September 2001

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8

Dear Partners in Mission,

This past semester brought the fulfillment of two long-awaited dreams and the answers to specific prayer requests. My main responsibilities in the church and seminary have been in the area of music, but for several years I had hoped and prayed for the opportunity to teach a course in Christian education, with the desire to stimulate creative, participative teaching and learning in church education. This dream became a reality when I was invited to teach just such a course this past semester.

Another dream, which Thelma and I both had, was to host a mission team from the United States that would come to work specifically with our church congregation here in Londrina. Our involvement with this congregation of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, since arriving in Londrina at the beginning of 1997, has been very meaningful to us. We meet in a rented warehouse, and when land was bought last year for the construction of our new church building, we became interested in having a group come to help us out.

In November the youth director at First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Carrys Marion, wrote expressing an interest in exploring the possibility of bringing a group to Brazil. After months of planning, both in Tuscaloosa and here in Londrina, a group of 14 landed in Londrina in July to have one week of what was an unforgettable experience for all. Thelma and I were accompanied at the airport by a large welcoming group from our church, and from that moment on, in spite of the language barrier and cultural differences, both groups worked together in harmony and developed a respectful and caring relationship for each other.

Events of the week included long hours of work at the worksite, where the group from Tuscaloosa and members of our church here worked side by side. There were cookouts, soccer games, and other outings planned by members of our church. A highlight of the week was a quick trip to the majestic Falls of Iguassu, one of Brazil’s most famous tourist attractions. Members of our church hosted the American group in their homes during the last two nights of this mission experience, and by this time a strong, lasting bond had developed between the groups.

The last full day was a Sunday, and it included the participation of those from Tuscaloosa in Sunday school and church. Many words of appreciation were spoken by both groups, and there were tears at the airport the next day. The members of our church gathered to sing a special song to our Tuscaloosa friends right in the middle of the airport, about how friendship, like God’s presence in our lives, is eternal. As they sang I realized how we had all be blessed throughout this very special experience.

Life has gone back to normal now, but as one of our seminary students expressed in the church bulletin the next week, "normal will not be like it was before…it will be different; it will be promising; it will be a blessing."

I turned in the grades for my Christian education course the day after the group from Alabama returned to Tuscaloosa, and doing that caused me to realize how God had answered our prayers in so many special ways. "Ask, and it will be given you…for everyone who asks receives"!

Love,

Farris and Thelma Goodrum

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 258

P.S. We sent this letter in August, but it reached Louisville in November, so I want to take this opportunity to add something at the end before it goes to press.

After the attacks of September 11 the children of our church, under the supervision of one of the young people who is a Sunday School teacher, prepared cards for our new friends in Tuscaloosa, expressing their concern. After receiving these cards Julie Ray wrote, "Please tell Mere how much these pictures mean to me, and Lora, and our preacher, Charlie (Rev. Charles Durham). He plans on using them in his children’s sermon on Sunday." And Lora Hubbard wrote "We so appreciated the precious cards from the Sunday School class. Their thoughts and prayers were so meaningful to all of us!"