Exercise, Training, Athletics I now know why Paul used these analogies.

Having been in Brazil 4 months now it is easy to loose focus on today and become frustrated with all the things we would like to be doing. We want to work daily with the poor and broken. We see the Guaraní people, the street people pushing carts with their kids to pick up trash. Yesterday we seen a woman with a 4 year old girl hiding by her cart of trash sucking on a pacifier while her mom went down  a street to look for recycling. Possible the most filthy, dirty absolutely beautiful little girl I have seen. I wanted to take her home. They are the forgotten people. I was limited by language, understanding and resources from doing anything beyond acknowledging this little lindinha with a smile and a bom dia.

We have to remind ourselves we are in a season of training. We have to be thankful that we get some opportunities to touch and reach out now. Cidade Nova and Ciaadi, are a glimpse of our future, a poor community where we help a few bible students with a kids program and the prison for boys. This is only part of our training.

1 Chor 9:24-27 24Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

We are in a season preparing for the competition that is to come. Disciplining ourselves in prayer, reading of the word (especially together as a family), learning language, culture, where and when to buy food. If we want to be effective this time in the gym and on the practice field is vital. If we get impatient and run out to meet the desperate needs before we are prepared we will be unorganized, ineffective and accomplish far less then if we train as if we are going to the Olympics in 4 years. I am constantly encouraged thinking of the years of preparation, planning and coming together of people to put on Willamette Celebration. This is our time to train. Our time to run is within site and just around a corner. Pray for our patience, our discipline, our endurance as we train to love the hurting.

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Ben and Melissa and the children in Brasil, from a grandma’s perspective.

I have been here in Brasil with my son and his family for about 10 days. I feel like I already have so much I want their friends and family to know about their life here. As most of you know, they have recently moved into what is to be there dwelling space for the next year. It is a nice place and seems to suit their needs well. However, moving into a rental here is not the same as moving into a rental in the states. They have borrowed mattresses to put on the floor for beds, they store there clothing in storage tubs, they have borrowed dishes, pans and utensils. We shopped for a couple of days to find a kitchen faucet, sink, countertop and cabinet for the kitchen. They had previously purchased a stove and refrigerator when they lived in the apartment for a month. Today, Ben built a very small shelf with the tools he purchased in Paraguay and I am waiting to see which place Melissa will choose first to fill the need for storage. Somewhere to put groceries, dishes, pans…or something else? I would love to see them have a table and chairs to sit at for home school, for eating, or just for somewhere to sit around and play games together. I would also like them to have beds to get them up off of the floor away from creepy crawly things and a car to transport them to some of the many places they have to go. They walk miles every day to purchase the daily groceries, to go to church or for Portuguese lessons. Doing without what seems to be essentials in the states, going to bed late and getting up early, all the walking, purchasing used appliances to save money only to find out it is broken and spend more money to fix them. The list goes on but what I want to say most is how I see them all dealing with the daily stresses that come there way. The kids are generally very content and make life fun wherever they are. They walk without grumbling. Melissa loves the people and encourages the kids to participate in ministry to the other children in need. They all feel blessed beyond those they are ministering to and say so often. At Melissa’s birthday party, Moriah saw a man she thought was in need and asked mommy to give him the leftover food and cake. Ben works hard to help his family focus ahead on what God has for them. If a mom and grandma is allowed to be proud, I am VERY proud of Ben, Melissa, Moriah, Daniel, Juliah and yes, even baby Alannah who spends much of her day being toted miles around in the sling her  mommy wears. They may feel like Gideon but there trust is in the Lord our God to work in and through them in this place. Please remember them in your daily prayers :o).

School is over, Ministry is taking off

Wow two months went by fast. We really learned so much in the ITMP, even though at times the information seemed like review. Melissa and I both have a fair missions background. What amazed me was how much we learned from Tim Rogers and how much the information begins to go from facts and theories to reality when you can sit in class with a 10 year veteran and discus the issues. Now for language school (I am beginning to do fairly well with language, if I would just study).

We need a lot of prayer as we are  beginning to get involved in ministry with the church and around the city. We will be working under Tim at Refuge, Calvary Foz. This means some of what We do will be focused on growing the church there, evangelism, youth ministry stuff like that. Also we desire to see people in the church reach out into other areas of ministry with the extensive poor and broken around the church.

We began going to Ciadi a juvenile prison facility 3 weeks ago. We go every Friday and share the gospel with 3 groups of 5-13 kids each. They are very hard kids but choose to come even though they have other things they could do. We are going to go through the book of John with them. I pray ,and ask you to join me, that they would experience life changing transformation. The opportunity to disciple right in the prison on a weekly basis is amazing.

Last night I went out with 2 guys to do evangelism at a local college campus. I approached a few people in Portuguese and shared with them for a little bit without any idea if I was speaking rightly or making any sense. You know when you are evangelism at first people stare at you blankly anyways. The funny thing was it was incredibly scary and the first person I got the nerve to go up to was a Christian who translates for missions teams with his Methodist church when they do evangelism. All that courage for nothing. The interesting thing doing evangelism in a heavily Catholic country is everyone accepts there is God and has some sort of belief in Jesus. However none of them practice and none of them seem to have a good understanding of sin or payment for sin. They aren’t walking with God and are hindered from finding salvation by their poor understanding of who God is. We talked to 3 people for 2 hours and it wasn’t until the last 30 minutes they seemed to understand who Jesus is and what the cross is.

Also this week we went to lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Melissa became friends with the daughters of the owners and they want to take her around and show her some schools the kids could go to. This is the most heavily Muslim restaurant down town. The girls where the traditional dress (here it is Sunni, they have their faces showing) and the girls are both getting married in what seems to be arranged marriages.

Today we are going with the kids Portuguese teacher to Cidade Nova. A very poor community just outside of Foz. Her and some friends do a little children’s ministry there every week. Tuesday is children’s day in Brazil so they are doing a big fair today. Several people from the church have decided to go with us including the family we had been living with. This is a great opportunity to begin involvement with the massive population of hurting peoples.

Yesterday a girl of around 17 or 18 came by asking for food or clothes. She had a small child hanging from her breast and was covered in dirt. We gave her food and watched her hopelessly walk down the street. She was native, Indian, from Argentina. She would have been quite pretty with a shower and decent clothes but do to the nature of life for some people here she will never experience either.

Melissa also is looking into going into Paraguay once a week to serve at a house for kids with hiv. Parents have either died or abandoned their kids there. Lucimar, our kids Portuguese teacher, goes to clean the house and do bible stories with the kids. What  a blessing to meat and develop relationship with a young Brazilian already willing to love the poor who speaks English. God is providing so much.

We need prayer for finances as the next few months could be a bit tough. We owe double rent through November to get a 3 month deposit to the landlord. We need prayer for wisdom as we have many ministry opportunities. We need prayer as we look to build relationship with more churches in the United States.

It really is amazing what God is doing. Brazil is home now. We love it here. Melissa is having her 30th Birthday Monday. We are renting a soccer field and having the church all come to play. The guy who rents the field also makes bbq and is giving us a reasonable price. She is really excited.

Love and miss you all,

The Lyon Family

Life is moving

Wow, September already. Here we are just over 2 months in Brazil, 1/3 of the way through the missions school, Not to mention a brand new baby. So much going on.

The IMTP is going well. We are going through the book of acts looking at the first church and first missions. Melissa has cooking classes and Ben is helping remodel an old tire shop into a church sanctuary. We live with Lori and Neto, a Brazilian couple with two little girls. We have 2 guest rooms behind their house. It is a pretty good set up. Living with another family isn’t always easy, but it is helping with language and culture.

Melissa’s recent baby experience:

Let her tell you about it.

“Before coming to Brazil I had heard a lot of bad experience stories from women who had some issues, or from my doctor who was afraid they would push me into a c-section. It was making me a little nervous, but I kept praying and trusted God to lead me. All I really wanted was for Alannah to be healthy. On August 28th I woke up, and we talked about going to the lake. I was having mild contractions, so we decided to go to Tim and TaLisa’s house to let the kids play. Over the afternoon as we were there the contractions began to increase. We were close to the hospital, so I decided to stay there.

About 8:00pm, the contractions were 5 minutes apart, and I knew it was time to go. Tim was still at church, so we needed to walk. The hospital was around 1/4 mile away. I made it just fine, but my contractions were getting stronger and it was kind of different to walk. It probably sped up my labor. We got to the hospital around 8:45, and in the lobby we had to ring a doorbell - which nobody answers. That’s when I began to get nervous. During the 15 minutes or so I waited, I realized that I was in a different country. During that time Ben had left to get a paper proving we had pre-paid. While he was gone, the hospital staff opened the door and let me in, but not TaLisa. I sat on a bench with a Brazilian girl, having contractions and waiting to be checked for active labor. She was sent home because hers wasn’t active labor; then they checked me. I was five centimeters, and they told me I would be checked in…I think.

I got into a gown and they walked me to room where a few ladies were in active labor. I told the nurse that I would rather walk, but still I had no translator and my contractions were getting worse. The hospital couldn’t get a hold of my doctor who had agreed to TaLisa being there, and I didn’t know if I would see her or Ben again before the baby came. I was getting scared. I remember praying and asking God for peace. I began to sing worship songs, didn’t notice my contractions as much, and began calm down. I knew even if I had to be alone, God would get me through it.

Finally, TaLisa was allowed in, praise God. I got into a water birth tub for a while. They finally got my doctor on the phone, but he wasn’t going to make it. We were not sure the other doctor would allow TaLisa to stay or Ben to come in. My new doctor checked and I had progressed to 7 centimeters. They would give me medicine at 8. At 8 centimeters they took me to a surgery room because the room I was in was set up for natural, no drugs. The pain was getting stronger when they finally gave me a spinal tap. It was probably about 11:30. It seemed like 10 minutes later I was pushing. They went and got Ben and had him wait just outside the door. At the last few pushes they let him come be near me.

It was really different. They didn’t have monitors on me or the baby, but instead a nurse had her hands on my stomach. When I would have a contraction she would tell me to push and then help by pushing on my stomach. At 11:57pm Alannah joined us. I lurched forward and grabbed my precious girl from the doctor, all slimy and purple, and kissed her. They practically had to wrestle her away. Ben turned and left the room so he wouldn’t have to pass out.

They then took her and cleaned her, got her dressed, and put her in a warming bed. They took me to a recovery room and got me ready to go to our room. They put her on my bed and wheeled us to the room with Ben.

In the end, everything was perfect. I couldn’t have asked God for more. He had prepared the way, the doctors, the hospital and everything. I would have missed out on what God wanted if I had let fear rule. I am very thankful to now be holding this sweet little girl. Praise God and thank Him for holding us in His hands.”

 

Surprise baby shower and missions training school

I wanted to post a few pictures of last night. Our family was invited over to our friends house for what we thought was hanging out but to our surprise they had planned a baby shower. Loriane did a wonderful job keeping it a secret and decorating. Moriah even knew I was clueless:) What a blessing it was for me Thank you guys I loved it.

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We also are packing this weekend to start The school. We are moving in with a wonderful family I will try and get more pictures where we will be for 2 months. We are excited to see God work in our lives as we learn and grow during this school. Please pray for strength as we will be stretched and getting the kids back into a school routine. love Melissa

Words fail

It is impossible to communicate all we are going through and learning. Mostly because we wouldn’t be able to describe it. The last two days I (Ben) went to a prison for boys 12-18 with Tim (pastor) and a group of guys from the church. In most ways it was no more or less hopeless than a prison in the united states, hurting people need Jesus and when you are broken to the point of causing destruction it always stands out.  In another ways it was very different. The boys only had a simple sweat suits and flip flops (with socks, I told Melissa a hundred times it doesn’t look weird to wear socks and flip flops). Not that different except it wasn’t any more than 40 degrees and there was no heat. Concrete benches, tables and families that felt little hope. Today I got to share about people in our family who have looked to Jesus and found hope.

As I prepared for today I was thinking about how just one month in, being a missionary is becoming a job like any other. The adventure begins to become normal. Working on the church is just something that needs done. Learning the language is a process and takes work. Everything becomes routine. Pastors, Missionaries, Teachers, Construction workers, we are all the same, we have a job. I began to realize the challenge we face isn’t to be spiritual enough to be good missionaries. It isn’t cultural, it isn’t language. It is the same challenge we all face. To love Jesus enough to stay a Christian. Its to love Jesus enough that it rubs off on others and they find grace. It doesn’t matter what you are doing we all face this challenge. We too often get caught up measuring our progress by knowledge, lack of sin, souls saved and forget to look at the one who saved us. I was sharing out of John 3:14-19. I was reading where Jesus compared himself to the serpent Moses lifted up in Numbers 21 (I think that is the right chapter). We are all bit by sin in a world full of more vipers waiting to bite us. All we have to do is look to Him, but too often we are looking at the things around us. I recently read Crazy Love by Francis Chan. He talks about how when we are in love we tirelessly pursue. He talks about loving Jesus that way. Instead of running from sin, or trying to become smart we should tireless run to Him out of love.

As I prepared I was realizing how important it is to look to the cross for every decision. Every interaction, every relationship, every hardship. Look up at the cross. Let it permiate who you are, change your thoughts, your actions, your love for others. It doesn’t matter what you are doing with your life, it matters who you pursue.

Oh and here are pictures of us and the kids working on the church, going to an evangelistic thing and other stuff.

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