So, we’ve decided to use this angle to fill a need and also connect us to different groups of people.

The idea that came to us was to approach one of the english schools and offer a free bonus english conversation class.

Faith’s tutor mentioned that the english school she attends, Uptime, is a smaller school and run by a Christian woman, maybe we could approach her.

A few Sundays later, we were invited to attend an English service at a local Anglican church and started speaking to the minister. He has traveled to England several times and is very familiar with Alpha. Our idea about running an Alpha at an English school came up and he said, ‘well you should meet Erika, she owns Uptime english school!’

Well whaddya know….

We spoke with her and since their church is familiar with Alpha and eager to help us get started, she loved the idea!

Our hope of course, is that from this we can begin another small group and make more connections.

We have to break through the concrete here to get to the soil. It will take longer, but we have confidence in the one who sent us here that he is giving us the tools we need.

Raising Bilingual Kids

Recently the kids got what we would call interim report cards, kind of a dipstick look at how they are doing. They are doing amazingly well considering what we started with.

This is the result of many afternoons of blood sweat and google translate as we hack through the homework. All of us are learning more portuguese, spoken and written. We didn’t go to an official language school, we just sort of learned the language on the fly as we went, sink or swim, so this has been a great crash course.

It’s also been really tough, on all of us. It’s a big time investment too, it’s almost like I’m still homeschooling but now in Portuguese! But we are already seeing results. Faith started as a blank slate. She struggles with reading in english as it is so we were concerned. But the crazy thing is, she is now able to read at a grade 1 level in portuguese and her english reading has improved immensely! On Friday, Luke tackled his Portuguese homework (by far the most challenging subject) by himself!! I cried real tears!!

We are so grateful that they are doing this, that they will come out of it on the other side fully bilingual. We have great peace that this was the right choice for our family. I love seeing them want to succeed! We are so proud of them!

Copyright © 2017 Xingu Mission C/O Jen and Phil Snell, All rights reserved.
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May, 18

May 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your prayers and support. They have been greatly appreciated.

This past month has been great for Denise and me – and we have an extremely exciting month coming up! I just wanted to take a moment and share a few highlights.

We just returned from a pastor’s retreat that took place in Altamira. It was a wonderful time catching up and connecting with the Vineyard pastors from northern Brazil!

On our way to Altamira on a boat. This is Pastor Felipe’s son, Davi, with me.

This is a view from the room we were in on the boat.

The Amazon from the boat.

A couple pictures from the pastor’s retreat.

Denise with some amazing women of God at the pastor’s retreat. From the left: Elba (one of Brazil’s National Leaders & pastor in Altamira), Marsha (missionary & pastor in Pacajá), Mônica (pastor in Marabá), Denise, and Deanna (missionary & pastor in Marabá).

Again, we have some huge things coming up! We have a team from Vineyard Church of Delaware County (my home church) arriving here in Macapá in less than 2 weeks. We are in full “GO MODE” trying to get all the details worked out for the team. Before we started hosting these short term teams, we really had no idea the amount of work that goes into hosting a team. Transportation, food, sleeping arrangements, fun activities, and most importantly, ministry all needs to be worked out beforehand. It is a lot of work, but it is very enjoyable work. We absolutely can’t wait for the team to arrive!

Last year’s Vineyard Church of Delaware County team.

One week after the team leaves, we will be headed to the States for our furlough! It has been 3 years since we have been back and we cannot wait. It has been so long since I’ve been able to see most of my family and friends. We are very excited to catch up with many of you!

If you would like to get together or have us visit your church or home group, please contact us through email so we can try and set that up. We would love to see as many of you as possible.

Prayer Requests:

Grace as we make final plans for the VCDC team and prepare for our furlough.
Wisdom and protection as we travel.
A fruitful time of refreshment, encouragement and connections during our visit to the States.

Thanks again for your prayers and support. We look forward to seeing many of you soon!

In His Service,

Christopher & Denise

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

9 Months and Counting

Hello to Our Beautiful Friends and Supporters!

It’s always a pleasure to update you all on the latest news from the Amazon. I hope you are enjoying the Spring as it opens its doors to you. I must admit, it is easy to forget about seasons living in a climate that doesn’t change much throughout the year. Luckily, I have facebook pictures and posts to remind me of what you all are experiencing. I remember the freshness of Spring and that feeling of freedom after a long winter.
Well, I am officially 9 months pregnant, but as turns out, pregnancy is actually a little longer than that. My due date is May 23rd, but things could happen any day now. I am simply waiting….and waiting…for this baby to come out! I feel both a lot of anticipation and discomfort. Anticipation at holding for the first time my little baby boy, and discomfort because I am carrying around a bowling ball in my stomach…lol! Please, pray that everything goes as planned.
Last month on April 23rd, Ronã and I celebrated our one anniversary. A friend of ours invited us to spend the day at a local club that has a pool, and later that evening, we enjoyed a dinner out. Our first year has brought many challenges and adjustments, but we both feel grateful for how the grace of God has carried us through each of them. And now, we both get to welcome this new gift of a son into our lives. We feel so blessed in so many ways.

Out to Dinner


A day at the club

Last weekend, we held a Living Waters retreat for those who had already completed the 16 week course. For those of you who don’t know, Living Waters is a healing care program that I have been apart of, along with a few other missionaries, since coming back to Altamira last year. For the retreat, we were able to help the participants continue on the journey of healing in their lives. I taught one session on addictions, helping them to understand the nature of addiction and how we can overcome it with the help of God and others. All the teachings throughout the weekend were powerful, and many people were touched in deep places by the presence of God. It was a privilege to be apart of it.

Cyndi Rae praying for me

On an individual bases, I am continuing to work with several women as they try to overcome some difficult problems of their lives. I can’t tell you how amazing and rewarding it is to watch them grow. I see them start to view God and themselves in a new light. I see them receive victory and peace in ways that they thought were impossible. I see them act courageously in areas that they once had so much fear. It is truly a pleasure.

This weekend, I am going to start a breakfast small group, and I am inviting many of these women to participate. My hope for the group is that these women will continue to grow as they share their hearts with others in a safe setting. Unfortunately, many of the women are so captured by their shame that they rarely risk exposing their problems to others. I want to use the group as a place for them to break their silence and find acceptance and encouragement among others. Please, pray for these women and for the success of the group.

Thank you again for all of your support, both financially and spiritually. Your faith in how God is using us here in Brazil gives us a lot of encouragement. I pray a blessing over all of you, asking that God would reveal the depth of his love for you. I pray that you would know in the deep places of your heart that his presence always surrounds you, even when it feels like he is far away. He is always watching you, seeking after you, and going ahead of you. You are not alone.

If you are interested in donating to us, please follow the link below:

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Love, Allison and Ronã Moura

Mar, 24

March 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends & Family,

Thank you for your prayers and support. Denise and I greatly appreciate them!

Denise and I have had an exciting month! One thing that was a blast was Macapá Vineyard’s yearly youth conference called Cristoval. This year we had our good friends and fellow missionaries Richie and Christie Bouthillier as our guest speakers. They are from a small city named Portel which is about an 18 hour boat ride from Macapá. Over the last year there have been many discussions between us about trying to unite the two bases. Richie and his son Hezekiah visited Macapá a few months back and our church instantly fell in love with them. It was an obvious choice to have Richie and Christie as speakers this year. They did such an awesome job and many lives where changed.

Cristoval has a special place in Denise’s and my heart. Our first trip to Macapá was two years ago as the guest speakers of Cristoval. At that point Macapá wasn’t even in our mental hemisphere when it came to a place to live, but God had other plans. About six months after our first visit, we were on our way to Macapá! In the last two years we have seen God do many amazing things. One example of this is the increase in our youth ministry. The Cristoval two years ago had about 15 people in attendance, last year’s event had about 45, and this year’s Cristoval had just short of 90! It has been such a pleasure being involved in this process and seeing God at work.

This is a group photo of Cristoval from two years ago when we first visited.

This is a group photo from this year’s Cristoval.

More from Cristoval

When talking to Richie about the possibility of he and Christie coming for Cristoval, it was decided that following the conference Denise and I would return with them to Portel to do some training in their church. Years ago I heard a friend and fellow pastor, Jay Pathak, say that whenever he is invited to go and speak at another church he tries to find something in return to bless his own church. I discussed this idea with Richie when inviting him to Cristoval. We agreed this would be good because it is always hard for a pastor to be away from his church, but much easier when you know there will be a blessing returned to your own church.

New church building in Portel

Denise and me with the Portel worship team

While in Portel we did some training with their leaders, spoke at small groups, Denise did some vocal training, and I preached at their Sunday service. Richie really wanted us to focus on interacting with the Holy Spirit, so I made that the theme of the week. Any chance I got, it was the Holy Spirit I was talking about. Throughout the week it was awesome to see how the Holy Spirit showed up and did some really cool things.

Leadership training on Richie & Christie’s boat

Prayer Requests:

1) As you recall from last month’s newsletter, Denise and I are planting a second Vineyard in Macapá. Please pray for continued wisdom as we seek the Lord and make plans.

2) Pray for the Lord to be in our planning with short-term mission teams and visitors who come to stay with us.

3) Pray for wisdom and protection through this busy season and the upcoming changes.

Thanks again for your prayers and support. We always love to hear from you.

In His Service,

Christopher & Denise

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

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