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February 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Denise and I want to first-off say thank you to everyone who made our time in the U.S.A. such an encouragement. Your love and generosity blessed us greatly. We love our home church in the States and definitely feel the support that we so desperately desire.

We arrived back in Macapá just over 5 weeks ago. It has been a whirlwind since we got home. On our way home to Brazil, I began to get sick with the flu. It was the worst flu I have ever experienced. For the first 10 days here in Brazil I barely left my bed… Not exactly what I had in mind for our first weeks back, but in many ways it was good for me. God was speaking to me the whole time. I left the States with so much excitement, with many new ideas, and was ready to hit the ground running. The first few days I felt extremely discouraged, but God kept reminding me that ministry is a marathon, not a sprint, and that everything would work in his timing. It was good for me to let go and release everything to him. I also am so thankful for Denise who took care of me – and Jonas – while also adjusting to being back in Brazil. I really lucked out in the wife department! Many people were curious about how Jonas would do with our transition back to Brazil. He did great. He didn’t skip a beat, almost as if he was never gone. It is amazing how adaptive children can be.

Jonas loves our cat, “Lucy”. Not sure how Lucy feels about Jonas.

Jonas practicing for the worship band.

Jonas doesn’t know what to think of the new baby in the church.

Once I began to feel better, we began to work through getting things reorganized, implementing a few new ideas that God placed on our hearts, and connecting with the individuals in the church. Presently we are so excited for what God is doing in Vineyard Viva. There seems to be a tangible excitement that can be felt throughout the congregation.

This month we also had some special visitors. Michael Hansen, the Lead Pastor at my home church in Delaware County, and Derek Blaylock, a Vineyard Pastor out of San Antonio Texas, came for a short visit. Our time with them was great. While they were here we did leadership training, worship team training, they also participated with our homeless outreach ministry, and Derek preached at our Sunday service. We also did a baptism after the service.

Service last Sunday

During the service

Denise translating for Derek

Getting ready for baptisms

Baptisms

Homeless outreach ministry

Jonas shares a love for Bert’s Bees with Michael

About 20 years ago, God put Brazil on Derek’s heart and he has been praying for Brazil ever since. This was his first time visiting Brazil and it was such a joy to witness what God was doing in him. Derek was so moved to be around the people that he had been praying for since his early adulthood. He was often overwhelmed to the point of tears by God’s faithfulness in connecting him here, and that a visit had finally come to fruition.

A Prayer Request:

We have been praying about whether we should go to two services. This last week while Michael and Derek were at the church, we had around 80 people (including children). Although our numbers were higher because of the baptism and the guest speakers, we feel like the writing is on the wall. We are running out of space in our little church. What a great problem to have! We are not quite at the place where we could move to a larger location, so going to two services might be our best option. The practice of multiple church services is not extremely common here in Brazil, so we really need God’s direction in this area.

Thank you 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/

November 2019 Amazon Update!!!

Elba and I were honored again to have another baptism at the church. The church gets so excited for baptisms. During our baptism the worship band was playing and singing, and lots of people run to the front to get a better view and pictures. I know I have mentioned this many times, but I love the symbolism of letting the person be completely immersed in water, being baptized into Jesus’ death on the cross and no longer being slaves to self or sin. When they are raised out of the water they are raised into a new life in Christ and are with Him forever. We are so grateful and we praise the Lord for these 9 people that made this public declaration of faith. Each of the people being baptized wore a shirt saying “I Decided”.

We had a women’s gathering at the church called “Cha de Rosa”, or pink tea. The women in the church really worked hard to make this a beautiful and special moment for our guests. The youth served a small meal while the women were enriched by the guest speaker. The guest speaker was a psychologist in the city and she talked about emotional and mental health.

Not to be too outdone. While traveling to Joao Pessoa, and Recife. Marsha Wilson, and Elba participated in another “Cha de Rosa” for the women at the Cabo church. The women really enjoyed Elba and Marsha’s visit to pray, encourage and bless.

We had a children’s day celebration. This is a National holiday and there is no school, and government and private businesses close. It is a big deal. This year we used the mission property to celebrate the occasion. Camilly and Alyssa helped with the celebration. They played lots of games, including water balloon fights, which Camilly assisted. Alyssa colored the children’s faces. The kids ate lots of sweets and hot dogs. It was a good time for the children in the neighborhood…I think also for the adults.

We do have prayer requests and humbly ask you to pray for us:

1. For Steve’s trip to Humaita to visit a church planting team. It will take 2 ½ days to get there by truck. Please pray for safety, guidance, peace, and wisdom.

2. Elba just started getting a migraine again after almost a year without them. Please pray for healing. Below is a picture of children from our church family in Recife praying for Elba

Please pray for spiritual, physical, emotional and financial health for us.

Thanks and much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Aug, 16

August 2019

Dear Friends & Family,

I wanted to give everyone a heads up that Denise, Jonas and I will be back on furlough starting in September. We are so excited to share everything that God has been doing here in Macapá! We are also excited for everyone to meet Jonas!

If you are a small group leader and would like for us to visit and share at your group, just drop me an email. I would absolutely love the opportunity! I am going to start scheduling things now. I made the mistake a few years back of waiting and found myself scrambling to try and fit everything in at the tail end of our trip. I am determined not to make that same mistake!

Since we will be back in a few weeks, I will save a detailed account of what is going on here to tell you in person, but things are going great here in Macapá. Our church is doing well as we continue to mature. Our family is thriving, too. Jonas is growing and changing every day!

We had a visit from Denise’s family.

A little boat trip with friends.

Some pics of Jonas

Please pray safe travel for us and for the church and leaders during our time on furlough.

We appreciate you all and are looking forward to seeing you all!

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise

July 2019 Amazon Update!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers for the National Conference that was held at our church. It was a lot of work to make this event happen, but in the end, it was great. I believe we had over 300 people in attendance. This was a chore as many of them came from out of town and we had to organize their housing, and meals.

We were blessed to have our Pastors, Rich and Marlene Nathan from Vineyard Columbus come and teach our group. Marlene shared about women in leadership to women leaders, and Rich taught our group various subjects such as:

· Helping your church to Grow by Becoming More Invitational
· Constructing a more integral church
· Why the Vineyard Church must not stop growing
· Passing the Torch to the Next Generation
· What I Say to a Young Leader

These messages were so encouraging and timely for our group of leaders. At the end of every service, practically everyone in attendance was coming up for prayer to receive more from God to become a better pastor / leader or they were praying for others.

In addition to the great teachings, the time of worship was incredible, and the time to connect with the community of believers was so encouraging and uplifting both emotionally, and spiritually.

Literally, stepping on the heels of the conference, we had a Dentist team of 10 people from Brasilia. Our house was hustling and bustling to accommodate the team, and the people from the conference. I think we had at 1 time over 20 people staying in our house. The dentist team went to a remote community called Maribel where it took around 5 hours to drive 100 km. We have a church in Maribel and we used the church to serve the people of the community. It was another amazing time of serving the community and helping people with dental needs that otherwise would not be able to get easy access to this care. In the few short days the volunteer dentist team served hundreds of people doing cleanings, repairing cavities, pulling teeth, and repairing teeth. It is amazing what the dentist can do with limited resources. It is an incredible work and we pray the Lord’s continued hand upon them all. It has been a pleasure partnering with our sister church in Brasilia to serve the people, and share Jesus Christ. They will be coming back in September to work with our missionary Richie Bouthillier in Portel.

Alyssa just celebrated her 12^thbirthday on July 4^th. She had been talking about learning an instrument and she wanted to learn the Ukulele. We were able to get one for her recently and she has been playing it so much. She has been watching YouTube videos on her Ipad to learn. We are very excited for her. Camilly, not to be outdone, is starting back with the keyboard. Her cousin Apolana is teaching her. Here is a picture of Camilly with Angelita at the new SpiderMan movie.

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

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Jun, 26

June 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

As always, thank you for your prayers and support. They are greatly appreciated.

These last few months have been super busy, very tiring, but tremendously fruitful and fun. It has been great to watch our church continue to grow. We also are continuing to see new people choosing to follow Jesus. And little Jonas is growing and getting around far more easily.

These blessings all bring new challenges. As our church grows and new people choose to follow Jesus, it requires us to develop new systems for pastoral care and the need to train more leaders!

Also, as Jonas grows and gets around more easily, which of course is a joy, our little guy really keeps Denise and me on our toes trying keeping up with him. (We love being parents!)

Just this month, we also had the opportunity to host a team led by my brother JT from our home church, Vineyard Church Delaware County. We had so much fun spending time with the team – and my brother . Their ministry and relational investment were a great blessing to the churches they visited.

The day after the team left, we took a line boat (the equivalent of a Greyhound Bus on the Amazon River) to a city 300 miles away. We are attending Intervinha, the yearly conference for all the Vineyards in Northern Brazil. When we return, we will be ready for some rest!

Below are some pictures of our time from the team from VCDC.

VCDC Team

During our time in Macapá and at Viva Vineyard

Praying for needs around Macapá

We took a line boat to Gurupá

Gurupá Vineyard

Having fun with the team

A few more pics

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for wisdom in pastoring our growing our church.
Pray grace as Denise and I balance ministry and family life.
Pray financial provision for the growing needs of our church and family.

We are looking forward to returning to Ohio for furlough beginning in September. It’s hard to believe it’s been 2 years since we’ve been back. We can’t wait to see many of you then.

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

In His Service,

Christopher and Denise

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

June 2019 Amazon Update

The church is doing well and 2 highlights were that we celebrated Mother’s day and had a baptism. The Mother’s day service was really special and Elba continued her teaching series about family, marriage, children and the challenges that we face daily. After the service we prayed for the Moms and then setup a section in the church for them to sit and enjoy a snack. The husbands, and singles served the Mom’s and there were lots of smiles and laughter.

We also had a baptism at the church. The church gets so excited for baptisms. During our baptism the worship band was playing and singing, and the children clamor to the front to get a better view. I love the symbolism of letting the person be completely immersed in water being baptized into Jesus’ death on the cross and no longer being slaves to self or sin. When they are raised out of the water they are raised into a new life in Christ and are with Him forever. Praise the Lord for these 7 people that made this public declaration of faith. Each of the people being baptized wore a shirt saying “I Decided”.

Elba was invited to speak at one of the universities from one of Camilly’s teachers at her school. Camilly’s teacher teaches at this university as well as Camilly’s school. Even though the universities are secular, she went and spoke about Christ and the role that Christians play in serving the community and helping the poor. The talk was well received and they asked her to come back and share again. Let’s see how this will materialize itself.

The girls are just finishing up school for about a month break. They do not get the summer breaks like in the States. I believe that they will be starting back to school in the beginning of August. Even though it will be short, they are looking forward to having the time off. Here is a picture of Apolana, Camilly and Alyssa making parmesan chicken. Alyssa is the official taste tester. For the record, it is really good. They are getting so big.

Thank you for your prayers for Elba. She has been feeling much better. Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.

Please also pray for us, and the church, as we will be hosting our National Conference for the North called InterVinha. We are fortunate and excited to have our Pastors Rich and Marlene Nathan and family come and be the main speaker.

Much love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa

May 2019 Amazon Update!!!

In the previous last 2 monthly blog updates I have written about our campaign to increase the number of home groups in the church. To recap, the idea was to have Elba create a video series called the “The Real Jesus” based off The Vineyard Columbus rendition. We would then distribute the DVD to members of the congregation that are willing to open up their home, serve a snack, and play the DVD. We worked hard to produce the videos weekly and we got them completed.

1. The historic Jesus

2. Jesus the Master

3. Jesus the Sufferer

4. Jesus the Healer

5. Jesus the King

During the campaign we created over 20 new groups. This was very exciting and we were wondering if any of these home groups would continue meeting together after the campaign. We are happy to report that 7 groups made commitments to continue to meet together. We are very surprised by the result and look forward to seeing how these groups will mature, create community, and disciples. In addition, some other churches are asking for the videos that were created so they could do the same campaign. Awesome!!!

The Easter weekend service went very well and we had a large turnout not only for the evening service, but for the early morning service as well. We encouraged our members to bring their friends to come and celebrate. In the morning service, we had a nice time of worship, shared the Word of God and then we ate breakfast together. It was a lot of fun, a lot of food, and a labor of love. In the evening service, Camilly was part of dance team that performed for the church. They practiced really hard and the result proved in their performance. We were glad to see some new faces come to the church to celebrate Easter together. It was a great service to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Praise the Lord!

Our church is committed to mission and one of the places that we go to frequently is a place called the Suribim. It is about 100 kilometers away from the church and they have been thriving in this remote community. However, some sin issues have presented themselves in the community and it has caused problems within the congregation. Sometimes within these remote communities it is not unheard of for people to take the matters into their own hand to administer justice. Sometimes this justice leads to death. We believe that Jesus has touched a majority of the people in this community and he is changing people from the inside out. It is amazing how when Jesus is introduced into a community and people take hold of His good news, a people group is changed…as well as the community. However, we still ask you to pray for this community for healing and reconciliation. The first picture is of Elba’s twin sister, Nira.

As mentioned above, Camilly was a part of dance team and they performed really well and the church loved the dance. Actually, the following week. A director at one of the public school asked if the dance team would come to their school and do the same presentation for their students. That was such an honor, and a great way to show the love of Christ through the dance team. Here are the girl’s Mother’s day picture together. It is a great picture and they all look so beautiful.

Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us. Please pray specifically for Elba. She had been experiencing a lot of pain in her abdomen / back area. We thought it was a kidney stone but that got ruled out. The new thought is a herniated disk.

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

Livre de vírus. www.avast.com.

Faster Than We Thought

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all are doing very well and enjoying the start of Spring! In Brazil, we are starting our “winter” which basically means that there is more rain and more wind than normal. We are grateful for both as it cuts down on the heat.
It has been a while since I have connected with all of you. We have been waiting to have some news to give you about our progress with the immigration process for Ronã. I believe I told you before that we expected the process to take around 10 months to a year, and we filed our paperwork to get started at the beginning of February. The first part of the process is to file a petition that proves that our marriage is legit, and if approved, allows us to start the visa process for a green card. When we were looking on the government websites, it was saying that the wait time just for this first step was taking an average of 8 to 10 months! As you can imagine, we were pretty discouraged with that time frame. However, I am very happy to say that our petition has already been approved! We got a letter in the mail at the beginning of May, which means it only took 3 months!
So, what does this mean for us, you may be wondering? Well, we have been trying to estimate how long the other steps will take, assuming that everything goes smoothly. We believe it is possible that everything could be complete within the next 6 months. IF that is the case (I am using that IF with some liberty), then that could put us back in the US before the end of the year! Please, pray for the rest of this process to continue to go smoothly and quickly. We are anxious to start the next chapter of our lives.
In the meantime, we have a lot happening here. Recently, Ronã was able to get a job as a graphic designer. He is really enjoying it, and it is giving him a lot of experience. Unfortunately however, even with a job like that, his salary is only about $300 dollars a month. He has also started taking an electrician’s course 2 nights a week. He has already completed the online course he was taking for an airport worker. I finished my hair styling course about a month ago, and I am also going to start teaching English part-time with an online company to help us save a little bit of money for our transition.
The other missionaries that we were working with here, Phil and Jen, are going back to Canada for a few months for a furlough. While they are gone, we are going to move into their house in order to take care of their furry friends. We were already having to move out of our apartment because the owner is selling it to her son. It worked out to be good timing for both of us, and we will save a few months of having to pay rent.
Last week, I had the privilege of having my Mom come visit! We had a great time together, and Oliver got to see that his grandma is a real person and not just an image on a video chat. She also got a taste of what my life has been like for almost 7 years living among the Brazilian people. I am grateful she got to see it before I leave here.

Watching videos on facebook together


Saying goodbye

We are always so grateful for your prayers and support of our family during this time. Even with all the many changes we are experiencing right now, we see God working in our favor on every side. He has been more faithful to us than we could have ever imagined. You all have been so much apart of that. We love you and look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Love,
The Moura Family

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Easter Reflections

When I was in university I heard about a guy who was giving way all his worldly possessions because ‘God told him to’. I just figured he was suffering from a mental illness. I also hoped I could get in line for some of his CDs.

When I was in Africa, one of our staff members showed me an article about a guy who had sold everything to move to Africa because ‘God told him to’.

I thought both of these people needed to check in with their family physician. Who does that? Who thinks God is talking to them? And who sells all their earthly possessions because of something ‘God’ said to them??

Flash forward 10-15 years.

There’s me explaining to my friends and family that ‘God is telling us to move to Brazil to be missionaries’.

Pretty sure most of my friends put me in the same place I put those two people I wrote about at the beginning. Jen needs to seek professional help, or Jen has been brainwashed.

I get it, years earlier I would have thought the same thing, I did think the same thing.

Phil and I were poised to have a great future, two great kids, Phil had his own renovation business and I was creating a great career in real estate. We lived in a great community, had wonderful friends and a big extended family. We lived in a country rated in the top 3 in the world most years.

What on earth made us give it all up, sell everything and move to a country where violence and corruption are rampant, education is expensive and we didn’t speak the language?

Were we brainwashed? Both of us at the same time? Or were we both, simultaneously suffering from a mental breakdown? Midlife Crisis?

None of the above.

For those of you who really know me, you know that yes, I have changed. But I haven’t become a religious zealot thumping my Bible and yelling ‘repent or the end is nigh!’ If anything I despise the word ‘religious’ and will often correct people when they say, ‘you’re religious’. Which usually gets me an odd look.

Religion starts wars, religion breeds hate, religion loves rules.

Jesus, the one that I have turned over my whole life too, hated all of that.

What Jesus was and is about, and what he has birthed in me, is LOVE.

I didn’t used to love people all that much. I loved those around me, the ones I knew, my family and friends, people I had things in common with especially.

But people who were different from me, quite frankly, annoyed me. People who thought differently or believed differently, I kept at a distance. Not that I was mean or rude to them, I just had no interest in knowing them.

In November of 2002, just a few months after we were married something completed shifted in my heart, and where I used to harbour fear, a need for the next thing, a gnawing unidentified hunger that couldn’t be satisfied was immediately and completely filled.

For the first time in my life it was like a light was turned on. Did I get a download to the meaning of life and everything in it? Sort of. Did I suddenly have all the answers to life biggest questions, no. But the thing was I was suddenly ok with not knowing the reason for everything. I was suddenly able to put my trust somewhere, that no matter what happened someone was driving this thing, someone who did know all the answers was in control and I could rest in that.

I had an inner peace I had longed for my entire life.

I know, sounds crazy, sounds impossible but 17 years later it’s still there and instead of fading, it only grows.

That peace is something that has no price. I used to live with a lot of fear, fear of wars, fear of loved ones dying, fear of disease, fear of the end of the world.

The world is full of a lot of scary stuff these days. It seems that doomsday looms over us, peers at us from around the corner.

Although I can’t say that fear doesn’t rear its ugly head every once in a while, it no longer controls and consumes me. I’m no longer a slave to it.

Why? What’s my secret? Well, I now have somewhere to put that fear, someone to take it to. I can say, ‘I can’t carry this it’s crushing me, please take it from me’ and as long as I remember to ask, He takes it, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

And then there’s the love. Suddenly, people that used to annoy me became people I really wanted to know, maybe even understand how they ticked even if it was different to me. I love people in a way I didn’t think was possible before. Like really love them.

Especially the ones that look like everyone else has forgotten about, cast aside.

That love is what fills up that gaping void that I tried to fill before with alcohol, friends, new clothes, a better job, the next stage of my life, and on and on and on…..a constant search for something I couldn’t put my finger on but continued to try the next thing hoping that would satisfy it.

That gaping void has a shape, we all have one and I can tell you this, it won’t be filled with anything that has a different shape that what was created to fill it.

Once that love fills up that space, heals the hurts of your past, gives you a sense of meaning and purpose, there’s no telling the crazy things it will make you do.

It is often said that love is the most powerful force on earth, and maybe, just maybe because it isn’t of this earth. God is not just an old man with a beard sitting on a throne judging the world, He is a very real Father who loves his kids with the fierceness of a mama bear.

God doesn’t just love as an action, God IS love.

This weekend we celebrate Easter and for Jews, Passover. For most it’s the season of chocolate and daffodils. Easter and Passover are both about people being freed from slavery, that’s not a coincidence. For Christians, it’s the time we remember this man who gave up everything because of love. He gave up more than a career, a nice house and a neighbourhood. He endured so much more than living thousands of kilometres from those he loved.

He gave up his life so that I could have one.

And then he beat death! That thing we all fear, mourn over and wish we could escape. He died, and three days later came back. More than 500 witnesses saw him, touched him, put their hands in his wounds.

This season we celebrate that we too can be fully alive, no longer slaves to our wrong doings, fear and shame, because of what He did for us. He shouldered all of our wrongs, even though he was innocent, and then he forgave the very people that had beaten, tortured and crucified him.

‘Forgive them Father, they know not what they do’.

Who does that? Who forgives their killer? Who shoulders the entire worlds wrong doings? Was he mentally ill? Was he brainwashed? Midlife crisis?

Or maybe, just maybe, he was God in the flesh, showing us what love does.

This Easter/Passover, if you are struggling, if you are feeling alone, if you have a void and gnawing emptiness that you have not been able to fill, I ask you to just for a minute, ask yourself if maybe, just maybe, I’m not crazy, and their is a God and maybe He wants to give you all the peace and love and meaning that He has given me and countless others who have taken that leap of faith.

Because I can tell you this, it really is just a simple request away, ‘God, if you are real, I need you in my life’.

Happy Easter to all near and far.

Happy Easter! Praise the Lord for He has risen!

As I mentioned last month the church started a new campaign to increase the number of home groups in the church. The idea is to have Elba create a video series called the “The Real Jesus” based off The Vineyard Columbus rendition. We would then distribute the DVD to members of the congregation that are willing to open up their home, serve a snack, and play the DVD. We have been working hard to produce the video’s weekly and we have already done 3 videos to date.

1. The historic Jesus

2. Jesus the Master

3. Jesus the Sufferer

During the campaign we have created over 20 new groups. This is very exciting and we are praying that after this campaign the groups will stay together and continue meeting together weekly. Below are some new groups meeting. Please join us in this prayer.

We also got the opportunity to visit our new church plant called “Mexicano” and Elba got the opportunity to share the Word. It is still a small community of believers but there is great faith and fellowship. It was exciting. After the service they served a rather large meal for everyone that came. I asked if they prepared a meal because we came, they said “no”, and thankfully I learned that on most Sunday’s congregants bring food and eat after the service. You can sense that there is strong fellowship and community. We could not be happier. Please continue to pray for them.

Camilly and some of her classmates went out to the local senior home to serve the men and women that live there. The conditions are primitive and we felt welcomed by our visit. One of the students read them a poem and then we began to serve cake and juice. We thought we brought way too much cake and juice, but nope, they really enjoyed it and they ate it all up. We were really happy to see Camilly participate in this outreach. Alyssa has been learning how to draw digitally, and this has become one of her hobbies. It is fun to see the creativity come from them.

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

Much love, Steve, Elba, Camilly, and Alyssa

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