Part 2: Ministry Front - 2019

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(This update is going to be split into 2 parts, to help summarize and paint a picture of the past 6 months. This part is an update on the Ministry Front, the other in an update on the Family Front.)

The mere fact that 2019 has not seen a single update from us is an indication that it has been a busy year. Yes, the Family Front has been busy, but so has the Ministry Front. I will try to summarize below based on my current roles.

Area Director & Campus Director: My role as Area Director is to oversee the campus teams and help lead and coach the Campus Directors of each team. Interestingly, 2019 began without a Campus Director for either of our campus teams. Demps Dempsey, our Regional Director, and I stepped into interim Campus Director roles for 2019. That means a good bit more time back on campus, leading young staff directly in their personal ministries, and thinking for the strategy and execution on the campuses. My specific campus team at UFMG is composed of 6 staff. I, also, am trying to keep my ear to the ground for both campus teams and our English Initiative team in terms of relationships moving forward in their investigation of Jesus and discipleship. I have enjoyed being back to the grassroots, relationship-based reality of the campus dynamic. I have led two Bible Studies with students the past two semesters. However, both of these roles in themselves are full-time. Meaning, any given day has some give and take as to which “hat” I am wearing.

Resource/Admin: This year I fully handed the reigns of the Resource/Admin team to Pedro Albuquerque. He has done a wonderful job, and the Resource team continues to serve our entire team tirelessly and effectively. However, there were some things that I was not able to pass on last year to the Resource Team - most importantly the Visa and Residency processes in Brazil for our non-Brazilian staff (15+ American and 1 South African). In 2018, Brazil’s newly approved Immigration Laws were being put into action. We were only finding our bearings toward the end of 2018, and now in 2019 I am passing on the baton for these processes to the Resource Team with the help of Fabiana (Resource Staff) and her husband (our Legal consultant) - my Brazilian in-laws!

Leadership Team: The past 18 months have brought many conversations and meetings for the Leadership Team to help the entire team focus on contribution, team dynamics and health (physical, emotional/mental, spiritual). That has meant some hard and heavy conversations and some team members moving on or entering into a time of sabbatical/furlough. Also, the past 6 months have been exciting as we discuss the direction for our leadership structure for the next season - how to become more Brazilian, more contextualized and organizationally less dependent on outside resources. Next year, there will be more updates about what that will look like over the next 3-5 years.

Local Church: On September 16th, our church pastor, Daniel Souza, officially ended his tenure as our pastor at Comunidade Horizonte. His family’s four years at our church, his leadership and his teaching was transformative in the life of our church at just the right time. They left with many tears after making a difficult decision to move on to their next place of ministry. With Daniel’s absence, our church elders, myself included, will continue to lead the church. We will have an interim pastor who will take on the bulk of the teaching responsibilities for the next year as we seek God to call our next pastor. I will also be taking on some greater leadership as the Session President until our next pastor is installed.

It is a lot. I don’t pretend it’s not. But I have consciously been saying “no” to some other roles and appointments. Also, Tathiana and I have begun weekly counseling (some weeks individually, others together). Please pray that I, also, will be a loving husband, father and most importantly stay grounded in my relationship with Jesus through the Word and Prayer.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:28-29)

Part 1: Family Front - 2019

(This update is going to be split into 2 parts, to help summarize and paint a picture of the past 6 months. This part is an update on the Family Front, the other in an update on the Ministry Front.)

We spent February, March and April in the search for a new residence on the other side of town, close to the UFMG campus and close to the majority of the team I am now leading. The total distance between the two neighborhoods isn’t even 10 miles. However, it is an average 45-minute commute each way due to traffic. So, while we were searching and negotiating those 3 months we lived the logistically-heavy reality of going back and forth to take Isaac to school, get to meetings, be on campus, etc - while juggling our one-car schedule.

In May, we moved into our rental house, right smack in the middle of where we wanted to be! It’s walking distance to the UFMG campus, close to ministry office space, and close to the majority of our staff team. It was great for a few weeks. Then, we noticed a mold problem in the kids’ rooms, and negotiated with the owners to replace the moldy closets. However, the first contractor started well, then lagged, then disappeared. That was hard on us, especially Tathiana and the kids as they were in the house most of the day and sleeping in other cluttered rooms with all their stuff. There is a possibility of getting some money back because we used a third party payment system, but we are not sure. We hired another contractor to finish and he did a great job. Finally, the two-week job took over two months to finish between the two contractors.

Isaac’s transition to his new Elementary school went very well. He is a shy boy, but now, well into the school year (which started in February), he is doing very well socially and learning to read and write in 1st Grade. Funny point: his best grades are in English!

In June, Sara started going to Pre-school at Isaac’s school a few days a week. She is enjoying it - and Tathiana is enjoying a few afternoons a week to concentrate on other commitments: discipleship with a student, our church’s children’s ministry, and meeting with team members as we hoped we would be able to in this side of town.

More to come concerning the Ministry Front!