Transition Update - May 2023

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One last trip to say goodbye to Tathiana’s brother and his girlfriend.

The transition of our family to the US and to Campus Outreach Serve in Birmingham, AL has had its ups and downs. Here is a short list to update everyone on where we are and what is next to come.

  • September 2022 - submit Tathiana's residency process with US authorities.

  • November 2022 - communicate to supporters about our move to the US and to Campus Outreach Serve

  • December 2022 - close-out direct responsibilities with the COBH team in Brazil

  • February 2023 - Expedite Request with US Immigration was accepted and case was approved.

  • March 2023 - Payments and Supporting documentation to US authorities

  • April 2023 - All documentation approved and Consular Interview set for June

  • May 2023 - Tathiana's medical exams and Emergency Consular Interview rescheduled for May 15th in Rio de Janeiro

We have already been served by Campus Outreach Serve staff and a longtime Counselor and professional Psychologist in preparation for our transition for our family and the impact the international move will have on us all and, also, individually. I am currently working through the book Looming Transitions by Amy Young and its accompanying workbook with family activities.

And in the midst of all this, I admit there have been some challenges. 

  • Just WAITING is never fun. And the date we wanted to make our move to settle and spend time with family in the US before school starts in August is slipping by and we are still here.

  • Our house was broken into on Easter Sunday. Most of our electronics were stolen and some other things. We have been in a long process with our insurance company to see about coverage and reimbursements. 

  • Trying to search for viable housing in Birmingham from afar is challenging. I did learn a lot about US financing, mortgages and all that adult stuff that I spent 20 years not having any experience.

These next weeks could become very fast-moving after Tathiana's interview at the Consulate in Rio on May 15th. However, we try hard not to get our hopes up until we have concrete answers and documentation in our hands. Please pray for the final chapters of closing out a life in Brazil and for the multitude of things that will begin to call attention once we land in the US.

A (simple?) Request (UPDATED on 03-20-23)

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Update 03-20-23

Within 10 business days of sending the Expedite Request to a Congressional Aide who has assisted us, not only was the Expedite Request approved, but US Immigration went ahead and reviewed our petition for Tathiana’s residency and approved it. Now the process moves onto the State Department’s National Visa Center, where they will process and activate the presiding Consulate in Brazil for an interview. Things are moving, and I thank you so much for laboring with us in prayer.

The Congressional Aide told us to not get out hopes up because the Expedite Requests are seldom granted. However, not only was it granted, but abundantly more. It is a joy to ask great things for God and received great things from God.

2023 has begun and phases in our transition have started and others have been delayed. Specifically, I want to talk about Tathiana's immigration process.

A request to US Immigration Services

On Monday, February 27th, we submitted an Expedite Request for Tathiana's permanent residency. For the past weeks I have been working with a congressional office and they were able to give us specific information that was hard to receive - currently the expectation for this process is October of 2023. Our main priority is getting to the US and at least a bit settled in Birmingham before the 2023-2024 school years starts. For this reason we decided to submit an Expedite Request.

A request to our Partners to pray

These Expedite Requests are not easily granted, so we want to ask our partners to pray with us for God's favor on our request and for it be granted. 



2022 Year in Review & Year-End Giving

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This year brought many things, both rewarding and challenging. 2022 was much different than the previous two COVID years here in Belo Horizonte. I want to review quickly and celebrate with all our partners what God has done.

Personal & Family:

  • Celebrating 20 years in Brazil with Campus Outreach

  • Kids - growing and maturing in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man

  • Decision about the next 10 years of our life and ministry in the USA

  • God providing for our 20-year campaign

  • Facing stress, sadness and excitement about new chapter in the US in 2023

Campus Ministry:

  • Back on campus full-time after 2 years

  • New contacts, new conversations, new doors open to the gospel

  • New life! Students coming to Christ

  • Reinventing ourselves as a ministry at UFMG

Team:

  • National leadership growing and leading

  • New Campus Director thinking for the movement

  • Hiring new staff, both Brazilian and American

  • Transitioning current staff to new opportunities in the marketplace.

  • New intercultural families forming

Year-End Giving:

Thank you to everyone who gives faithfully and sacrificially throughout the year. If anyone would like to make a year-end gift beyond your current giving, please follow the link here. These gifts help us make up for the monthly support we currently lack and finish the year in a strong support situation. LINK to Online Giving - https://www.campusoutreach.org/donate/jon-elam/

Official Communication of our Transition in 2023

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I ask for only 4 minutes of your time for an important Video Update about exciting developments and decisions made toward a big transition for the next season of life and ministry. We are ending one chapter in Brazil and beginning a new one in the US.

(Sorry for the audio filter distortion because of wind and background noise. And the video was sped-up so it would fit within 4 minutes)

Strengthening in 2022

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This second half of 2022 has been invested in specific ways in our ministry, our team, our church and our family (more on this post). Over the entire network of Campus Outreach the emphasis on "strengthening" has been repeated and encouraged. Seeing how the book of Acts clearly states this as an emphasis in the early church has been very encouraging. ​​Here are just a few examples: 

  • Acts 15:32 - "strengthen the brothers" was the focus of the Jerusalem leaders in visiting Antioch.

  • Acts 15:41 - "strengthen the churches" was the focus for Paul and Silas.

  • Acts 16:5 - "the churches were strengthened" was the result of Paul and Silas' ministry.

  • Acts 18:23 - "strengthen the disciples" was the focus of Paul's missionary team.

I want to highlight a few ways we are focused on STRENGTHENING on the following fronts:

CAMPUS MINISTRY

The first half of 2022 was our initial return to the campus after 2 years of pandemic hiatus. UFMG returned to in-person classes, and we were trying to find our bearings and also make new connections with the 50% turnover in the past two pandemic years. The second semester of this year provided us with more opportunity to organize our staff and think strategically about how and where to invest in relationships. God has really opened doors for us. Specifically, our team has made significant relationships and been able to engage in spiritual and significant conversations at the Physical Education/Physical Therapy college and the Engineering school. With so much unknown at the beginning of 2022, God has STRENGTHENED our initiatives and our impact on the campus.

COBH TEAM

Earlier in October, we had what used to be an annual Staff Retreat and Training that we call Staff Stimulus. The last one we had was in 2019. This year was a time to get away from the routine, spend quality time together and STRENGTHEN our interaction with training presentations and discussions about community and contextualization. Our church pastoral staff and our Brazilian Advisory Board joined us this year and God used it to open up some important conversations about how we think about the culture and context in which we are inserted on the campus and also about our fellowship as part of the body of Christ and a ministry team. 

CH CHURCH

Campus Outreach has a rock solid commitment to the local church, and our tenure in Brazil has had a lot of investment to STRENGTHEN our hub church. I have served as an elder since 2007, Tathiana spent 10+ years as the volunteer children's director and more recently I have walked side-by-side with our new pastor who was confirmed right at the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020.

A memorable event in the past weeks is Pedro Albuquerque - my friend, former discipleship brother, my co-laborer and now my boss! - was confirmed as an elder in our hub church, Comunidade Horizonte. It was a celebration of God's desire to see this ministry and this church be led by godly men who are committed to the local church. 

Also, Tathiana and I have had a drive to STRENGTHEN some of the marriages of leaders in our church. From opening up some impactful counseling tools that have helped us with some couples with young families to pre-marital counseling with one girl from Tathiana's last discipleship group. It isn't easy, it requires a lot of personal energy and spiritual warfare. Our desire is to see these couples have an impact because of their spiritual and emotional maturity in their homes.

God is moving and active in our midst, please pray that we would be used as agents for His love here in Belo Horizonte.

Family Calling

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In the next few weeks, we will be opening up more about how we used this year to evaluate and think about the best way to strengthen our family and our personal ministry for the next season of life and ministry. 

We have dedicated time to prayer and consideration of the next ten years of life and ministry. We have enjoyed celebrating how God has worked in us and through us, and continue to be excited about what He can and will do in the next chapter for our family. 

Please stay tuned for more via our updates and social media accounts. Thanks!


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.