A Strong, Gentle Force of Hand

All is well and all are feeling pretty happy at this point!  Thanks to your prayers, we have new plane tickets at a mere fraction of the original $11,000 price tag quoted to us last night. (Yes, you read that right!!!)  Now we will be departing Sunday night at midnight (yes, we're positive :) )  and arriving Monday around lunch time.  Did I mention how many times the agent went over the new itinerary with me before she'd let me walk away. Pretty hilarious indeed!

It's immediately apparent that at least three things were known to God, that were not known to us:

1.  All of the kids had hatched a secret plot to pray that they could have (at least ) one more day together.  It worked!

2. On our way home from the airport, we met some great folks involved in a ministry with children from our friends' church that our August team will almost certainly serve with. Who knew?

3.  God knew how much all of us needed just a little more time together to relax , to encourage and to be encouraged by some of our favorite people on the planet before these kingdom servants depart for a new work in a few months!

Of course He knows infinitely more than we do at all times and as the text from my pastor said this morning "Our Sovereign Father reigns in all our affairs."

What joy to rest in His presence and know that He always knows best!

Like a good Father, sometimes it's time for a strong, gentle force of hand.

Stuck and Humbled in Brazil

This is the blog post I don't want to enter. It's the lesson I don't want to learn, not today, not now.  I've been fighting against it all morning because I don't really want to admit what went wrong last night, but here goes.

After tearful goodbyes and many prayers, we headed out for the airport with plenty of time to spare, mostly ready to get on our 12:01 am flight and head for home. As we placed our first bag on the scales, the kind attendant began to look up our reservation when a troubled look came over his face. He looked again at the computer and then asked another airline worker to confirm, that's when he broke the news to us:

Our 12:01 am flight on Friday, March 13 left when it was supposed to, at 12:01 am.  The problem was that neither Danyel, nor I, nor our missionary friend had caught it. We showed up at the airport on Friday, March 13 expecting to board a plane at 12:01, but WE WERE ONE DAY LATE!!!!!

There, I said it.  I don't want to admit it because I've traveled the world far too many times for this to be true, but we simply missed our flight by 24 hours.  Although they tried to get us on the flight last night, because there was space available, somehow in the craziness of trying to get this all figured out at 11:00 at night, it didn't happen, so our missionary friends came to pick us back up and we came back to their place in shock.

Now the systems are down for TAM airlines and we are awaiting a phone call from them to tell us what our options are. We hope to get on a flight this afternoon or tonight, but we need your prayers.

Please pray:

                    - that we will be shown grace and favor with the airlines
                    - that we can get a reservation soon and as for as minimal of a cost as possible

Here's one final piece of advice:  If you ever find yourself with a 12:01flight, make sure you know which day it will be on.  But, if you forget to look and find yourself in a jam, don't let your pride keep you from asking for the prayers of God's people.

"Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor." Proverbs 18:12

Thanks for joining us on the journey!

Wrapping things up

Today we spent the morning getting to know downtown Manaus, especially the open air markets.  The first one we saw was called the banana market and you can see the reason why below.  It was a bustling place full of more bananas than you can imagine as well as countless other exotic and more well known fruits.  We got to have fresh coconut water, one of our Brazilian favorites and then to try several fruits, but my new favorite has to be rambutan, the coolest little deep pink hairy fruit I've ever seen.  It was so delicious that I had to buy a few for the road.

Then it was on to the fish and meat market, where the smell was strong and the people were excited to share their catch of peacock bass and countless others.

After lunch, Danyel led a Bible study for some of the missionary wives while the kids played and my friend and I scouted out accommodations for the August trip.

The hardest thing about tomorrow being our last day will be saying goodbye to our dear friends, but we look forward to our return in August, God-willing.

Please pray for us Friday night as we board a plane at midnight to begin the journey home. 

Your prayers have sustained us and God has granted healing and special grace to our kids who have a new appreciation for all that they have and for their native land.

Thanks for joining us on the journey!

Amazon memories

Today my family boarded a boat and headed up the Rio Negro, an enormous tributary of the Amazon River to visit a training camp for young Brazilian missionaries called Amazon Radicals.  We made so many memories swimming in the river, eating exotic native fruits, watching our friend climb an acai tree, hiking in the Amazon jungle, and swinging on vines, but there's one thing I want to remember  more than all of these things.  I am asking God to never let me forget the young Brazilian missionaries my family and I met today. Each one of them has committed themselves for two years to go through rigorous training in everything from jungle survival to church planting.  They began their three months of training this week at the camp, after which time they'll go out two by two up the river to communities that haven't yet heard the good news of Jesus.

One of the missionaries had a story that touched me deeply that came forth as he shared his testimony with the other racers.  He and his family first heard the gospel when Amazon Radical missionaries who'd been through this same training brought the gospel to his village 5 years ago. As he shared his story, he lamented the fact that no one had brought the gospel sooner so that past generations could have also been saved from a life of hopelessness without Christ.  Now that the gospel has taken root in his life, his passion has grown to make the name of Christ known among those who haven't yet been reached.

Another of them had already come through the training once but had not been able to finish the two year term after contracting malaria followed by an accident where he fell into a log in the river and broke his nose. This young man had to leave the program and was undoubtedly discouraged, but his passion for the lost wouldn't let him stay away.  This time, he's going back through the training, unwilling to stop until the lost have heard. He has put his hand to the plow and he isn't turning back.

That's what I most want to remember about today.  I want most to remember to pray for these young radical missionaries as they train and as they go, that their passion might catch fire in my own heart and the hearts of all others whom they touch.

As you see their picture and their names below, please join with me and intercede for them.

Thanks for joining us on the journey!

A different kind of beautiful

While here in this megacity in the middle of the Amazon jungle, we are surrounded by beauty in many different forms. Our Father's creative handiwork is on display through colorful wild orchids that can be found growing naturally on the side of many trees and in common house plants we might buy in a pot at the local nursery that grow wild and enormous they take over trees.  But today we also got to see God's fingerprints in a little indigenous invasion community on a jungle hillside.  As we look for what God is doing here and for how we can join Him in August with other families, it has not been difficult to find Him pursuing people for His glory.  

This little community of shacks is made up of indigenous families from up the Amazon River who have come to the city looking for a better life.  It's called an invasion because that's how the settlement begins as needy people come in and just set up housekeeping often almost overnight.  This is a common phenomenon in Brazil and makes for significant challenges as you might imagine since there are times when they are driven off of the land and forced to find another place to dwell.  For the many who are lost, they face a life without true hope, but even those who have found Christ are faced with how to leave behind the empty religion of their ancestors as Christ transforms them from the inside out. 

The beauty we saw in that community today was in the smiling faces of the children and of the believers who are now gathering together as a church is being planted in the ever expanding development. These believers may have very little in the eyes of the world, but they have found their treasure in Jesus and are so blessed to grow together with other brothers and sisters in the Lord. 

Please continue to pray for stamina and discernment as we continue to serve.

Tomorrow's plans include a trip up the Amazon River!

Thanks for joining us on the journey!

A shorter bridge to cross

Today was one of those days that almost seems surreal.  Was this really happening or was it too good to be true?  Were we really watching our precious children, once Brazilian orphans, showing a compassion deeper than any of the rest of us were even capable of as they hugged and held and played with some of the fatherless here in Manaus?  Yes!  Yes! Yes! 

Today was a day we've dreamed of as our desire for our little oaks of righteousness (Isaiah 61) to return to their roots with empathy for those not as fortunate as they have been began to be realized.  

At the two orphanages we found a total of over 50 precious children no less worthy of love than our own, who still wait for the love of a forever family.  We found tired workers sowing the seeds of The Father's love in the soil of these little broken hearts.  And we found abounding joy in the eyes of those who poured out love and of those who received it.

As these eleven people were the hands and feet of Jesus to some of the least of these today, there were three among us who took this all in through a different lens than the rest.  I think that the love that poured through them came from a well that ran a bit deeper than the rest of ours. 

The Father to the fatherless sent the rescued to the waiting to remind them of how precious they are.  No stirring testimonies were shared to let the little ones know that these three truly understood their plight, but there is a language deeper than words. The bridge between these hearts was a much shorter one to cross. 

We have enjoyed some sweet moments of connection with our kids ourselves and I'm still not sure who is more grateful for each other, the kids or the parents.

Surveying these pictures, may you never forget what pure religion really is, "visiting orphans and widows in their distress and keeping oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27

Please pray for us tomorrow as we visit another orphanage and some needy indigenous communities here in Manaus. 

Out of my boat

It's amazing to be back in Brazil visiting some of our dearest friends.  We are remembering so many of the things we love about the warm and beautiful people of this nation.  We spent most of the day at home recuperating from the long journey and catching up on all that God has been doing in all of our hearts.

On Sunday evening we worshipped with them and I had the opportunity to preach in Portuguese for the first time in almost 5 years.  As much as I love to preach the Word, I must admit that I was a bit nervous to step outside of my comfort zone.   Perhaps that's why the Spirit had me preaching from Matthew 14:22-33, when Peter walked on water.  I shared how we can't walk with Jesus unless we get out of our boat, which is whatever our comfort zone may be.   

What joy to see the response of Brazilian brothers and sisters responding with a willingness to step out as well.  Today we will visit several local orphanages so please be in prayer for our kids especially.  Pray that they will grow in gratitude and that they will share the hope that they've found in Jesus. 

Thanks for joining us on the journey!

Waiting in Miami

Here we are waiting and waiting and waiting in the Miami airport but it's almost  time to board.  It's so much easier to wait when you know that there is a definite end in sight.  After months of desiring to take this trip, the waiting is finally almost over.  Now only a few hours of flying, some uncomfortable, broken sleep, and some airplane food are all that stands between the Humphreys and our missionary friends.

As believers, we are all waiting, but for something far better, more satisfying, and  more definite than any earthly reunion.  We are waiting for our eternal union with our great Savior!  Maranatha!

We will touch base again from the other side of the ocean.

55 months

In two days, I will be boarding a plane with my family of 5 to return to a land where we have each left a piece of our hearts, the fascinating and hospitable country of Brazil.  Just 55 months ago, we left that land with our three precious gifts in tow holding 5 passports and wondering when we might be using them again.  As we boarded that plane for the US, we could have never dreamed what a spectacular and messy work of redemption would unfold.  Yet, day by day and month by month we've had a front row seat to a glorious unfolding that's really still just beginning.

Perhaps the jury is still out on who has had the most significant transformation thus far.  Is it the three "not so little anymore" Brazilian Americans who are growing in character and in stature daily right before our eyes?  Truth be told, it's probably their parents whom God lured into the furnace with those 6 beautiful little brown eyes.  Never could we have dreamed what would be required of us to parent kids from such hard places and what was truly in our hearts that needed to brought into the piercing searchlight of His presence.

The past 55 months on the Potter's wheel have changed each one of us into different vessels than we were before we boarded that plane.  There was much in each of us that needed to be refined before we could be used the purposes of this season.  Now, after much waiting and praying, He has confirmed to us that it's time for the gospel to poured out of these reformed vessels into the hearts of those who will be waiting for us on the other side of the ocean.  We join with Paul's sentiment in 2 Timothy 2:21 hoping to be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepare to do any good work." 

This journey's two-fold purpose is to re-introduce our children to the land of their birth, and to prepare the way for other families from our church to join us on mission in Manaus, Brazil when we return together in August of this year, God-willing.

Please pray for safe travels, discerning parents, peaceful children and changed lives as we live out the love that is the gospel of Jesus Christ together.