Birthday

I had my 28th birthday yesterday! I was so blessed by the people who left me Happy Bday FB messages and others who emailed me, and some people even called! Yay for great birthdays! Mom made me homemade, from scratch, pancakes for breakfast. And then she made me sausage, pepporoni, black olive, and mushroom pizza for dinner. And lastly, the traditional black forest cake, gone white. I am allergic to chocolate, so it was a blonde or white forest cake this year...Yummy! :) I sure am loved!

I am going to let God lead again

My friend posted this on her blog, and when I read it, I went whoa, I feel ya! I wanted to share this with you. So...this is not my writing, but it sure speaks to me right now!

"I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." Job 3:26

Too much of me, too little of God.
Too much worry, not enough prayer.
Too much conflict, not enough peace.
Too many accusations, not enough grace.
Too much stuff, too little joy.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11: 28-30

I am weary. I am burdened. And I am sick of it. So, I am going to let God lead again.

Testimonies, and more testimonies!

Personal testimonies are one of the greatest ways people can share the great things God is doing in and through their lives! I was able to hear three fabulous testimonies, and lead a devotion about sharing the great things God is doing--all within a 24 hour period!

The first testimony was from a woman who had been involved in witchcraft and casting spells, from a very young age. Her parents wanted her to become more and more important in the spiritual centers and "gave" her to the satanic gods. The ramifications of her parents choices were mighty, although the number one point from this woman was, "When God allows the Devil to work, he can do real damage; the LORD has all power, although, we should not underestimate our adversaries ways! The truth will prevail!"

The second testimony was from a woman who was born in a Christian home, fell in lust with a Christian man at a spiritual center, chased after him, renounced her faith in Jesus Christ, joined Satan's team, came back to Christ, and now is serving God! She too stressed that God is good and He is always with us, no matter where we go, however bad it is, He will always love us. No wall is too high too keep Gods love away from us.

For the devotional I was leading, I chose to speak on Luke 8:39. "'Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.' So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him." We broke up into smaller groups, praying for one another, as we proclaimed what great things God has done and is doing in our lives, we also prayed that we would be more like Jesus Christ, idolizing Him!

The coolest part of the devotion was that right before I was to give it, Vanda came up and asked if she could share a short testimony, how timely!? God is so good! Vanda shared that she had come to INFORM missions training on funds raised by friends at the church and she had been cleaning bathrooms here to pay her way. Vanda wanted to go to Paraguay for a mission trip. Upon going up to prayer mountain with a group of people, God said to her, "Do not worry, your trip will be funded!" In Vanda's words, "I stand here today, to tell you, a brother has funded my trip!"

God is and continues to do great things!


Faith (L) and Vanda (R)

Faith's Profile

One of the things that we've had to do in preparation for going overseas was take a personality profile. I laughed and smiled upon receiving mine, as it describes me to a T! I am excited to see how God is going to use these unique qualities over this next year. Here are a few things that really stuck out to me...

• Accept Faith's need to compete and win
• Acknowledge Faith's value and worth frequently
  
• Give your undivided attention to Faith's interest
• Faith tends to prefer to have time to process new information before responding
• Faith tends to practice selective perception, only hearing and/or remembering that which she agrees (Mom does not like this!)
• Faith can get bogged down in "What-If's" I have been praying and really clinging onto 1 John 4:18. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love

Church Service in Teresopolis, Rio de Janiero, Brazil

In the USA, or at least in the churches I have been a member at in Texas, the church buildings are huge! Sanctuaries seating at least 1,000. Beautiful and ornate structures--the pews, the altars, the ceiling and walls, stained glass windows, etc. In Teresopolis I had a very different experience. I felt like I had walked into a warehouse, sat down on a plastic chair that could easily break underneath me, sheets draped over a concrete ceiling, super loud praise and worship music--drums, electric guitar, voice, saxaphone, keyboard, trumpet, and who knows what else. The music was fabulous, although, I must say, I like my music so that I can hear it. I should've brought my ear plugs.

The entire church service was in Portuguese (it was in Brazil). Methodist church services in the USA tend to last 1 hour. I think this was at least 2 or 3. I really do not remember. I just remember being really hungry. I read my bible alot too. I must say, the passion in these congregants puts the Frozen Chosen :) (Presbyterians) to shame! The sermon itself was a good hour. Don't ask me what was preached on. I do not speak Portuguese.

After church we were honoured with some special sandwiches and popcorn. Yummy! We also receeived some Lye soap as a gift. Dinner at 10PM! I like 5PM dinners better. Obviously, Faith did not get, what Faith wanted.

On a serious note, the night was incredble and I felt very honoured by the body of Christ!

Side note semi funny story--I had to go to the washroom during church, so I ran out to go, but after I went, I could not figure out how to flush. I had to go get some help. Cassio pointed at the high pull chain coming from the tank. I kept pushing the "button" behind me. Ha!

Psalm 118:17

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD! ~Psalm 118:17

I will live to declare Gods works! And live fully! :)

Do It Self or is this Faith's Weight Loss Program?

My grandfather nicknamed me, "Do It Self" for a very good reason. I am stubbornly independent. This past week, God has allowed me to depend on others for every little thing, and it's hard. The day I came home from Brazil, Nick brought me Gatorade. The following day, another friend brought me groceries. As time progressed, I became more and more sick. I went to the Dr, after a good friends urging. So much so, she called the Dr for me. My brother and my girlfriend took me to the Dr and I since my fam doctor is on holiday, I was able to see someone else.

The Dr. gave me two medicines. One for anxiety, which I took once, and decided not to take again, and a new antibiotic. The antibiotic is supposed to make me better, instead...I have a head to toe rash, itchy skin, awful shaking (uncontrollably), hot flahses, a back that feels like it's on fire, out of body type experiences, dizziness, and constant nauseau. So...one more med to go on the FAITH DO NOT TAKE list...

Great things God is doing...
A) I'm learning to really rely on God and his provisions through people
B) I'm realizing how good my friends are and that they really do care about me
C) I'm reading and praying through the Book of Job
D) Forced relaxation
E) More time to Thank and Praise Jesus!

More Prayers

I went to the Dr. this morning and was prescribed two medicines

Please pray for me as I leave for Ukraine in 21 more days and satan does NOT want me on those starting blocks. Pray for healing and anxiety!

Powerful statement!

I believe that the Lord Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, and He is head over all rule and authority. I am complete in Him. I believe that Satan and his demons are subject to me in Christ, since I am a member of Christ's body. Therefore, I obey the command to submit to God, and resist the devil, and I command Satan in the name of Jesus Christ to leave my presence!

This comes from Neil Anderson's book, "The Bondage Breaker." I cannot read it without weeping. Please pray for me and any spiritual attacks I am going through!

Thanksgiving!

It is with Great Thanksgiving to God, that I was able to speak to Faith this morning in San Antonio, Texas, USA! Faith will have many things to share in the near future but for now she is trying to rest. I gladly give back the responsibilities of posting on her blog. Welcome back, Faith!
Mom - aka Ruth

On Her Way Home!

Hi Friends and Family of the Brazil Trainees!

Well, we are all safely at the airport in Rio, checked in, and awaiting our flight to Atlanta. Our days here provided a good chance to unwind a bit. I did what has become a tradition for me by taking the kids out for ice cream. Some folks rested, others did some shopping yesterday, then attended worship in the evening. Today we checked out and toured – but, the weather didn’t cooperate. It was pretty rainy and cloudy all day. We took the cable cars up to the peak called “Sugarloaf”. Most the time we had a view of what the inside of a cloud looks like. But it broke enough toward the end that we got a good view from one side.

We then lunched at a wonderful restaurant called a Shuraskuria (sp?). Be sure to ask about it. Then we were to go up to the famous, huge statue of Christ that overlooks the city – but we realized that the expense and time it would take would reveal only another close look at the inside of a cloud, not to mention getting our clothes wet in time for our flight out. So reluctantly, we canceled that part of the plans. We did a bit more touring around the city – including a stop at the bar where the famous song “The Girl from Ipanema” was written and a stop at a huge, modern Catholic Cathedral. Finally to the airport.

Everyone seems to have had a good time, but all are understandably tired. Lots of information and experiences to process over the coming weeks and months. Thanks for your prayers for these two weeks and for your interest and support of their call.

Grace and Peace,

Jim"

Where Faith stayed and a Group photo with Faith.

New version of Where's Waldo? Look for Faith. :-) She is in the upper right part of the group.

"Hello,

I’m writing this Saturday night, but not sure when I’ll have Internet to send it. We leave for Rio at 9:00am – about a 3-hr drive. Once we check into our hotel, everyone is free until evening when we’ll go to local churches. Monday we will check out early, then we have a tour planned for the day to see the Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks the city, enjoy Brazilian BBQ (a real meat fest), and some other site seeing. We’ll head to the airport in the evening for our 10:00pm flight out.

The training ended well. For our final two days, we had more training in cross-cultural ministry. Bishop Juao Carlos Lopes did a session about the importance of working with the local church that exists in most places missionaries go. Then two US missionaries who have lived in Brazil for many years shared about their own personal experience of applying much of what we have learned. It gave a practical and personal face to the stuff we’ve been teaching.

Thursday we had an America-style cookout. We grilled hamburgers, made baked beans, potato salad, and brownies served with ice cream. The folks scarfed them down pretty quickly.

Today we ended with a bang – literally. We shot off bottle rockets that the kids (and the not-so-young kids) had made. That’s always lots of fun. This evening we had a worship and communion service, followed by a bonfire up on a hill that overlooks the valley. It was a time for people to share testimonies of how God has spoken to them during these days. Many people shared about the transforming experience this has been – changing lots of the presuppositions they had coming here. While they may have seen that missions is a bit more complicated than they had thought, they all experienced an even stronger sense of calling to trust God to help them meet the challenges. Many spoke of the friendships they’ve made here, several with people who can’t understand each other’s language, but still connected over a common love of God and commitment to His mission in the world. All the folks from the US were pretty amazed with the level of passion that the Brazilians bring to an event like this!

So, we’ll head down the mountain to a hot, humid Rio – just glad it is winter, not summer there! The memories the trainees have built here will be with them all their lives. It’s always awesome to see how when we set the context for God to bless, He just shows up in a big way and consistently exceeds our expectations. This week has been yet another example of that.

If I have connection in Rio, I may send a brief note from the airport. But I’m not sure that’ll be possible, so if you don’t hear back, assume your loved ones are boarded on a plane Monday night and headed home safely. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to get to give you a glimpse of what the folks have been experiencing here. At The Mission Society, we understand that it is not just the missionary and their immediate family who are impacted by their call. But that there are relatives left behind who miss them and perhaps worry about them. We’re always glad to speak with you should you have questions or should you just have a need to talk with someone who understands what you are experiencing yourself.

Grace and Peace,

Jim"