Welcome to Brazilian Outreach.

The Comunhão Batista Bíblica Nacional, the Brazilian counterpart to the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, is holding its 20th biannual conference this week in Campo Grande, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. CBBN president, Nilton Malves, invited BBFI president Mark Hodges to attend as the international speaker for the conference. I had the privilege of receiving Bro. Hodges and accompanying him as interpreter during his stay in Brazil. He spent the weekend prior to the conference in Campinas, in São Paulo state, preaching morning and evening at the First Baptist Church of Jardim Amanda (Hortolandia), pastored by our good friend Claudio Cruz. (This is also the church we ministered in during our time in Campinas.) One person received Christ during the invitation after Sunday night's message.

Bro. Hodges' participation in the conference seemed unlikely when unseasonable cold weather shut down the Campo Grande airport for a week and resulted in canceling our flight on Monday morning. While the flight is only an hour and half long, the alternative bus or car ride to the meeting could take as much as 13 hours from Campinas. Any travel besides the flight would certainly not get us there in time for the first meeting that evening, and might further complicate our return trip on Wednesday. God was at work the entire time through a man that we did not meet until that day. Alfredo, a brother in Christ from Campo Grande, had also missed hisflight home--the day before ours. Of his own accord he worked with the airline to organize a chartered bus trip to our destination. We added our name to the list of passengers interested in this bus, while at the same time looking into renting a car. We even went so far as to cancel our plane ticket and get in a long line at the car rental agency. It was while I was in that line, located outside the airport, that Alfredo came all the way out to tell me that a flight was opening up in the afternoon, and that our names were at the top of the list because we had opted to go by the chartered bus. I reminded him that we had taken our names off the list and cancelled our flights, but he said, "I never took your names off. See if you can reverse the cancellation." That is exactly what we did. Thanks to this man, we were able to get on the overbooked flight and arrive in Campo Grande with time to spare for that night's meeting.

Bro. Hodges spoke three times for the conference. Following the conference theme, "Expanding the Vision for the 21st Century," he addressed three areas specifically: missions, pastoral ministry, and the future of BBF in Brazil and worldwide. Over 300 pastors and workers who attended the conference were blessed by the messages Bro. Hodges brought. The last sermon, emphasizing missions, brought many forward to reaffirm their commitment to God in their ministries, as well as nine brothers and sisters who surrendered to missions specifically.

During the final meeting Bro. Hodges invited the pastors to attend the Global Fellowship Meeting in Cebu City, Philippines, in February 2011. It would be a great experience for these men to see the global outreach of the BBF, as well as the great strides of the BBF in the Philippines. Pray that it might be possible to form a delegation of Brazilian pastors to attend the meeting in 2011.

July is vacation month in Brazil. Not only is it the Brazilian winter, but schools and even some businesses have the entire month off. While the bigger church camp season is in February or March, centered around Carnaval, we had the opportunity to participate in a winter camp weekend, July 9-11. The church hosting the group was Bible Baptist Church of Jardim Aeroporto, the same church that invited us to our first camp in the Campinas area.

It was a blessing to be back with our friends from Campinas after a few months of settling into our new city of Jacareí. The fifty or so campers were a good turnout for a winter camp, especially since they were all from one church. I spoke three times during the camp from Psalm 34 about a life of praise. During this age where so many people mistakenly associate praise and worship with music, it was a privilege to teach how not just our voices, but our very lives ought to be an expression of our worship to the almighty God for all He has done.

One particular part of the camp that I had not planned for turned out to be good experience. On Saturday night they had me come forward after the activities and opened it up for people to ask me questions. I wasn't sure at first what kind of questions I would get, but soon I was answering the key questions that affect teenagers everywhere: What is God's will for my life? Can music and movies really affect my walk with Christ? What does it mean as a teenager to obey my parents? and so on. It was a really good time, and would have gone on well into the night if the leaders not cut it short. Pray for the youth of Brazil--they are facing all kinds of challenges in their schools and families. God can really use these kids, but they really need our prayers to overcome the pressures against serving God.

One of the highlights of 2009 was being able to help missionaries Russ and Diane Dean host US groups. Our goal was not only to help them with translation and overseeing, but to learn practical elements for hosting our own groups. Little did we know what huge blessings God had in store for us through this experience.

We were surprised to find out that the first group was from Lexington, KY. Lexington was Ann Janel's mother's hometown, a city we have visited at least once a year (when we were in the US) since we were married. We were impressed with their level of preparation. Members of the team were required to not only memorize and be able to use the plan of salvation in English, but also memorized key phrases to share the Gospel in Portuguese. They were a close-knit, hard-working group, so it surprised us yet again to learn that many of them were still getting to know one another on the trip. Some were new converts, but showed a level of spiritual maturity and biblical knowledge that is missing from many longer-term converts.

When we helped with this group last year, we had no idea that a year later we would be living in Jacareí, just a few minutes from Russ and Diane and their children's ministry. So it was a huge treat to help host this group again this year. Several of the members had been here last year, and it was great to meet new folks that were part of the team this year.

The group, led by their pastor Tim Parsons and college pastor Todd Thomas, spends only a few days in Brazil, but they pack a lot in that short time. Their main ministry is to Haven of Hope, a non-profit children's ministry located on a farm outside of Jacareí. They spend time with the thirty or so children that are helped during the school year, as well as hosting nearly one hundred children from a underprivileged neighborhood of the city. This neighborhood was also target of a visit by the group, where they distributed donated clothes, toys, and food. In addition to just playing with the kids and putting on evangelistic skits, the group members visited homes and shared the gospel, leading several to Christ. Another part of their time at Haven of Hope was spent helping re-roof one of the buildings. In Brazil, this means tearing off hundreds of colonial roofing tiles, and then tossing up hundreds of new ones to replace them. It is hard work, but everyone pitched in.

As if this weren't a lot to pack into less than a week, they also somehow managed to visit two of our churches in the city, minister to the kids at a Christian school, and openly present the gospel in English at one of the English schools in town. It is very uplifting to see and be a part of all that they do while they are here. Their visit this year will no doubt stick out as a highlight of 2010.

The move to Jacareí has changed a lot of different things in our lives. In addition to the ministry changes that have come about by my being on the pastoral staff of one specific church, Ann Janel has become involved in a number of ministries herself. She is in high demand by young mothers and women in the church as biblical counselor, particularly in the areas of being a godly wife and mother. Many people have also quickly picked up on the fact that Ann Janel is a great resource for those learning English. Not only can she teach the subject, but she is a native speaker they can practice their English on. 

Missionary friends Russ and Diane Dean run a non-profit ministry for underprivileged children just outside of Jacareí called AME, Associação Morada da Esperança (Haven of Hope). Three times a week, about 30 children are bussed out to a farm and receive breakfast, participate in activities and teaching geared toward improving their vocational skills, and then are served lunch before heading to school in the afternoon. With Ann Janel's arrival, they were able to add English to the curriculum this year. Along with missionary Donna Faircloth, these children receive English training from native speaking Americans for free.

Below is a video of the kids singing a song that Ann Janel and Donna taught them so they could sing to the American groups that arrive to minister to them. Ann Janel looked for a song that would not only incorporate Bible, but the colors they have been learning in English. Pray for these kids. They come from hard backgrounds, several with parents in prison, and very few with good prospects in life. Pray that through this ministry they will come to know Christ.

The past month and half has been somewhat unusual. We officially concluded Ann Janel's language studies and left Campinas at the end of February, moving our things to our new home in Jacareí (see this article for a few details and a map). We did not stay long in our new home, however, because we had already made a previous commitment to be in Brasília to fill in for my parents while they headed to the US for a month. Why we decided to move and fill in at nearly the same time is a long story, but I can sum up with: 3 days after arriving in our new place, with boxes and things only partially unpacked, we found ourselves on the familiar twelve-hour drive up north to the country's capital. Oh wait, make that thirteen and half hours--we moved farther away.

The month in Brasília went great. While the men of the church are more than capable of preaching and teaching, and have done so in the past, they were quite happy to leave that to me. It is always great to reconnect with our friends from that church. I also had the opportunity to meet up with a high-school friend I had not seen since graduation nearly nineteen years (Yikes! That long ago, already?) ago. 

Ann Janel became even more immersed in Brazilian culture as Teresinha, one of the church members, taught her how to make pão de queijo (literally cheese bread, but not like anything you find in the US), a very Brazilian breakfast food or daytime snack. It was great to see her with Teresinha, chatting away in Portuguese, learning the recipe, that consisted of non-empirical measurements such as "a heaping plate of cheese," and a "half plate of oil." An interesting note about this recipe is that nearly all the housewives in Jacareí, when told that Ann Janel learned to make it from scratch, have said, "Oh, I buy the mix," or "They have those in the frozen food section." Brazilian cooking is changing, and not necessarily for the better.

The end of our time in Brasília was bittersweet. My kids had been very excited about the idea of spending time with Grandma (my Mom) when she got back from the States at the end of March. We were going to celebrate Joel's fourth birthday with my parents. Halfway into March, however, the doctors gave my Grandma (Mom's mom) about six months to live. Her battle with cancer had now moved into her lungs, and Mom would be staying on indefinitely to care for her. We got to spend a few days with my father once he returned, but time with my mom will have to wait till Christmas. We arrived back from Brasília on March 31. My grandmother passed away on April 1.

We have been in Jacareí about two weeks now, settling into a new house, new routine, new ministry. The city has a totally different feel than Campinas, just as Campinas was totally different than Brasília. It is a good different: we are within walking distance of a number of basic needs (little corner store for this and that, butcher shop, bread store, bike repair, etc.), as well as the feira (FAY-rah, with a rolled "r"). The feira is a very Brazilian small-town tradition. Every Saturday, an entire street in downtown Jacareí is converted into an open-air farmers' market that offers the best produce, the best pastéis (another traditional Brazilian food), the best chance to rub elbows with people from all walks of life.

We are looking forward to what God has for us in this new city, and in this new stage of our ministry.