June 10, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

While Tim stayed in Natal teaching regularly at the seminary I took off to the interior of the state of Paraíba to facilitate the missionary trips of three small groups from different churches to the area.

The first group had nine participants from Mississippi, North Carolina, and Florida and was led by George and Linda Bates. Most participants had been to Brazil before and consider this partnership so important that they have tried to return every year. Next year they would like to take a group of Brazilian leaders to speak to churches in one or two of their presbyteries in the States.

During the week, we were involved in construction, a visit to a pre-school and an after school program, contact with non-Christians through a group for the elderly in Brazil called the Third Age Group, who have water aerobic classes taught by Sandra Miranda, the wife of Jango, coordinator of the Sertão Project. We also had contact with Jango’s classmates from his English school. This couple’s evangelism skills are second nature, easily including people and making them feel welcome. We were all happy to see Raimundo and Valdívia, who are now working on the second phase of the Sertão Project in the city of Pombal. They have a very talented young woman, Gabriela, from their last location, São Sebastião (Patos), helping them especially with the children, who presented a choreographed song during the worship service.

One of the advantages of having a long-term partnership is that one can see the changes that take place through the hard work of the Brazilian missionaries. We were in a worship service in Patos where nine new members made their profession of faith, five of which came from church families and felt that they were confirming their baptism and four who were baptized on that evening. The schools have blessed the lives of many children. The missionaries who move to new locations have a rough start at first, but God is faithful and helps them with new strategies.

Friends from a Presbyterian church in Bristol, Tennessee, trained puppeteers to work with children in a rough neighborhood in Natal.

The second group I accompanied and interpreted for came from First Presbyterian Church in Bristol, Tennessee. Their pastor, Gordon Turnbull, came along to visit the Independent Presbyterian Church in Felipe Camarão, in Natal. According to locals, this is the third most dangerous neighborhood in Natal but the church that was planted there has been instrumental in blessing the lives of many children and adults. Alan, a young man who is now a praise leader says it literally saved his life as his family was completely changed by their newfound faith. The school at the church has 65 students from pre-school to fourth grade, and will add the fifth grade next year. We visited in the home of a former student, the poorest home I have ever seen, in a neighborhood slum area. The difference this school makes in the lives of these children sometimes means they have at least two good meals a day. Hence their more substantial snack is in the morning. This partnership has been in place since 2003. Once again, the activities for the week included worshipping, praying, and visiting in the homes. There was also a day for women (“Beauty Day”), in which local professional volunteers cut hair and gave women a special treat, including the visitors. In the evening the visiting medical doctor talked to them about health issues while the visiting pastor shared with the men about principles for family life. The group painted a mural at the school and also trained puppeteers to work with the children.

Children from the semi-arid interior of the northeast of Brazil known as the "sertão."

The church members visited the group at the hotel twice, the last time for the Lord's Supper. It was hard to say goodbye. The two churches hope to continue working together to bless the lives of many who still don't know how much God loves them in Felipe Camarão.

The third group came from Germantown Presbyterian Church and visited Natal and Caicó, four hours away in the semi-arid interior. This congregation is part of Sertão Project II and already has a pastor who hopes to organize the church next year. Among the various activities, we worshipped in the unfinished construction building twice, helped a little bit in the construction work, talked on the radio, visited “Projecting Lives,” a project that reaches out to teenagers at risk in the community through soccer, and visited in homes of both Christians and non-Christians. The week impacted both churches. The local church was encouraged to continue the wonderful work they are doing of reaching out in the community, and the visitors were challenged by the efforts of this developing congregation and their love.

After three weeks away from home I came back convinced that mission trips can make a difference, as brothers and sisters offer different gifts and different contributions from the same body of Christ that includes many nations. I was privileged to accompany these groups and to witness the fellowship between churches working in partnership.

I want to thank all of you who made this possible through your support and prayers.

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 276