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Dear Family and Friends,

Denise and I are finally here in Macapá! As you probably remember, we moved to by river barge about 300 miles from our home in Altamira. We are in the process of getting settled into our new home and into our new ministry. We couldn’t be any more excited to get started and find our place here.

After saying our goodbyes in Altamira, we were ready to get going. We knew that the trip from Altamira to Macapá was going to be interesting, but we had no idea what was in store for us. The first leg of the trip was to load a moving truck that would take all of our belongings about 45 minutes from Altamira to the small town of Vitoria, where we would then have to move everything again from the truck onto the boat. We had plenty of help in Altamira. We had many friends show up to help and say goodbye. We also had two friends from Macapá come and help with the move.

Denise and I being sent out from the Altamira church

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Loading the truck

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The boat that took us to Macapá

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After moving all our things onto the truck and then moving them once again from the truck to the boat, we were pretty worn out and were ready to get the show on the road. The boat’s captain waited until the tide came in and at about 6:00pm we were on our way! Or so we thought…. After only about 30 minutes into the trip, we began to notice a scraping sound coming from the bottom of the boat – we were sliding across the bottom of the river bed. After about five minutes hearing the scraping, our fears were realized…. we came to a complete stop. It is currently dry season in Brazil and the water levels are really low. It seems that the boat’s captain might have been a bit ambitious with the amount of weight that was loaded onto the boat. After trying to break free for the next few hours, it was decided to wait until morning when the tide came back in to try again…

Denise, Felipe & Fred on the boat

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Waiting to be unstuck

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The animals’ sad home on the boat

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Our sleeping arrangements on the boat

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This is the type of scenario that has been one of the biggest adjustments for me in North Brazil, the twists and turns of life. I’ve realized that I need to always keep a loose grip on my expectations. After a restless night of sleep, it was time for the captain to try again. Once the tide was up, the boat’s motors roared – but to no avail. We were not moving. After hours of trying, it was decided that we would have to wait until night for the tide to rise again. As night approached and it was time to give it another try, I’ll be honest – I wasn’t feeling very optimistic. After about an hour of trying to get free, I couldn’t believe it when we started moving!! One of the boat’s propellers broke in the process, but we were on our way. We were very happy! So what was originally supposed to be a 30-hour trip turned into a 75-hour trip. The journey was definitely stressful, but we made it. Another moving truck met us at the boat and then it was just a 45 minute drive to our new house.

Once in our home, Denise and I spent the day resting and thanking God that we were finally here. We are so thankful – thankful for the new adventure, thankful for God’s direction, thankful for all our friends’ prayers and support.

Macapá Vineyard

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Us being ordained as pastors by Pastor Felipe

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This is definitely a period where we could use some prayer:

1) Prayer for God’s favor.

2) Prayer for wisdom.

3) Prayer against loneliness.

In the short time we have been here, we have felt covered in all these areas and are so thankful for you. We can’t wait to share all our future adventures with you!

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise

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

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Paul Friesen, and a team from Cambridge, Ontario, came for a visit.

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Thanks for all your prayers for us.  We are so grateful and could not do this without your intercession.  We pray that you will be blessed with the below update.  .

A team of dentists from Brasilia, Brazil’s national capital, came again to serve the needy by providing dental services.  They had a busy two weeks.  They first went to the Marabá church, then the Pacajá church, and then on the river.  They served 405 people that required a total of 1244 procedures, and provided 887 fluoride treatments.  This is almost double the amount from last year. 

During their time with us last year, they had to perform hundreds of teeth extractions.  They were shocked by the poor condition of the people’s teeth and in an effort to relieve some of the trauma from the extractions.  The team decided to come and make dentures.  The team (including Elba) helped create the molds of the teeth.  We then took the molds and created the denture a couple of days later.  It was a monumental task but they were able to complete the goal and the results were amazing.    

During their time at the churches and river communities they had a chance to share about God’s love and pray for the kids and adults

This month the missionaries got together and had their first missionary retreat.  You might ask “why have a retreat?”  It is said that 29% of the reasons American missionaries leave the field were unpreventable. Leaving the estimated world-wide preventable attrition (A gradual diminution in number or strength because of constant stress) at 71%.  Preventable attrition included six major categories: 1) marriage and family reasons; 2) agency reasons; 3) personal reasons; 4) team reasons; 5) cultural reasons: and 6) work related reasons. Early intervention in the missionary life cycle, even before departure, would have made a difference in these attrition rates.

Craig and Linda Heselton came and taught us about Emotional Intelligence to help retool us and build up the team. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is simple defined as “the ability to recognize one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.”    It was definitely a learning experience for me and one that I hope will create more growth personally and professionally.    

It was also very good to just get all the missionaries together to spend time with one another.  This time together helps to build up our team and re-energize us for the continued road ahead. Our mission is looking to have marathon missionaries, and not sprinters.  For this reason, we are committed to the care of our missionaries so that we can help sustain the calling that the Lord has on their life as life-long missionaries. 

During the missionary care the girls had a great time reconnecting with the other missionary children.  They were essentially inseparable during the whole time we were together.  Every morning they were antsy to go and play with the other kids, and at night they did not want to come in.  We were so grateful for this time.  Also, pictured is Camilly and Alyssa trying to log roll. 

Please continue to pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. 

Love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

 

Tax deductible donations can be written and sent to:

The Xingu Mission

P.O Box 340785

Columbus, Ohio  43234

Or On-line donations at:

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

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Hello to all my very faithful supporters!

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST:
I hope I haven’t alarmed you too much, but I do currently have a situation that needs immediate attention. This past weekend, while I was traveling, the school building in which we have our CDR English classes was closed by the owner. Though I don’t know all the details, what I understand is the director of Uniasselvi, which is the school we were renting a room from, was not paying the rent for the building. Therefore, the owner locked up the building with all of our supplies and materials inside. I have been in the process of trying to speak directly to the owner in order to at least get our materials out and possibly, continue to have our classes there. However, in the meantime, I am having to find another solution. Yesterday, I was able to find another school that allowed us to rent a room for the kids class held in the afternoon. My evenings classes, I am going to hold in my house.
My prayer is that this situation is resolved quickly, and that we can be allowed to enter into the building again to have access to our things and also have our classes there again. Please pray with me about this situation.

On a happier note, last week was a great time for our missionary team. A while ago, the team decided that we would start trying to have a Missionary Care Retreat once a year. We all had the pleasure of going to a lovely beach resort located in a city off the coast called Salinas. It is just a few hours away from Belem. While there, we also had the privilege of having the company of Craig and Linda Heselton who are pastors from the Columbus Vineyard. Craig gave us a seminar on Emotional Intelligence. It was encouraging and helpful, and it was great to get to know them better. It was wonderful for all of the missionaries to get to spend some time together away from the work setting. We had a lot of fun, and I believe we grew closer together as a team.

Some of the members of our team

Denise and I enjoying the pool

After the retreat, I visited Altamira for the weekend to spend some much needed time with Ronã. As always, we had a great time together. Please continue to pray for us as we walk out our relationship.

Out to dinner…

 
The next few months are going to be challenging for me. My friend Jennifer, recently went back to the States, and Richie’s family just left to go back on furlough to Canada until February. That means I am alone here in Portel. As I am sure you have already perceived, life can be pretty unpredictable here. Please pray that God takes special care of me in this season.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. They mean so much to me. I pray that you and your family experience peace. I pray that God is near to your heart and that you hear him calling your name. I pray that you know in the deepest place of your soul that he always sees you.

“Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:12
  
Love,
Allison

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Dear Friends and Family,

Well, we are only a few weeks away from our big move to Macapá! Denise and I couldn’t be any more excited! Things are a bit crazy and really busy, but we wanted to give everyone a quick update about what’s been going on. As we have mentioned in our last few newsletters, we are moving to Macapá as base leaders with the goal of planting other churches in the area. Macapá is at the mouth of the Amazon about 300 miles from where we currently live. It is accessible only by plane or boat.

Denise and I just got back from a trip to Macapá. We were there looking for a house to rent. Though the trip had its stressful moments, we found a house that worked for our needs. Our needs aren’t many, but it took some patience and persistence to find a house that had good security, was not too far from the church, had space for the dogs, and was within our budget. God definitely came through for us.

Pictures from the Macapá

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Pastor Felipe

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Denise and my new house

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In a few days Denise and I will be leaving town again on a four-day Missionary Care Retreat. Although we are focused on trying to get everything together for our move, we are both very excited to spend some time on the coast with the other missionaries from Xingu Mission. Longtime family friends, Craig and Linda Heselton who are pastors at Vineyard Columbus, will be joining us for the retreat. They will be meeting with all the missionaries, helping us sort through the ups and downs of the missionary life. It will be great to sort through some of these things before our new undertaking in Macapá!

Hanging out and saying goodbye to some Altamira friends

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Denise and I at the Gurupa Vineyard

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​Denise

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Prayer Requests:

Please continue to pray:

• For the Missionary Retreat, that we would be refreshed, envisioned and encouraged as we move into this new adventure with Jesus.
• For our upcoming move to Macapá. Pray for all of the details including the transport of our possessions by barge.
• For increased financial support. We have been strongly encouraged to increase our monthly support.

We are so grateful to those who are supporting us monthly. If anyone would like to begin financial support, please go to the following link on the Xingu Mission website (https://xingu.org/opportunities/giving/meyer-ministries/). Even small amounts given regularly are extremely helpful. We can’t say how much we appreciate your support, financially, relationally, and most of all, your prayers. We love hearing from you!

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise

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Hello to all my Faithful Supporters!

I hope my last blog gave you a better understanding of life here in Brazil. I’m not sure what you imagine missionary life to be like, but maybe you now realize that it is not a paradise! Though, I would like to tell you that everyday, I am saving souls and seeing limbs grow, things are much more mundane in reality.
But I think this reality is normal for most of us. Our days are rarely filled with adventure and excitement teeming with a clear purpose. We ask the question, “Is my life meaningful?” So much of our time can sometimes be filled with seemingly meaningless tasks. We wonder if we are really making head way. Is it amounting to anything?
The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I realize that I need to find meaning in the mundane. I need to become more aware, everyday, of the subtle and unique way in which the presence of God is entering into my life and the lives of those around me.
A few weeks ago, I was at church and saw that many of the children had an eye infection. These children are poor and their parents, possibly out of ignorance, seem to pay little attention to their needs. I found the medication that they needed, and a few days later, I went to Portelinha to find the children I had seen. I gave their parents the medication and explained how to use it.
I’m not telling you this story to make you think I am a good person. The truth is that when I look at these children, I see a mountain of need that I have no power to attend to. I feel helpless. The medication is such a small gesture, such a temporary fix. I don’t have what they need, and it weighs on me.
I could tell you other stories like this one, and my feelings would be the same about all of them. No matter how much we give, it never seems to be enough. It is a drop in the ocean.
But I have learned to take delight in this drop. I have learned to accept that God takes our little cup of water and turns it into more than we could ever have imagined. I believe he takes these small, precious moments that come along throughout our mundane lives and touches them with his glory.
And so I pray for those children that our simple gifts of love will one day awaken their hearts to the ultimate love that is our God.
It’s easy for us to forget that our physical acts have spiritual significance. For better or worse, each day we change the world with little gestures. My hope is that for all of you who give to this ministry whether a lot or a little, whether through finances or prayer, that you would grasp the significance of your efforts. It is not of your own power, but with the backing of the Spirit of Power that works through us. We have a mission together, a journey taken in short steps. But we are never alone, and the desire of our hearts is always seen. God sees that we wish it were more. God sees our 2 pennies placed in the offering.
Thank you for opening your heart. Whatever little help I can give here, it is possible because of you. You are just as much apart of this as anyone here working in the field. Please, believe that. God bless you.

Love, Allison

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Last year shortly into our new homeschool year I had a horrible day that was part of a series of bad days.  I’m going to be completely honest.  The hardest part of this move to a place full of new things, new climate, new culture, snakes and tarantulas has not been the adjustment to all these new things.

 The aspect that has been the biggest challenge, the one that has brought me to tears and had me consider packing up and leaving…is…HOMESCHOOL. 

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For years, the Alpha resources sat unused on a shelf here in Maraba. 

Why?  Because they had never experienced or seen Alpha running, they didn’t know how to get started.

A few weeks into running the first Alpha here in Maraba, the team loved it.  The Brazilian pastor said it was ‘the best thing they had running’.

Two weeks later we were on a plane headed for Canada after receiving the devastating news that my Dad was dying.

But Alpha kept running, and growing.  Without us.

Since then we have had two Alpha’s in the church, two youth alpha’s and an Alpha in the Street.  Alpha has become part of our churches culture and it’s bringing people to Jesus.

It isn’t the only effective evangelism tool but it’s a good one.  It’s the one that took me from not believing to believing, and ultimately brought me here.  We’re pretty crazy about Alpha.

There are missionaries and Brazilians within the Xingu Mission who also have the materials but don’t know where to start.

They would like us to help them.  An Alpha kick-start if you will.

So, in the coming year it looks as though we could be traveling quite a bit.  Right now, there are four bases that would like us to come for two weeks, train their team and get them started.

We are excited!  We also need your help.  Traveling so much will increase our monthly expenditures and we will need extra funds to make it work. 

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