Understanding Our Role

As I sit here we are rapidly approaching 3 years living in Brazil as full time missionaries and at about 4 years including the year spent preparing to leave the states. I am still young but realizing I am not as young as I approach 36 this June. After a lot of hard work the last month and a very busy fruitful few months of ministry it leaves me wondering just what have we learned?

We have learned to cope, to persevere, to have joy in difficulty, to survive on a little and also to manage occasional abundance. We are learning that it is okay to do things our way but that we must learn to respect those with a different style and strive to make each other better. This can be hard as so often in ministry ego plays such a large part.

Right now as sports ministry, primarily soccer has been so successful we are learning many more lessons. Thankfully most of them joyful but still there are a few painful. We have seen so many kids participate, so many willing to listen to the lessons. Their respect and obedience has grown. It is a joyful ministry. We have been out to farm country where we truly enjoy the people, played soccer with more quiet diminutive kids. We are getting to know Brazilians both youth and men from the local churches and are learning to work with them.

We “hired” Aluizio and are enjoying learning from this relationship. It isn’t always easy and I am unsure what my role should look like there. What is right to pay someone versus what is culturally accepted, how to disciple someone and yet have friendship. How to promote someone else in ministry without doing to much for them. So many lessons.

The more painful to learn is about our role as missionaries. Investing time and  money in the soccer project and the baseball field my desire was to demand more control of the direction. I wanted to build it my way and in my time, to use gifts I have to grow a program. This week as a meeting approached with the Baptist association God began to change my heart. We are passing by, we are not permanent members of this community. We were wanting to buy a little farm, set down roots, “own” the sports ministry so to speak. Have something that is “ours”. God is challenging me especially but our whole family with this is not ours, none of it is. Brazil is for Brazilians. My way, my ideas, our visions, our whatever must take a backseat to them. I may lead for a season or step in front for a time but must do it in a way that leaves something behind they can and will continue on.

This means that as I was prepared to go to a meeting and fight to keep control of what my sweat has done I wound up just handing over some of my ideas and letting go of my frustration with a pastor who though I know he has had this dream for a year or more it was just that a dream. Know one has made an effort to even cut the grass much less attract kids. My flesh wants to scream I cleaned the field, we have been doing the ministry how can you just step in front when it is easy. Spiritually I know I don’t matter but my flesh wants to do the ministry. This isn’t all bad, this is why we are here. Much more though we are here to inspire Brazilians to do things.

The reality is the way this is happening isn’t right. We may be left out or robbed of what we have done so to speak. There are no assurances. This may go fine, they may go in the front, we do the ministry and end up leaving Aluizio in a position to be a sports missionary. Or some one’s son or friend will suddenly be in charge and we will never have existed.

Does it matter? Yes, but not for us. It matters, it always matters how God’s people do things. If wrong is done here it matters for the leaders who are mismanaging or being inappropriate in how they minister. What matters for us is how we respond. The truth is right or wrong in how “they” act we are here to support them. If we work to see them have a sports ministry it may last a long time, if we run one for five years then just hand them the keys it will surely die.

The point of all this is to realize we are here to be behind Brazilians, to encourage and support them. To lead in attitude and discipleship. To do what is right with our lives. To do what isn’t being done but always to give way to the locals. I want to move forward from this however things go with a better perspective on how to build things that last, how to inspire locals, how to work with them. Not how to promote Americans as the solution. I don’t regret what we have done I regret that I didn’t sit and build more relationship with this pastor from the beginning, that I didn’t understand in December that I could have better engaged the association at that time. I have more gifts and ability to pioneer and run a self sustaining sports program but it is theirs to do not mine. I must come behind and partner in a more healthy way, the burden is on me.

		Paiolzinho VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Legalism, Carnaval, Freedom

Navigating our way through the media age is not easy as Christians, as the Church and especially as parents. It has been interesting for me to realize I grew up towards the end of a strongly legalistic era for the church. Christians didn’t go to dances, didn’t drink alcohol, didn’t listen to secular music…. We had a fair sized list of don’ts.

I am happy to have seen that mentality largely die in the Church in the states. Christ himself said he didn’t come to condemn for we already are condemned. He offers us freedom from sin and as the Pharisees created a mountain of law to try and fulfill the law all the legalism the church can invent doesn’t free hearts from sin. Those who love the dark love the dark, if your heart loves sin avoiding certain actions does not make it clean.

At the same time I have seen many Christians lives and marriages destroyed by this freedom in recent years. Melissa and I passed through a difficult season to say the least, neared divorce and abuse of freedom certainly didn’t make it easier.

Now we have moved to Brazil, a country steeped in legalism within the church. People go to church, love God but have no freedom to live for Him do to that weight I remember from growing up. It almost becomes a competition to see who is the best Christian. That is the problem with legalism. Instead of rising up to love the broken partying their lives away during carnaval they run to retreats, almost hiding from the world. The reality is legalism hasn’t cured the heart, people to me seem to be jealous of the world, almost afraid if they don’t have a retreat all the young people will realize how much more fun the world is and leave the church. I understand this is one of the few holidays everyone has off, there is a legitimate side of wanting to do a retreat because everyone is available. the legalism comes in the reaction to the suggestion of going and doing evangelism instead “oh it is evil, it is impossible, Christians can’t go to the parade to the events”.

The light should shine more brightly in the midst of the dark, we should have no fear of evangelizing in the midst of the worst of sin. This doesn’t mean if we have a weakness for sex and drunkenness we go alone to a party in the name of evangelism. Wisdom must reign. However if we believe Jesus has set us free we should believe that hope will cry out to others. If we believe sin is death the people partying should be discovering they are unsatisfied.

At the same time as watching Carnaval I am watching the sickness of celebrating everything evil in both Carnaval and the Grammys. The world does love evil. It is more evident all the time. Celebrities like Rihana and Keysha are so openly demonic, loving evil. We cannot cry freedom and ignore our youth running after their influence.

How do we find balance in the midst of this? I think we must examine what true freedom is. The reality is that sin kills, kills relationships, kills families, kills marriages. Crying freedom and denying ourselves nothing hurts us. It isn’t about God rejecting us if we have shortcomings, I am beyond full of shortcomings. We must love holiness but also love freedom. We must realize Christ didn’t offer us just freedom from but freedom too. Freedom too be what he has created us to be. Ambassadors of restoration with God.

As a church in the states we must hold on to the freedom we have found, to grace, to the rejection of the idea that having a beer means you aren’t a Christian. That dancing with a girlfriend/boyfriend or a spouse isn’t worshiping that person over Christ. That music has to be spiritual or can’t be listened to. This drives people away, the world is more fun than that. If that is what it means to be a church going Christian I will happily be Christian that doesn’t go to church.

At the same time we must realize that loving the world, running so deep into freedom that we never say sin is sin prevents us from true freedom. I can not get drunk, party with my wife, watch increasingly pornographic movies or go to clubs listening to pornographic openly demonic music. Watch people dance provocatively, perhaps join in and expect life. Death will come. Relationship with my wife, my God will be broken, may still go to heaven that is God’s decision, but broken in a way that prevents life. Life is knowing the pleasure of God working in and through you. Life is the pleasure of living each day with a greater purpose, part of a kingdom.

We are adopted sons and daughters of the living God. Princes and princesses in a holy kingdom. We must wake up and reject what needs rejected first and foremost in our own lives and homes. Also though in our churches, not through beating people with the law but through encouraging them to experience freedom. The freedom to truly love our spouses, to truly love others. Lord wake us up, not to go back to death but to go forward. To dream of what a pure clean church can accomplish. Not preoccupied with small meaningless actions but obsessed with loving others. Caring for the poor, restoring marriages, listening to the hurting, praying for each other, taking care of the elderly, cutting their grass….. Living selflessly, without thought of our own needs, walking in the steps of our savior who was satisfied by pleasing the father, that took breaks to be with the father, to know Him resulting in a life spent serving.

Legalism results in a weak inept Christian, an untrustworthy bride that needs watched constantly

Sloppy grace results in a dirty, ugly Christian, a bride who is no different from the world, hopeless.

True freedom results in an active Christian pursuing knowing God, a beautiful bride preparing ourselves for Christ. Working to see others come to him.

Is our faith simply going to church on Sunday or have we been given freedom to change the world?

Fruit

One of my (Ben) and our biggest passions is to see fruit, not just the fruit of our lives, people coming to our ministries but the deeper fruit of them changing and becoming producers of fruit themselves. Working in prisons, poverty inflicted neighborhoods and similar places this is not always an easy task. So many of the lives we interact with are so burdened with basic needs it is hard for them to think of more than what is in front of them. How can you ask someone who makes less in a year than I have spent in the last three weeks, on normal life things for us, to concentrate more on others than themselves.

Yet that is what we are seeing. Aluiso a 26 year old from the church and Rosalie his 22 year old wife have become a tremendous asset in our(you and us) soccer ministry that I don’t know what we would do without them. The reality is they live monthly on less then my rent, about what I spend on our lunch service, less then the kids tuition payment will be, less then I spend on gasoline, probably about what we spend on relaxing. Yet Aluiso is passionate to help, to see kids in his neighborhood have an opportunity to escape a life of drinking, doing drugs and making more babies you can’t take care of.

Alusio and his boy

They showed us their humble one room house with pride. They constructed it one day with help from the church and are excited to have us over for dinner. They aren’t afraid of having been to our 3 bedroom home, they want to return the favor. They are excitedly hoping to come up with a couple thousand dollars to build a bedroom, they are expecting their second child.

This is the beauty of missions, at the same time as we are evangelizing lost kids we can invest in a young believing family. Their start wasn’t perfect and their understanding of God is very tied into church. How joyous it is to be able to poor into them, encourage them to personalize their relationship with the Father. To offer someone who is here a part of the neighborhood, the city more understanding and more tools to pour back into his neighbors.

All ministry is full of direct impact and byproduct. We are directly targeting kids on our streets our byproduct is often more important. Who is watching, who is joining, who is growing by proxy. The reality is many of these kids, though 5 or 6 snuck up a hand to say they wanted to follow Jesus last night, will simply go on to live the same hard life their parents live. Through byproduct we get the privilege of investing in people who are long term residents and disciples of Jesus. Through byproduct we get to strengthen the existing church, help it focus outward, change perspectives. This will have far more impact on these kids then we could ever personally have.

This is an exciting time for us. God is beginning to open many doors, shut a few others. The kids are getting into a private school, need prayer for testing but are committed to the course. Things in our neighborhood are opening but that limits our ability to be on the river or in Bolivia. These three areas are still the three areas we are passionate but at the moment the prominent one is our neighborhood. Pray for our ability to disciple those around us. From our continued work with TT, Kaela and their family to Aluiso and others from the local body. Pray the kids who gave their hearts to Jesus have that little spark of the Holy Spirit kindle a great flame in their hearts. Thank you so much for your partnership.

		Soccer VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

God bless and keep you,

 

Ben and family

What is different?

After Adam and Bethany left I found myself processing what we had downloaded on them. Stresses, fears, feelings of inadequacy and failure. God is doing a work here, in us primarily. We are weekly in Bolivia, disciple neighbors here in Brazil, starting a bible study in our home to work on reaching neighbors and a bit more. I, Ben, know God called us here, we like it here against all reason. We have no desire to leave, to quit, to fail but so many mornings I wake and just want to go back to the known. A job, a church where my kids have friends, one simple task. Make money, pay bills, do a little ministry, love my family, so on.

The thing that is different here is that we are in between. We have a church here we enjoy attending with friends. However because we are here as missionaries we can’t fully participate. We have other tasks in other worlds. When we are ministering in those other worlds we can’t fully relax and let our kids just have friends because we are often called to a “dangerous” world. Poverty so often has drugs, molestation and all other kinds of hurts mixed in.

Mixed with the fact that Corumba is almost 300 miles down a road to nowhere helps all this lead to a feeling of being on an island. Lost, lonely, unsure are all words I could use to describe my emotional state.

As process all this and how to move forward I find the Lord reminding me of many things. Primarily this is no different than I felt in business, working at our church, when I had a job, buying a house, in marriage, in being a father. The struggles I have with my own insufficiency is just the realization that I am man. I am week, sinful, fleshy man. Incapable on my own of good works. I am so desperately in need of the Holy Spirit I almost cannot breath without Him.

The thing I am being taught, I seem to never learn, is that the cross is truly my only hope. The one thing I can cling too, lean on, desire, strive for and fully succeed and be satisfied in is Jesus. Why, because it is the one thing I can be totally content and yet never have enough. If my hope is money I can desire more but cannot be satisfied, if my hope is a house it will never be complete or right, if it is family I will never be satisfied, I am far to inadequate as a husband and father.

When Jesus died on the cross the price was paid, my weak inadequate nature, that is unable to please God was paid for. My in ability to please God to live by law no longer maters. What I am haunted by is the realization that like Adam, not Haile, first Adam, I would be unable to resist the simple temptation of one fruit. I have the same weakness in me that my first ancestor possessed but that price is paid.

The joy, the amazing joy of the cross doesn’t stop there. Not only was the price paid but Christ rose. Death had no power over him. The power of the resurrection gives me hope that amidst the realization of the complete mess that I am, I can trade it for something new. Today, as I should all days, I wake up and desire to put on the new man. To live in the spirit and forget this weak flesh. I want to know Jesus, I want to know Him so intimately that I begin to become the reflection of Him that I both originally was created to be and was reborn into.

I was born into weakness and failure, I am painfully aware of that. I feel so little success in my life but the failures way heavy upon me. I am reborn into immortality, into eternal life, life now. I must choose to look past my flesh, to look solely on the cross, to let the Spirit of God take over and rewrite everything about me. This is no different now then 4 or 5 years ago. Being a missionary or a business man is no different. I am in desperate need of Jesus, desperate need of the Gospel, full of hope not because of me but because Jesus, only Jesus.

some updates on ministry

Hey all, I wanted to give some updates on some things God has been doing in our lives and the lives of those we are involved in.
   I am (Melissa) happy to say my friend Kayla and her family are doing good. God has been blessing them with their business of selling salgados. Everyday they bake and sale these door to door and at their kids school. They seem to be making enough money to buy food, diapers and clothing. They have been also hungry for fellowship with other Christians  and attend church with us on a regular basis. Our church here has welcomed them with open arms and continues to help them with their physical needs as well. Kayla and I have started again with our discipleship. Tuesday mornings we go the house of our friend Anna (she attends our church to) and breaks down the word for Kayla. It’s been so cool to see how God really does what he says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Praise God for all he has been doing in their lives. Please continue to pray for them that they would be strengthened by God’s word and keep growing and trusting Him.
  Also on Tuesdays Ben and I have been going to Bolivia, He goes into the prison with Ricco and others to encourage the believers there and to share God’s love. I personally haven't been inside the prison, I have been at the gates though and sometimes can’t believe that there are children living there. Our pastor Altair went yesterday and explained in detail what the inside looked like to me and Luryan. He was shocked to find out 26 men sleep in one room with only two fans. it might not sound that bad but if you felt the heat here you’d realize how bad that is. The men there have heat rash and also I have seen it on the girls. Not to mention mosquito bites and disease from such a cramped environment. I’m not trying to paint a horrible picture that you would feel bad but that you would pray.
  I have been reading a lot about the structure there in Bolivia. The government really tries to keep the families together even if one ends up in prison. They believe that it is better for the children to stay bonded with their parents than to live on the streets or with other family members that can’t even afford to feed them. I get that I even agree to but not all prisons in Bolivia are a picture perfect situation for kids to be growing up in. Now do I want them living on the streets..No.. do I want them living with relatives that don’t love or care for them..No. I do know that there has to be be another option for these children. Ricco and his wife are praying and trusting that the Lord will provide a way for these kids in Puerto Suarez to have a safe and loving environment to grow up in. Please continue to pray for them and that the doors will open fully for this to happen.
   When Ben goes to the prison me and some girls from the church pick up the little girls that live in the prison and bring them to the missionary base. Where we invite other neighborhood girls to a little bible school. Where we have stories, crafts, snacks and this week a puppet show. Please pray for us to show God’s love to the girls and also the moms that have been coming. Also for our Spanish..I speak zero..thank God for others that do.
    This last weekend we were able to go to Porto Esperanca. It seems like every time we plan to go something comes up. I get sick or Ben does or the car breaks down or something else happens but this weekend thank God we were good. Ben’s parents went with us, His father shared in the church on Saturday night and Ben translated for him. The message he shared really impacted me and the leader of the church there. There is a huge need for discipleship there. A one on one, life on life kind of discipleship. Our church here plans on going on the 10th of November to do some remolding and fixing some problems with the church building. Then again on the 24th of November for the anniversary of the church. Ben and I plan on going again along with Adam and Bethany who will be here on the 15th of November.:) YEAH!!!!! Again please pray that God would use us and our church here to really disciple the believers there and that the church there would grow.  
    As for myself and my family we are doing well. God has personally been challenging me to trust Him, to have faith in Him and to seek Him whole heartedly. I just finished reading the autobiography of George Muller and have been really challenged in these things. God wants to bless his children and wants to use us for His purposes. Am I willing to wake up early everyday to seek Him? Am I willing to give with no thought of return? Am I willing go outside of my comfort zone and touch the brokenhearted? Do I believe God can actually do the things He says He will do in His word?  I hope so..I’m praying and will have faith that He will accomplish what he wants to through me. It might take my whole life.

Bolivia, P.E VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

What will we sacrifice?

Today I find myself asking what am I willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. For the sake not only of the gospel but to go to those who seem to have no value. We find ourselves at the end of a lonely highway in the middle of nowhere. Spending time with neighbors, going to a prison in a nowhere frontier town, in slums, a tribal village.

If I get real honest when I look at most of these people they are never going to matter much, not in the way we think of as a society. They are very unlikely to change, to get educated, to tithe, to send their kids to college. Maybe a few in our neighborhood as society is making more room for that here, but the tribal kids I was with today? 2012 they are living in mud huts, sitting there chewing coke leaves, drinking terere without much ambition or teeth. Thank you Ricco for passing it to me.

Worse yet are some of the prisoners. Not only are they unlikely to contribute to society they are a drain. Two new guys today were in a dirty, disgusting little processing cell. They asked us to pray for them. Ricco asked why they were there, the one we could understand said he beat up his woman for trying to leave him. Great, a #@#$$#@ and I was praying for him.

We have other connections too, some of which seem more important, or at least easier to stomach. Still Corumba is the end of the world and not likely to amount to much. Even if I became a great missionary to the wealthiest people here no one who didn’t already know me would be likely to hear of me.

It could be easy to convince myself to go back to the US, to minister in my own culture. Shoot I could work at McDonalds, be far more comfortable, lead a bible study, do outreach with our church and it would be just as valid and important of ministry. There is no great high calling in being here.

I could really get ambitious and go pastor a church somewhere in the US making a fair living, be in easier circumstances and be used by God just as much as here.

What is it that makes us stay? Even more to be excited to stay? What is it that makes the price seem so small to love the people who don’t deserve it?

Today I really believe it is because I get to taste, touch and sense what God’s heart for me might be. You see I don’t really feel that way about the people I describe above. It is doubtless how I would feel without God’s love though. Equally as doubtless that in truth I am far more worthless then them to God.

Ricco preached today at the prison and I just enjoyed listening. He shared how Jesus called Lazarus from the dead but spiritually speaking we are all dead without Christ. Amen.

In Christ I am no longer the dirty prisoner that makes me uncomfortable to talk to. I am a loved child of him that can take joy in sharing that love with others. Sharing that love with those that don’t deserve it, all of us.

What an amazing Lord we have, if he can place value in those beautifully dirty tribal people there may be a little hope for me.