Back to Brazil!

24 hours from now, we'll be waiting at the airport to board a plane headed back to our beloved Brazil for yet another mission opportunity with our kiddos.  At 10, 11 and 13, we are amazed at the doors God has opened for our kids to serve alongside us in the land of their birth.

We can hardly wait to serve and share the gospel with our brothers and sisters in Manaus as we love orphans and impoverished kids through Backyard Bible Clubs and Soccer Clinics.

I'll do my best to keep the updates coming so you can keep us covered in prayer.

Thanks for praying for us and joining us on the journey!

5 years ago today

5 years ago today, it finally happened.  We finally met 3 little Brazilian orphans, two sisters and a brother who, until that time, we knew as merely pictures and a grainy 10 second video. Our hearts had ached and prayed and hoped and dreamed of them, but on that day, there they were.

Years of waiting for a referral ended on the day we got the call, that was followed by the email in which 3 precious children's faces slowly downloaded onto our screens and took our breath away.  Then came what seemed like endless months of more and more permissions, paperwork, inspections, trips to the Brazilian consulate, trips to Target, all interspersed with tears and prayers as we waited and waited and waited.

But 5 years ago today, the waiting was finally over. Two excited, hopeful, scared Americans were about to meet them.  Was this really happening?  As we awoke that morning, we didn't know what was happening on the other side of the orphanage wall.  Orphanage workers awoke three little sleepy heads and told them that today was the day they would meet their new parents.  Hair had to be brushed, and they'd finally get to wear the little red, white and blue outfits that they'd received in the care package from this mysterious couple who had promised to love and take care of them.

I can only imagine what must have been running through their little 4, 5 and 7 year old minds.  What would they really be like?  Will they be fun?  Will they be rich?  Will we really play in the snow like in all of the movies about America?

That day, 5 years ago today, theirs weren't the only minds filled with questions and wonder.  What would it be like to suddenly be the parents of 3 after 15 years of marriage and freedom?  Would they like us? Would they be scared to death?  Would they be picky eaters?  Would they believe us when we told them we'd take good care of them?  Would they be strong-willed?  Would they like it in America or would they wish they could be back in Brazil?  Would the dogs scare them?  Would they grow to love Jesus one day?

Then it all happened so fast.  We pulled up to the orphanage, rang the doorbell, and all of a sudden, there they were!  As Steven Curtis Chapman put it, "In a moment what had been was lost in what will be."

With joy-filled hearts, tear-filled eyes, and huge hugs, two Americans and three Brazilians who'd never met suddenly became a family of five.

It's still almost too much to comprehend, this miracle of adoption.  How God can infuse you with a love that is both instantaneous and ever-growing for someone you've never met.

5 years later, all of this seems like such ancient history, hidden behind the priceless memories we've already made together over these years together.  Before, we could have never imagined the life God had in store for us.  A life of deep joy and sometimes overwhelming sorrow as we love the little ones whom life has dealt such difficult blows.  Now, it's impossible to imagine life without two girls and a boy who have been grafted into this family tree and into our hearts.

And today, like every other July 8, is our Family Day!  It's the day we'll spend the day together having fun, enjoying each other and giving thanks to the Father of the Fatherless for fulfilling the longings of all five of our hearts.

"This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes."  Psalm 118:23

  

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!