3 Jobs

Sometimes I feel like I have 3 full-time jobs. Hear me out, I'm not complaining. As a veteran on a missions team, there are always a multitude of opportunities to contribute. There's never a dull moment! As I try to maintain a balance, sometimes I need to put it all down on paper to help sort things out. Please process with me.

JOB 1:

Our Leadership Team for CO Belo Horizonte, under the leadership of our Regional Director Pedro Albuquerque, is always "on"; especially this semester. We are in the first semester back on campus in 2 years of hiatus due to COVID-19, and there are lots of executive and strategic ins-and-outs as a result. Our team is doing a great job re-inserting themselves into the new campus reality (50% turnover in student body, new campus regulations - basically starting over on a campus we have spent 20+ years). Thoughts about the future of our team and initiatives are always on the radar. Shepherding and pastoral needs abound on ministry teams, and post-COVID is no exception. We are trying to lead like Jesus, with resolve, grace and mercy. 

JOB 2:

Almost two years ago, we took a big leap in the pandemic to establish a non-profit to be our operational arm here in Belo Horizonte. Primarily meant to run our English initiative and be above reproach before the Brazilian authorities, we also used the new organization to rebrand our campus ministry under the name "Multicampus" - a more contextualized option for the Brazilian college campus. This year I took the lead for structure and operations for the non-profit and the campus ministry. It's been a lot of discovery and working out kinks in terms of how it all fits under the umbrella of our ministry team and structure. The financial reality is also very new - working with accountants and software for processing English class payments under a fairly heavy Brazilian bureaucratic system of taxes and reporting. I like being able to use my creativity in the rebranding, but there is a lot of competition for those hours I could dedicate to developing a visual logo, organizational model and social media presence.

JOB 3:

And lastly, equally important in our overall ministry is church leadership. I have been leading our Elder Board at Comunidade Horizonte since our previous pastor transitioned in 2019. This has included a "few" big things…preaching a handful of times per year, pastoral search process, confirming a wonderful new Brazilian pastor at the very beginning of the pandemic, a very limiting urban COVID context, closing out location due to limitation in the pandemic and moving to a temporary location - and now in 2022, working alongside our Elders and Pastoral staff to enact a reaction strategy coming out of COVID this year. Churches have been hit hard - because PEOPLE have been hit hard by the pandemic: divorces, strained relationships, job losses, health problems, and a spiritual lethargy that is hard to overcome. We are working hard as a church to move back into a place of direction, vision and strength together with our members to reach within and without, under the grace of God.

Continue to pray that these efforts are not in vain, and that new leaders are being developed to take the reigns in the coming years.