XM, Author at Xingu Mission

In God's Hands

Hello To My Faithful Supporters and Friends!

How I miss all of you! I miss your faces, your hugs, your smiles, and caring conversations. As the years pass by, my definition of home is always changing, but you all have a special place in my heart that says “home”.
As you may remember, Ronã and I have moved again–back to Altamira–my first home in Brazil! Once again, our lives are going through a transition. That is the life of a missionary. Home becomes something you carry with you rather than a physical place. Home becomes memories, people, and moments. The landscape is always changing.

Traveling with our friend from Portel to Breves

And typical of this Brazilian life, the transitions are never easy. Everything is always an adventure, but not always the kind of adventure you wanted! Our latest adventure came with our move from Portel to Altamira.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to go from Portel to Altamira. There is no road that connects the two places, so you have to travel by boat. And not just one boat.

Typical boats on the River

We had made arrangements to travel from Portel to a nearby city called Breves. From there, we would take another boat to Vitoria, which is about an hour drive from Altamira. Last Friday morning, we left Portel and headed to Breves. The next boat, the Gabriela, was suppose to arrive early the next morning to pick us up with all of our things. After spending the night in Breves, we dutifully loaded all of our possessions onto the dock, and waited for the boat. Not too long after, we saw the Gabriela coming, and began to get excited, but our excitement soon turned into dismay as we realized that it was not stopping. The boat passed us by. We tried to send a small boat after it, but it refused to turn around, claiming that it didn’t have enough space for our stuff!
Ronã quickly went into action trying to find another option for us. Luckily, we found another boat that would take us to a city called Gurupá, which is about the half way point of our trip. However, the boat would not leave for another 2 days. We would have to wait. We loaded our stuff onto this new boat, got a hotel, and waited.
Monday finally arrived, and we set out on the Mundial for Gurupá. We were grateful to be at least on the move, but frustrated with all the set backs. Little did we know that God had planned to use this set back to do his work.

The Beautiful River Sunset

I had sensed the Lord suggesting that I offer to do a Bible study while aboard the Mundial. I was nervous about it, so I had been praying that God would pave a way for it to happen. During dinner, Ronã had struck up a conversation with a family staying next to us. They were Christians, and were even familiar with some of the leaders from a Vineyard church in their area. I suggested to them the idea of doing the Bible study, and they accepted. So, I started going around to the people on the boat, both upstairs and downstairs, and inviting them. Many people were interested, and started going upstairs. However, one woman said that she would love to join, but she couldn’t walk upstairs because she had just had surgery. I told her that we could do the Bible study upstairs and then come and do one downstairs as well.
Once upstairs again, we all sat down and read the passage in John about the woman caught in adultery. I explained that even though this woman was a sinner, Jesus had accepted and loved her. I explained that this same acceptance was available to all those present. I asked people if they had ever experienced the presence of God. Two woman said that they had, but it had been a long time since then. We prayed for both of them to experience, again, the presence of God. Each woman also prayed to rededicate their life to Christ.
Another older woman there said that she had never experienced the presence of God. I asked her if she wanted to, and she said yes. As we began to pray for her, her hand started to tremble, then she began to cry. It was clear that the Holy Spirit was touching her. I asked her if she would like to give her life to Christ, and she said yes! She gave her life to Christ that night!

The “Upstairs” Bible Study

Soon, we went downstairs to have another Bible study. I taught the same message, and we prayed for a man who had had a few encounters with God in the past. Then, I felt lead to pray for the woman with the surgery. As soon as I started praying for her, I could see in her face a lot of emotional pain. After praying, I asked her about the surgery. It had been a cesarean to remove the remains of a lost pregnancy. She could, now, never have children again because of the nature of the pregnancy. She was heartbroken. She explained how encouraged she had felt when we came to do the Bible study with her, and when we prayed for her. She felt the comfort of the Lord.
After all of this, both Ronã and I were so thankful for how God had used us. We could see so clearly how he had used our detour to bless others.
The next morning, we arrived in Gurupá, and quickly boarded another boat to take us to Vitoria. On Wednesday morning, we finally arrived with all our things. A moving truck brought us the rest of the way to Altamira. Now, we are staying at the mission until we find a house or apartment.
It is easy for us all to be so preoccupied by our own plans that we can miss what God is doing right in front of us. Please pray for us that we become more aware, leaving our own agendas to the side, in order to obey Christ. What a blessing it is!
Thank you all for your love and support and prayers. Now that we are a married couple both living as missionaries, our expenses have increased. Please prayerfully consider supporting us financially. Truly, any amount that you choose to give will make a difference. What is most helpful is consistent, monthly support that allows us to plan for the future. You can donate at church to the Xingu Mission: Allison Rupert, or you can donate online at the link below.

We love you all! Take care.

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Neither Here nor There-Why Re-Entry Is Harder Than Culture Shock

I walk into Walmart and am immediately feeling a duality of emotions. I’m excited because there are so many choices, and yet my heart rate quickens and I feel something like a panic attack coming on because….

There are so many choices!

We have just returned from serving as missionaries for two years in northern Brazil and although we have lived cross culturally before this is the longest stint that I have been ‘away’. At some point, the scales tip and it stops being away and becomes home, or something like it.

Going to a new country means your senses are overwhelmed, you are soaking in a new climate, culture and sometimes language. You are overwhelmed, you long for ‘normal’ and you feel completely displaced, out of place and definitely not in Kansas anymore.

But you expect that when you pick up your life and move to a foreign land…you don’t expect it when you come back to the place you used to call ‘home’.

I have explained re-entry or reverse culture shock to others like this. Before you left your home country you were part of a beautiful puzzle, you had a shape and it meshed with the shapes of those around you. But then you pulled your piece out of that puzzle and moved to a new puzzle where for a while, turn and twist as you might you don’t fit the same. So slowly, your shape shifts and changes to fit into the new puzzle. Trouble is, when you come back that new shape that you had become to fit in the new puzzle, doesn’t just slide back in to the old puzzle. Because you are different and guess what?

So is the puzzle you left behind.

You can’t just ‘re-enter’ and pick up where you left off because you are not the same person and even though you in your mind you hit the ‘pause game’ button on life at home, the people you left behind didn’t actually pause (GASP!!) their lives went on without you and maybe, just maybe there is a new puzzle piece where you used to be.

So although you had started to feel comfortable in that foreign land, it is in fact still foreign and now that place you call home isn’t the same either so you feel out discombobulated wherever you are.

What can be done? Not a whole lot unfortunately. But for those reading this who are welcoming home missionaries or other travellers you can be patient, understand that most of their conversations will revolve around that other place, because they are trying to make themselves fit back into your puzzle by bringing a bit of the foreign puzzle into your life.

It’s confusing, and emotionally overwhelming and they are feeling a bit lost.

In the end, I wander around Walmart picking things up and putting them back down again and eventually leave with nothing. The choices overwhelm.

I don’t fit yet. But maybe, most likely, I will feel like I fit again just as we are about to go back.

That is life when you live neither here nor there.

Jun, 9

June 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends & Family,

Thank you for your prayers and support. They continue to be greatly appreciated.

Denise and I have been in “go-mode” preparing for the upcoming visit of 12 members from my home church (Vineyard Church of Delaware County in Central Ohio). This will be the first time that Denise and I will be hosting a team, so we are basically figuring things out as we go. It has been a fun but hectic process. Right now we are putting the final touches on the trip, but we wanted to write a short update with some of last month’s highlights.

As most of you know, my dad came to visit Denise and me in Macapá. It was wonderful having him here! We had a lot of fun showing him around the city, introducing him to friends, and giving him a glimpse of our life here. Not only did we have fun, but it was also very helpful hearing his thoughts, sorting through some ideas together, and getting increased clarity concerning vision for our future. We both felt very loved and encouraged. My dad was also able to meet with the pastors and some of the leaders in our church.

Dad and me

Dad and Denise

Denise and me

My dad spent over a week with us in Macapá. From there the three of us, along with Pastor Felipe and his wife Uana, traveled to Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, for the Vineyard Brazil National Conference. This was an extremely important conference because Vineyard Brazil became an official National Association and our good friends Milton and Erika Lucas became Brazil’s first official National Directors. Various Vineyard leaders from around the world joined Brazil in celebrating this occasion. It was such a great atmosphere! Connecting with Vineyard people from all over Brazil and beyond was awesome. It felt like one big family.

Denise leading worship at the Brazilian National Conference

Milton and Erika being ordained

Our good friends Beto and Raquel. They were just sent out from Milton’s church to plant a new Vineyard Church. They were also missionaries in Italy at one time.

Please pray for:

Our time with the team coming from our home church.
The continued presence and movement of the Holy Spirit in Macapá.
Continued growth and discipleship within the church.
Wisdom to provide pastoral care for our growing church.

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

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise

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

May Amazon Update! Steve and Elba Dolan

The church has been focusing on trying to grow our home groups in the church. One of the ways that we believe this can happen is by using a method called Disciple Making Movement (DMM) https://www.cityteam.org/idisciple/ Churches that have implemented the DMM in some parts of the world are experiencing amazing growth and seeing people come to know the Lord. It is a strategy for making disciples and planting churches. Rick Bergen has been implementing the DMM in Maraba for over a year, and he came to Altamira to teach us how to implement the DMM. He has been mentoring our leaders during the initial phases to launch these groups.

We also had a couple’s potluck dinner at the church. We had many couples come and participate. Elba shared a message to help encourage our couples and to also share about the struggles of being married. Gary Thomas states in his book Sacred Marriage “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” That is a hard pill to swallow because just living in this world is hard enough. Being married is not that easy and it takes work. Gary Thomas also wrote “A good marriage isn’t something you find; it’s something you make.”

The couples had a great time playing games and just being with one another. Below is a game in which the guy picked an ordinary item and then had to declare his love to his wife. For example, the guy has a book and he has to be creative to declare his love to his wife using the book as the reference point. It was really silly and it was a struggle for a lot of the guys. It would have been a struggle for me as well. I mean unless you are passionate for books it is a long leap to try to declare your love referencing a book. J

Camilly and Alyssa continue to do well, except they are in a constant battle with lice. Lice is a big problem here and Elba is constantly picking them out of the girls’ hair. Picking lice out of people’s hair is almost like a national past time for most families here in the Amazon. Aside from the battling lice, the girls have been helping as teacher assistance at CDR in the English classes. They really enjoy interacting with the students and helping them in the learning process.

Prayer Request:

Please pray for us as we travel to Brasilia for our National Church conference. This will be a special conference because the churches will be recognized as a National Igreja da Vinha church movement. This has been a long time in the making and the Brazilian National leadership has been doing a great job to get us to this point. Big props to Milton and to my lovely wife Elba.

Please also pray for our staff and students at CDR. Just last week 3 crimes happened a couple of feet from our house, 2 guys pulled a gun on our coordinator and stole her motorbike that she just bought 2 weeks ago. This was devastating for her emotionally and financially. The day after that happened a little girl about 9 had her mom’s phone stolen from her at gun point. A guy tried to stab another guy with a machete. Please pray for protection over our staff, students, family and church members.

Please also continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. Prayer works and we feel them.

Much love, 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:

https://xingu.org/opportunities/giving/dolan-ministries/

Alyssa got a new pony. J We gave away 2 puppies and have 3 left. The puppies are growing:

Wedding

Hello to all our Wonderful Supporters and Friends!!

As you can see, I have some great news! Ronã and I got married! On April 23rd, 2016, we had a simple ceremony along our friends in Altamira. It was a wonderful experience, and both Ronã and I were filled with a lot of joy. We have already received a few pictures from our photographer who did an amazing job of capturing the day. I will post them in a link below. After the wedding, we spent a few days at a nice hotel in Altamira, and then we headed back to Portel. We have quickly continued with our normal routine of teaching and helping with the church ministies.

Next month we will be traveling to Brasília which is the capital of Brazil to participate in the annual Intervinha conference. This conference is an effort to try and gather as many members as possible from all the Vineyard churches located in Brazil. It is a great time of fellowship and entering into the presence of God. This year, we will have some guest speakers: the Mumfords from England, David Ruis from Canada, and the Strouts from the U.S. We are very honored to have these leaders come all the way to Brazil to share with us!
While we are in Brasília, we will also be visiting the U.S. Consulate to have an interview for Ronã to get a visa. Please pray that this process goes smoothly because we hope to travel back to the U.S. for a visit at the end of the year. I am very anxious for all of you to finally meet him!

Our church here in Portel has been continually growing, and Richie has already made a lot of progress building a church on our property. One of the projects that has helped us grow as a church is delivering soup once a month to our neighbors. This is one of my favorite ministries to be involved in. It is pretty simple. A group from our church takes a pot of soup to about 5 different houses close to the church. We spend a little time talking and sharing the word of God with the families and then we offer to pray for them and their needs. Many of our neighbors are very poor. We often encounter many women who basically live alone raising several children. Some of them have husbands but they often work on the river and are gone for weeks at a time. Some families are taking care of a sick, elderly parent which creates additional strain on their already very limited resources.
Yesterday, we visited one mother who usually sends her children to our church services. She showed us that her well had collapsed and explained that she now had to walk to her mother-in-law´s house to get water everyday. In reality, it would probably cost less than $100 to fix the well, but she will never have enough extra money to spend on something like that.
Another family that we visited had been robbed just that morning. The thieves stole their moving cart. This type of cart is used here almost like a moving truck. Men load the cart with cement or furniture and literally pull it along to the destination. It´s back-breaking work, as you can imagine, but at least it´s a job. Now, the husband of this family has lost his livelyhood. They don´t know what they will do.
It is hearing stories like these that gives me a lot of perspective on my own life. As you remember, I was robbed last month. They took my gas tank, my bike, my computer, and cell phone. Luckily, I was able to retrieve the bike. And because of the very generous support of people like you, I was able to replace my phone, my computer, and my gas tank. Being near to the poor makes me realize just how rich I really am in comparison to most of the rest of the world. I have never gone hungry, and I have more than I need to survive. I feel honored to be able to pray for these families, and even provide for some of their needs.

The Church in progress

Thank you all again for your generosity, especially for your extra donations to help with the robbery. What an amazing gift it is to feel your support from such a distance. I know that I am in your thoughts and prayers.
Please pray for Ronã and I as we are starting out on this new journey. I believe marriage is a great opportunity to grow in Christ-likeness, and also to experience a taste of the love Christ has for us. Please pray that Ronã and I are about to embrace both parts of the journey.
I also pray for all of you. I pray that your can soak in a spirit of gratitute as your look around at the details of your life. Whether in joy or heartache, there is a blessing. Our longings are only reminders of the other life we will live. That beyond the curtain of death lies the fulfillment of the promise. It is not as far off as we would imagine. And God is walking closely by our side, aware of every step, guiding us there. God bless you.

Love, Allison and Ronã

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Wedding Pictures

Apr, 30

Scary Night

Hello Friends and Family at Home!

As you may have already heard, last week, my house was robbed while I was sleeping. It happened at around 4:00am. I woke up and saw a man taking both my computer and my cell phone from a table on the side of my bed. I jumped up and lunged toward him. I grabbed him but I couldn´t hold him and he ran away. I tried to run after him but fell. I was still half a sleep, and didn´t really have time to react. I stood up and could see that both my front door and the gate were wide open. There was a hole in my window screen. The shirt and the sandals of the robber were laying on the ground.
I immediately went back inside to get dressed and go to the police station, which is very close to my house. It was closed with no one there. I wanted to contact friends but without a phone, that was not possible. I could do nothing but wait until the morning.
Finally, morning came and Ronã and Richie helped me with the details. We went to the police to file a report and also tried to reconstruct how the thieves had entered. My neighbors told me that they saw everything happen as two guys were trying to pry open the gate and one was standing off to the side with a gun. They were too afraid to intervene.
The next day, a friend of ours said that he had found my bike. He had been driving around his neighborhood and saw it at someone´s house. He stopped and confronted the guy, taking the bike from him. We immediately went to tell the police of the discovery.
Over the past week, the police have asked our friend several times to retell his story, but they have yet to confront the guy with the bike. They tell us that they are waiting to find him on the street because they are afraid that if they go to his house, he will try to hide the items somewhere else. Then, they may be even harder to find later. I´m not sure if I believe them, but I don´t really have another choice.
I´ve heard from others friends that the robbers are trying to sell the computer, but nobody wants to buy it! It´s an Apple and it´s in English, so no one here (at least the drug dealers) don´t know quite what to do with it! I guess this is a cause for hope!
Luckily as well, I have everything from my phone and my computer backed up to a hardrive and the internet, so I am not going to lose any information. But of course, now I am without both. Please, pray that the police are able to get at least the computer back soon.
As you can imagine, this was a pretty tramatic event for me. I wasn´t afraid at the moment it was happening, but the after-effects have been difficult. I spent a few days sleeping at another missionary´s house, Patty Fultz. She helped me recover and gave me a safe place to rest. I am back home now, but I will not live in fear. All I can do is try to make my house safer, which I have already done. The rest is in God´s hands.
Our classes are going well as Ronã is teaching both the Kids and Beginner classes. His students are really enjoying having him as a teacher. I am teaching the Advanced class, and I am really impressed with my students. The classes are being held in my house.
Our church is also doing well with steady growth. Richie has just started building our future church building. We are all excited about the progress.
I wish I could give you a better report of what is going on here, but it has been a crazy time for me. Again, your prayers are so necessary. Thank you for all of your love and support and prayers. They sustain me.

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Love, Allison

Apr, 23

April 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

We appreciate your prayers and support, and wanted to give you an update on the things that have been going on in our lives and in the Macapá Vineyard.

What are some highlights over the last month?

Probably the biggest highlight was our baptism. Sunday attendance has doubled over the last number of months. And we have seen quite a number of new people in our church make decisions to follow Jesus. It was so fun and exciting celebrating with them at the baptism. I love baptisms. In a way, it connects us as Christians to those who came before us. It’s a tradition that has been practiced for thousands of years and it’s always an honor to take part in one. We are already planning out our next baptism and I can’t wait!

From our baptism

Another recent highlight is that Steve and Elba Dolan came to visit us in Macapá. As you may recall, Steve is the leader of the Xingu Mission, the organization we work for. He has also been a mentor to me since I arrived in Brazil. Elba is the Senior Pastor of the Mirante Vineyard in Altamira, the church Denise and I were sent out from. Elba is also one of the national leaders of the Vineyard Movement in Brazil. Although we consider Steve and Elba to be our leaders, they are also good friends. We had a great time with them here in Macapá. It was also very helpful to receive advice and insight for the future of Vineyard Macapá.

Out with Steve and Elba

Meeting with Steve, Elba, Felipe, Uana, Denise and me

Are there any hurdles that we have been facing lately?

Although this is a good problem to have, our church building is quickly getting too small. Our numbers continue to rise weekly. We continue to buy new chairs and soon after the new chairs are filled. Currently it’s not until after worship when the children leave for Sunday school that everyone is able to find a seat. We realize that it’s only a matter of time until we won’t be able to fit additional chairs into the building. We have discussed different ideas like going to multiple services, but we do realize that more space is needed. We love a packed house! But at the same time, we don’t want our service to be uncomfortable. We talked with Steve and Elba at length about this and were thankful for their wisdom and experience. We are beginning to pray and plan for our next steps. After all, we don’t want anyone turned away because of lack of space.

Our church

What are we looking forward to in the near future?

There are two things that Denise and I are really excited about. The first thing is the Brazil National Conference also called Intervinha. This will be taking place in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, during late May. My dad will be flying into Macapá about a week prior to Intervinha and he will be joining us in Brasilia. So excited to see my dad! This will be a very special Intervinha as Vineyard Brazil is being released as its own Association independent of the United States, and Milton Lucas will become our first National Director of the Association of Vineyard Churches in Brazil.

The other thing Denise and I are excited about is having a team from my home church in Delaware County visiting in June! This will be the first time we will be hosting a team, so we are a little nervous – but mostly excited! We can’t wait to show everyone around Macapá and show what Denise and I have been up to! My best friend and brother, J.T., will be on the team and also my good friend, Michael Hansen.

These visits and encouragement from my family, our friends and church couldn’t have come at a better time as lately I have been feeling a bit homesick. Denise and I were scheduled to take a furlough this summer, but we feel that since we moved to Macapá recently it would be valuable to be present for a while. For that reason we decided to skip our furlough this year and take it in 2017.

What would we like prayer for?

Pray for our time with family, and that our Delaware County team/friends are blessed, too.
Pray for our travel and for Intervinha.
Pray for health – I have had a couple bouts of kidney stones over the last several months. Also, we are living at the epicenter of the Zika virus.
Pray for continued spiritual breakthrough, and wisdom in discipleship and church growth.

Thank you again for your prayers, support and emails. They all mean a great deal to us.

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise Meyer

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

Apr, 1

Discovery Bible Studies – Eight Month Review

The youth in the Marabá church are starting to experiment with the DBS model. In the last couple of weeks, they started 14 new groups. Nine stopped after only one or two meetings. Five of these new groups are still going, and many of the young people are looking for other people who may be open to starting groups. As far as I know everyone who tries this type of a Bible study likes it, but many people are simply too busy, or not ready. We are trying to honor those who start groups that stop as much as those who start groups that carry on. Bella now facilitates 3 or 4 groups. Ivanildo and Monica are both facilitating groups. We see starting groups like planting seeds, and when they don’t take, we are learning to move on and try again.

We started experimenting with the Discovery Bible Study (DBS) process in August. We grew to over 20 DBS groups by Christmas. Our church started changing so rapidly the leaders became uneasy. Even though they invited me to do the training, and they like what they knew about the process, things started to take off in an unprecedented way. They did not have peace about where it was all going. There were other factors also that contributed to the apprehension.

In December Deanna and I left for about 6 weeks of travelling. This was a good thing. This allowed the dust to settle and the growth to slow down. When we got back 9 groups were still going. In the 2 months following our return Ivanildo and I had some good talks at a deeper level than we have had in the past. Now the local leaders are feeling good about leading the Marabá church forward, and using this model, though there are still many questions. We are free to help here in Marabá, to start groups in new cities, and to help other churches learn the model.

Last week-end Elba invited us to introduce this DBS model to some of the Mirante church leaders. Elba is continuing with their cell group model for some of that congregation, but introducing this as their own pilot project with other leaders. This week-end I am going to Santarem to meet with Clenildo, Angelita, and some leaders in their church. Next week-end I am going to Canaã, with the goal of going there for five week-ends during April and May.

We have yet to see a whole group decide to get baptized. Deanna’s lady’s group looks like they may be the first. They are 23 lessons in to the first 26. I lead one group through the whole 26 lessons, but they were all baptized before we started, even though they were in a lukewarm state spiritually. Two of the key players in this first group experienced great disruptions in their lives during this process. Eliete’s brother died, causing weeks of travel and disruption. Then her ex-husband died, causing months of travel as she works to pursue legal rights for her children. Her teen-age son Luan was also a key person two, starting another group and on the verge of starting another. It was his dad who drowned. He moved to Southern Brazil to resolve legal issues, and his groups stopped. That was months ago. The other fellows in my group were already baptized, and they continue to serve in the church. One is facilitating a new group.

I continue to be in relationship with Tiago (who was beating his wife the first time we met) and Leila, but their group has not restarted. Jaycee (“I am so sick of sin”) and Fabio are interested, but they also have not restarted. They both told me that Fabio used to be addicted to pot, but he has not had any interested since our second DBS in their house last September or October. This has been good for their family. Fabio and Tiago would both start going on missionary trips with me if I could figure out how to make that work. Maybe to Canaã? A lady in one of the Canaã groups got her wrist instantly healed during one DBS meeting. She couldn’t wash clothes. This was last Fall. In February I went back up there and it was still healed. “See. I can still wash clothes.” I am trying to figure out a way to spend more time in Canaã. A few hours once in awhile does not seem enough. I think there are four groups that will start or restart if I start showing up regularly.

Johnny (who leads a rock band) really wants to reactivate his group. They have trouble meeting without me present. Some who come do not value him as a spiritual leader. Last week they were going to meet without me, but then his Mom got really unreasonably sick with a bad attack of dengue, and they had to cancel.

It is hard to know what is spiritual warfare, and what is just part of living in a broken world. Elba invited me to come to lead some meetings in the Mirante church long ahead of time. “I’m sorry it is so far in the future, but the is the first time we can fit you in.” The meetings were to be in early March. The day we were to meet one of the beloved young fathers in their church died, and there was a funeral instead of the DBS meetings. We rebooked and did the meetings two weeks later. They went really well. Clenildo and Angelita are running hard and really stretched. Still, they wanted to fit in a couple of meetings about DBS with their leaders before we leave for the summer. A few days ago they had a bad car accident. No one was seriously hurt, but there was quite a bit of trauma, car damage, and no insurance. I am still going to go there this week-end, just to be with them, and to see if it is a good time to have some extra meetings. I think this is Angelita’s first big car accident. Faithfulness and perseverance enable us overcome obstacles.

One lesson I am learning is the necessity of finding ways to hang out with the various group facilitators. Once we identify group leaders, we need to find ways to hang out together. Pizza. Mission trips. Other ways.

In summary, we continue to learn about how this process will work in our circumstances. The adventure is back in the game.

Mar, 25

Scarry Night

Hello Friends and Family at Home!

As you may have already heard, last week, my house was robbed while I was sleeping. It happened at around 4:00am. I woke up and saw a man taking both my computer and my cell phone from a table on the side of my bed. I jumped up and lunged toward him. I grabbed him but I couldn´t hold him and he ran away. I tried to run after him but fell. I was still half a sleep, and didn´t really have time to react. I stood up and could see that both my front door and the gate were wide open. There was a hole in my window screen. The shirt and the sandals of the robber were laying on the ground.
I immediately went back inside to get dressed and go to the police station, which is very close to my house. It was closed with no one there. I wanted to contact friends but without a phone, that was not possible. I could do nothing but wait until the morning.
Finally, morning came and Ronã and Richie helped me with the details. We went to the police to file a report and also tried to reconstruct how the thieves had entered. My neighbors told me that they saw everything happen as two guys were trying to pry open the gate and one was standing off to the side with a gun. They were too afraid to intervene.
The next day, I friend of ours said that he had found my bike. He had been driving around his neighborhood and saw it at someone´s house. He stopped and confronted the guy, taking the bike from him. We immediately went to tell the police of the discovery.
Over the past week, the police have asked our friend several times to retell his story, but they have yet to confront the guy with the bike. They tell us that they are waiting to find him on the street because they are afraid that if they go to his house, he will try to hide the items somewhere else. Then, they may be even harder to find later. I´m not sure if I believe them, but I don´t really have another choice.
I´ve heard from others friends that the robbers are trying to sell the computer, but nobody wants to buy it! It´s an Apple and it´s in English, so no one here (at least the drug dealers) don´t know quite what to do with it! I guess this is a cause for hope!
Luckily as well, I have everything from my phone and my computer backed up to a hardrive and the internet, so I am not going to lose any information. But of course, now I am without both. Please, pray that the police are able to get at least the computer back soon.
As you can imagine, this was a pretty tramatic event for me. I wasn´t afraid at the moment it was happening, but the after-effects have been difficult. I spent a few days sleeping at another missionary´s house, Patty Fultz. She helped me recover and gave me a safe place to rest. I am back home now, but I will not live in fear. All I can do is try to make my house safer, which I have already done. The rest is in God´s hands.
Our classes are going well as Ronã is teaching both the Kids and Beginner classes. His students are really enjoying having him as a teacher. I am teaching the Advanced class, and I am really impressed with my students. The classes are being held in my house.
Our church is also doing well with steady growth. Richie has just started building our future church building. We are all excited about the progress.
I wish I could give you a better report of what is going on here, but it has been a crazy time for me. Again, your prayers are so necessary. Thank you for all of your love and support and prayers. They sustain me.

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Love, Allison

Mar, 14

31 Questions about Discovery Bible Studies

Questions

What should I do when the group only want to study one time?
What are the lists of verses we can use for Discovery Bible Studies?
What happens at the end of the 26 selections in the Creation for Christ study?
How long should I persist with a group?
What happens when many in the group quit coming?
What is the difference between Discovery Bible Studies and discipleship?
Can we arrange to do a Discovery Bible Study during the time of the church service?
What is the difference between Discovery Bible Studies and cell groups?
What should I do if my group has people who have problems with the law, and they confess things to me?
Do you have to have prayer in Discovery Bible Studies?
What should I do when the group is not a good location to do the studies, or when the group disagrees with the location?
What should I do if the majority of the group gives up, if just one faithful person remains other than myself, and we have many visitors participating if they are passing by?
What if my group is illiterate?
Does the leader of the group need to be a Christian?
What is needed to do a Discovery Bible Studies?
What should I do if the group ends all 26 lessons without visible results?
What should I do if someone is stealing my people or my group?
What should I do when the people only want me as a leader / facilitator?
What are the signs when the group is ending?
Is there anything about men doing groups with men and women with women?
What should I do when the group is quiet, when they do not speak or interact?
What should I do if some in the group begins to believe false doctrines because of the stories studied?
What should I do when a person in the group talks too much?
What should I do if the group wants to increase the study time to be more than an hour?
What should I do if someone in the group comes to harmful conclusions from a text?
How can I tell who is a Person of Peace?
How many people are needed for a Discovery Bible Study?
Can an addict or someone trapped in a serious sin start a Discovery Bible Studies?
What should I do if someone misses some studies in the group?
How do I know who should be the leader in the group?
What is the difference between the leader and the facilitator?

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