Home Is Where the Heart Is

"I have some money I wanna give but I don't know who to give it to." That's what someone told my sister-in-law in Colorado while she was working her customer service job in the grocery store. It made me think, "I bet there are people all over the country who feel that way." Then I started to wonder how many people sit down to pray and realize they don't know what to pray for. You're probably used to missionaries soliciting money, but I would like to solicit some of your prayer time instead.

We spent December in Colorado with John's family and are now back in Florida where we were scheduled to close on a house (the one in the picture) on the seventh of this month. Everything was going as planned until the underwriter decided on the morning of closing to call our church in Texas for verbal confirmation of our employment. She didn't like the words she heard to describe the missionary/sponsoring church relationship so she denied the loan on the spot. Our agent is still working on our behalf to somehow close the deal, whether it be with a different mortgage lender or to convince the current one to reconsider. Our dilemma is in the facts that the seller has refused an extension of the contract, we are currently staying in someone else's house, we stand to lose several thousand dollars in earnest money, and we may not be able to afford to rent an apartment in this part of the country.

We are beginning to understand why God may have felt it necessary to reassure us with the skywriting before we left for Colorado. We also recognize that the focus of the disciples' biblical accounts never centers around homes and possessions but always around expanding the kingdom borders. We have not forgotten why we came here or what we are about - to introduce Jesus to those who don't know him. Please join us in praying for God to use us to that end. If that means more time being uprooted, so be it. If it means settling into a home here so that we can become members of the community, even better.

God Is a Sky Writer

We are currently in Colorado, spending the holidays with John's family. In less than a month, we went from stifling heat in Natal to bitter cold in Golden. The kids have especially enjoyed the snow. While we're here, we're facilitating a long-distance closing on a house in Boca Raton, Florida.

We spent our first two weeks in the States searching for a house to be our new home. We found an excellent real estate agent through the Dave Ramsey Web site who began showing us properties that matched our criteria. After much fruitless searching, she informed us that our expectations might be a bit too high. On one level we had to agree with her, but on another we were sure our expectations were very reasonable. You see, we had been praying fervently for God to lead us to just the right house. We were sure that if He were calling us to Florida, He knew right where He wanted us. So we continued our search.

Just days before we left for Colorado and just when we had decided that a temporary apartment might be in our future, a promising new listing came onto the market. Our agent took us to see it but the owners weren't home and we ended up standing in the driveway while she spoke with their visiting relative. As she set up an appointment for our return, we felt a little disappointed and prayed that God would make Himself clear to us and help us to know what to do. Then something amazing happened.

Jonah pointed up towards the sky and yelled, "Look, it's a J." A skywriter was just starting the first letter of what became "JESUS LOVES U". As he was finishing the U our agent informed us that we would have to wait a day to see the house. On our way out of the neighborhood, we stopped by a Brazilian bakery where John ran in for some bread. In the time it took him to make the purchase, the kids and I watched the skywriter spell out "TRUST GOD".

The next day we saw the house and fell in love with it; it suited us perfectly. Though we had been avoiding foreclosures and short sales because they have been averaging several months to close, we made an offer on this short sale property. Despite our agents justified warnings that we might be facing a long and tedious process, we received notice from the bank that we could close during the first week in January.

I can't predict what will happen next and I don't know the mind of God, but I do have a hunch that we will soon be blogging to you from our new home in Boca Raton, Florida.

Packed and Ready

We're getting packed to leave this country again. We're excited because of the potential for ministry in a dual culture environment. The kids are excited because they know we'll be living closer to Disney World.

We plan to arrive in Miami during the third week in November, at which time we will begin looking for a home among the Brazilian population in southern Florida. It's a happy time and a sad time all at the same time. We're going to miss Natal and our friends here, but we know they will be just fine without us. We do plan to come back regularly to encourage the Christians here and to help where we can. We also plan to continue regular visits to Currais Novos until a solid church is established there.

Our Next Missionary Journey

Over the past eighteen months, we have witnessed seventeen people choose to follow Jesus and have seen changes only God could effect in their lives. With such a thriving ministry it would only seem fitting that we should stay put and continue this work indefinitely. But God's ways are not our ways. We have received an invitation to work with a small group of Christians who are trying to reach the hundreds of thousands of Brazilians living in southern Florida. Through much prayer John and I have discovered that God is opening the way for us to move there in order, we believe, to evangelize.

John and I became Christians and were married a little over thirteen years ago. Since then John received a Bible degree in Tennessee, we trained in Texas for mission work, and we worked with a team to plant a church in southern Brazil. We then moved back to the US and were involved in various Stateside ministries until the spring of 2008. That's when we came here to northern Brazil to work with a small church in the area of evangelism. Throughout all of our travels the same two churches in Tennessee and Texas have sponsored and supported us, and for that we are grateful.

What we are leaving here is a small but thriving congregation. The ground has also been worked for a church plant in a town about three hours outside of the city of Natal. We plan to make regular visits to Natal to encourage the church here and to travel to Currais Novos to continue the work there.

Please continue to read our blog and subscribe to it if you haven't already. We hope to encourage you in your life and ministry. We covet your comments and prayers.

John's Weekend Adventure

This weekend was John's second trip to a town called Currais Novos, about three hours outside of Natal. His first trip was in December with Mike and Jerry Hall from our sponsoring church in Springtown, Texas. They traveled there because Geraldo, the second man John baptized in Natal, told them about his hometown where there are no churches.

Upon their arrival, the men discovered a rustic town where there were indeed no churches and, more importantly, no Biblical teaching. Geraldo introduced them to his family and friends and John taught them from the Bible. At the end of their stay, they invited John back to hear more.

Since then, we have had Ben, spent two months in the States on furlough, and battled the swine flu for about a month. This weekend was John's first opportunity to revisit Currais Novos. He and Geraldo drove there on Friday morning and returned on Saturday morning. They decided to take Geraldo's jeep to handle the dilapidated road conditions. Here's Geraldo driving in the rain without windshield wipers:

Here's John afraid for his life:

Here's Geraldo's bumper sticker reminding John "I'm following the footsteps of Jesus":
And here's the broken-down jeep reminding them both that the footsteps of Jesus are not easy to follow:

They made it as far as Santa Cruz or Holy Cross, where they ditched the jeep and caught a ride to make the rest of the trip. A statue of Mary holding a cross and a sword overlooks this little town:

When they finally arrived in Currais Novos six hours later, they were greeted by Geraldo's in laws:

You may remember that Socorro is Geraldo's wife. These are her parents. Her dad offered John a fresh coconut:

Then they spent some time hanging out together while Geraldo walked around town inviting people to a Bible study that evening:

Socorro's dad had no interest in what John was there to teach during his first visit, but when John was leaving he promised to come to a study if John would return. During this visit he was hospitable to John and even gave him a hammock to sleep in on his porch but he didn't go to the study. Again, he said maybe next time.

These guys did show up:

As did these women:

And these kids:

In all, about thirty people were present for the study that evening:

John offered this DVD on the Gospel of John to anyone who would agree to share it with others in town. This lady was clearly thrilled to accept the offer:

John read and commented on John 3 where Jesus discusses with Nicodemus what it means to be born again. He spoke for almost thirty minutes without any participation from the group. When he asked them why nobody was answering his questions, one man revealed that the group had never heard these Scriptures and had no idea what they meant or how to comment on them. John then read 1 Corintians 2 and explained that nobody can understand the things of God without the Holy Spirit. It seemed that they had enough information to chew on so he called it a night. Again they invited him back.

The next morning, Geraldo and John caught a ride with Geraldo's cousin (the guy in pink) who is employed taking the kids of the neighborhood to school - a thirty-minute drive. The kids were on their way to extra-curricular, Saturday activities so the guys took advantage and jumped on board.

They ended up on the side of the road halfway back to Natal, where the truck ride ended, and caught another ride home.

Friday morning, which should have been a three-hour drive, turned out to be a six-hour ordeal of heavy rain and a broken-down car. Friday night was a sleepless one spent in a hammock where giant mosquitos snacked on exposed flesh. John was tired and had caught a cold by the time he made it home. I asked him if all the travel, rain, mosquitos, poor sleep, and sickness were worth it. He said without a doubt, and he plans to return to Currais Novos in the future to water the spiritual seeds that have been planted.

The Untold Stories

For those of you who have been following the progress of this mission, I'm sure you have been impressed with what God has done in the short time we've been in Natal. We want you to know that it is not because of us that so many people have been baptized during the mission here but because of God's mercy to the lost.

Before we even left the States, John baptized his dad and nephew Anthony in Colorado. Since we've been living in Natal, we've experienced the baptisms of Francisco, Geraldo, Socorro, Rosendo, Ingrid, Talis, Jefferson, Tiago, Heloisa, and Noemia. During our recent furlough, John baptized his sister's friend John in Colorado and my mom in Texas. What an incredible eighteen months this has been!

I trust some of you have been praying for these new Christians since you first heard about their conversions. For that reason, I want to be sure you also know about three new Christians who were baptized while we were not here. Back in March when I was in the hospital with Ben, Joilderson became a new Christian:

Then while we were in the States on furlough, Relter and Monica were baptized:

Please continue to pray for these young Christians - not only that God will bless their lives but that he may also use them to spread the good news about Jesus and the eternal salvation he offers to anyone who will accept it.

We Survived the Swine Flu

Here we are, relatively unscathed by the H1N1 virus. It was a long battle but we are finally well. We all have a bit of residual "gunk" in our heads so each of us is temporarily hard of hearing. That's been less than amusing, but I'm sure it will pass.

Thank you so much for your prayers, and please don't forget to continue to pray for the ministry that we're involved in together - reaching the lost for Christ.