August 2002

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

We would like to share with you where we have been and what we have done since we left Fortaleza two months ago. On our way to the States via São Paulo, we missed two flights. What a discouraging way to begin a furlough, especially with three kids.

First, we stayed in the Miami area and were blessed to enjoy the company of my family and friends. During the two weeks in Miami, we had the opportunity to speak in a Sunday school class for youth at the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale. We shared with them some of our experiences during our first term of mission experience. I was told by the Reverend Tim Dobbins, one of the pastors of the church, that during the last year this group of young people has become interested in the mission field. In fact, the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale is planning a mission trip to the Amazon region in Brazil next year and some of the young people from this group will certainly participate.

After the two weeks in Miami, we moved to Decatur, Georgia, where we are going to be on furlough until June 30, 2003. After arriving in Decatur, we stayed in an apartment for two weeks, waiting for the house that had been assigned for us to be ready. Happily, we are now settling into one of the houses at Mission Haven. To some extent, it was a month of frustration, moving every two weeks from one place to another. Though, sometimes it is difficult, we believe that God prepares the hearts of the mission families to live this kind of life. Missionaries are constantly moving.

As soon as we arrived in Decatur, I started to get involved in activities at Columbia Theological Seminary. In our last newsletter, I shared with you that we will be staying for a school year in the States. I will be working on a degree at Columbia Theological Seminary, and, in fact, I have already started feeling the pressure of the school’s demands. But at the same time, it is a time of grace in my life for this great opportunity of time to do theological preparation.

The new church development committee at Columbia gave me the privilege of being the dean’s coordinator for the Hispanic lay leadership training program. This program prepares the lay leadership of the new Hispanic Presbyterian Fellowship in the area of the Atlanta, Marietta, Norcross, and nearby cities in Georgia.

During the week of August 4, my family and I had the opportunity to be at the missionary sharing conference held at the facilities of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. This gathering is sponsored by the Worldwide Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) so that all mission co-workers and their families who are in the U.S. on interpretation assignment can get together to share, learn, and be nurtured by each other. All of us that attended this activity had opportunities to share our experiences with one another. I would use this opportunity to express my gratitude on behalf of my family for the great support that each one of us mission co-workers received during the sharing conference. We’d like to thank all the offices at the Presbyterian Church Center in Louisville, beginning with the office of the Reverend Dr. Marian McClure, director of the Worldwide Ministries Division. Special thanks to the Mission Co-worker Office and its staff, Susan Rhema, Suzanne Mauck, Elizabeth Rojas, and John and Anne Wheeler-Waddell. Without their support, the ministries that we do around the world on behalf of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) would not be possible. We praise and thank the God of our Lord Jesus Christ for their support, affection, care, and love expressed to all of us. I said to some of my colleges in this activity: "the longer I am a Christian, the more Presbyterian I become." I feel proud and privileged to be a member of one of the greatest Christian denominations in the world, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). May the grace of God bless our denomination in the years to come as we attempt to discern and participate in the mission of our Master Jesus Christ.

Lastly, I would like to let you know that, if your church would like to know more about our first term mission experience in the northeast of Brazil—in Fortaleza, Ceara—I would be more than happy to come and share with you. Our home address, phone, and e-mail is correct as above.

With you in the journey,

The Greens: Ricardo, Reyna, Kerry, Ashley and Richard