Bits May

Building teams module

“The purpose of a team is to make the strengths of a person effective and his or her weaknesses irrelevant.” - Peter Drucker

Matias, a youth from Equador did a short
internship with us and we did a youth
worker seminar

This month we cast the vision for team led leadership within the church through a module. Cam Woolford the director of Servant Leaders came and taught the module with me as we would like our ministries to work as teams as well as be an elder led church. Being team led I believe is biblical and ideal and sounds great, but actually practicing it is very difficult. People are messy and we all make mistakes, are selfish and working together is against our nature. Fortunately the gospel can help that process. The gospel is unselfish, shows grace, mercy and forgiveness as well as requiring us to be dependent on someone besides ourself (Jesus… much more reliable anyway). 

We host a Pastor's breakfast for local pastors

A key for team to work is spiritual formation. Mature Christians are humble; a key quality when it comes to working well together on a team. No wonder team leadership is so difficult to implement! So pray for us here in the Sertão, Arcoverde and Tupanatinga; pray that we will grow spiritually so that we can work well together and shine the light of Jesus in the community around us. 

Our family feels more and more like a team as the girls are growing. Sarah and I are walking with several families with all different types of difficulties. Marriage is tough; raising kids can be challenging; navigating one’s youth and major decisions in life can all be helped by God’s Word. We seek to not only provide counseing in the difficult times, but try to form a Biblical worldview before going through those times so they do not turn into crisis but turn into growth moments. 

A group from our church in Tupanatinga 
came to visit the church in Arcoverde

Some choose to equip themselves in that way by humbly studying God’s Word and seeking application, while some choose to feel better about themselves because they go to church fairly regularly. It is a joy to see those who swallow the gospel hook, line and sinker and gain a worldview in which they learn to choose love, joy and perseverance in tough circumstances. Pray that we will take advantage of all opportunities to spread the gospel as well as ears to hear and transformed hearts. But include us in those prayers for transformed hearts as well. As missionaries there is a temptation to think we have arrived to give the gospel and sometimes we forget that the gospel needs to constantly transform us as well. 

Thank you for your love and support!

All for HIS glory,
David, Sarah and my youth group attender Evelyn and organizer Anna Claire who recently had her blog updated! 

Bits April

Interaction at the
marriage retreat

How does the gospel reflect in our family life? A marriage retreat surged as a result of marriages in trouble in our church. If the gospel saves us from sin, does that mean it can save us from our own home life where we tend to relax and let our ugly self come out? We seem to have a disconnect between the gospel and our home life and so during the five hour marriage retreat we held at our church, we tried to bridge that gap. 

In the last year we lost a couple to divorce and almost another one. Marriage counseling to one degree or another is a constant. Worldwide the pandemic saw many divorces and the church wasn’t necessarily saved from those statistics. We can be saved though cause we have the divine power of Christ working in us and empowering us with the elements (characteristics) of the gospel like love, forgiveness, grace, mercy and a possible attitude of service that can uplift our marriages. 

Chico and Bia giving
their testimony

The retreat seemed to be a success for marriages as well as bonding time between church members. Evelyn helped out with the kids during this event and did a great job. She is increasingly involved in different ministries as well as still trying to get her friends together for discipleship. Anna Claire seems to be more and more sensitive to making disciples as well. 

Sarah is halfway done with her paper and going stronger than she imagined which has encouraged her greatly. 100 pages is no easy task but since she has read a bunch of books and done a lot of study the words have flowed easier. Her mom is helping her edit and that has been neat as they have had a project to work on together. Sarah continues to have counseling opportunities both formal and informal and has seen success through following God’s Word as well as people who have decided not to follow the counsel of the Scriptures. We all make our own decisions in life and there is the narrow path that leads to life and the wider path that leads to destruction. I think watching people choose the broad path is probably the hardest element of ministry.  

Baby dedication! 

The church in Tupanatinga is so close to being in use! So close, yet so far away it seems. It could be next week or it could be another month if people do not come to work. We are learning patience! Surely next month there will be pictures of us using the building. This last month I continued a powerful study on Processing Life Biblically with the men’s group there and it has been really good for us as a group. 

Evie with the youth group

In May we will be developing more in terms of team leadership as we have a module on building effective teams that will taught by the director of Servant Leaders, Cam Woolford and myself. We are also hosting an Equadorian intern for 9 days to talk to him about ministry. Also this weekend we will be talking about elder led churches and the idea of team and in a couple weeks more about church planting and how our churches can be involved. 

Thanks for your love and prayers!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and our kid’s ministry worker and our nine year old (April 6), who are now in a reading competition that will go through the summer 

Anna Claire during 
crafts at her bday party

Bits March

Church anniversary month this past month! We celebrated four years of having an organized church in Arcoverde with a ministry fair and some cake. The church is starting to get some of the pre-covid momentum back which would be great! One of our main objectives this year has been to develop our leadership and we have been working with a group that will be able to take growing responsibilities. Sometime soon we are planning on hiring one of them so that he can stay with the church, join ministry, help with administration as well as receive training in ministry. He is a very capable guy and we are excited. He will help with the church in Tupanatinga as well during our furlough.

The construction in Tupanatinga is in the final stages for our main meeting building. The other phases are happening simultaneously. As we do this we are seeing that it would be easiest to do the third phase now rather than cover the building which would cost a lot and then uncover it later. We have enough money to keep going for a little more time, but not much. Help! If God leads of course. We have been very blessed on the project up to this point. We started it by using saved up ministry funds and then several generous gifts that really got us going. Then we had one main generous donor for the second phase that really allowed us to purchase great material and build it right the first time. As much as I have been a tight wad in life, cutting corners in construction is not good in the long run! We have a do it right the first time philosophy which is more expensive on the front end but more efficient in the long run. 

My main project for this month was building a playground. We had a little mission trip in the begining of the month and put the structure up. Then each week since I would take another person to continue to work on it. Sarah and Sarah R. painted it last week and now there are just a few more details to finish. The slides are supposed to be delivered on Friday! While I was sleeping some nights in Tupanatinga to work on the playground, I scheduled our men’s study which is normally online. We had a good group of guys present as we study how to process life biblically. We are over halfway through it and I plan to continue it this month.  

Sarah continues to grind out her dissertation as well as counseling several women and then leading a couple small groups. We have had conversations with people within our own church as well. On April 9 we are putting together a marriage workshop for about five hours. The prep for it is intense! Pray God uses this study in the life of the church to strengthen our family units. 

Evie with her youth group and
leader (Sarah Rogers)

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my nursery volunteer/babysitter who is a bit help during all these studies and our friendly last born that is a play leader for all her friends

Bits February

The kids pitching in painting

Last week I started a Servant Leaders course called Processing Life Biblically with the men in Tupanatinga. During the month of February the Servant Leaders group has been going through it again online and it was a great opportunity to work through it with the group in Tupanatinga. The basic premise of the study is that God allows circumstances in our lives, both good and bad, to mold us into the character of Christ. The study shows how we can learn from what happens in our life. I have taken the course a couple times and taught it a couple times and it is always a good reminder of our need for growth.

But it is also bad because it seems like God likes to give up to date illustrations to use. Last week’s theme was patience that He seemed to be teaching me. The last couple of days really worked on my ego and selfishness. I am not sure I can take 7-8 more weeks of this beating! haha. 

Biblical Counseling Module

This month we were able to have another module; this time Biblical counseling with our new boss Randy Richner, who also taught a couple of Sarah’s modules for her Master’s. The course got a couple people interested in counseling and there are always opportunities for it. Especially when it comes to family life. Pray for our families in our churches! Living together can be hard but the Bible has answers! Sarah has been diligent in her courses as she dives deeper into how God’s Word can transform the heart and in how people can see that for themselves. 

The youth kickoff luau

Speaking of family, the girls are doing great. Evelyn takes all our training courses. This month three of us took a training for kid’s ministry. Evelyn is already helping out with nursery and does a great job. We always get great comments from adults in our lives about the girls. I would love for the girls to one day come back with us as missionaries as they would be great to work with! 

The last couple of days I have been in Tupanatinga working on a park for the kids just like we have in Arcoverde. We have a lot to do to get the church ready. I am planning on painting and being the main person on organizing the park. We got a good dent in it today. I plan on going on Monday afternoons for the next few weeks, doing that study Monday night; working during the day on Tuesday and then coming back. Please pray that we can get the building done and usable maybe even this month! (then we will still continue on to the second phase of the project). 

My brother Philip was here for two and a half weeks and we had a great time with him.  We did a few hikes in some of the natural beauty points of interest around us. We got a little taste of what it is like being around family as we are realizing how close our furlough is (August) and it seems to be affecting us a little as that date approaches (or as we realize how long we have been going hard in ministry in a foreign country since having a good break). Pray for our steadfastness as well as preparing the different ministries for our absence. 

Philip and the family in Catimbau

Matheus and Evie wearing the same camp shirt

Thanks for your prayers!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah my long fish doing swimming lessons and my English curriculum designer (yes, Anna Claire developed her own english lessons so she can teach a friend)

Church based training

Today I heard some good news. A church in the Northeast USA decided to start up some in church courses. They had 28 signed up and I am thinking it is a church of a couple hundred. That is a great group! I am encouraged because it seems a few weeks ago I had a conversation or I saw that most churches are not getting many out for anything besides church, and sometimes not even for church. It is my understanding that there is not a lot of biblical training going on in the US.

Here in Brazil in general I think it is a little different. In some places it is different in that there is some training happening; in other places or church denominations members  barely leave the church. Of course there needs to be some kind of balance, as we should be striving to know the Scriptures and then go out and put into practice what we have learned. We can't just spend all of our time in the church and we shouldn't just barely be in church or go only when it is convenient. 

It seems like a shift is happening with pastors as many pastors have been burnt out. The role of a pastor is a do all job in the church. Yet in the Bible the saints are charged with doing ministry. The church should be a large group of workers serving one another and the pastor is the equipper of the saints for the work of the ministry. So church based training should be a thing. Are you prepared for ministry? What types of ministry? Does your church have leaders who can step up if and when the pastor is absent? 

The shift with pastors is that some see value in being bi-vocational. Another part of it is that there are less and less pastors available and churches are closing. Some have called it a leadership crisis. So where are we going to get our leaders from? This is an argument for church based training. Historically we ship off our youth to Bible colleges and they become pastors and leaders and that is good too. Yet what about possible leaders within the church who have jobs and families or financial difficulties. Is the only route Bible college? While certainly it is a good route and helpful, in the biblical requirements in I Timothy and Titus you won't find Bible college on the list. You will find character traits and skills that can be developed with proper training and mentoring in a local church. 

So I am excited that there is some vision for church based training out there, and I exhort you to think about this and see what is happening in your church. This last weekend we had a training module on Counseling and it was awesome! We try to do four modules per year. Doesn't seem like much, but over years you really see all the subjects covered. In August we will be starting a year furlough; if you are interested in what your church can be doing or how I can help, please let me know! 

Bits January

Those baptized this month! 

We are excited for this month for a couple reasons. We are going to have our new boss Randy Richner and his wife Cindy in town for a retreat with our colleagues. Then he is going to teach a module on Biblical counseling at the church. We always like having modules at the church and see them as great growth tools. 

The construction in Tupanatinga is going really well! We are close; not sure we will be using the building before next month’s update but it is possible and should be at least really close. We had a huge gift come in last night to finish off all we need and so we are about to be in a big buying stage for the remaining finishes on the building. 

The girls went to Camp Paradise this month that ABWE started more than 50 years ago and our colleague Dan Cook runs. They had a really fun time with a few others from our church as well as a couple counselors from our church. We are excited that the group that goes has really grown. The girls both got camper of the week for their cabins and won three theme nights with costumes that Sarah made. They were pretty excited about that.

Heading home from camp excited

Egyptian night

While the girls were at camp we missed going to Tupanatinga and then we had Covid! So we missed church in Tupanatinga for a couple of weeks which we really hated missing! But we were pleased that they kept meeting and had a good service even though we were not present. We are going to be gone for a while starting in July and we are working on how they will be cared for in our absence. For now the plan is spread out; a mixture of having services on their own; Chico has preached a couple of times there; then we can send some leaders from the church in Arcoverde as well. 

My brother Phil visiting

This month we have thought more in depth on legalism and faithfulness. Can we be too legalistic requiring or demanding our member’s presence in church activities or do we just say whatever is fine. It comes down to motives that we cannot always see. What we would like to develop is member
s who really want to be present and serve because of their love for Jesus, not out of a sense of obligation for their salvation, or a sense of debt. We consider it a privilege to serve as missionaries of the gospel and we thank you all for allowing us that privilege. 

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah and our little insects (Their camp rooms were named after insects this year) Esperança (leaf bug) and Juninha (lady bug) 

Joe Smith and Jane Doe in church planting

Lately I have read a lot about church planting processes as well as done some training and observing. We have two distinct church plants going on and it is interesting seeing the differences between the two. In the United States I don't think Christians often think about the processes that churches go through in the life of their church as we mostly attend well established churches. I participated in some training that looked to the book of Acts and saw that local churches progress over long periods of time; basically a church starts, gets established, raises leaders, does ministry and over time grows, fizzles, fades, maintains; it really all depends. Sometimes it is obvious the goal is to grow and even multiply and sometimes it is to just survive. 

In church planting with Paul in Acts we see a process where he goes and gathers believers through gospel preaching, makes disciples, strengthens those disciples, chooses leaders, goes through tribulation, all with prayer and fasting. If you look at the letters, it was hard to have a smooth process in any of these churches; there were always kinks and details to be worked out. There are details to be worked out, doctrine and practice to be determined, and real people with which to work. 

We are at the point right now in Arcoverde where we are working on establishing leaders. This gets me excited because we want our people to own the church here, to be established as leaders here that will grow themselves and help grow others. There is a temptation in churches to be happy with the status quo. We have people like that in our church as well. I want to challenge them to greater service within the church. It doesn't have to be full time, but I want them to consider if church edification should be included in their values and priorities. Is it only full time pastors who should be involved in the edification of the church or the expansion of God's kingdom? 

Looking practically I can see how our members could help us start new churches. One main avenue is through preaching. The heavier time consumer of ministry is preaching and teaching. If we have members stepping up to lead small groups, preach, and lead other ministry areas, that would open up more time for church planting. As it stands we have stopped visiting one city for some reasons, but part of it is time constraints. Another thing that could happen is hiring someone from within the church to be another pastor/administrator here, but at this time the church doesn't have the finances coming in that would allow for it. So if we had heavier givers or more givers (in our church in Arcoverde) we would be able to hire someone. In time we feel we will have more Bible studies in that city but for now it is on hold. 

So my question is how you, if you are a church member, can be involved in the edification of the church and maybe even church planting. Maybe it is just to give more, but hopefully it is more than that. Don't underestimate how much it helps when members are deciding to grow spiritually and then helping teach or lead or volunteer in a godly manner. Taking on visitation of elderly, hospital visits, being proactive in teaching and serving and/or many other tasks helps pastors as well. Awareness and being proactive might be what is most needed in the church today. I may be wrong, but I don't think the average church member thinks about church planting as something that involves them. It can though! 

Some churches are dying; other communities don't have solid gospel churches. US churches need to mobilize to impede the gospel influence from fading. See what you can do to be proactive in growing God's kingdom!