Day 19

Day 19 (Tuesday)

Hello Everyone,

Christen and I leave Bom Retiro Do Sul in a few hours. It has been a wonderful 18 days of ministry!

The temperature has been consistently been in the range of 50F to 80F. I have not once brought out Ken Wallen´s awesome Sorrel boots or my long underwear. I sleep with a sheet and light comforter only.

Ysterday, our last ministry day, by the time I got up around 1:30pm, Christen had already met with three youth girls, and would go on to see six more before the evening ended. What a blessing for her to be on her own timetable and have independence in her ministry since she speaks Portuguese. She stirred a lot of youth unto the Lord on this visit and will be breaking some hearts when she leaves tomorrow.

Attached are photos of some youth that the former Hope Chapel Mission teams have had influence upon. (Note the purple fabric in the background.) Everywhere I went, (wedding reception, birthday party & Sunday Services) there were remnants of this material which Carlos Fejerang creatively used as decorations while here in 2007. I think he is due to come back to Brazil so that he can give them another spiritual creative shot in the arm.

The town which Sammy and Marcia pastor is full of ministry opportunities. Spiritually ripe fruit is here to be picked, but there is much darkness to contend with, particularly evident in widespread dysfunctional relationships.

As Paul expressed regarding Corinth "a wide door of effective service is open for me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Corinthians 16:9) so likewise is this true here.

This trip has been very rewarding. Hope Chapel’s investment into our Brazilian missionaries has been a joy to observe these last 18 days.

As I get back on the plane, I’m encouraged to know that this couple is not squandering their life here on earth, but are making a difference in people for eternity!

What an example to all of us!

See you soon,

Jason (with editorial input from Christen)

Days 16-18

Days 16-18 (Saturday -Monday) Hello Everyone, While Jason and Sammy prepared for Sunday’s sermon, and counseled members of the congregation, Christen was on a retreat with the women of the church. Approximately 30 women in total were there – including a leadership team with the sole focus of serving those newer believers attending the “Encounter.” Even though Christen has been a believer for nine years, she too had plenty to learn through this experience! It was an incredible opportunity to see the Lord at work transforming the lives of those who have very recently committed to following Him! The spiritual growth that took place over 48 hours would take months to attain outside of this concentrated period of teaching and ministry. It was also a blessing to watch as the church lived out the “priesthood of believers” and to know that the fruit of past Hope Chapel Mission teams is now bearing even more fruit. Those who have been in the faith for two or three years spent their entire weekend teaching, praying, or serving meals to those who were converted two or three months ago. WOW! In addition to simply observing the ministry, Christen was also inspired by a specific teaching on the cross. Although so fundamentally basic to our faith, the cross remains profound. Furthermore, every aspect of our ministry must begin and be centered upon it! Speaking of ministry, it’s our last day full day here in Bom Retiro and Christen still refuses to stop! In the midst of saying goodbyes last night, she was also making plans for lunch, ice-cream and more, to take place today. She was delighted to finally spend some time pouring into Agnes, Noelle, and Uliana over lunch. These three sisters were anxious for attention, but have not been consistent in church due to family problems which Satan has used to distract them. When praying, please remember the following requests: · These three girls, and the many lives which have been touched through our ministry here in Bom Retiro and the surrounding area. Pray that the seeds planted here will continue to grow – and bear fruit! · Jason and Christen as they prepare to travel. Pray for Christen as she spends the following week meeting with believers in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. · Marcia, Sammy, and Caleb as they transition back into “normal” life. Ask that the Lord would continue to sustain them and give them a period of rest. Blessings, Christen & Jason

Day 15

Day 15 (Friday)

Hello Everyone,

Christen and Marcia left this evening for a two night women’s retreat while Sammy and I went to a big birthday party for Karina, a 15year old girl whose is a younger sister of one of Sammy’s disciples named a Vladimir.

We had awesome churrasco (barbecue) and birthday cake.

We left the party and 3 guys joined us for late-night coffee back at Sammy’s home. These guys are in one of the 30 cell (small) groups in the church here.

The highlight of the evening was a new brother in the Lord, nickname Tatu who sung us a recent song he wrote. He is only three weeks old in Jesus.

He is a secular musician by trade. It will be wonderful to see him re-direct his talent to the glory of God in the years to come. I pray he will get grounded & his life will yield a fruitful crop (Matt 13:23).

Last year, he remembered Michael Chatman who came on the 2008 mission team in the studio when they cut a bi-lingual Christian Brazilian music CD. Tatu commented, “Oh, here comes these lame Christians again! How ironic- 12 months later his eyes would be open to Jesus.

“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” Galatians 6:9

What a good reminder for us. You never know who is watching you and what seeds you are planting….even if from all appearances sake you don’t observe any spiritual interest.

On behalf of the team,

Jason

Day 14

Day 14 (Thursday)

Hello Everyone,

“Then he appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons” Mark 3:14,15

Effective leadership selects, models, and releases people into specific assignments. They develop others to reach their potential. No one did this better than Jesus.

Tonight, I saw a 21^st century example of this in Pastor Sammy.

After leading Valcir to the Jesus in 1999, Sammy selected Valcir and Evaldo to begin a church plant in Novo Hamburgo (pop. 150,000) in 2004 . Each week, for one year, Sammy drove one hour away to this city, to form, nurture and develop the leadership base.

I taught in this church plant this evening. What a joy to see that what began in a living room has expanded to a church family of 100 followers of Jesus. It continues to grow under the solid pastoral leadership of Valcir & Claudete and Evaldo & Louvane.

After the service, I particularly wanted to meet the Sunday School Director and take note of the children’s ministry facilities. I discovered that 25-30 school-aged children (those who can read) meet in a big room. This room is divided into a smaller room by a partition to accommodate an additional 10-15 babies & children (up to 6 years old).

The sight of their facility reminded me of the early 1980s days when we began Hope Chapel, and the challenging conditions of our nursery and children’s ministry facilities.

These childrens’ workers in Novo Hamburgo are soldiers for Jesus. They labor in obscurity inculcating the values of Jesus into the little lives with which they have been entrusted.

After we returned home at midnight and enjoyed coffee and conversation with Joel, we were about to wind down. However, around 2:00am, we discovered the live broadcast of Kit’s memorial service, and like all of you, Sammy, Christen and I were more than inspired over the honor Kit gave to Jesus and the impact his life had for the Kingdom.

Jesus multiplied His influence through His disciples; likewise, the lives of Sammy, the childrens’ workers, and Kit are an example to each of us as well.

On behalf of the team,

Jason

Day 13 - April 30

Day 13 (Wednesday, April 30th)

Hello Everyone,

Tonight, Christen had the opportunity to preach the gospel over the one radio station in town. Each Wednesday from 8-10 pm the church pays for air-time, and tonight that included an interview and teaching from her! After sharing her testimony, she talked about the pit of sin, and how to get out – adapting a teaching she once heard by Beth Moore. Whether it be the effects of sexuality immorality, or Drug/Alcohol addiction, or physical abuse – there are MANY residents in this city that are currently living in a pit and need the deliverance that only Jesus Christ can bring!

As Christen was in the broadcast studio, Jason, Sammy and a couple of his disciples (Alison & Valdemir) traveled to a city about 1.5 hours away called Vera Cruz (pop. 8,000). It is a four year old church plant of about 150 people. These independent churches are predominately called Cell Churches whereby most evangelism, discipleship and equipping are organized around small groups. They have 25 cell groups and Pastor Marques (31yrs old) invited me to speak to his cell group leaders.

What a blessing to meet with these 45+ leaders who bring oversight to the church.

Afterwards, at about 10:30pm, we went to get Pizza and had a great question/answer time with the leadership and another pastor who attended the meeting. One of the interesting challenges for Pastors in Brazil is the expectations of church members – who show up unannounced in their homes day or night – with counseling and prayer needs. I asked about this at the table and one of the pastors who lives at the church property says he has pretty much solved the problem by expecting the people to meet with their 40 cell leaders first. He tells them that it is disrespectful to by-pass their direct cell leader, so in this way he has mitigated much of the impact. Sounds like the advice Jethro, Moses` father-in-law, shared with him to prevent burn out (Exodus 18:13-27).

`Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain, and you shall place at these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.´(Ex 18:21)

This is my primary objective in Brazil- to strengthen their leadership base to include others, and thus spread the joy of kingdom service. In raising up other leaders, the pastors will be able to avoid burnout. I fulfill this objective through my gifting and passion- teaching the Word of God and drinking late night cappuccino with pastoral leadership.

Please pray for…

· Marcia & Christen regarding the “Women’s Encounter” with others from the church this weekend and that she may continue to minister to girls and young women here.

· Luana, whom I nicknamed Luana 1, in my 1st trip here in 2004. She is 15 yrs old now and is facing unmentionable challenges as she is becoming a young woman.

On behalf of the team,

Jason

Day 12 - April 29

Day 12 (Tuesday)

Hello Everyone,

As Jason mentioned in his Day 11 update, I spent the night at the Guzzo’s house. After taking the bus by myself – Vini’s sister and mom picked me up from the bus terminal and we went for coffee and snacks…However, even more delightful than my hot chocolate was the great conversation that we shared as sisters in Christ.

We walked home and a short while later a lot of Vini’s friends arrived – apparently invited over just to meet the American Something I’m slowly learning about the Brazilian culture is the value placed on relationships. Rather than have something planned to do, they just want to spend time with other people. So we pulled out the Chimarrão (An herbal tea – very common here in the South) and as you say in Hawaii “talked story.” There were LOTS of questions about American culture, including the all time famous: “What do you eat?”

Here in Rio Grande do Sul, they eat lots of Barbecue, and that night at the Guzzo’s was no exception. After the conversation wound down and the dishes were cleaned up, it was nearly 2 am when I climbed in to bed. I was pretty certain that I was not going to make it to school with Fernanda in the morning as I had promised.

When her alarm went off at 6:45, I realized that sleeping in would mean missing out on a perhaps once-in-a-life-time opportunity. So, on a little more than four hours of sleep, I too started getting ready for a day in Brazilian high school. While I could go on and on, about the many differences between the American education system and this one, I’ll simply say that it experience I’m glad I didn’t miss out on.

Fernanda’s class had 29 girls, all aged 14-15, and all very curious about this foreign visitor who spoke Portuguese. The second period teacher, after asking me a few questions, invited me up to the front to share a Bible verse. I don’t know anything about the spiritual background of this teacher, but she opened the door wide for me to share the gospel in a public school! So, instead of just sharing a verse, I went to the front, and in Portuguese, gave a testimony of the Lord’s work in my life and a basic presentation of the gospel – incorporating it into how I have arrived here in Brazil. What was so special to me is that I was in their shoes when I chose to follow Christ: nine years and a day ago!

After lunch at the Guzzo’s house, I spent the afternoon in Fernanda’s English class and then caught the bus back to Bom Retiro where I had company waiting for me. I took three young girls from the church out for ice-cream, but made sure not to spoil the yummy dinner to come – as we were invited over to Kiko and Jacque’s house. (Just a note on this couple – their house has tripled in size since they have become followers of Christ. As the Lord continues to bless them, they continue to share their blessings with others!)

I’m still squeezing every little bit of Brazil possible into each day!

Please pray for the following requests:

• Thank God for the openness of the Brazilian school system and for the opportunity to share the gospel. Pray that the young girls in that room would desire a relationship with Christ and that I will continue to be used in their lives through the technology of the internet.
• Pray for me as I share on the radio of Bom Retiro tonight. Marcia will be helping me to translate a message on the blessings of obedience and the results of disobedience. Pray that many will desire to bring their lives under the Lordship of Christ!

With much love

On behalf of the team,

Christen

Day 11- April 27

Day 11 (Monday)

Hello Everyone,

When your time on earth is completed, what evaluation will God have of your life and ministry? What is the essence of success in God’s eyes?

Three Important Questions

1. Are you being faithful? Matthew 25:21-23; 1 Corinthians 4:1, 2

Are doing what God has called you to do, utilizing all that which God has given you to do it?

2. Are you bearing Fruit? God wants us to bear much fruit. John 15:1-8

*Christ-like Character. As seen in the fruit of the Spirit” Gal 5:22, 23

This is fruit he wants to express in you.

*Christ-like Influence. As exemplified by Jesus in Acts 10:38.

This is fruit…he wants to manifest through you.

3. Are you making God famous? True success brings God glory.

Matt 5:16 “When people see our good deeds they will glorify God in heaven”

That is why we are to fully exercise our spiritual gifts… so that God is glorified. 1 Peter 4:10, 11

With the remaining days we each have on earth we are called to be successful by being faithful, fruitful and making God famous.

Our friend Kit Lauer went to heaven on Friday, April 24^th….in Gods eyes…he was a success.

Tonight, I did a teaching on this subject (Success in God’s eyes) to about 40 leaders who provide oversight of the church in Bom Retiro do Sul.

Throughout the evening we paused and wrote our personal reflections as to what degree are we being faithful in our gifting, resources and our experiences? What fruit is evident in you and is manifesting through you and what ways is God becoming famous through our life?

These are important questions for each of you reading this update as well.

After the leadership workshop, at 10:00 pm, Sammy and I drove to 30 minutes away to Lajeado and had churrasco (barbecue) dinner with Vinicius Guzzo´s parents and his 15year old sister, Fernanda.

Vinicius (21yr old Brazilian), as most of you know, is a current intern in the Hope Chapel worship department. The bonus and surprise in all this was that Vinicius´ mother, who has a catholic background as well as the dad, began asking assurance of salvation questions. Wow! Did Sammy get excited and for one hour began sharing the gospel amidst her questions.

Christen spent the night there. Sammy and I came home and talked about Romans 5 in preparation for my last upcoming Sunday teaching till 4:30am.

What a glorious evening!

So many spontaneous things happen, not only because we are in Brazil where flexibility and unpredictability is a way of life….but also due to the Holy Spirit’s orchestration. Therefore, I’m convinced that your prayers are a big part of it.

“Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel”

On behalf on the team,

Jason