Review

I sat down today and began to review the pages of our blog. What our 2-5 year plan says, what we are currently doing, all that. When I got to our page laying out our Mission, I was amazed.

Lately we have been feeling God “redirecting us”  towards the unreached, the truly lost. What we didn’t realize is we weren’t being redirected we had begun to wander. We, in our lack of language ability had been spending the bulk of our time helping with things at church and getting to know people there. Not bad, it is good to help at church and encourage believers. The last month we have been hearing God speak to us to be more involved with our neighborhood, the tribal people, perhaps get to know the Arab community. This seemed like a redirection from what we were beginning to do, serve the church. Again that is a good thing. The problem is that isn’t who God has asked or gifted us to be. When I looked at our mission it was clear. God has asked us before we came to work with the unreached not the reached.

I changed a few things on the other pages, but found I couldn’t change one thing under our mission. It is so good to know God keeps it simple. I need to review this more often, as we schedule our time this needs to be at the forefront. What has God asked us to do. We have been studying Abraham as a family. Reading a little bit every day. Daniel always asks for more, though that may be to avoid school. God asked Abraham to leave his home and go wherever God led. When I tried to review the 2-5 year plan I wanted to delete everything and say “see Genesis”.

God has given us a simple vision that can be acted on anywhere He wants. For now that is Brazil and it probably will be for some time. We cannot assume that is the end. We can’t let our desire to have roots push us into creating a ministry here in this city. God has called us to learn, language, culture, how to live as missionaries. He has called us to love hurting, broken people, the poor, the condemned, we can do this without language, without a car, without knowing if we will live here in a year.

I wonder if Abraham thought he would live everywhere he stopped for the rest of his life. If God had to take that security away from him every time or if he just accepted God may never say stay. God asked him to hold onto promises that wouldn’t be fulfilled for generations. What if God is using us to prepare our kids for something great and we remain simple our whole lives? Are God’s promises enough for me? Is His glory the reason we are here or is it for mine?

We appreciate you all so much, your prayers, your love, your support. Keep praying for us. We are learning this is a very formative time. We are learning what it means to be missionaries. We are learning skills that will help us wherever we go. We are learning God’s heart is for those who have not heard. I don’t know where this will end but I know if we hadn’t came to Brazil we wouldn’t be as close to each other, wouldn’t be as willing to do anything, wouldn’t be content just obeying God.

Love you,

 

Ben and Family

How to live life and still pursue God

I have found the seasons of change and unrest to be the times full of excitement and belief that God is big. I have also found times of normalcy to be an opportunity to get complacent and forget why we are here. How do you live in an exciting vibrant relationship with your creator in the midst of normal. We can’t always create change and unrest to give us that feeling of dependency on God. In fact it isn’t even dependency on God if the part that excites us is the uncertainty itself. That is simply adrenaline. What comprises true dependency on our creator? What does true trust look like? I can’t answer that for you, but I think I am beginning to get the idea for me. Satisfaction in being where He has asked me to be with a willingness to be anywhere else.
Satisfied getting up, helping the kids with school. Cooking, trying to figure out when stores are open. Taking the baby to the doctor, walking a few miles. Trying to learn more of the language communicating with the immunization nurse. Satisfied just getting up for the normal every day.
Willing. Not falling so in love with being here that I wouldn’t go anywhere else. Not being convinced I am indispensible where I am at. Willing to stay even when I don’t think I am needed. Looking to hear from the Lord any time He wants to speak. In His word and in prayer constantly. Open to correction, change, moving, staying, discipline. Being more concerned with receiving from Jesus than what I have to say to Him or others. Willing to be a student of language and culture. Willing to not have an answer to “what are you doing in Brazil” other than “learning” “obeying” “loving”
What has God called us too, why are we here. The same reason you are.
1Corth 15:58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
2Corth 5:16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin^a for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Eph 1:3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he^c predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he^d made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11In him we were also chosen,^e having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. 15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^f of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Our purpose is the same here as it was in Albany. It is the same purpose of all Christians, reconcile the world to Christ. Our inheritance is shared with Christ. Our inheritance is people. We need to live every day with the expectance that God might use us to reconcile someone else to Him. God is in the business of healing our hurts so that we might better help heal others.
Our purpose is to glorify God with our lives by pointing others to Him. God has chosen me, the weakest, most unlovely creature to glorify him. To use me to point others to him. Not by a big ministry, or fancy words  but by living every day for His glory.
Dwell on that before you leave your house. Dwell on that when you are doing the mundane. Every action or inaction is an opportunity to give God glory that He may use to show His character and love to another. Open yourself up, like I must, to what God may want to do with you each day. We must find our satisfaction and wiliness in glorifying God not in the action He is asking us to do.
I am encouraged today. I find I can see Jesus in front of me again. I hope it encourages you. God loves us. He wants us to know that love. He wants to reconcile us to Him that we might point the way to others. All of us. Not just missionaries, not just pastors but the Church.
2Pet 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
We are all pastors, missionaries, ambassadors of our Father, all of us.

New year

We have been very busy doing paper work to get our residency. It should be done now though. Tomorrow we go to turn everything in. We should receive our protocol number then, this is the number that will be on our green card when it is finished being processed. With this expense behind us as well as all the running around I think I will have time and money to enroll in language school. We are praying about buying a car on payments or waiting until we have money. Not having a car really limits us in ministry. It takes so long just to go to the grocery store, get paper work done, whatever that it is hard to get out and do some of the things we want to do.

 

		Daily life VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

We were encouraged last week by some Southern Baptist missionaries we became friends with to feel free with the first year. Learn the language, settle in, get comfortable with our situation as a family. They pointed to long term success being more important than the pressure for immediate results. They said you feel pressure from your self to satisfy supporters, to be busy for God, etc... They said there is nothing more important than to be a full time language learner.

We really have been learning a lot about the culture and the spiritual state of the nation. For us we are beginning to learn we have to be focused on a specific group of people. The middle class of Brazil has a strong Christian base. Certainly God will still use and is using the fact we are Americans living in Brazil to reach more people. That gets attention that a Brazilian would have a hard time getting. However we are finding our desire grows to reach the poor, who tend to be more prayed upon by prosperity doctrine movements than reached by the gospel and by people who desire to help. We take for granted the salvation army and union gospel mission. When you are somewhere the church hasn't grown to understand its responsibility you realize the health that is still present in the American church when it comes to fulfilling our responsibility as Christians. For us we are realizing our place within the church here is to disciple people to meet that need, to take on that responsibility. We also are have a growing interest to work with Muslims here. The community is huge. This is very much in line with what we were telling people before we came. The funny thing is reaching the Muslims and working with the poor seemed distant from each other as the Muslims are the upper middle class here. We have learned from people who are here working with them the importance of being able to say you do something else. You can't say to a Lebanese restaurant owner I am a missionary to the Muslims. Working with the poor we can say we came to Brazil to work with at risk kids or in the favelas. This disarms them a bit and allows you to build relationships. I think it is likely in the day time we will be doing ministry within the favelas and at night building friendships with Islamic families. If we want to satisfy our missionary hearts we can’t focus on middle class Brazil any more than we could have stayed in Albany and worked in a local church. We need to focus on group of people that is essentially unreached. That is our desire, that is the passion God placed in our hearts.

Pray for us as we learn language, learn culture, learn about our family and pursue God.

December, a little good, a little challenge

Sorry all for the long delay in an update. We have had a very busy December with what ended up a nice Christmas. We returned from Sao Paulo right before Christmas and rushed into Paraguay to do our shopping. Thanks to parents, grandparents, aunts and some friends for making presents for the kids possible.

I’m happy to report that the work at the boys prison, Ciade is going well. We had been meeting in a small room with 2 to 3 groups every Friday. Early in December rain had forced them to move some projects into that room. They provided us a speaker and microphones and we preached from a courtyard in front of the cells. It was a huge breakthrough. Instead of being in a room with boys they normally only see in passing they were in their cells with their normal cell mates, they paid a lot more attention. Also boys that had been choosing not to come got the chance to hear the gospel. After that we changed to this method every week. These are hard boys, who have seen death, even caused death. They have been listening to the gospel for a few months and asking good questions. Praise God Heitor and I received a present on Christmas eve. Marcos Santana a very pleasant young man of around 16 told us he really began to believe as I shared that day. God is so good. It really isn’t difficult to get people who have grown up in a highly religious Catholic culture to repeat a prayer, so we really have just been preaching and sharing truth without asking them to do that. It was so encouraging to have one of the boys share unprompted that he is becoming a believer.

Our time in SP went fairly well. God provided a financial gift that covered most of the expense for going and paying for Alannah’s passport, birth certificate, and a document we hope satisfies the federal police in our application for residency. Pray that goes well as we have reached the end of our allotted time with a tourist visa. We had a good time catching up with our friends Junior and Vania and though we are sad we aren’t working with them, we know we are where God has us. Melissa and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary there. We had a good time but would have had a better time had someone told us before we went out that there are now 4 or 5 Outback’s in Sao Paulo. Next time.

Christmas was good. Here the main event is dinner on the 24th. Our friends Ramses' and Jackie invited us to spend it with their family. He is Brazilian but from Lebanese decent and she is Columbian. They have 3 daughters, 20, 15, 13 I think, we had a very good time. We ate at about 9:30pm and came home around 12:30. He made pork loin, ham, turkey breast, pork back strap, an Arabic rice, salad, garlic sauce, spicy garlic sauce, pineapple sauce, wine sauce and much more. I made a chicken and stuffing. None of them tried the stuffing until after their oldest daughter Vanessa tried it and liked it. We have noticed Brazilians are very slow to try new foods. 

We are also becoming better friends with Clem and Lynda, southern Baptist missionaries here. They work with a seminary here and a few other things. It is good to get to know more missionaries and learn how to target groups of people. They have 4 kids as well and our kids get along well with theirs.

Pray for us as we apply for residency, continue to try and get established financially and learn the language. I am doing fairly well but Melissa and the kids need to practice more. Pray we have wisdom about putting the kids in school. Pray we have wisdom of how to minister here.

Steps

It is funny how hard the first step is and how easy the rest can be. I remember jumping off cliffs when I was a teenager. The first jump you would linger at the top with the whole "you go first" routine, but once you felt the water surging past your face you couldn’t scramble back up fast enough.
Today we went to Argentina and took a first step towards loving some tribal people. We went to Puerto Iguassu and had lunch. Then we bought oranges and bread. When we drove up to the area there are normally quite a few tribal people we discovered they were mostly gone as it was the middle of the day. We began to get nervous about how hungry they might be or whether or not the food would be an insult. Daniel and Juliah were dying to give some oranges to someone. Finally they took the oranges to the guy “watching and parking cars”. He a woman saw and wandered over. We offered her bread and oranges, the rest saw and there were no more nerves. We gave out about fifty little French breads and 2/3 of our 50 lb. sack of oranges. It was interesting as it was obvious the guy didn’t want to look hurting but really wanted some too. We made sure we got his name “Gabrielle” and found out he lives in Paraguay and is from the Macca tribe. He tried to teach me to say thank you in his language but it might has well been “knock knock clickity click bing bang boom”.
I look forward to seeing how God develops our ministry to the poor and hurting. Especially the tribal people.

Act vs. React

We are learning so much of what it means to live in Brazil and we are truly loving it. There many things that are difficult but the people and the potential to love the unloved make up for the difficulties. One of the difficulties is time. You bleed time day in and day out. Government bureaucracy leads to bureaucracy with companies. Bureaucracy at business takes away motivation to get things done. Solving one problem leads to two more.

Yesterday I went to the church with Tim to look at making some swings for children’s ministry. The area we were looking at wasn’t going to be strong enough so we began looking at others. We now realize we need a ladder to put up and take down the swings as well as many other things, but that is another days problem. When we settled on something we went down to the ranch store to buy some rope, a hose for cleaning, and hooks. After selecting all our stuff we went to pay. You are required to give your CPF number here for big purchases, it is like your social. We had cash to pay but because our receipt printed wrong and didn’t say approved we had to wait what seemed close to 30-40 minutes to get someone to come to the computer who knew how to reprint it. The short of the story is that we still don’t have swings, we did purchase the stuff, and we have one less afternoon. Three of us.

Many of you know in the past we owned our own business and early on made some bad choices that led to debt. The thing I learned most in that process is that you can’t allow situations to dictate your choices but make choices to produce right situations. Act, don’t react. We were in such severe debt we no longer could make choices about our finances or lives we simply reacted to whatever crisis was at hand. This led to crisis in all aspects of our lives, spiritual, financial, marriage, family, etc... When it all began to crash we realized we had to take control of our lives back from the situations at hand and do what we needed to do regardless of the consequences. We were forced to let debts go, put marriage and God before work, come to our lowest point. When we began seeking God we became very purposeful at the same time. We got rid of cars we had payments on, we began to trust God to provide so that we could settle debts, without bankruptcy. We became purposeful about how many days I would be out of town, we hired employees to get jobs done more timely. We weren’t spending less money but we were spending it rightly and it was producing more. We weren’t less busy but we were together. So on and so forth. We were acting with a purpose.

When we had accomplished the feet of erasing the bulk of our debt we began to hear God saying it was time to go into missions. In fact I remember telling my parents in the midst of the hardship that we believed we would be out of debt and in missions within a couple years. This was before our worst financial times and right after the worst time in our marriage and my life. We began acting in this direction. We started turning down large jobs that demanded time or were 6 months to a year away. We became more prayerful as a family. We governed our lives by the priorities and direction God was giving us. Things fell into place as we sought God and made purposeful decisions and moved away from urgent responses.

Now here we are challenged in this area. Problems and reactions are taking the bulk of our time. How do we reapply what we learned in our new culture? We are trying to take control of our lives back from problems with power and water bills. With lack of discipline in schedule on our part. With general problems we can face every day. We need to schedule a day to deal with all bills. Days for family, for ministry for other things.

We believe God has called us here to love the unloved. To feed the poor, to disciple the lost towards Jesus. This probably includes a property for vocational schooling and tutoring. Perhaps a business, or other side ventures. It may include more people than us, it may include our church body at home. One thing I know is none of it will happen if we don’t begin to act, to purpose our lives around our calling and make decisions before we have too. Pray for us as we are learning how to take control of our normal lives here.

Love you all,

 

The Lyon Family.