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| July 2023 Newsletter – Year One Edition |
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1. Fruitfulness in Ministry and Outreach
2. Language Learning
3. Vision Clarity for the Next Season
4. Leadership Training and Leadership Pipeline
5. Prayer Support Network – More People Praying
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Hey Friends and Family!
We cannot believe we have been in the country for one year! In some ways, the time has flown by. Thank you all for your love, support, prayers, texts, calls, emails, and well wishes. We are very well loved and cared for.
This newsletter will be a bit different because we want to reflect on a few things that stood out to us in year one. Here are the things that have stood out to us the most:
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God is Abudndatley Faithful
Undertaking this assignment has been a test of trust for us, and we can honestly say that God has been faithful every step of the way.
During our pre-field fundraising, we both felt that God was asking me to resign from my job and focus full-time on fundraising. That was our first big moment of trust because if fundraising did not go quickly enough, we could have been in a significant financial bind. Despite that, I resigned, and God showed up! A process that usually takes a year took about four months!
Every obstacle that comes along with moving to a new country was resolved. We found that when we undertook a posture of prayerful waiting instead of frenetic activity, God was able to work in the situation and bring it to a good end and in ways that we would not have been able to on our own.
God connected us with the right people here for housing, gave us abundant favor with the people responsible for our government documents, set us in the right neighborhood for connections, and led us to some great friends to ease our transition with love and community.
By far, one of the most stressful events that happened involved a situation with an unscrupulous car dealer trying to extort us for additional money. God led us to the right relationships, which enabled us to navigate getting the police involved after multiple attempts at Biblical reconciliation (think Matthew 5) with the dealer. In the end, this situation worked out. The situation was both informative and transformative.
And most astoundingly, God has shown up in the community life and mission here. Over this past year, the Holy Spirit has challenged the churches here to take steps of faith to respond to growth – things like building spaces, trusting new leadership, and praying for physical miracles. God made it happen every time we moved forward in faith and obedience!
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Our Family Is Growing in Faith
Seeing God provide continually, make a way through difficult situations, align relationships at just the right time, and overcome difficult situations in a way that you could not have on your own has a formative effect on your spirit, imagination and wellbeing.
Derek: There is an old saying – What God wants to do through you, He wants to do in you. This truth has become both a guidepost and a reminder for me. Acts 14:22 says, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,”. That is – hardship and change are not merely a by-product of living in a fallen world, but also an important means God uses to shape and form us into Kingdom people. Every financial challenge, bureaucratic obstacle, culture shock, misunderstanding, and even the inability to adequately express myself in the language can be embraced as a means of self-emptying, kenotic (Philippians 2) formation unto Christlikeness. My love for God and others has grown when I have chosen to respond well based on this truth.
Amanda: This transition has been challenging. It was difficult to say goodbye to our family, church, friends, and daily rhythms and routines. However, amid this, the Holy Spirit has been very present as the giver of peace in my life. I have learned to rely on Him and trust Him more intimately. There is something about undertaking this assignment that inspires the imagination – you realize that when relying on God, you can be more capable than you thought you would be. My time in scripture has also been amazing. There have been many, many times where a passage of scripture from my queit time has been just what I needed to hear!
The Kids: We are incredibly proud of our kids. They have handled everything like champs, and they are doing very well. They certainly miss their grandparents and friends; however, they have worked at making some new friends here. They serve in the church, enjoy being part of the children’s ministry, and help out where they can. It has been an exciting thing as parents to watch them grow in their faith and holy curiosity. Please pray for language learning for them.
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Brazilians Are Wonderful People
We have frequently stated in our reports to you just what a privilege it is to live and serve alongside our new neighbors. On the whole, Brazilians are warm, hospitable, encouraging, relentlessly positive, ad wonderfully relational. One of the phrases I hear most often (besides surprise at being a foreigner in Macapa of all places) is “Conte Comigo” – Count on me. And they mean it. Anytime we have taken them up on that promise, they show up. The Brazillian kids we get to work with are sweet and delightful. We are “Tio e Tia” (uncle and auntie) to several kiddos here, and it is a blast.
When we pastored in the US, there were two or three significant discipleship actions that we looked for as people began life with Jesus. We thought of them like stoplights – when we saw people moving from red to yellow to green in these three areas, we knew they were responding to the Holy Spirit. Here – those two or three stoplights are different than in the US. Yet despite that, the same longings, struggles, needs, and troubles are universal, just responded to differently based on cultural context and history.
May of the same basic struggles and conversations we are having at this cultural moment in the US, we are also having here in Brazil.
Seeing our Brazillian pastors respond well to this with such a high degree of fidelity, self-sacrifice, and tireless work on behalf of their churches is amazing. We feel very privileged to be here.
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The Mission Is Expanding
Missão Xingu’s work is expanding. As the initial phase of church planting here in the North has prospered, the mission has been able to pivot and focus on some core activities. Amanda and I are the first new missionaries under this renewed and focused directive. In the midst of that, some of our key leaders have been able to turn over healthy churches and move to begin new work in cities where The Vineyard does not have a presence. An entire generation of faithful service has paid off, and God is expanding the mission into new areas. Please continue to pray for these new church planting efforts.
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Faithful Leadership Abounds
At times our news and social media algorithms can highlight the most incendiary and troubling aspects of our culture in such a way as to make things seem more commonplace than they are. Scarcely a week goes by that we don’t see some significant leadership mishap or moral failure. To be clear – these are real, deeply problematic, cause a lot of hurt and damage, and highlight some systemic malformation that we need to address.
Yet amidst that, far more leaders serve in faithful, quiet, humble, self-sacrificial ways. They don’t have large platforms or published books – they write their love letters on the hearts of the people they serve (2 Cor 3).
We get to see and serve alongside such leaders here every day. Our base leaders, the Meyers, are just such people. It has been a privilege to watch and learn from them as they have navigated shepherding people here through the pandemic, pastored two churches at the same time while juggling the responsibility of two small kids, mission leadership responsibilities, fundraising, pastoral counseling, and all the usual family issues that come along with aging parents.
When you are tempted to be discouraged at the stories, don’t be dismayed but do pray. God always is at work.
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The Global Center of Christianity is Shifting
Missiological studies were part of the coursework for my master’s degree. We see firsthand the veracity of the studies: namely, that the center for Christianity is generally shifting from the global North to the global South. For instance, in 1970 evangelicals made up only about 9% of the population in South America. Now they make up over 31%.
By far, most of this growth comes from evangelical charismatic renewal movements, of which the Vineyard is a part. The Good News has taken deep root and is producing fruit. The faithful giving, equipping, sending, prayer, training, and continued support from faithful churches and individuals in the Global North is paying off. What you are doing counts!
It is no secret that church attendance is declining in the United States. We have had enough conversations to know this can feel discouraging to many folks. However, please don’t become despondent. God is at work all over the world. Here in Brazil and your neighborhood. Your prayers and support matter. Your attention to the Holy Spirit in your own context matters. Jesus is Lord and the Church is on the move.
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After moving here, we adopted a new dog into the family. His name is Snickers, and he is a very good boy. He has been an excellent addition to our family. His love and zest for life have been a tremendous benefit to helping our kids acclimate, and frankly, he is more well-known in our neighborhood than we are!
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Prayer Support – The success of our church planting here depends on the faithful and fervent prayer of God’s people. If you know someone that might be interested in receiving these updates and praying with us, please send this link. When they sign up, they will get an introductory letter about us and the mission.
Financial Support – We are continually amazed at the generosity and provision we receive from you all. It does look like we will have an extended season of unfavorable exchange rates, and we will need to raise additional support to get us back to monthly break-even. If you would like to contribute, please use the link below:
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PO Box 340785, Columbus
OH 43234 United States
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