October prayer note
Dear Friends,
Every once in a while God gives small reminders that what we’re doing here has eternal significance. I love those reminders. Sometimes it’s a note from an adult who used to be involved in club, sometimes it’s a current student talking about their life, and this week for me it was a note from a leader who was at our AD school in August.
Flavio is part of Alvo de Mocidade (Target the Youth) which Young Life started in Brazil in 1963. The ministry in Brazil has grown greatly, is fully funded from within Brazil, and for quite a few years has operated very separately from Young Life in the US, but the last couple years we’ve started to work together more closely again. Flavio and two other Brazilian leaders came to Area Director School and it was their first interaction with leaders from our other Latin American countries. Flavio didn’t really want to go—his wife is pregnant and he didn’t want to leave her, he was worried about interacting with leaders who speak Spanish when he speaks Portuguese, and part of him wondered what he really would get out of it. He said in the end he went somewhat grudgingly “out of obedience and submission to God and because of encouragement by Dulce” (his wife—thank God for wise spouses).
God was good and the time in the D.R. impacted Flavio in a way he never saw coming. He wrote “My life was deeply impacted by what I had the chance to live and mainly see, through the eyes faith. I always imagined I was part of an eternal kingdom, one that includes persons of all of the peoples, languages and nations. (But this week) That image gained colors and human forms for me. I stand amazed to have had an encounter with persons of so many countries involved with Jesus Christ... it is difficult explain what my eyes saw and my heart felt. I’m reminded of the text of I Corinthians 2:9…“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." This is the reminder that I am going to carry from this time: the certainty that we are part of a big family, fighting for a marvelous Kingdom and we must strive with even greater resolve in order to earn the greatest number of lives for Jesus Christ."
Flavio and the two other leaders from Brazil who were at AD school returned and led a weekend of training to share what they had learned with other leaders in Brazil. He called this time “probably one of the most important in our history.”
It was a great God moment for me—to hear how Flavio was impacted and experienced the Kingdom of God at our training and to realize that what they brought back to share with their leaders could impact so deeply a ministry with over 45 years of history. I’m very glad I get to be part of the way God is moving in this ministry and can be part of impacting leaders like Flavio. Thank you for being part of this and making it possible.
Please pray for us this week as I leave tomorrow for Peru and a training conference there for the next week. We’ll be focusing especially on helping leaders from several countries learn how to better involve adults within their communities who will invest in and support their work so that it is sustainable for the long term. Please pray for that this time would be a time of practical learning, encouragement and support for our leaders. It promises to be a very full trip and one that could have great long term impact. Pray it would go well, and especially pray for Jenn and Caroline as they stay home while I’m gone.
Two other requests for you to note-
First, one of our leaders in Paraguay is trying to find some older laptops that still work to help his leaders’ better run club (using powerpoints, music, etc.) If any of you have a laptop that you are no longer using but is still functional that you’d be willing to donate, please let me know.
Second, SAVE THE DATES. Wednesday night, October 21st we’ll be at Brookside CRC for a very fun missions night where you’ll have the chance to see how God is moving around the world. Come and check it out. And Sunday, November 22nd at 7:00 pm you are invited to a Noche de Gracias (night of thanks) at our house in Grand Rapids. We’ll have Latin American desserts (and some American ones too), some fun games, prizes (!), lots of pictures to see, and a chance to hear more about how God has been moving in Latin America this past year. We’ll send you more info, but we’d love to have you come hear more about what partnering in this ministry means.
Every once in a while God gives small reminders that what we’re doing here has eternal significance. I love those reminders. Sometimes it’s a note from an adult who used to be involved in club, sometimes it’s a current student talking about their life, and this week for me it was a note from a leader who was at our AD school in August.
Flavio is part of Alvo de Mocidade (Target the Youth) which Young Life started in Brazil in 1963. The ministry in Brazil has grown greatly, is fully funded from within Brazil, and for quite a few years has operated very separately from Young Life in the US, but the last couple years we’ve started to work together more closely again. Flavio and two other Brazilian leaders came to Area Director School and it was their first interaction with leaders from our other Latin American countries. Flavio didn’t really want to go—his wife is pregnant and he didn’t want to leave her, he was worried about interacting with leaders who speak Spanish when he speaks Portuguese, and part of him wondered what he really would get out of it. He said in the end he went somewhat grudgingly “out of obedience and submission to God and because of encouragement by Dulce” (his wife—thank God for wise spouses).
God was good and the time in the D.R. impacted Flavio in a way he never saw coming. He wrote “My life was deeply impacted by what I had the chance to live and mainly see, through the eyes faith. I always imagined I was part of an eternal kingdom, one that includes persons of all of the peoples, languages and nations. (But this week) That image gained colors and human forms for me. I stand amazed to have had an encounter with persons of so many countries involved with Jesus Christ... it is difficult explain what my eyes saw and my heart felt. I’m reminded of the text of I Corinthians 2:9…“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." This is the reminder that I am going to carry from this time: the certainty that we are part of a big family, fighting for a marvelous Kingdom and we must strive with even greater resolve in order to earn the greatest number of lives for Jesus Christ."
Flavio and the two other leaders from Brazil who were at AD school returned and led a weekend of training to share what they had learned with other leaders in Brazil. He called this time “probably one of the most important in our history.”
It was a great God moment for me—to hear how Flavio was impacted and experienced the Kingdom of God at our training and to realize that what they brought back to share with their leaders could impact so deeply a ministry with over 45 years of history. I’m very glad I get to be part of the way God is moving in this ministry and can be part of impacting leaders like Flavio. Thank you for being part of this and making it possible.
Please pray for us this week as I leave tomorrow for Peru and a training conference there for the next week. We’ll be focusing especially on helping leaders from several countries learn how to better involve adults within their communities who will invest in and support their work so that it is sustainable for the long term. Please pray for that this time would be a time of practical learning, encouragement and support for our leaders. It promises to be a very full trip and one that could have great long term impact. Pray it would go well, and especially pray for Jenn and Caroline as they stay home while I’m gone.
Two other requests for you to note-
First, one of our leaders in Paraguay is trying to find some older laptops that still work to help his leaders’ better run club (using powerpoints, music, etc.) If any of you have a laptop that you are no longer using but is still functional that you’d be willing to donate, please let me know.
Second, SAVE THE DATES. Wednesday night, October 21st we’ll be at Brookside CRC for a very fun missions night where you’ll have the chance to see how God is moving around the world. Come and check it out. And Sunday, November 22nd at 7:00 pm you are invited to a Noche de Gracias (night of thanks) at our house in Grand Rapids. We’ll have Latin American desserts (and some American ones too), some fun games, prizes (!), lots of pictures to see, and a chance to hear more about how God has been moving in Latin America this past year. We’ll send you more info, but we’d love to have you come hear more about what partnering in this ministry means.
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