Mark&Ali

Workin away

2011-11-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

We've started a non-profit that has started taking over our lives!
We have put new plumbing in, ripped out the old sewer system, and now we're putting our new electric lines into the houses which will receive guys coming out of drug rehab. Our church has been a huge help! This week I got help from João Ortiz, Edson and João Victor to install the conduits for electricity, Carlão to dig for the new sewer lines.

As a means of raising funds our guys to go through rehab we have started Chance Bags. The very cool Chance Bags site was set up for us by our friend Deborah.
We just finished and sent off our second batch of these bags. They are going to be sold at ACU, the ArtReach fair in Austin, and Midland Christian Schools store.

One of the cool things about this project is how it has involved those who want to serve but who have a very different skill set from what we would normally look for to help the chemically addicted. The other cool factor, is that these bags are just stinking cool! Thank you Midland Christian Schools, Abilene Christian University and Centennial High School for donating the old jerseys to make this work!

Seeing a life restored

2011-10-21T04:54:00.000-07:00

We had a great evening with Alermão and Cida Wednesday night. Alermão was one of our homeless friends who we helped go through rehab, see previous post for more explanation, but he making it great in his now role as a family man!
What was set as a double date turned into a terrific party of 12! We had a very cool family of friends who came in from out of town, and Alermão and Cida's kids all joinded in. We had a great time planning Alermão and Cida's wedding, and getting to know his wonderful family better. They have fun kids! Here are some pics -

Double date

2011-10-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

Ali and I are heading out on a double date tonight. Besides being a date with my favorite wife in the world, it is going to be fun because we are taking Alermão and his bride-to-be out.
Alermão was one of the early regulars to our homeless lunch. As a homeless crack addict he decided to accept our offer to go through drug rehab, and after 6 months he came out ready to live a new life. He got back together with his ex and is raising his kids again, now as a dad worth looking up to. Alermão and Cida are now planing their wedding, which is a dream come true for Cida. God really does make all things new, and it's a lot of fun to see it happen... And then to go on double dates with renewed friends!

fully back...finally!

2011-10-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

it took us 4 weeks to be home for good! but we are here now!

i have to admit, i did not recognize my bedroom when i first got home! we proceeded to spend the next several days deep cleaning, organizing, and simplifying our home.

here are some interesting adjustments since our arrival:

1) there is a newborn in the house! Kenya & Lauryn, Eric's wife and baby girl, have moved to itu and will be living in our home until the halfway house is ready to move into. It's been sweet having a baby around! surprisingly, no one in the house wakes up with the cries at night =)

2) CHANCE BAGS has moved in, also! our little CHANCE bags factory is in the outside area -- here is our fb with pics : http://www.facebook.com/bolsachancebag -- We have 2 friends that work on the bags daily, and i have added this small project to my under-challenged life (please insert sarcastic tone). we are LOVING the chaos CHANCE bags has brought, and hoping to watch the production grow and bless many lives.

3) We are so proud to see the ways the youth group continues to bless the community around them even in our absence. We have 15 graduating seniors to send off this December, and my heart hurts just thinking about it! -- the Lord will do mighty things through them!

4) i seem to STILL be adjusting to grad school, even though i've been taking classes for 13 months now. Several papers to write within the next week, and i am hoping my faithful proofreader is more excited than i am! (thank you, jackie beth)

we have been reminded that adjustments are a time to exercise flexibility
and to be reminded that God controls the flow.

may you have a chance to be flexible.
peace to your home.

Half back!

2011-09-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

We are "half back" in Itu now.

I (Mark) am home and Ali is finishing her last week state side. Ali is doing an online masters program with Rochester Christian College, and she has one intensive week of classes to kick off her semester of online studies.

I had a great day here in Itu. It started early with work on the halfway house. Eric and I were taking off more mortar to apply water proofing. My plumbing is done!!! What a huge gift and great donation of service!

Next I was doing some organizing of paperwork and seeing where my fundraising process was. I was down from what I needed for my payment this week... so I was prepping to deal with the lack when I got news of two amazing acts of kindness and generosity that puts us over our goal for this weeks payment!!! I am so humbled, and thankful! It still amazes me. As faithful as God has been, and as consistently supportive as the community around us has been, it still floors me to live it. Thank you.

And the day was brought to an end with work on our Chance Bags project. Look up "chance bags" on Facebook. We unpacked our new jersey donations from ACU and Centennial high school (my old jerseys!) and our 3 new donated sewing machines (thank you Granbury) and Susanie was very impressed and excited that we had a "Project Runway" edition machine! :) We got the Chance work space from cluttered and full of leaves to open, clean, and ready for action.

At the end, I'm just thankful that God has given us this chance to use our passions and skills for His glory and for the betterment of those around us, humbled by the amazing support we get in carrying this on, and, glad to be back! Half back. Ali, we're ready for you now!

the strange "land" in between

2011-09-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

we spent wonderful time with mark's extended family in Canada for the past couple of days. We had 4 generations present for the weekend! This was a great event to close our time in the States.

Now that we are back in Ohio, we are living in the strange "land" in between the US and BRAZIL. Last minute shopping (brownie mix!), gifts for friends, calls back home, travel arrangements, good-byes... these activities have a way of throwing us into a stage of being both places and neither at the same time. Honestly, it's the most uncomfortable place to be. It's like temporarily trying to have a foot on both continents and painfully realizing there are 9 thousand miles in between.

my prayer is that none of us try to live this way for very long, that we all learn to practice full presence wherever we find ourselves today.

can we still be blog friends?

2011-09-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

You know those friends with whom the connection seems so entirely natural that even when you have been separated for weeks or months or years, it only feels like a few hours have gone by? … well, welcome back! It’s been a while, but my hope is that this will be a natural continuation of good conversations.

i will attempt a rough catch up in this post, and then we will move on from here knowing that there are PLENTY of adventures for us to live out together in the future!

Our summer was incredible and chaotic and beautiful! Camp Roots joined 127 ppl from Itu & San Angelo and we celebrated our week with the theme “My Story Belongs to You,” which culminated with an hour-long CIRCUS production offered to our community!

The CURA medical campaign continues to grow and impact our city! This last summer we assisted over 900 people in 5 days. We now are brainstorming what it would look like for our church to have a year-round presence at the local schools where we usually set up CURA.

Several of you have seen us closer to your home lately… or IN your home! =) we’ve enjoyed the several weeks spent between Texas and Ohio visiting old friends, making new ones, and spending qt with family!

Exciting things loom on the horizon – we will share more about them on this page.
ali

WE ARE STILL ALIVE

2011-07-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

we are so sorry for not keeping you updated!

as you can imagine, life is spinning at very fast speeds!
since the beginning of June we have welcomed campaign groups through our home and ministry context, spent long hours preparing for Camp Roots 2011 & medical campaign CURA 2011, and began remodeling all 3 halfway houses!

we will post pics and videos soon.
please know we appreciate you and look forward to sharing stories soon!

ali

ps - be sure to look us up on facebook!

ps 2 - we spent 10 days with some amazing AGGIES, and they shared some of their experiences on their blog http://afewinperu.blogspot.com/

Crazy as usual

2011-05-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

We had an event this Thursday that, as bizarre as it was, seemed fitting given the way that our work with drug rehab has been moving forward. Around midnight we were at "Fora de Hora," our town's only open all night place, chatting with our friends that help us with the youth group. A guy walks in and sees Eric (pictured here) and walks by motioning for him to come to the bathroom. When that doesn't work the guy motions to him from the bathroom. He thinks that only Eric can see him, but most of the table is watching this guy through the mirror next to him as he gestures and asks, "Cocaine? You got cocaine?" Eric shakes his head and the guy goes back outside. Most of the table is laughing in disbelief of this guys bold shot in the dark! But Eric was indignant for having been treated like a dealer and decides to go out and confront the guy. He finds him in the parkinglot -

"Hey, do you know me?"

* "Aren't you Chez's friend?"

"I don't know Chez and I've never seen you in my life! I'm an addict in recovery and you wanna come in and push me for drugs? And in front of my family???" (family - that's us)

* "Dude, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know. You're in recovery? My bad... so... no disrespect... but do you know where I can find some cocaine?"

"Man, I can't help you."

And he comes back in. This grinds on Eric the rest of the night. The next morning Eric brought it up again, "I thought about that kid all night - I saw myself in his eyes. I know what that phase of withdrawal feels like, and it bugs me that I didn't talk him about Jesus."

Later that morning we were prepping for homeless lunch and there's a knock on the gate. Eric answers it, and guess who? A friend of ours from the next town over, and the cocaine kid!

Our friend - "Eric, I have a friend for you to meet,"
Eric - "I know him..."
Cocaine kid - "I know you... I tried to buy drugs from you..."
Our friend - "How do you guys know each other?"
Eric - "Come on in and let's sit down."

So apparently cocaine kid used all night long, and then that next morning went to our friend's LAN house and asked for help with his addiction. "I know of some friends who can help you," our friend said, and brought him to us.

(He just called and Eric is on the phone with him right now)

They talked for about two hours. The plan right now is for him to start attending our support group. We'll be keeping close contact to support him in his recovery, and if it proves necessary, help him get into a rehab clinic.

Running into people who need help, that happens. But this being followed up with them being brought to your house within 24 hours to get help... that doesn't just happen. But to me it's one more confirmation that God is in this... and given the way things have been progressing, it makes sense.

Crazy crazy life!

Visit from friends

2011-05-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

We have often said that we keep an open home and love visiters, last month two of our friends from Texas took us up on our standing invitation. Chris Frizzell and Billy Martin and pitched in for a week of service. They did an amazing job of using who they are to bless our community!

The first day they arrived was my night to spend at the rehab clinic, so Billy jumped right in. A little nervous about not being able to converse, Billy took a special snack to prepare for the guys upon his arrival, and immediately made friends in the process! Early the next morning we had a devotional led by Billy. He shared how his relationship with God has led him to care for the oppressed, and pointed to our responsibility for having received mercy, to be a people who extend mercy.

After speaking at rehab that morning, Billy spoke to the youth group at night. He pulled from his experience working with fingerprinting in the FBI to share how we are each uniquely created. He illustrated this through some fun FBI stories from his past, and by finger printing our kids and allowing them to see the differences. He also used this to communicate our worth as unique and valuable members in the kingdome.

After this we had two great seminars led by Chris Frizzell. His first dealt with conflict management and led to some really good discussions. My friend Zacca who manages a car parts store commented afterwords how helpful the subject was to him given his daily responsibilities.

Chris and Billy, thank you so much for coming! Granburry Church of Christ, thank you for sending them! We know we are all part of the same kingdom and the same work, but having you here in action was a wonderful tribute to how big and widespread the movement of Jesus Christ actually is.

Happy Mothers Day (to a great Buckeye mom!)

2011-05-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
I have to admit I'm a little jealous of Scott, Danny and Carla... because I would loooooooooooooove to be able to be there to have lunch with you today! I miss being able to do that. You put on the best Sunday lunch in the western hemisphere.
Even though I can't be with you for Mothers Day, I want you to know that I love you very much and am so thankful for who you are in my life.

Thank you for your warmth and readiness to receive us kids back home any day, and for your supportiveness in our leaving to live our our dreams and callings.

Thanks for passing on a simple love for nature that has kept me enchanted with God's creation and critters.

Thank you for teaching us the simple enjoyment of life and light heartedness that makes you so fun to be around.

Thank you for the high value you have given to friendships, and quickness to take in my friends as your own.

And thank you for the love of family that comes through so clearly through your time spent with us.

I miss being with you today mom. Know that the blessing of who you are in my life is not lost on me. Thanks for giving me a life full of so many great memories with you. I love who you are and look forward to the next time we get to be together.

Happy Mothers Day!
Mark

God Story about the Halfway House

2011-04-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

A major hole in our social work ministry has been the "post-rehab" reality. We send our homeless friends to rehab, but when it's all said and done, they have no where to go for their new start. So we started dreaming of opening a halfway house - the first place to stand on your own two feet, but with the support to enable success.

We have written a lot about the houses we found (three two bedroom units standing side by side), and how ideal they are for this ministry. Ali keeps insisting that if these houses are to be ours, then it should be through a "God story"... I am just looking for any story that ends with us getting these houses! Then as Ali wrote, this week I was shocked to meet with a friend of my Portuguese teacher who offered to buy two of these three houses for us!

Today our new found friend came to have lunch with our homeless friends and us here at the house before going to see the houses for the first time. Want some irony? Only two of our homeless guys came! That hasn't happened in two years, and it happens on the day this new partner is coming to see what we do! I'm thinking - 'boy do we look bogus!'

From our house we went to meet the home owner and see the houses. In the walk through we see that some more roof tiles have been broken. Our doner takes in the shattered windows, water infiltration, stolen wiring and... falls silent with concerned expression. I'm dying to read his mind. We look bogus, the house looks like a liability...

With the walk through done, I'm feeling pretty uncertain about what might or might not happen next. Then our friend looks to me and says, "Well Mark... do we proceed?"
My understatement response - "If you're ready, I'm ready,"
To the home owner - "Okay. I'd like to close on these two units."

Gah!

While they trade info I think, God gave us two of these three units, we can come through on this third one! So I tell the owner, we've started a campaign to buy this third unit through partners in our church and community, can we draw up a "intention to buy" agreement and get started rehabbing it too? He liked that idea, so my obvious follow up question - And can I put guys to live in it, for security purposes? He gave us another go, so all doors are open!

God has shown He is in this by doing the heavy lifting for us, now we get to join in what He is already doing! I am blown away by His goodness, and excited about our challenge - joining our church community and friends up to complete this purchase and carry out this new embodiment of the Kingdom!

so what's your story about His glory?

2011-04-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

What we wanted the most was a God Story.

We knew God could operate a miracle for the houses to become ours, and that is what we asked for.
We anxiously awaited to see how and when God would act, and here’s how it happened…

As Mark already shared, there were over 40 people at the church building on Sunday evening for Mark’s vision launching of the halfway houses. Among the group was Mark’s Portuguese teacher, Ze. He has helped Mark tremendously by proofreading all the documentation for the non-profit we are establishing. After the Q&A about the halfway house project, several friends ended up at the houses with us to dream about initiating the next step = purchase.

The next day Ze taught English class to Jose, a prosperous business man in town. He mentioned the meeting he had attended on Sunday and how much benefit the halfway houses would bring to the city. Jose showed some interest and said, “Bring Mark here to talk to me. I might help along the process.”

Mark and Jose met yesterday. Mark took papers with lots of numbers, lots of words, but most of all lots of dreams. Jose had good questions about the project, and shared with Mark he wanted to help promote recovery in this city “for personal reasons.”

So he gave us 2 houses… HE gave us two houses.

What?! Yep. Seriously?! Yep. Just like that?! Yep.
Trust me, we are just as perplexed as you are.

GOD has granted us his favor and confirmation, now we plunge forward with HIS blessing and YOUR involvement!

Come and see.

Good news wrap up

2011-04-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

We've had some great things happen here, and it's made blogging intimidating because it's hard to wrap it all up!

First off, Eduardo (Du) went to back to rehab! We have been working with Du since the beginning of our homeless lunch. He went into rehab in July, completed a three month program, and came back to be rejected and insulted by his father. He stayed in our home for two weeks before throwing himself back into his old addictions and life on the street. A good friend of ours heard his story and provided a second chance at treatment for Du, and so he is living at a clinic now that runs a 9 month program. After his treatment he will be coming back to Itu and we hope to have a halfway house ready to receive and assist him as he starts a new life! He is in a critical stage right now of decision - pray that he maintains the courage and desire to carry this recovery on to completion.

Samuel is another member of our homeless lunch who entered rehab, he completed a three month program Saturday and excited about his new life! I was worried about Samuel's return after just three months, and God provided - he was offered a chance from the rehab program to stay on and complete a seminary that they also administer and he was glad to accept! Interesting side note - Samuel told us that he had a dream recently, he was with Eric, Anternor and me and there was a house that he was living in with us here in Itu. Samuel had never heard about our plans for the halfway house, but it seems he got the message from Somebody!

In regards to the halfway house, we've met with the owner and an architect and drawn up the calculations. Sunday we had a big meeting to discuss the vision and the details. Alermão (the first guy who went into rehab from our homeless lunch) came with his family, it was an amazing testimony to the God that can! It also served to show the need for this house - Alermão is reunited with his family, but they have not yet found where to go to live together! In the mean time, Alermão is living in one house with a room mate while his wife and daughters are living 30 minutes away with his sister. Our goal is that Alermão and his family will move into one of the two bedroom units and help with the rehab work necessary to use the other two units. Each unit has the same floor plan, shown below.

Forty some church members who came to the meeting saw the need and heard the scoop. Many of them left saying, 'this is going to happen and I'm ready to pitch in'. After the meeting we went together as a group to visit the location, which is feeling more and more like home. Antenor asked that I next give this explanation during Sunday morning service, and we will be ready to receive pledges and put promises into action.

We continue to make progress, and this dream is becoming a reality!
Thank you for your prayers, keep it up!

I know am am leaving out some good stuff, like our visit from Billy Martin and Chris Frizzell... that's coming soon after I manage to get the pics off my camera! (if you find my charger, let me know :) )

Vision launched

2011-04-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday I had the chance to share with our church family the plans for the halfway house. And just for a bit of context, Eduardo came!

This year Eduardo went through rehab, was rejected by his family and fell back into drug use and returned to the streets. In the last two weeks he has gotten serious about seeking help again.

Eduardo showed up to church drunk and with a smell that announced his presence way before him. When Antenor went to the front to give an announcement Eduardo shouted out, "Antenor, I'm here! I said I'd come, and I came." If there was anyone in our church who didn't know Eduardo last week, they know him now!

I spoke during the time before the offering with my friend Vitor Hugo. Vitor went through rehab for a crack addiction and is living recovery by God's grace. We spoke to the importance of supporting the rehab ministry as a community of faith, and launched the vision for the purchase of a home to receive our homeless friends post rehab. We showed this photo - and called on our community to invest in the kingdom with us.

After the offering, Antenor reaffirmed the necessity of this movement to establish a halfway house. I felt that God was preparing the way for this vision casting through what was seen, heard, and even smelled on Sunday! We have a creative God who uses the foolish to confound the wise - all part of this great adventure.

On the 17th of this month I will be giving a full report and requesting support from potential partners of this ministry. Between now and then I will be discovering the cost of needed repairs and developing a plan of action for receiving support, operating the house, and so on. Pray me wisdom!

Meeting on the House

2011-04-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

This morning I met with the owner of the location we are considering for the halfway house. He gave us a proposal that my friend Roberto (who knows the market here much better than I do) assured me was very good. Now I have a lot of learning to do... but more than financial details I am searching for a clear indication as to what God has for us in this.

The need is just getting clearer. This week two friends came to us separately asking for help with friends who are trying to get off drugs, a woman who works in our neighborhood knocked on our door to ask if we work with rehab and could help her son, and a man came this morning as I was preparing to go to see about the house, also looking to get into rehab.

We continue to help individuals get into rehab, but for the one's who come off the street, we need to have a next step (post rehab) in place!

Right now, I need to know that my church family here is on board with me. Funny thing is, before this mornings meeting was set up Antenor asked me to speak for tomorrows offering - to explain what more we would be able to do in the work with the homeless if we had greater financial support from our church community. Providence???

I can't say that I know what's coming down the pipe yet... and I am anxious about this new territory. But God knows what He has in store, and I am thankful for that!

Halfway house

2011-04-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is a big day in the progress of our dream house. Take a look -

These three apartments are located in a neighborhood that is needing some light. The guys that we are graduating from rehab are needing a place to go, and a purpose. We want to bring some beterment to the neighborhood, and give our guys a place to start again, with the support of a Christian enviroment.
I'd write more, but a bunch of guys are coming over to my house for a time of worship and grilling out as I am writing this.

Tomorrow we meet with the house owner to talk about the purchase of this house.
Please pray for this meeting! This is a realy big deal for us, and the guys who are needing it. I will update with the news after the meeting tomorrow.

Peace in you home.

Celebrate Recovery

2011-03-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our Celebrate Recovery support group. One of the guys in the group who most recently completed the drug rehab program came to share about the struggles of leading as a dad and husband. His five year old boy had breathing problems this week, leading to a night in the hospital, and the marital tensions that come with high stress and lack of sleep.

At the same time as it was concerning to hear of difficulties my friend is encountering, it was great to see the redemption that shines in the life he is leading. At this time last year he didn't have the mind to serve as a husband or a father. His priority was feeding a drug addiction. Last night he spoke of a new reality. He is not resentful or bitter about the difficulties, he is just learning to live in a new role. His redemption has brought redemption to his whole house- be it in good times or bad.

After sharing our different struggles we had a time of worship. God soothes the soul that is place openly and with humility before Him. I can't describe very well what that was like... but I saw my friend humble himself before the Lord, and the Lord lifted him up.

Kaiserês

2011-03-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

In about an hour we will be receiving a major group of our biggest partners here in Itu. They call themselves the Kaiserês, and they are a group of high school age students that give life to our house.

We are in a series about putting ourselves at risk for the sake of living out our faith in a world that runs from trouble. The crisis in Japan has been the reference point for us. As thousands of people are evacuating from the area of an unstable nuclear power plant, a small team is being trained to enter into this plant and face the problem.
Our question to the kids is "What is the melting power plant in your life, and what are you doing to help?"
May we all be His hands and His feet.

CHANCE PROJECT(s)

2011-03-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

In 2009 we invited homeless into our home. We realized they were the ones that most need a space that would invite them in as dignified, valuable creation. We began by offering a warm meal and a listening ear. Today, two years later, they eat, shower, change clothes, wash their dirty garments, get a haircut, share their stories, and listen to others. They call themselves the XICXOU family, which is a slang meaning “very cool”. They are a very cool community.
But this is not enough.
We invite them weekly to change their journey… to pursue something better. They are accepted and cherished, and they know that what we desire is to be a place, a group of people, that invites them to open their wings, to live the life they were created to live.
If we extend the invitation, we must be ready to provide the means for change.
Today our home dreams of opening a drug rehab center and a halfway house for the men who chose to take flight. In the last year, three of our homeless friends have chosen to rehabilitate their lives: Alemao, Eduardo, and Samuel. Not one of them has a stable family or community to return to. We want to provide a house where they can call home, and receive the emotional and spiritual support to stay clean, and the tools to become a valuable part of society and contributors to a healthy community. Setting up this home is the beginning.
But that’s not where we stop.
We also want to establish a drug rehab center where men get the chance to start over in a holistic community (small businesses will be run from within to create an internal economy). In addition to changing addictive habits, lessons will include relapse prevention, work ethic, professional skills and administration of finances.

We want to give these men a CHANCE to change.
We are in the business of giving people a CHANCE.
CHANCE bags is the way we want to raise funds for this dream - this needed reality. The bags are made with “upcycled” material, and produced by the community that wants to see the change take place – our communal home, our partners, our homeless friends, and recovering drug addicts.
We want to use material that represents the country we are developing, Brazil. This is why we’ve chosen to build CHANCE bags with used soccer jerseys and soccer balls. This is where you can contribute. Bring along any and all soccer jerseys you are willing to donate to this movement, and be a part of giving people a CHANCE.

For every CHANCE bag sold, a homeless friend will receive a CHANCE to change.

Quick Update

2011-03-04T18:17:00.000-08:00

It's Carnival again in Brazil! Tomorrow morning (5AM) we will load 3 cars and drive 9 hours up north to take part in a retreat with our youth group in Belo Horizante. We will be gone through Wednesday.

A couple updates -
last blog I mentioned that Harley had come into our home in expectation of getting into rehab. He is doing great! He has been through a world of change in a week and is committed to seeing this through and becoming a new kind of husband/dad. His depression has been turned to joy in an amazing way! I have started meeting one on one with his son weekly as well, who has been launched into a whole new level of reality through this experience.

we are working with a lawyer (our friend Vitinho) to set up our non-profit organization to better serve guys coming out of rehab. God has brought all kinds of connections out of nowhere to make this happen, i'll have to explain all that in another blog.

Please pray for this journey and retreat. Trips are very formative experiences for youth groups, and we want to see our kids be formed as Christ would have them to be.

Alright, happy Carnival to you all!

An undeniable God

2011-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

There have been some things that we've lived in this last week that have been hard to describe... because I'm not sure that I "get it" myself. One example is the story of Fran. Her story with us started a week ago Thursday, the day after we got back into the country.

Before going to the US in January Ali and I were becoming more and more involved with a work of the city government called CREAS. They work assisting homeless and youth on probation and I had offered my services for assisting in home visits and group meetings. When I went to visit recently, it was to initiate this type of service again, but that's not what happened.

As I stepped into Alzira's office (the city's social worker who has now become a close friend) there was a lot of tension in the air. They had been working all day to resolve a problem with a 15 year old girl named Fran who had come to them for help because of abuse in the home. They had arranged an interview for her to be taken into a clinic, but this wouldn't be till Monday. They had exhausted their resources the city had nothing to offer her. They were about to send her back into her abusive home. I asked to use the phone, Ali and I talked it over, and Fran moved temporarily into our home.

Ali and I had just arrived back here in Itu from a month in the US, so this wasn't easy. Fran's presence took a lot of attention. She didn't know the norms of being in someone else's home, when she was in a room we couldn't help but wonder what wouldn't be when she came out, and her base interaction with boys was... constant.

Fran saw a different world here, and took part in it. She went with us to church and various home groups. When she learned of our plans to have a community center she took us to a place that she thought we should consider (pictured here). It is an old night club that is falling apart and mainly used by kids who are looking for a place to do drugs.

We learned a lot about the Itu drug market as Fran used to sell. We went downtown with her one night and she started pointing out who sells, who prostitutes and explaining how it's all organized, stuff fifteen year olds aren't supposed to know.

The clinic that Fran was supposed to be put into didn't work out. She ended up staying with us for a week before another solution was worked out by the city. I questioned how wise this was on my part, and wasn't going to blog about it because I figured, 'this is not what we do... it's just something that happened. We have a focus and I don't want to give the false impression that this is it.' Then Alzira (the social worker who is pictured below with her husband) came and sat down with Ali one evening to talk about what was going on.

Alzira would not refer to herself as a Christian, and maybe that's why her words struck me so hard. She described the day this all started. She had brainstormed with all of her co-workers, called on all available city resources, called for a second brainstorming session, and then made some more phone calls and she had come up with nothing. She was giving up and dreading telling Fran that she would have to go back home. Telling Ali this story she said, "I only know of one person in this city who would open his own home to a situation like this, and at that very moment, he walks into my office, hears the story, and says, 'okay, she can come home with us'. It was like there was some... cooperation between something bigger and Mark to bring about the right sollution at the right time..."

Then I realized, this is a story to be told openly because it had very little to do with 'what I was doing,' and everything to do with what God was doing. That was clear even to someone who lacks words for "something bigger" and it is a witness to the readiness of our God to use us in this world.

As I write this we have a new visitor in our house. His name is Harley and he has been addicted to drugs for many years. Harley sought me out this morning desperate for help. I spoke with the director of the rehab clinic and there is a waiting list, but we are going to start the process this afternoon. In the days between now and when he can move in, Harley will be with us and will sleep with Manu and Eric in the garage. We are in the process of opening a halfway house, and till it's open, looks like we're it.

Please pray for Gods strong presence in this house. His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Back at it

2011-02-11T17:14:00.000-08:00

In the last month Ali and I spent time with a lot of family and friends. We were in the US and spent time in Michigan, Ohio, and Texas. We spent a lot of time catching folks up on what's happening in Brazil, and learning from some of the things unfolding State-side. We loved the time there and are very grateful to the many families who hosted us. Wednesday night we arrived back home, and life is crazy once more!

On Thursday, I visited with a unit of the city government that deals with youth on probation and homeless. They are excited about our intentions to start a halfway house for the guys getting out of rehab, and set up a meeting this coming Thursday for us to meet with the cities secretary of social action to propose our plan and to discover what help we the city might offer.

This morning one of the city social workers, Alzira, came to visit the location. We talked with many of you about the crack house that we would like to turn into a halfway house, and the abandoned daycare that we hope to use as a community center. Below are pictures of both.

This will be a big week regarding these projects, and with catching up with the rest of our normal lives. We appreciate your prayers as we jump back into life here in Itu. We know that God has great things in store, and are anxious to live them out.

Redemption Songs

2010-12-30T02:40:00.001-08:00

We recently enjoyed a wonderful Christmas celebration in keeping with the purpose of Jesus' coming - reconciliation.

We work with a large group of homeless here in Itu who come to our home once a week to shower, eat and get a change of clothes. Members of our church cook for this event, donate clothing, and a few come and help serve the ministry as well. I also work with a drug rehab clinic. This is a six month program brings to life individuals who are filled with death by the powerful mercy and love of Christ.

We wanted to bring together our church families, homeless, and the men from rehab so that the redemptive work of Christ could shine, so we threw a Christmas banquet! We cooked a great meal and decorated our church building for Christmas. Many church families signed up to come, two of our closest friends offered to sing during dinner... but I was pretty nervous about whether our homeless guests and the guys from rehab would show or not. I loved Ali's response though to this concern- "if they don't show up it'll just be like that parable of the wedding banquet - we'll go through the streets and squares and bring in whoever we find." I love this girl!

The guys did show up! They came to our house early to shower and get a fresh change of clothes. And I went to the clinic (which is in break now till January) and enough guys came back to load our Volkswagen bus.

At the church we had a great reception from our church members. They were anxiously waiting to meet the guys and make them feel like true honored guests. And the rehab guys were anxious to meet with our homeless crew, to share experiences and to let them know that they had been redeemed from some of the same traps, that there is hope! One of our guys from the rehab crew actually came out of our homeless crew and gave the example of a life changed to his old friends. He reminded them that this new life is available to them too, and Samuel seems to have really been inspired by this; he is wanting to start rehab in January now. Please pray that he continues to follows through on this!

Another result of this event is that a few members of our homeless community left feeling surprised by the warmth they were shown by a church, and wanting to be a part of this family. They have come back to the two services since this dinner, and further developed the friendships they found here. I want everyone to hear the message of Christ, this event highlights to me how ears are opened to that message when they experience the love of Christ.

Celebrate Recovery

2010-12-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Every Tuesday night is Celebrate Recovery night. This is our support group which embraces individuals with destructive habits, traumas from dysfunctional lifestyles, etc. It is one of those places where I most clearly see the church being the accepting and redeeming force that it is called to be. Anyone can come in humility as they are to the God who forgives and restores.

We began today with a simple taking of communion. That is an element that I like to use, especially when an individual in the group is feeling like an unworthy outcast. It is a good reminder that the blood of Christ was spilt specifically for this purpose. We mess up, and God isn't surprised. He shed His blood so that the sin could be removed and we could come back as sons. The final scripture of the lesson was Ephesians 4:13 - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Churches are intimidating sometimes. People who don't know the love of Christ define them as places where condemnation abounds. I am so thankful that we serve a God who is bigger than the need to condemn just to prove his own holiness. A God who came down to earth and got dirty in the process of providing forgiveness and new life to those who would humbly come and seek it.

There was a lot of pain on the table tonight. A lot of brokenness and darkness. But there was mercy too, and new hope.

These pictures were taken with our homeless friends. We regularly have communion with them on Sunday afternoons downtown.

Louv'Arte - An event of worship through art.

2010-11-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

One of the guys who lives in our home and works as a partner with Ali and I in our ministry is Carioca. Here's his pic. He is a marketing professional who was searching for a way to live out his faith in a real way when he came to our house. Now he lives with us and is a huge important part of our ministry team.

Carioca recently headed up an event in our church called Louv'Arte. This event was all about worship in community through the expression of creative gifts. Sixteen artists came together and used their artistic talents in a beautiful mixture of art through dance, sculpting, painting, music (from classic violin, to contemporary worship, to Italian opera), culinary creation, crochet and poetry. We had participants that ranged from 15 to over 80 years old. Members of our church, famous Itu artist Paulo Lara, famous Cuban American artist and friend of ours Rolando Diaz, and professional dancer Jackie Beth Shilcutt (who lives with us too at the moment - all part of our amazing life!) all came to get in on the action.

It was incredible and inspiring! God was praised in wonderful communal celebration. Check out these pics.

David starts the night off with sounds of classic violin

Ismael offers artful creations from his culinary talent

Heidi uses craft skills to create beautiful gifts

Simone's poetry corner

Ricardo works on his sculpture entitled "Original Sin."

Rolando Diaz paints a piece on worship in dance inspired by the dancing of Jackie Beth.

Worship through song by Deborah.

Pedro and Heloisa work on sketch pieces, which include subjects from our lunch for the homeless (I'm really proud of these kids!)

Walkeria works on a humorous self portrait depicting herself and her husband.

Paulo Lara painting a work for our church

While artists perform, participants are invited to add to a mural with various expressions of worship.

The event was a great bonding experience for our church members too. Doing what you love together in worship is powerful, fun, exciting... just not easy to describe!

Thank you God for the variety of gifts you have blessed us with. May our use of these gifts always be a pleasing offering to You.

MI CASA, TU CASA

2010-11-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

Ali is currenlty in the middle of an online masters program from Rochester Christian Colege. One of her recent assignments was to describe her ministry context. I'd love for you to read it, so I've posted it below. Enjoy.

It’s a small house, smaller than one might imagine after hearing about the movement going on inside. The metal farm bell hangs next to the closed gate and ivy wall, and when it’s rung the entire neighborhood knows someone has arrived. The house sits at the back of a lot four times its size, and has the built area of approximately 600 square feet, which include 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, 2 bathrooms, and a garage (the guys’ room). There is a large front yard (Brazilian standards), with 7 different fruit trees, an attempt at a garden (plans in the works), and a pergolado (a wooden structure, similar to a gazebo, but square). The pergolado is an external extension of the house, and serves as the eating area, nap area (in the hammock), and a place where life-changing conversations hover over the leaves of the trees, waiting for the next companions to have a seat.

There are six of us that live here. Yes, six: Mark (my husband), Barbara, Brandon, Carioca, Manu, and myself. We call ourselves a “non-nuclear family”. Mark and I have a room, and Barbara has her own room, but she has to share the bathroom. The guys have made the garage into a very comfortable habitat for 4. The living room couch often hosts 2-3 friends on the weekends. Twice a week (Thursdays and Fridays) we receive homeless and youth, each night between 30-40 beautiful people come to share life. Our home hosts life. We are couched in between the local church building we serve with, and the bus station, and both receive very different crowds. One caters to the middle class, the other to the low income. One has a parking lot for the expensive cars that park once a week, the other welcomes the sojourners dependent on public transportation. One has the mission to offer donations from their excess, the other is dependent on the city’s low budget to function. And we chose this location on purpose: to bring the rude and the crude realities to encounter each other over a meal, sitting at the same table, dancing to the same music, wondering about the same questions, struggling with the same disconnection. This home invites you to open your wings.

As we’ve listened to our friends share their first impressions about entering our home, many details stand out in their memories: the surplus of sleeping bags, always anticipating the unknown visitor; the Kombi VW bus, to carry the most amount of people; the messy scribbled walls, used to visualize new ideas and dreams; the lack of TV, to emphasize human interaction and connection; the music, used to awaken, to inspire, to calm, to unite. All of these items (or lack there of) are symbolic of the identity we want to carry, they are ways we want to express our calling to live simple and communal life.

But there is one common aspect to every room of the house that I find the most symbolic of the life style we’ve chosen. Every cabinet, every closet has no doors. Our kitchen pantry is wide open, as well as our dishes and appliances clearly exposed. Our clothes hang with no protection (often slightly dirty from the breeze bringing in dust), and are surprisingly unissex. Our toiletries are on open shelves (Carioca had 3 tooth brushes chewed up by the dogs last month!) and available to whomever is using the bathroom. Our shoes hang on walls, and we use the first pair of flip flops we can reach. The front door is never locked.

We want to question what there really is to protect in this world. We want people to know that what is available in the house, is available to them. We want to expose our lack of organization in a way that helps people understand they don’t have to have it all together and spotless and sterile to come and contribute to this home. And yes, sometimes it’s frustrating, and it’s messy, and it’s crowded, and it’s cluttered (because we receive all the donations to pass on), and the grass grows too tall (literally), and this is when we have to count on other’s abilities and availabilities to help us clean and eliminate and simplify and refresh.

This is our house. This is our home. This is my context, creating the synergy that inspires me and others.

tuff, but worth it

2010-10-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

Last week was really hard for me. Much harder than I imagined it would have been. Monday Edwardo went to work for the first time. We had set up a brick layers position for him, and he was excited to be starting a new life! His job site is in our neighborhood, so we imagined he would be home soon after the site closed. He never showed up.

About 3AM Edwardo came home. He had been drinking, but his biggest change was in his resolve - to not stay clean anymore. He insisted that this was in his blood, and that nothing could change that.

Tuesday was a sad and difficult day for me. I met up with Edwardo at the local soup kitchen and we talked. He was done trying. I knew from the beginning that this was a possible, and not unlikely outcome, but living through it knocked me down hard. I really really wanted to see Edwardo make it. All seven of us in the house had pulled out all the stops to try and help make it possible... but in the end he made a different choice.

I feel like I learned a lot about being a living sacrifice. There is an advantage to not being a living sacrifice, in that you don't have to see your self-sacrifice going to waste. But we weren't called to die for Jesus, we were called to live for Him. I am learning to have peace in this tension. My sacrifice is my worship - and as much as my heart will long to see it bring about new life for those around me, it is a life worth living regardless of the immediate consequences.

I knew all of this in my head, now God is helping me to have peace in the practice. And we would, and undoubtably will, do it all again as we are led. The good thing about giving of yourself is that it gets easier each time. This experience kicked my butt... but I am thankful for it. I know that for the difficulty, we are stronger today.

Edwardo is back!

2010-10-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday I left with Barbra (my much loved 25 year old daughter) and Brandon (our 6 month intern) for BeloHorizonte, a town 8 hours to the north of Itu. There we spent the night with Barbra's family - who I was amazed to find are even crazier than she is! I loved them. And on the return trip Sunday we picked up Edwardo up from Ele Clama. Ele Clama is a drug rehab program where he has just completed his treatment.

For the last three years Edwardo, or Du as we call him, has been homeless and addicted to drugs and alcohol. In these pictures, the guys from our homeless lunch were talking to him while he was still in rehab. They emphaticly insisted that when he comes back he not hang around them, because they don't want him to fall back into their lives of addiction.

Now he is takeing on an entirely new life. We will be going to meet with his family tonight. Du is pretty anxious about this. They haven't known him to be anything but trouble for years, so he has a lot of history to disprove now.

After meeting with his fam, we will come back here again. Du will spend one week at my house under my supervision before moving back in with his fam. I am helping him to make the transition from work being something he does for therapy, like he did in rehab, to just flat out having to work. His brother is going to set up a construction job for him, tonight I will find out the hours he will be working so that this week I can keep him working a comparitive schedule and giving him council as he does it. So far he has been doing yard work and fixing the fence around our garden.

Pray for all of us this week. For Du that he would take this new opportunity and run with it, and understand that it is the work of a God who loves him. For me that God would give me the wisdome to prepare him well for returning to an skeptical home. For his family that they would see the light of Jesus through the renewal of one of their own.

Mentoring

2010-09-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

Youth ministry is a big big big part of what we do. Our house serves as a refuge where our kids can come as they need to during the week. They often come, just because, and this often leads into realy important talks one-on-one. We try not to let this be the only way that one-on-one talks take place though. Part of our regular ministry is to schedule 'one-on-ones' with the kids.

With Lucas, this has been a great way to introduce him to some of the basics of what Jesus is all about. With JoãoVitor, who has been a part of our core group since the begining, it has been a chance to hear more about his life, and about what elements of our group are most contributive to unity.

Beyond the listable benifits, I have learned that mentoring is an act of love. It lets our kids know they are valued, and has increased the level of trust between us. I am no expert on how to mentor, but the important element is not being an expert, it is being willing.

the best wake-up call

2010-09-18T04:23:00.000-07:00

mark and i woke up with a phone call early this morning
it was our friend that was missing all night
he wondered if mark was busy (at 7:30 on a saturday) and wanted to talk . . .

it was one of those phone calls that helps your heart beat normally again.

and after last night we understand Luke 15 a little more.

may He find you.

waiting

2010-09-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those long tough days that you remember forever. Early this morning I was celebrating with a friend who has found new life. Now at the days end I am waiting for another friend to come back out from the darkness. I know I have not lost my friend, but I understand the following song by "The Fray"in a way I never have.
God, please bring our missing sheep home.

"How To Save A Life"

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God, he hears you
And pray to God, he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life

How to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life

How to save a life

living new things

2010-09-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

our summer camp theme this year was LIVING NEW THINGS (viver coisas novas ... www.camproots.blogspot.com)

and sure enough, i recently starting living something that has changed my life, our life, and most everything we are involved in: GRAD SCHOOL!

I began my Masters In Religious Education and Leadership at Rochester College, under the directorship of Mark Love.

it has caused enormous shifts in schedule, in processing, in internalizing, in discerning, in community living.
i am convinced that when the time comes for me to graduate, i will actually have to xerox my diploma and hand it out to 40 amazing people in our community that are a part of the journey, and allow me to talk and question and answer and doubt and analyze and dream and imagine.

and you will usually find me in this position during the day:

i have learned to read in a moving car, at a Passion conference, with a full house, while i am making dinner, while i listen to music, and whatever that day brings on as a challenge. of course, i have also enjoyed the hammock =)

but i am continuously thankful for God and Mark Love.
the last 5 weeks of grad school have given me enough fresh perspective for me to chew on for the rest of my life.

ali

2010-09-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

Monday morning I met with my friend Vitor Hugo for breakfast. We meet every Monday to start the week off right and chat before he heads off to work. A year ago Vitor was in the drug rehab program I work with in Indiatuba. In fact, this picture shows him giving his testimony in our church shortly after completing the rehab program. Now Vitor helps run the Celebrate Recovery support group that meets in our church on Tuesdays. Vitor is taking my place as the facilitator of this ministry. I will attend as a supporting member and help him to grow into his new role.

Celebrate Recovery support group is a major highlight of my week. It's one of the truest manifestations of the Church being what it is called to be that I have ever seen, and I loved being the facilitator! But God has been opening my eyes to a major purpose of mine - mentoring. Vitor being the leader makes sense - it is calling on him to grow more, and it is another part of healthy motivation for him to stay clean. It reminds me that God isn't a three steps to success kinda God (this is not a criticism of any program), but that He invites us to a lifetime of growth and development in relationship with Him as sons. This is Vitor's chance to continue in this process.

Being aware that He is developing those around me and enabling them to take my place keeps my role dynamic too. I know that whatever role I play today may well change at His lead tomorrow, but that the constant is my good and trustworthy Leader.

We believe that God is starting something new and wonderful here - a residential rehab program in Itu that will be open to receive the attendees of our homeless lunch. Connections are being made one after the other in a supper-natural way to make this possible. We will be talking with a family soon that has a lot of land and is interested in making a donation to us for this purpose. I don't know the details behind this, but He does. Please pray that God will lead us clearly in whatever steps He would have us to take. Our God is great, may His name be praised forever!

New things for homeless lunch

2010-08-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

So here's a struggle I'm going through right now - there were many many amazing things that happened over the course of the last months... there are also amazing things happening right now. So while I'd like to back track and give more details, I also don't want to skip what is current - so expect a mix.

I have been reading a book called "Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor." The incredible Jim Clark recommended this book to me, and if you have any interest in helping with development of the repressed I strongly recommend it to you.

This book claims that the mark of a good leader is that "when it's all over, the ones being led will say, 'we did it ourselves.'" Interesting... kind of like when Jesus sends out 70 followers to share his message saying, "the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send workers into the harvest. Now go..." He wanted them to feel responsibility for all of the progress being made. Not just the harvesting, but even the harvesting of the harvesters.

So we have this lunch for the homeless. We've been receiving them in our home for a year now. They get a change of clothes, a shower, a good lunch and we spend time with them. It's a good ministry, but we are getting a vision for how much more it could be.

I always address the group as we gather to pray before the meal. Yesterday I told the guys that we don't want to do this lunch for them anymore, we want to do it with them. And so the lunch hour took on a whole new identity. We started a garden which will supply salads for our lunches, they trimmed our trees (this was their suggestion after catching the spirit of partnership) and helped with some of the clean up.

The amazing bit was how quickly they jumped on the whole partnership idea. It showed that we were maintaining the distance between "us" and "them" by securing our role as the "helpers" and their role as the "needy." We are going to continue to develop this, please pray that God will grant us wisdom and courage as we do. It is our hope and prayer that in the renewal of these roles they will witness the redemptive nature of Christ.

2010-08-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

God's been active in Itu this summer, we've been trying to keep up, and this blog has been left behind in the dust! So here is a start on the great things he is doing. We'll do this in doses.
For years we have done bilingual camps during the summer, this year we kicked off "Camp Roots", a four year sequence of camps with progressive themes.
Camp was amazing, in group and one on one, kids were drawn to worship by an awe of who God is. I saw this in my small group with Caio, a boy who didn't want to come to camp but was forced to by an exasperated grandmother. Caio began by sitting on the edges in typical teenage apathy. One day I had asked him to join into the activities of the program, but then during a time of worship I felt the spirits tug to welcome him in again. I went to where he was and said, "Caio, it's good that you're here. God is doing wonderful things and you're going to see Jesus in a new way this week, and more than program, I want to make sure you don't miss out on that."
Caio got it. He became a great part of our community within the camp, and he spoke about this transition a couple of times in group. He said, "I've never wanted anything to do with church, and I really didn't want to come here - but I think that's going to change. I want to be a part of this."

Youth group has been great since camp... and big! We have squeezed in our living room, and exploded out into the yard. We have had more fantastic worship, and spoken about not being an events based group, but having lives that are transformed by our faith daily.

Part 2 - Flashmob!!!
One of the fun, crazy activities of camp was doing a huge flashmob with the group! Our good friend and "ballerina missionary" Jackie Beth came down to help organize and teach a ridiculously cool flashmob that we did at the mall of Itu the night we came home from camp. Check out this video that Carioca put together for us -

Man I love these incredible kids!

Okay, more pictures and stories to come, check back!

a very special family day

2010-06-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our church had a family day last week. We rented a retreat center that is located on a farm about 30 minutes outside of Itu. The day was fantastic and it brought together the different families of our church in an amazing ways. I borrowed a Volkswagen van to take in addition to our car and so I was able to take some of our homeless friends. They got really scared when I showed up though. They are staying in a house that they found open and as I arrived another family was following me in a SUV. They thought it was the owner of the house coming to kick them out! They freaked and ran to gather up their stuff... and were so relieved to hear that the car was with us!

A fun thing about these events is that they serve as equalizers amongst all who come. We player soccer, ate food, sang songs, played more soccer, talked, laughed, swam, walked - as one huge Christian family. It was a great way to include those on the fringes and celebrate unity we learn in Christ. Here are a few pictures.

a movement in the streets

2010-05-12T05:15:00.001-07:00

We got back from Rio and it was incredible. Spending time with the families there who lost everything in the flood amazed me- but I will need to do a separate post on that.

Something is happening here in the streets of Itu that has me asking the question, 'God, what do I do with this?' We do a weekly lunch at our house for the homeless. Men and women come off the streets to eat, take a shower, get a change of clothes, and maybe a haircut. Beyond that, they come because we have become friends and they feel welcome in this home.

Every week I tell these friends that we do this for one reason: We are followers of Jesus, who teaches that there are two things of great importance, love God, and love those around you. I tell them that this is our way of loving them, and ask them to treat one another with the same kind of love while they are in our home. Beyond that we converse casually and one on one. They know that I work with a rehab program, and a support group, and that they are welcome to talk to me if they decide to pursue change.

Two of these guys in this group have been talking to me for about a month about going to rehab and starting a new life. One of them, Alermão (pictured here with Layla), followed through and We took him to rehab just before heading out to Rio. Thank God, the rehab program I work with accepted him free of charge, simply asking me to bring a mattress with me because they are out.

When I got home I heard that I had just missed another one of our friends who had hoped to jump in too. We didn't hear any more about this before heading out to Rio, but when we got back our 'son' Manu handed me a notebook with the names of three more of our friends and their document numbers, each wanting to get into rehab. Last night we drove by the bus station at about 11:30 and saw Edwardo (pictured here). He was sober, which was a shock, and he told us, "I need to get into rehab because I know that if I don't change now, I'm going to die." I have never seen Edwardo so serious and lucid. I asked him to come by the house today for us to talk more.

God is changing the homeless of Itu - I am well aware of how ridiculous that sounds. It was not our goal, we were simply trying to do what we thought Jesus might, and that was enough for us. But last night the reality of what God is doing hit me like a ton of bricks. It is bigger than me, and bigger than my resources. The rehab is pretty full, and there is a cost to taking in new people too.

Ali and I want to open a rehab program here in Itu. We have a lot of plans for it, but a wave of need is rising and we are not ready to receive it yet. We are talking to other rehab programs, looking for any opportunity we can pass on.

AGHH! Barbara (our daughter pictured below) just got off the phone with a rehab program in Belo Horizante, they will accept Edwardo free of charge!!!! God amazes me! He is changing lives that we would call lost, and opening doors we wouldn't have imagined! Pray for us that we can keep step! What a life!!!

Celebrate Recovery

2010-05-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

In November when Ali and I were visiting Granbury we were introduced to an incredible ministry called, "Celebrate Recovery." After attending one of their meetings we visited with Daryl, Shannon, Billy & Maxine Martin to hear more about their ministry and to learn how to implement it here in Itu. We have been running with this ministry for 2 months now... I can't summarize the blessing this has been in words, but I thank God for it!

If you haven't heard of Celebrate Recovery, check it out (http://www.celebraterecovery.com/?page_id=4).

CR is a Christian support group for individuals with various problems (addictions, co-dependency, emotional scars, bad habits, etc.) And it is a great way for the church to become a relevant source of help in the lives of the broken.

We have a great core group now. The testimonies shared are incredible. Members share of living with the of guilt having robbed from family to support drug habits, trouble in marriage caused by pornography and apathy, the damage done by being raised by a father addicted to cocaine and being told by family that the only future was in prostitution, and the struggles of being honest with loved ones about the lives they lived. Last night a member shared that since he first came to us, the week of Easter, he has stopped drinking and using drugs. He is now trying to call the friend he first came with to make the same life change.

The openness, honesty, and acceptance in these group meetings is life changing. And with the deeper issues in view, suddenly having a God who is interested in us and has the power to make a difference in our lives becomes... a great thing.

Pray for this group. It is touching lives that are hungry for change, and it's changing mine!

Rio-Niteroi Campaign: i care.

2010-05-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

about a month ago tragedy struck Rio de Janeiro.
the city was battered by hard rains, that eventually flooded the metropolis, caused landslides and killed a few hundred people.
Rio has the perfect structure for treacherous condition under lots of heavy rain - there are millions of citizens that have set up precarious houses on the hillside; what we call FAVELAS

when we heard about the chaos in rio, we wondered what we could do to help. . .
so we launched our " i care " campaign. we went around the neighborhoods that surround our church, and our youth did 2 weekends of door-to-door knocking asking for clothes and cleaning supplies for Cariocas (the nickname for people from Rio)
we also asked the church members to bring donations.

then we had the challenge of finding a way to transport all the good to Rio.
we prayed about it over lunch at the mall last tuesday, then as we were leaving i met up with an old friend who works as the distribution manager for Frito Lay in Brazil. bingo! we are now in the process of setting up a pick up day/time for them to take our 3 pallets of donations.

our team-family leaves on thursday - Mark & i, barbara, sarah, and carioca (yes, we have our own Rio citizen with us! tokenism?) .we are joining a group of Christian volunteers that have been working non-stop for 1 month. we will distribute the donations, help gather information for a census and participate in evangelistic activities.

your prayers will carry us there and back.
more to come!
ali

2010-04-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

enjoying a picnic lunch last Sunday with amazing community.

have you ever been hiking in beautiful, tall, majestic mountains?
weeks or months of preparation- living in the theoretical climb - preparing your body, materials, setting goals, etc.

then the day of the journey arrives. when you begin the the first morning hours, the mountain stands strong between you and the horizon. as the hours go by, it grows bigger and closer and steeper, and before you know it, you're breathing deeper, your brow and hair are damp, and your skin blushes from the rush.

i think this captures well where we are in life today.

the first months of the year have been incredible months of events and conversations and experiences that have prepared us for the mountains ahead.

we've started the climb.

all the preparations for our bilingual camp (www.camproots.blogspot.com), the meetings and training for our medical campaign (www.curabrazil.com), gathering information to begin our "I Care" Association (an official organization of all of our social work ministry efforts, including our new Relief Efforts for RiodeJaneiro), and dreaming about our Urban Community Center.

we will keep you in tune with the climb. it'll be long and hard, but more exciting and rewarding.

much love.
kaiser home

BILINGUAL CAMP 2010

2010-03-29T12:10:00.001-07:00

if you have been to Itu to visit us, you understand what a big deal our BILINGUAL CAMP is in our circle!

it is the yearly event that generates the most movement within our community, the most amount of gringos in Itu, the most amount of advertising for an Itu church event, the most amount of excitement in our youth community, and the most amount of work! =)

we've had Carioca's amazing talent helping us develop the image of our 2010 CAMP -- what our brainstorming community realized was that most everything being promoted for youth (in and out of church) in our brazilian context is so ... superficial. it tries to correct the errors by complaining about the branches, instead of dealing with the r-o-o-t-s. ... but the deepest "whys" are left out of the reasoning process. . . and so we invite youth to explore the roots of life, the essence, the deeper reality.

and with you, CAMP ROOTS 2010

i

march madness

2010-03-11T05:09:00.001-08:00

and so i blinked my eyes on feb 28th, and when i opened them it was March 11th.

here are a few of our news flashes for March (some in the past tense already):

- we spoke at a youth conference in GOIANIA last week! it went very well. my cousins organized a good group of 70 teens in their church, and we spoke about CHANGING PERSPECTIVE (when we invite God's perspective, our posture is readjusted and the possibilities grow)

my counsins in GOIANIA

my cousins' kids

- while in GOIANIA, we visited a non-profit org that cares for delinquent youth. it is an incredible institution, and it inspired us to keep dreaming in transforming our xic-xou (homeless lunch) into a non-profit.

- we received Greg, Fawn and Taylor Dunham, and began working out the details for our medical campaign CURA 2010 (hey, you should definitely visit www.curabrazil.com), including meeting with the mayor, secretary of health, secretary of education, and our 1st CURA 2010 volunteer meeting!

- last weekend we had 12 people spend the night! several friends came from out of town for the CURA meeting, and then several others decided they missed Itu/our house... we were outsideour gate till 2 am doing stupid human tricks on skate boards, talking and setting up the tent for the boys to sleep in.

- our non-nuclear family (Mark, Ali, Carioca and Barbara) participated in a Philanthropy Seminar on Monday. learned a lot about the laws and politics around the new law for social work entities. honestly, boring, but useful.

- we will be settling all the details for our ITU BILINGUAL CAMP! curriculum and programs and invitations and recruiting...

- NEXT WEEK CHRIS FRIZZEL and SARAH LANG arrive! woohoo! Chris will be here from Granbury to offer a weekend seminar and spend some time with us, and Sarah will be our new intern for 6 months!

- also, MARK'S BDAY IS MONDAY!

and so this is the beginning of our march madness...

february... at the end??

2010-02-25T04:10:00.000-08:00

mark became a hair stylist for our homeless. as long as all you need is a buzz, he does a great job!

our first hiho lunch gathering of 2010

the beautiful Blume girl came for a visit, and we had a blast dragging them thru our life =)

*it's crazy to realize that we are already knocking at the door of the 3rd month of the year!

we've survived an incredible month of welcoming new people into our lives and home, carnival trip with youth group, 2010 church vision meetings, and development of our youth and homeless ministries.

tomorrow we are headed to GOIANIA (state about 600 miles NORTH of SAO PAULO) to share at a youth conference about "youth that makes a difference". very excited to spend time with my family in Goiania also!

we are enjoying a cool, cloudy day after surviving several very blazing and humid ones!
God is gracious.

ak

2010-02-13T04:33:00.000-08:00

Its Carnival week, biggest party on the planet! So we are about to hit the road with our youth to a camp. The camp is small (60 people or so) and will take place in a Christian drug rehab facility. This will be a great stretching experience for our kids!

We have had a great week with our youth already too. We have been in a series defining the purpose of our group. We use our living room wall as a white board. the effect of suppressed childhood urges :) They have played a great part in solidifying this vision with us. They also came to help with our homeless lunch yesterday. Check out the video, it was a blast! And Christ's love was played out in a way that blessed our kids, and our homeless. Serving God can make for such a fun life!

a new member of our family

2010-02-11T19:00:00.001-08:00

it's hard to believe we were away for 3 months... we've been back for 3 weeks now, and it seems we never left.

several incredible things have happened since we returned, but one we would specially like to share!
a friend of ours, Leonardo Carioca, decided after a visit to Itu from Sao Paulo that he witnessed in itu a movement he wanted to be a part of!
so after a couple of months of prayer and brainstorming, Carioca is now a part of our team!
he has initially joined us as an intern for 6 months! we are incredibly blessed to have him here as a part of our family!
Carioca has a business management degree, and also has extensively studies marketing. he will be developing the "communications project" for the church.

thank you for your prayers and support! many more victory stories to come...

ak

videos?

2010-01-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

from 40F to 40C

2010-01-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

snapshots in america

2010-01-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

79 days!

2010-01-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

we arrived in granbury, TX, on november 3rd, fresh off the brazil boat dreaming of our upcoming 3 months in the States!

and it has been a dream! God has remodeled and beautified our lives thru the people we have met and spent time with!
we return to Brazil full... full of passion, full of energy, full of dreams and vision.... and full of mexican food!

to each of you who spent time with us -- thank you for inviting us back into your home and your life! you make it feel like we live down the street, and not on another continent for the past 3 years!
a shout out to :

granbury, TX
college station, TX
houston, TX
belton, TX
austin, TX
san angelo, TX
san antonio, TX
dallas, TX
fort worth, TX
abilene, TX
budah, TX
midwest city, OK
edmond, OK
Nashville, TN
Columbus, OH
Detroit, MI
Queens, NY
Washington, DC
Chatham, CANADA

we cannot wait to receive you into our home! so please make necessary plans, and get your booties to Itu! (and yes, if beaches are a condition, we will take you to the best!)

we will miss you!
you are a part of our stories!

m&a

esse eh pr'os brasileiros

2010-01-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

povo que amamos!

que saudades imensas estamos sentindo de vcs!
ja fazem 10 semanas! da pra acreditar?

e pra nos, tem sido 10 semanas de bencaos e aventuras!
estamos voltando ao Brasil com novos planos e sonhos e perspectiva e visao para o reino em Itu!

temos passado por 21 cidades, dormido em 15 camas e 2 onibus, engordado 4 kg (chute, pq eu me RECUSO a pesar!), dirigido 6 carros, e conversado com centenas de pessoas. e cada experiencia, cada dia, cada livro, cada licao esta conectado com o Brasil de alguma maneira. nossa vida esta completamente trancada com itu.

entao, espero que vcs estejam prontos para beijos, abracos, perguntas e respostas.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2009-12-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

being back in a land where it snows is so exciting!
being here with 2 brazilians who had NEVER SEEN snow makes it that much more entertaining.

gabriel, my cousin, at first contact with snow said, "hey, it's fluffy like i imagined it would be"
the fact that flakes actually look like miniature stars has also been fascinating!

tomorrow we leave for NYC -- New Years at Time Square!
we will then proceed to Washington DC to visit Mark's brother and wife.

unforgettable memories in the making...
much love!
ali

feliz christmas!

2009-12-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

we are in columbus, ohio! home of the buckeyes! and the kaisers...
as you can imagine, mark treasures every moment here!
we are off to Scott and Laura's - brother and sis-in-law - for the family celebrations.

we hope you have an incredible day with family and remember what this day is all about - Love came down.

much love from the kaisers to your family!

Fun from Houston

2009-12-16T14:34:00.000-08:00

This is a peek at one of the adventures we've had on this trip - when we were in Houston we got to meet up with Carol's mom and sister Marlene (Carol interned with Ali and I in Itu for a year). We've loved meeting the fam of our favorite little Mexican!

Then we embarked on a whole new adventure with Amanda (who served as an intern alongside Carol). Our dear friends Jonathan and Jessica run an annual fair trade show to provide economic opportunity for refugees in Austin amongst others around the world. The show was to take place the next day. When we talked to Jessica she mentioned that there were 150 lbs of African purses stuck at the Houston airport needing to arrive in Austin, so we asked, "where can we go to get 'em?"

The warehouse guys doubted me, but the pictures show that it can be done, in a Kia, with three passengers!

Ali sat in the back amongst all the purses. I'm pretty sure I could've rolled the call and she wouldn't have felt a thing. :)

But what bothered her the most was not the lack of space, it was the warehouse guy's warning, 'If you see any black spiders crawl out of the purses... you better get out.' She didn't find that nearly as funny as he did!

saturated

2009-12-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

we have been in the States for 6 weeks now!

we were not ready to leave for so long. we first planned on coming in mid-december and being here for a TOTAL of 6 weeks. so considering 10 was quite overwhelming.
our prayer became, "if 10 weeks, then allow us to learn and be inspired and dream bigger"

and we are still overwhelmed. overwhelmed by the response of our ultimate provider and inspiration.

we have received books, we've had conversations, we've met amazing and generous people, we have listened to dreams that include Itu, and we have continued to be amazed and curious at God's incredible creativity.

here are some pics that tell some stories.

where we've been

2009-11-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

since we left Granbury a week ago, we've been to:

* College Station (aggieland, WHOOP!) where we enjoyed some Free Bird (than you, blake bahlman!), met some aggies, reminisced with Langfords and Blake Smith, and enjoyed our time with the AFC leaders!

* Houston, and met up with our precious amanda (intern in 2008). she took us to meet the Mendoza family, which was amazing, and she also helped us reconnect with one of Mark's old time friends - Heidi Felix. Our second day there revolved around picking up African purses from the airport and transporting them to...

*Austin. We've spent some fun time with family and "practically family" - Jonathan, Jessica and the girls.
we've been to a Fair Trade art festival, pre-school Thanksgiving feast, Panera, Sunday night family dinner, all in 3 days!

we will be in Austin until Tgiving, and Saturday we head to Belton to visit the SMITHS! yay!

thanks for journeying with us...

trying something new.

2009-11-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

excuse us while we play with different formats for our blog.
we are loving all the new ideas and information flying our way
and we are trying to apply and adapt.

so enjoy the ride!

you will not believe it!

2009-11-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

our time in granbury is coming to an end, and our hearts are a little tight about it.

the two weeks spent with the church here have been unforgettable, in many ways.

we've met and shared meals with wonderful people, we have participated in very entertaining life groups (including one that had a "hobo party"... and mark and i were like, "hey, we have one of those every friday. a legit hobo party!" ha), we've been treated like family, we've learned from experienced followers, and we have been inspired with direction and passion and many books for our ministries.

and one other thing: when we arrived the church provided us with our DREAM CAR - A VAN! it was such a treat to drive around dreaming of filling those seats with our crazy brazilian teenagers.

we then joined a life group on Sunday evening (and enjoyed it thoroughly), and on our way out of the home, the Berrys saw our borrowed vehicle parked out in front of their maibox. Jason and Elizabeth asked us if that was our car, and we proudly declared we would be driving it for our time in granbury. they very kindly offered for us to drive one of their cars, and even tho we were trying to tell them we were happy to have the van, Jason interupted us with, "dudes, you will WANT to drive her car! trust me..."

elizabeth then drove out of the garage with this machine

HOLLY COW (and if to you cows are holly, please take no offense) !
so we have been cruisin' in style for the past week. i'm going to go ahead and say that we are the most stylin' missionaries texas has ever layed eyes on! woo hoo!

so yes, our hearts are tight to leave, and not just because we leave our Mercedez behind.
we are leaving new friends, new bonds, a new home-away-from-home.

(** a very special shout out to the amazing Caseys who have been incredible hosts, special mentors and our favorite breakfast companions for the past 2 weeks! thank you, dave & jan.)

off to Houston ... here we come, amanda!

the first stop... granbury

2009-11-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

we arrived on American soil last tuesday!
after leading a regional youth retreat at the church's orphanage on friday, sat, sunday and monday, we were on a plane monday night headed to DFW.

our first week has been so much fun! we could not have picked a better church/town to land in! everyone in granbury has been so hospitable and generous and kind. we ate mexican food, brownies, chicken fried steak, blue bell, wheaties cereal, bought milk in galon bottles and drank bottomless iced tea - all during our first week here!

we have also increased our running distance and speed and joined the YMCA today.

we cant wait to see you!
much love
m&a

our first sight of deer in Texas

some pics of the youth retreat

have we told you about Barbara?!

2009-10-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

Barbara and our "son" Manu.

we have a dear friend. her name is Barbara!
i have known her since i was 17, when the Itu youth group went to her home town for a Carnival Camp.
barbara and i became great friends back then, but lost contact when i moved to the States for college.

but she showed up again last year... randomly, as she does it best. i received a phone call from her saying that she was spending a weekend in Itu, and wanted to have coffee. the date turned into coffee, conversations, hours of sharing life stories, and learning more about our purpose and ministries in itu.

to make a long story short, Barbara is our newest team member in Itu!
she moved here in August, and is serving as an intern until the end of the year.
once January rolls around, she will be blessed by the church & leadership as an integrated part of our church workers team.

she has blessed us immensely in the past 2 months, working side-by-side with the youth group, homeless ministry, rehab ministry and dreaming of ways she can serve the community and church in the near future.

Barbara is also one reason we are at peace about leaving for 3 months for furlough.
we know she will continue to serve and challenge our group while we are gone.

ak

dates and places

2009-10-07T06:38:00.001-07:00

many of you have asked about our specific destinations during furlough

so we want to share with you the places we plan to visit: (this is when you imagine the crowds cheering for their city)

GRANBURY - November 3rd - November 17th

COLLEGE STATION - November 18th

SAN ANGELO - November 19th - 23rd

AUSTIN/BELTON - November 24th - December 2nd

OKLAHOMA - December 3rd - 7th

DALLAS/FORT WORTH - December 8th - December 11th

ABILENE - December 12th - December 18th

OHIO - December 20th - January 20th.

we want to see all of you, this may require a few parties along the way!

t minus 4 weeks!

ak

mexican food, here we come!

2009-09-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCEMENT: we are headed to the USA for our furlough in NOVEMBER!

We will be spending close to 3 months traveling around Texas (from Nov-mid Dec), Oklahoma (early Dec) and Ohio (from mid Dec-mid Jan) visiting all the wonderful people we miss so much -- and stuffing our faces with mexiacan food while we're at it!

please put us down on your calendars, so we can be sure to visit with you and your family!
and churches, please be patient as we are organizing this monster for the first time... we will contact you soon.

you have helped us live our dream!
much love

Kaisers

glimpses of our summer

2009-09-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

our incredible CAMP VICTORY 2009

our new church building innaugurated!

medical campaign volunteers (amazing people!)

medical campaign doctors, nurses and med students (amazing people!)

mark and i celebrated our 5th year anniversary in the midst of the medical campaign

Max Lucado's visit

Lucados with our house crew

the acappella show

hundreds have helped

2009-09-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

as you well know, multitudes were involved in all the campaigns this summer (camp, medical campaign, lucados' visit, acappella show, and follow up)! and we could not have survived the rush without them!

but we wanted to make sure that our interns got a special mention, that we paid our due respect to these friends that dedicated continuous time to the ministries here in itu!

Mary Lou, Kris, Katie, Garrett and Carol helped keep us alive, energetic, laughing, brainstorming, creating, dancing, singing, and enjoying the hectic speeds.

we love you, beautiful people!
may our journeys overlap again!

kaisers

left on a jet plane

2009-08-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

we are not in Itu currently.
we had the sense to get away and replenish for a few days.
some of our best friends came to visit us from Ohio, and after spending a week with them in Itu, we all boarded on a plane to FORTALEZA, brazil. gorgeous. you might want to "google images" it.

so we will be back soon.
at which point we'd love to tell you some stories.
(please don't give up on our blog! we haven't =)

abundant living

2009-07-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Bilingual Camp,

Community Party,

Inauguration,

Medical Campaign,

Max & Denalyn Lucado's visit,

Acappella Show.

this was our month of July!
we have spent today recovering.
and tomorrow i will attempt at painting the picture of how each of these events have changed our community, our church, our ministry and our lives.

Resting in His arms...
Kaisers

2009-07-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

excerpt from our life

2009-07-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

God is at work in wonderful ways here - I don't have it in me to blog about it so I am just going to post an email I just sent to my family. More to come when we can get a breather. Understand that the language used in this email was selected in part because one of the recipients was my sister who serves as a missionary undercover in China - her email is subject to being looked at so they request no overt Christian lingo. God is good, all the time. Here's the update -

We are in a final stretch of a string of back to back campaigns here - last week we directed a camp with a group of about 30 americans and 70 brazilians, it was amazing and we saw some incredible work that was not of us! There are a couple newbies in our family now. :)

Today we dropped Carol off at the airport to fly back home after having worked with us for a year. She has been an intern of ours since the last bilingual camp, there is no good way to do a update on this part - we sent away a big piece of who we have become.

We drove from the airport back to Itu where we had the first day of a medical campaign we have been organizing. 140 some people were attended by a mix of American and Brazilian dentists, gynecologists, psychologists, med-students... I pitched in with translating and crowd control. We also offer a time of sports, I taught a jujitsu class to the kids. It's been a great way to show the love of the great physician.

Ali and I have a packed house during this week - 4 in our 2 bed rooms, 3 or 4 in the living room, and the rest in a tent that's set up in the garage. Last night we had one in the tent who left early this morning, and we have been trying to figure out all day who it was! The two guys who slept with him thought it was Bruninho, but he slept upstairs with Manu... crazy life!

Okay, i'm going to get some sleep.

love you guys!

MOTION!

2009-06-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

tomorrow at 10 am we will be loading 2 buses and headed to CAMP MOTION! there will be 100 campers, between americans and brazilians.

please lift us up in prayers!

*this is a big evangelistic effort, since several of the teens participating are not connected to a christian community.

*please pray for the health of the leadership. emotional, physical, spiritual wholeness.

*please pray that our bodies will resist fatigue. we've been at hallucinating speeds for the past 5 weeks, and very little rest.

the weekend we get back in our CHURCH INAUGURAL WEEKEND -- we will have a community party on saturday night and church celebration on sunday morning. then on monday we begin our medical campaign.

so more prayer requests to come...

much love to all of you!

ali, in name of kaisers

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

2009-06-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

hello my friends -- i hope that you have not given up all hope on us and our tremendous inability to blog as constantly as we should.

we have been hit by the winter wave. in more than one way.

way one: we are living in temperatures that flutter somewhere around 40-50 degrees most of the day and night. but unlike the US, whatever tempt it is outside, subtract 5 or 10 degrees in the house. our home is mostly concrete and tile flooring, both of which absorb cold weather like a sponge. it makes for very stiff nights, and requires great courage in the mornings to get out of bed as you watch your breath spread in the air above your head.

way two: our winter is your summer. your summer = campaigners galore in itu! we are amazed at all the activity that God has brought our way this campaign season! "greater things have yet to come" ... and arrive in 2 weeks! =) we have our BILINGUAL CAMP, our FIRST MEDICAL MISSION TRIP, MAX LUCADO will be spending a weekend with us and offering a seminar, and ACCAPPELLA is coming for a concert at the end of the month.

all this, my dear ones, will be happening within 30 days.

and all the planning and developing and launching and marketing for each event happens now.

this is why there has been less action in the blog world. well, that's our NOW excuse, anyway.

please lift us up.

we are in great expectation to see what God and His amazing power will do with each week that unfolds.

we love you and miss you.

more to come... as always.

kaisers

backtrack about 3 weeks with me

2009-05-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

hello blog!

as you know, we had a great month of March full of fundraisers and anticipation of our first youth group mission trip. on April 17th, we packed the Kombi + 2 cars, and ventured down to Praia Grande, where we met with the youth group of a brand new church.

there were 21 in our group, and about 11 in their group. it was a very manageable number to handle, which we were thankful for, especially during the afternoons at the beach (mark and i both have life guard training and experience, which makes it hard to relax with 30 teenagers at a beach).

although the weekend brought about several unexpected factors (1.their group was significantly younger than ours;2. some rainy days; 3.a few adolescent radical, unpredicted mood swings-- to the fans of Animaniacs, we had Katie KaBoom along for the trip) we were very proud of our Kaiseres (the name of our youth group) and how they entered into the new dynamics of the event.

mark and i presented 3 discussion themes. first, "who is Jesus" exploring the deeper meaning to the text "i am the way, truth and life". second, "wall or trampoline" a beautiful metaphor originated by Bell to explain the roots and consequences of legalism in our hearts. third, "what now?" helping them understand the next steps of faith.

our next big youth event: JUNE 7TH : VIRADOS PARA FORA - Turned InsideOut. The group *not us* is planning and organizing a weekend with all the regional youth groups. we are anticipating hosting over 60 kids in Itu. the Kaiseres are preparing homes, meals, classes, games, sports, Sunday service.... it will be a fantastic weekend! please pray in their favor.

thank you for your interest in our lives.

we know the blessing of having friends and family that are in tune and supportive of the life we lead in the name of Christ.

with much love --

ali

directly from maceio

2009-05-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

hi everyone!

i am sorry we have dropped off the face of the Earth.
right after our youth mission trip we ventured up north to participate in the North Eastern church conference. mark and i were invited to speak to the youth. it was incredible!

we made a road trip out of it, and have visited several good friends along the way.
we are headed home today, but it will take about 6 days to get back to Sao paulo.

as soon as we arrive we have pics and stories galore!

we appreciate your prayers for our safety... and the impact that the message has had in many young hearts arond Brazil!

talk to you at the end of the week --
ali

preparing for our first mission trip!

2009-04-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

can i just say that our youth group is amazing? we've had a great start of 2009 with them! we spent some time helping them develop their ideas for ministries at the beginning of the year.

april will set our biggest challenge yet with them : we are taking our first mission trip.

they have been working like crazy people to raise the money to cover the expenses for this trip. we've sold pizzas, baked 300 cookies, made hippie jewelry, planned a Japonese dinner for the community and baby-sat for families at church.

we are joining with another young youth group (in existence for about 1 year as well), and our kids are planning a youth retreat for our time together. some of the youth is getting together tonight to discuss the theme and classes for the retreat.

we've stressed the importance of being Christians who GIVE BACK -- not just sit back and receive. they took it to heart, and began planning ways to serve out of their box.

we are so blessed to be a part of their lives!

please pray as we prepare to leave on the 17th of April.

more news to come...

celebrating mark's life

2009-03-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

it'sbeen a couple of weeks now, but mark turned 28. wow. 28. carla claims mark is finally catching up to her age (carla is the older sister). ha!

mark is 1 year older than me. the main advantage to this is that he gets the shocking high age a whole year before i do -- so when it's HIS bday we are stunned at how "old" we are getting, but by the time January roles around, we are used to the number. he does not think it's as good of a deal.

mark and i had a very hard week preceding his bday. just lots of difficult situations and conflict.

so i planned a great celebration: i packed his bag, cancelled his appointments for the next 2 days, rented a couple of really GUY movies, and we headed off after church on Sunday. he had no idea where we were going.

anyone who knows me knows that i am TERRIBLE with surprises! i LOVE to be surprised, but i am bad at holding it in, bc i know the person will be so happy! guys -- i actually was able to keep it a secret until after we got in the car! victory for ali!

well, i took mark to the beautiful b&b where we spent our honeymoon...almost 5 years ago!

it was such a fun getaway! it's on the beach, so we enjoyed the warm days in the water, ate lots, slept in, and watched movies in the afternoon.

every day i am reminded of how blesses i am to have Mark walking thru life with me.

he has been my best friend, my favorite story-teller, my favorite running partner, my favorite road trip buddy...my favorite companion in ANYTHING and ANYWHERE for almost 8 years now.

mark's wisdom and kindness has changed my life and taught me to serve from the heart.

you have also been a big influence on who mark is/becoming.

i thank you for the love you have given him.

ali

it's a boy!

2009-03-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

NO -- i am not prego. calma! (calm down!)

but we do have some news.

we have a .. well... sortava "son".

his name is Manu (short for Emanuel). he is 24 years old.

here is the story: manu and i were camp buddies from many moons ago (early 90's. i was 2 years old. ha!) we never kept much in touch, but we'd see each other a couple of times in a year. when i moved to Abilene for school, i completely lost contact with the guy.

fast forward to December 2008. a mutual friend of ours, beto, was to be married and manu was invited to the wedding here in itu. he came, spent the night in our home, and before we knew it, he had been here for 6 weeks! he saw something that made it worth staying.

mark and i talked, and encouraged him to begin culinary school, and invited him to live with us during the course.

so now we have a sorta son.

he is loving school, and working at a restaurant from 5pm to 1am everyday.

manu is a great kid to have. no diapers. no bottles. he helps clean. and we are not his taxi.

jokes aside --

i am amazed that we, thru God, have had such an influence on his life now.

we love to walk the journey with people.

we survived the trip!

2009-03-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

here is what mark looked like when we left for the adventure :

this picture was taken in the emergency room about 24 hours before we piled up 3 vehicles with 17 kids and began our journey.

(mark was on a strict schedule of antibiotics and alegra and fever meds)

the trip from Itu to Belo Horizonte is about 8 hours. normally.

but our Volkswagen van broke down 2 hours into the trip .... so we were on the road from 3 pm on Friday till 1 pm on Saturday. now here is the crazy thing: we are so glad it broke down! we had no idea how to get to the camp, so had we done the trip in 1 day, we would have arrived in BH at 1 am, with no one to receive us, and no beds to sleep in (there were not enough places at camp) .... but since the van broke, we had a nice night at ATIBAIA, where some of our good friends live who kindly let us invade their home.

(our fave van!)

we got the kids up at 4am, and watched the sun rise on our journey.

great conversations, and snacks, and laughs, and stories... and we finally arrived in Belo Horizonte! yay!

(zacca in my car. love this kid!)

the camp was full - about 250 people!

our group was incredible! the energy and joy that the 16 of us brought to the site was contagious! the other teens were asking where in the world we had come from, followed by "when is your camp??" =)

(chapel)

(part of our group after first night of "sleep")

the Kaiseres (what our youth group calls themselves) have chosen a theme for this year: TurnedInsideOut. they talk about how they want to be a group that looks for ways to help people and not be so focused on their own belly button. they inspire me. .......... so at camp, each day they chose what piece of clothing we were going to wear turned inside out. hillarious. shirts the first day. jeans the second day. and when people asked what on Earth we were doing, they'd explain the perspective of the group. nice.

(all the young adults that accompanied the youth)

so guess what? the volkswagen van broke down on the way back, too. minor this time, compared the the broken clutch on the way there (Little Miss Sunshine, anyone?)

so it was all very unforgettable.

our next venture is a city wide youth rally in March. no vans involved.

we are blessed!

kaisers

Prayer Request

2009-02-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

Right now is youth group time for us, but instead of being with all the kids I am sick and in bed! My wonderful wife, who is always ready to pick up the slack, is meeting with the kids at the church building (they usually fill our house). I am getting better now, for the last two days I have had a fever, and last night I spent from 4am on sitting up on our couch because laying down had become unbearable. So later this morning we went to the docs office where they gave me some meds by IV and more to take home with me. Now my fever is better and my throat is getting there, but please pray that I will heal quickly.

It's Carnival time here in Brazil, time to make a retreat with the youth or lose them forever! :) Okay that's a joke... mostly. Carnival is 3 days of huge parties in the streets. It's the time of year where anything goes with anybody. So we try to provide an alternative more fitting to the life styles our kids are choosing to lead. With that in mind, tomorrow in a 3 car caravan we will be driving 10 hours north to meet up with a gathering in Belo Horizante. I will be driving an old Volkswagen van with 7 kids in it, so I really need to get better!

Thanks so much for your prayers, at times like this it is great to have the support of the body of Christ!

Mark

from 2008 to 2009

2009-01-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

thought i'd present you with a fun update of all the amazing times we have had in the last couple of months!

in December we had our BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING campaign, and distributed over 200 baskets containing a monthly supply of food to poor families in our city.

PAUL & BROOKE arrived for the holidays, and we had great times together over the next month!

for CHRISTMAS my dad's entire family rented a ranch, and we spent 4 days together, enjoying the sun, ping pong, card games, soccer, row boat rides, food, food, & food!

for NEW YEAR, we had a fantastic and eventful day! My family has the tradition of running a 15k race downtown Sao Paulo with another 25,000 people on New Year's Eve. It was a grand adventure this year since a cousin of mine decided to join the race a couple of hours before the running started -- she had never trained before! an absolute Goncalves hoss!

after the race we showered, ate, cramped up, then went back downtown to welcome in 2009! there were 2.5 million people on the main avenue; a celebration similar to NY Time Square.

It was spectacular! we danced and jumped and sang along to the live shows until 4am. My cousin had much difficulty getting up/walking/sitting/standing the next day! hilarious.

itu hosted the MISSIONARY CONFERENCE this year! we received 25 missionary families from all over brazil, and even a couple from Paraguay. it is a week when great bonds are formed between families who really "get" each other (an example in our life: the Blume family. keep reading). we had the blessing of receiving truth from Don McGlaughlin, who taught our classes for the 5 days. he inspired us.

after the conference, my family escaped our surroundings to spend some quality together. we enjoyed the beautiful mountains and vineyards of southern brazil! and of course, we ate like it was going out of style. it was, once again, an unforgettable few days with the stories, laughters, skip-bo games, and dreams for our futures.

Paul and Brooke are moving to Korea this summer. we will miss them tremendously, and we eagerly await our next time together.

well, after saying our good-byes to P&B, we crashed the BLUMES house for a week! we met this crazy cool family last year at the missionary conference, and they fell in love with us right away! (right, kevin?) it was an amazing time to visit, jump from crazy high waterfalls (Carys, the 10 year old, showed me how it was done. insane!), eat pastel, live with 6 children, and meet their perspective of ministry and life. (ps -- we are trying to get more pics from the CDs)

we returned to Itu and found our new little INTERN, Mary Lou, along with 6 living at our house. love it. ML is well... adjusting to the language and culture, but enjoying the journey.

that reminds me, please keep praying for CAROL's return. she is planning to come back next week, and we can't wait!

oh yes, it was also my BIRTHDAY on the 24th! wow! what a night! i welcomed 27 years with 22 friends! (on the 23rd, the youth group had a surprise bday for me! so sweet)... we went to Sao Paulo, enjoyed a friend's wedding, then celebrated my birthday at a very loud, vivacious, delicious italian restaurant! amazing times and amazing friends!

and so here we are. maybe now i will feel [somewhat] caught up with blog world.

mark and i are well. in love with our ministry and purpose we have found in Brazil.

your prayers carry us thru.

we love you very much and can't wait to be with you again! (visitors ALWAYS welcome)

greater things have yet to come --

ali

a new role

2009-01-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

I believe that with more contact in someone's life comes more opportunity to impact them with the gospel and the way of Christ, so I was glad to receive an invitation to be put on the weekly schedule of our beloved drug-rehab center. I am now on site in "the Sitio" from Tuesday evening till mid morning on Wednesdays. Mostly, this just means spending time with the guys. On Wednesdays I lead a devotional with the guys. This started last week, so tomorrow will be my second shift. I love hearing the stories of what God is doing in the lives of the guys there! Marcinho, for example, lost his job, his home and his marriage to drugs. He was one of the first into the Sitio, and will soon be graduating from the program. He is full of joy for what the Lord has done in his life! Not only has left the life of drugs, he has found new employment and begun to date his ex-wife again. The two of them are now excited in the expectation of a date they have set to get married again and start a new life together! This is the redeeming work of our Lord!

And a personal blessing- you cannot find a more exciting group of guys to lead a devotional

with then these 9 guys who are living in the daily excitement of having been changed completely by a life in Christ! They are a tremendous inspiration to me, please pray that I will be able to return the favor.

By the way, Dad, you remember how you taught one of the guys there Sudoku and gave him your book to work on? Here's the pic of the day -

It is now a favorite pastime there! They pass it around and sign the ones they complete, and then copy the start of the puzzles onto blank papers to do them again. And to avoid arguments over cheating, they ripped out and threw away the help sheets in the back! :) Thanks for sharing the love, it has not been forgotten! They asked me to send you and mom a hug.

-Mark

2008 = a deeper understanding and pursuit of community

2009-01-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

if we were asked to sumarize our past semester in 1 word we would say COMMUNITY. Because of God we have crossed paths with people this last semester that have molded us, changed us, loved us, challenged us, and opened their lives to us. We have welcomed them into our home and into our hearts, understanding more than ever that this is the essence of our mission: to offer radical free love and pursue community.

We picked Odair off the streeet on a rainy night after a long conversation about how he had decided to get clean and start a real, healthy journey. That same night we contacted a recovery center and took him into the blessing of the Sition Shalom. Even though Odair remained only for 2 months, our relationship with Sitio Shalom has developed, and Mark has become a weekly volunteer. As a social worker, Mark is naturally passionate about these programs and has much to offer the guys and the directors.

Our semester has been very influened by our interns, Amanda and Carol, who have integrated themselves beautifully into the rhythm of our lives and have exceeded any standard for interns we could have set. They impacted the youth group by connecting to each teenager. The four of us implemented a rotation of Social Saturdays and Service Saturdays; where one week there would be a social activity, and the next we would serve together. We have watched the youth group merge into a community that seeks time together, accepts outsiders wi love and desires to serve together.

I should also mention that our home becomes some sort of hostile on the weekends. We receive between 4 and 8 friends from out of town, who come for food, conversations, prayers and fun. This group has become a family that is pursuing God and truth and spreading the good news of love.

We were also involved with the married couples ministry this semester. It is a ministry that we enjoy because we are the youngest couple, and it gives us a chance to be with a different, more experienced crowd.

We rejoiced with 2 very special people in our lives that proclaimed their faith in Christ publicly: Bruninho, who we met thru the first Highland Campaing in 2000; and Myuwa, who came to church thru Yeski, and English school owned by a couple of our church memebers.

This fall has also been marked by conferences that have helped us mold and mature our ideas and philosophy of minitry. Lou Secker offered a leadership retreat for the Itu church leadership, Chris Frizzel brought the Itu church a wonderful seminar on unity in the body of Christ, a group of Continent of Great Cities women treated all missionary women and wives to an enriching and restorative week of rest and encouragement. Mark and I and a few of four friends also drove south to participate in an Alpha Course Conference, a great evangelism tool developed in England and Just translated into Portuguese this year.

Mark and I were blessed by our American community as well. We received several visitors and family members that came to meet and love our world. Many came and blessed the church with their gifts and offerings. April, a cousin from Seattle, heard we were gathering clothes for Sitio Shalom, so she brought a bag full of men clothing. Rolando Diaz, a Cuban-Ameircan artist friend of ours, wanted to help the church with the building construction, so he came and did several art shows and all proceeds went to the building fun.

What does next semester hold?

Mark and I will participate in several youth camps and conferences as leaders of the teenagers all around Brazil.

We will be hosting two interns, one as a returnee, and the other fresh out of college.

We will begin a young married and engaged couples group.

We will be planning and hosting a bilingual youth camp, our first medical campaign, the building’s innauguration, and Praise Festival in June/July

We pray that the community around us will continue to grow in depth and numbers.

greater things have yet to come --

kaisers

sign of life

2009-01-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

yes, we are alive.

lots and lots of stories and updates and adventures.

will blog soon.

love

kaisers

life for the past 2 weeks

2008-12-13T08:28:00.000-08:00

school is out for SUMMER VACATION, and our house has been fuller than ever for the past couple of week -- well, maybe not EVER, but close.

the youth group activities have been well attended, and long lasting. Several kids end up spending the evening...night....weekend =)

we also have established the Kaiser Hostile on the weekends - where at leat 7 friends come to spend the weekend at the house with us.

Carol and Amanda are home for Christmas. Amanda will job hunt and establish her carrier now (blessings!) and Carol returns to us in January!

here are some shots of latest youth activities, and our hostile peeps.

life is good.

buckeye caught chewing on plugs...

showing our muscles after ACAI on Sunday afternoons

Christmas party with youth group

friends from far away here for the end of the year

blessings on your Holidays!

thanksgiving celebration!

2008-12-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

2008-11-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

Last night my parents left from spending two weeks with Ali and me, and we had a great time sharing our world with them! Looking back, it doesn't seem like two weeks should be up already, but they did get to see a ton!

The day they arrived they took part of one of the weekly lunches at our house for young professionals,

And the next day they joined our youth group as we started a campaign in our neighborhood of gathering food to be given to needy families this Christmas

We had a lot of fun showing our city to them. Itu is known as "the city where everything is big," – (like this 2-foot Q-tip mom found for dad)

Here and throughout Brazil, we Kaisers have a name for ourselves, sooo –

mom got a pose in with the more sought after Kaiser of the region.

One of their favorite experiences was joining me to the “Sitio Shalom,” a drug rehab program I regularly work with here. While I was busy helping one of the residents, Marcinho, format his resumê,

mom and dad ate lunch with the other residents, and than dad gave one of the guys a lesson on how to play “Sudoku.” Watching them get by without a common language was hilarious, but they did it!

We also got to take mom and dad to the “Lar Cristão,” an orphanage nearby with some kids who are very dear to us. They got to sit through what must have been an incredibly boring meeting (all in Portuguese) between the new director, Ali and I, and to meet Eleizar (a boy I have been doing a Bible study with),

and lots of other beautiful children who were excited to have new visitors!

Last Friday we had a taste of home with a Brazilian twist, we went to the American Footbal game of our friend Leandro. Not common at all here in Brazil! It was funny to see Brazil give it a go though, notice the lack of helmets? You go with what you got. J Leandro, or “Mini”, is the 2^nd from the right in blue.

Besides all the events, we packed the time with some of the best people in the world, new foods, sights and experiences and as little sleep as possible. Mom and dad, thanks so much for coming and being a part of our world here! We love you guys, and look forward to the next time. But for now… try not to hurt your shoulders again shoveling snow back in Ohio! J

early TGIVING

2008-11-21T11:57:00.001-08:00

as i write this post, there is a group of 9 wonderful ppl at my parent's house (they are out of town... don't tell them we are here! haha) and we are preparing for an early, amazing TGIVING feast tomorrow. we are taking advantage of mark's parents being here to celebrate the holiday the REAL way: turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, pies galore! for 15 ppl, there will be a total of 7 deserts! yuuummmmmm!

we are thinking of you and hoping you are enjoying the arrival of the holiday season.

please, whoever is in Abilene, give my parents a BIG hug for us! we miss them!

hugs and kisses to you all-

ali

ps - pictures of the feast will be proudly posted very soon.

hungry draculas

2008-11-13T03:27:00.000-08:00

our youth group was excited to have an american party here at our house!

halloween is not a brazilian tradition, so they really enjoyed the face painting, the bobbing for apples, the treasure hunt in balloons!

and this video absolutely cracked me up!

it shows well the great sense of humor these guys have,

and how they are patient with the crazy youth ministers!

2008-11-13T02:34:00.000-08:00

and here are some more masterpieces created by Ro during his stay here!

also, check out www.rodiaz.com and www.euforialive.com

Ro in Brazil

2008-11-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

Ro's show in the Itu mall - a great, beautiful crowd!

Mark, Ro, Carol and myself crashing a birthday party in Rio

Rolando using our guest room as a studio - what a cool transformation!

we first met Rolando Diaz in June when he came with the Highland campaign for the camp....

Ro painted an incredible mural in our church named "the praying angels of Itu".

Ro is a very talented artist. he lives in Dallas, but is originally from Cuba.

he has a young, crazy, energetic, sporadic spirit that entertains all ppl!

Ro knows how much the church in Itu needs to finish the construction, so he decided to share his talents! he came on a 3 week trip to Brazil to put on several live painting shows and decided to donate whatever proceeds were gathered.

we had fun being his stage crew, p.r. representatives, studio managers, material gather-ers, crisis calmers, and audience applauders =)

it was a great success! we made contact with several big artist names in Brazil and Ro charmed them all!

may we all have the vision to serve others with our talents!

special prayer request

2008-10-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

we are very excited that CAROL is wanting to return to Brazil and continue to serve as an intern next semester!

many of you know how darn bureaucratic Brazil can be!

so as we begin the research for her next visa (she cannot come in as a tourist next semester), please, please pray that God will open the right doors, opportunities, give us the right people to talk to, and may it He bless the process with speed.

our goal is that she leaves Brazil for Christmas with a protocol to re-enter in January!

we thank you for your prayers, knowing that God will listen to us.

much love

ali

interns - part 2

2008-10-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

one idea carol and amanda had at the beginning of the internship was to create an alternating cycle of SERVICE SATURDAYS and SOCIAL SATURDAYS with our youth group.

genius.

we are influencing the youth to be PRAGMATIC leaders.

not just ppl that sit around and philosophy on their faith, but ppl that say

"i believe, therefore, i do."

in August we had an Olympics party (social sat), with mock-sport and medals!, and we went to Sitio Shalom (the drug rehab program mark serves) to help them plant their vegetable garden for service sat. (if you ask the youth what their favorite activity was so far, SITIO SHALOM is the answer!)

in September we went to a soccer game in Sao Paulo (it was an insane adventure!), and for our service we remodeled chose a small, simple business in the community to remodel.

in October we will have Praise and Worship night on Saturday (25/10) and on Halloween we are trick-or-treating for canned foods to distribute Christmas food baskets.

Itu is a small city, but God keeps doing BIG things around here!

and we've watched Him use Carol and Amanda to create action!

proud to have such good teammates!

kaisers

some pics:

fun at the soccer game!

remodeling the nail salon

interns - divided into 2 parts for you A.D.D. folk out there!... PART 1

2008-10-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

we have not bragged enough about our interns on the internet!!

THEY ARE AMAZING!

Carol is our slightly taller version of Dorah the Explorer, who absolutely loves to interact and learn about everyone/everything around her, and come up with creative and innovative activities for the church.

Amanda has a servant heart, always ready to help people around here in practical ways. She is our champ at interior design and architecture who has also composed incredible projects and donated her time and talents to small businesses in the community.

the 4 of us are a great team!

but we don't sleep much. =)

some days are still hard

2008-10-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

as you well know, we love Brazil.

we love being a part of what God is doing here!

there are people and places and experiences that have changed our lives forever.

but on nights like tonight, we just truly miss our loved ones in ohio and texas.

we miss being a part of your lives, and you a part of ours.

i mean daily lives: phone calls, meals, long visits, inside jokes, trying to figure out life together.

you have impacted us.

we will carry you all over the world now.

and we look forward to the next time we get to waste time together.

m&a

a jaboticaba tree

2008-10-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

our front yard is full of delicious fruit trees!

we have pears, lemons, oranges, tangerines, acerolas, pineapple, bread fruit, and JABOTICABA.

here is a video of our latest JABOTICABA harvest.

great visits!

2008-10-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

weekend with april

we have felt quite blessed with the amount of people that have swept thru our lives recently on a quick visit and tour of our Brazilian day-to-day!

since the Highland Campaign in June, we've received Lou Seckler, Chris Frizzel, Aunt Claudia and cousin April, and are now hosting Greg Dunham; next week we welcome Rolando Diaz for a 3 week expedition =) ... (note: most visitors shared with my amazing parents!)

here are some pics capturing some unforgettable moments with cousin APRIL!!

we had a blast! hippie fair in the rain, a cool improv capoeira circle show, late night and early mornings, napping on the beach sand, eating in the coolest Sao Paulo spots.......................................... hope some of you are encouraged to GET DOWN HERE and have some fun with a couple of very cool missionaries! woohoo!!

don't rush me, i'm still in September

2008-10-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

yes, there is much more about September worth blogging.

COUPLE'S RETREAT

we had 30 couples that participated in a weekend get-away hosted by the Itu church; Christian couples invited friends and family to come and be a part of a community that seeks to nurture and support and promote healthy marriages.

we had special moments together. one of my favorite times of day was before every "class", my dad had each couple share a victory they had in the last year. husbands and wives would hold each other a little closer when it was their turn to speak, and declare their victory as a team.

another special moment was our communion on Sunday together. couples sat face-to-face and spoke over each other how they see the Glory of God in their spouse. powerful.

and there was yet another moment that was so very, very special to us.

we have told you many times about MYUWA, our japonese-brazilian-incredible chef-comes to every camp with us-friend.

we have watched God capturing MYUWA (mee-oo-wah)'s heart from the first month we arrived. at the retreat she publicly proclaimed her faith thru baptism and declared that she will be living her life as a disciple of Jesus.

He is able to do more than we could ask or even imagine.

kaisers

2008-09-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

september

2008-09-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

it has been an incredible month!

our huge adventure this month was the trip down SOUTH we took with the interns. amanda and carol needed to renew their tourist visa, so we headed towards URUGUAY,

and made a heck of road trip out of our 7 days!

first we stopped in Curitiba, a city i spent 6 of my growing up years in. Arguably the most beatiful city in brazil, once considered the ecological capital of the country with record parks per capita! we did a rush tour of my top 4 spots, then headed to Porto Alegre (POA)

moments in curitiba

POA was AMAZING!

here are some reasons why:

MATT & WALESKA - an incredible missionary couple that is developing home churches in POA. the nights were full of inspiring conversations about the future of the church and our role in brazil.... conversations such as these give me a renewed gusto for the ministry of the Kingdom!

matt and waleska on the right - sharing a great meal w/ us!

THE CHACARA - matt works with a rehab program called The Chacara, very similar to Sitio Shalom. our group went to visit the place, and we fell in love with the ppl and their love for God and longing for the Holy Spirit. Mark stayed at the program for a couple of days, interviewed the directors, spent time with the guys, and came back with a bigger and better vision for the work at Sitio Shalom!

(translation: i don't smoke! i don't drink! i died to the world. i was born for God. I live for Jesus.)

THE BLUMES - there are some ppl that it takes a whole 2 minutes to know that you absolutely love them and could be entertained by them forever. that's the blumes in our life! before this trip to POA, our face-to-face interactions with them had been 5 minutes in a parking lot as we left the missionary conference in january. and yet, they seem like old friends (well, kevin IS old, but just an old fart, not old friend) .... we arrived in POA just in time to welcome their 6th child into the craziness! yep, 6.
it's the one family that just being around them makes us want to have 6 kids.
we shared our stories, and laughed, and cooked, and played games, and ate and ate.

the oldest (brownwyn, 17) and the youngest (giovanni, 4 days)

carys during home church

kevin demonstrating his eating skills (as you can see, benay has learned to ignore him)

don't let Ansley's angelic face fool you!

this trip has guided and changed some of our visions for our minsitry and church leadership here in Itu. Thru God we keep having new experiences and new conversations and meeting new people who show us a new love. and we are being molded at every new turn.

365 days ago...

2008-09-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

365 days ago we were at the airport, with 24,535 pieces of luggage (including mark's incredible ability to enter a plane with 5 carry-ons), saying good-bye to everything that been familiar and close and a part of our lives for the previous 3 years in Buckeye-land.

we were sad, torn, scared, ecstatic, anxious, dreamy, thrilled.........................................................................................and every month has exceeded our expectations, and God has become closer, more powerful, and more beautiful.

thank you for walking the journey with us.

* to kim, scott, laura, cole, dan & sue: you were there hugging us, crying with us and rejoicing with us! we thank you for being such a special part of our lives! =)

looking forward to many more years,

kaisers

just one piece of news

2008-09-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

wow! it's crazy how after 10 days without blogging we get lost in the amount of stories we want to share with you.

we've been to Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Montevideo (URUGUAY), Indaiatuba and Campinas since our last post. and each of these stops carries some amazing events and ppl! yes, we will take the time soon to post pictures and tell you about our favorite moments....

... but for now we come asking you a special request: mark was able to go visit Sitio Shalom this afternoon. We had not been there in almost 2 weeks! (due to trips). soon after arriving he learned that Odair is no longer at the program. so sad. for those of you who have not heard of Odair before now, we made friends with him on the streets of Itu, and helped him into Sitio Shalom hoping for recovery (pic of Odair and family in previous post).

please pray that God rescues him from the trap.

with much love, and knowing that God is up to something...
ali