Community

It can get lonely on the mission field (go ahead and cue the violin music... haha!). No, seriously, it really does... at least for me anyway. Getting use to being a missionary and not on a pastoral staff in a local church is taking some time to adjust to, that’s for sure. I’m use to being in a “community of believers” that are always encouraging each other and that are there for each other all the time. And not being in a “community of believers” (because right now, we ARE the community of believers) is one of the biggest things I miss here in Brazil. We do know other people (who are believers) here in Brazil, but they all live 45-60 minutes away (in the city) and we’re way out here in the mountains. But building a community of believers has to start somewhere, right? That’s why we’re here... to raise-up a community of Christ Followers. It’s not easy starting from scratch either, especially when you’e still trying to learn Portuguese as well, so please pray for us.
There was something I heard someone say a few years ago that stuck with me and you may have heard it too. They said (or it was similar to this, anyway):

“if your church left the community would it be missed? If your church closed it’s doors, would your community feel a void because of the impact that you’re making in it?”

It was a good question. And at the time I could definitely say, “yes” because our church was very involved in the community. We were feeding approximately 1500 people a week through our food ministry, we were involved in the public schools, we were involved in local civic groups, nursing homes and even volunteered with the local habitat for humanity... we were definitely a part of the community. But let me take that question a little further. If “you as an individual” were taken out of your community would you be missed? If you moved out of your subdivision or your neighborhood, would there be a void left behind that people would notice? Because, really, there should be. I wish I could say that there was a void left behind when we moved to the mission field and out of our subdivision in Georgia (we lived there for over 10 years), but I’m not really sure that there was. It’s sad, really. People knew that we were pastors but I was usually so tired when I was at home that I didn’t make a real conscientious effort to be involved in people’s lives like I should have been. I can blame it on the American culture (where everyone hides behind closed doors and some people don’t even know the name of the people they’re living next to) but that’s just an excuse. We’re suppose to be Christians first, not people who let culture dictate how we relate to people, right?
When I was here in Brazil last year something happened that really encouraged me (as far as the ministry here in Brazil). I was at Brad and Carolyn’s house and this grandmother and her granddaughter came up their driveway and the granddaughter was crying. After Carolyn spoke with them she found out that the reason the girl was crying is because she heard that the “Americans” were leaving the mountain. Wow, really? She was one of the teens that had been coming to the outreach meetings and she was sad because these people, who had only lived in the community for a year, had made such an impact that she didn’t want them to go. Of course it wasn’t true but how many times has that happened in your life or in mine? Ha! Not often. But that’s how it should be.
I really don’t have any point to make except that we really miss our family and friends back home and that we really need your prayers as we make disciples and build a community of believers here in Terra Boa.

Passionately Following Jesus,
Jim

PS- the picture at the top is of the sky last night. It may not seem like a big deal but we're in rainy season right now and the fact it wasn't showering down water on us (it actually rains an average of 1.5-3.5" a day... all day) was pretty amazing. Thank you Lord: )

Being On The Other Side of Airport Security

Question. Has anyone ever taken you to the airport and stayed with you until the very last moment just to say goodbye to you? I mean, they stay while you check your bags and get ticketed then they walk with you all the way to security (because airport security won’t let them go any further without a ticket) just to get one last glimpse of you and wave goodbye at the last possible moment. Has that ever happened? Here’s how it works... they wait to make sure you get your luggage checked and you get your ticket. Then they walk with you to security. Then you hug, and say goodbye to each other on the “staying side” of security. Then you pick-up all the carry-on stuff that you had to lay down on the ground to properly hug, you corral all your kids (if you have kids with you) and then you hand your ticket to the first security guy standing there at the entrance to the security area. Then they (the people left on the other side of security - “the staying side”) usually stand there and watch you from a distance as you make your way through the metal detectors, put your shoes and belt back on, pick-up all your stuff off that little conveyer/roller thing and then as you’re rounding the corner to go to your gate you throw up one last wave at the last possible moment. Poof... then you’re gone, out of sight. You know what I’m talking about, right?

Well we’ve had to do that 3 times in the last month. Once with a family that was staying with us on a short-term mission trip and twice with our oldest son (he got bumped from stand-by on his first attempt going home so we had to say goodbye twice to him... awesome). We’re not use to being the ones on the “staying side.” We’ve always been the ones leaving and someone else was always being left behind. So, for us to have to do it, was surreal. We stood in the exact same place that other people had stood in and had “waved us off” from. It was weird being left standing there (especially in another country) while your family and friends were leaving you behind.

When we (Me and MJ) got back in the car after dropping Michael (our son) off at the airport (for the second time in 1 week), the thought ran through my mind that “this wasn’t fair.” The fact that we can’t even be in the same country as our son doesn’t seem fair. Sorry, I guess I’m not spiritual enough or something, but that’s just the way I felt. But then, when I actually stopped and thought about it, there’s “the call”... that’s right, “the call.” And sometimes God calls us to do things that don’t seem fair from our perspective and it’s difficult. But that’s when we have to make the decision... are we gonna actually Follow Jesus and trust God, because He has a greater purpose for our lives than what we could ever comprehend? Or are we going to do the easy thing and do what seems right and comfortable in our own minds? Trust... it all boils down to that one word. So, what about you? You could be going through the same situation right now with your job or with a relationship and it doesn’t seem fair (and it probably isn’t) but it’s what God has called you to do and deep down you know it. Are you gonna just press through because you trust Him or are you gonna take a different path? The choice is up to you.

As far as Me and MJ?... we’re gonna keep standing on “the staying side” of security until God says otherwise. People’s lives are counting us and we want to be where God wants us. What about you?

There’s nothing like Following Jesus: )

Waving From This Side of Security,

Jim and MJ

PS- Not all of the insects here are dangerous ones. Sure most of them bite you, leave scars or (at the very least) are super annoying, but some of them aren't. The picture at the top is of this bug that lives here. It's absolutely beautiful (sounds weird I know) but it really is: )

What Will You Be Remembered For... Really?

Being on the pastoral staff at a church for almost 10 years allowed me to be involved with literally thousands of people’s lives over the years. And one of the things that we had to participate in was funerals (I hated funerals and hospital visits... I don't like seeing people hurting-emotionally or physically). Obviously, funerals are one of the tougher parts of the job and probably one the most difficult things to have to walk people through. It’s emotionally taxing but it’s an honor to be able to help comfort the families (especially when you know the deceased are believers).
I remember when I first started at the church and one of our church members died. It was actually somebody that I knew (I hadn’t met that many people yet, so the fact that it was somebody I knew was unusual). It was a man that I had connected with and we had ministered in downtown Atlanta together the month before. So, when I heard the news I was very sad. I actually even cried.
When I got to the funeral, and was helping greet people who were arriving, I was shocked to see the man that I was there to mourn walking up the walkway into the church! What? How could this be? I mean... I had shed actual tears for this man. And here he was alive and in the flesh. Long story short, when I received the phone call I heard his name and not the actual person who died (their names were similar though). It was one of those “phone tree” things and ... anyway, the man was still alive. So everyone got a good laugh at my expense. When I confessed my misunderstanding of the phone tree message and that I actually cried for someone who was still alive, people thought it was really funny... even the man who I thought had passed: )

Oh well...
Last month I received news, here in Brazil, that one of the students from Revolution (our youth group where we were the youth pastors in the U.S.) had passed away. From what I understand, there were complications after he had his wisdom teeth removed and he passed away in his sleep a day or so after his surgery. When I heard the news I was totally shocked. This guy was solid. What I remember the most about him was that he had a hunger for God. He was always so eager to learn more about Jesus and he always had his Bible on Sunday Mornings (which is unusual for a teenager). He had a really deep voice so I always asked him to read the passage (with the mic) for me during service. He had that whole “James Earl Jones thing” goin’ on. What I learned after he passed away was that he was a stellar athlete who played basketball and that he was a mentor to other student athletes as well. I had no idea that he was basketball player because he never talked about it. I remember a conversation we had one Sunday Morning after a service where he asked me to pray with him because he wanted to make sure that he was putting God before sports but that was the extent of what I knew about him and I didn't even know what sports he was involved in, I only knew about his hunger and passion for God. That’s what I remember. What an awesome thing to be remembered for too... a hunger for more of God. Even though he was an athlete with skills and people looked-up to him for that... I didn’t know Jerry for that. I knew him as a kid who loved God and wanted to pursue Him above everything else. What an inspiration. Rest in Peace Jerry Coleman. Gonna miss you, buddy.
So, the question for you and me is this... “what will we be remembered for?” As a hard worker? A star athlete? A person who dressed nice? Someone who was loving? Someone who helped people? Someone who had wealth? A person who was smart?What? Jeremiah 9:23-24 says,

“let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth.”

It’s OK that we’re smart, rich and strong but what we need to be more boastful about is that we know God. And that’s what I want to be remembered for... someone who knew Jesus and was constantly in pursuit of Him. What about you? What do you want to be remembered for?

Passionately Following Jesus,
Jim

PS- The picture up top is of Jerry when he played at Central Gwinnett. Today is the 1 month anniversary of his passing, he was 19. Let's continue to pray for his family.

I’m Kinda Use to Spiders Now

When we first moved to Brazil, last year, I wouldn’t say that I had a phobia about spiders... I just didn’t like them. It was like they were in and on everything. I mean, they’re everywhere. Big ones, small ones, black ones, brown ones, skinny ones, fat ones, hairy ones, scary ones (sounds like a Dr. Suess book, haha), ones that liked to hide and even ones that would jump on you as yo were just minding your own business (what’s up with that?). And the fact that they can bite you and (at the very least) it hurts and leaves a mark (worst case, you die) makes me not like them all-the-more. But now that we’ve been here a while it’s like I really don’t get freaked-out about them anymore. Just the other day Maryssa called me from upstairs and said, “there’s a big spider just walking around up here.” So I casually strolled upstairs with a broom (really manly, I know... and no I wasn’t wearing an apron too, haha) and I smashed it. Actually I hit it so hard that the broom literally exploded and I was left holding a small portion of what was once the broom handle... it was weird. But then I just walked back down stairs like nothing happened, like business as usual. In the past I would have made a huge deal about a spider that big in the house. I would have called everyone over to look at the carcass so that they could marvel at the fact that Dad had saved them from the ferocious beast. Kinda like some type of medieval dragon slayer that just saved the village or something. But not this time. I guess we’re just use to it now. Then that same night we were sitting at the kitchen table and someone else said, “Dad look, there’s a big spider on the wall.” When I looked, sure enough another tarantula just walking across our kitchen wall. So I grabbed what remained of the broom and killed it and then threw the remains out the window. (side note: one of my sons said, “Dad you should have caught it and put it outside because it eats other bugs... seriously? Did he actually say that? Whatever son. That’s not even an option in my mind because the best spider is a dead spider.) Anyway, after I killed that one (just like the one earlier in the day) we all just casually went back to what we were doing. No examination of the body, no marveling at how big this thing was, nothing. Just back to what we were doing... business as usual.

Later on, when I was reflecting on the day, I started thinking about the spiders I had killed and how I’m really not trippin’ anymore when it comes to having them around all the time. It’s like I had become desensitized to the fact that these little nasty, mean creatures were all around me (most of which I never even see). And that really doesn’t effect me anymore. It’s weird... only after being here 4 months I had already gotten use to the fact that I’m basically “rooming with arachnids” (that sounds like a new TV series on The Discovery Channel, haha!).

But it’s pretty much the same with every area of our lives. We’re around stuff so much that it becomes familiar and common. And the one thing I’ve noticed is that can really be a negative thing when we allow familiarity to creep in when it comes to spiritual stuff. Like knowing Jesus, for instance. It’s seems like the longer we walk with Him the more we have to fight against familiarity. He’s the God of the universe and I have an actual relationship with Him and not only does He care about me... He wants to be in a “personal relationship” with me where we communicate with each other every day. The fact that, that doesn’t blow me away shows me that I’ve become familiar with it (my relationship with God, that is.). Sure I love Him and I’m following Him but I want it to be different. And that’s something I want to change this year. I want to be re-amazed that God loves me and that He’s my Heavenly Father. Me. Sinful, broken me. Because if that was more of a reality to me, it would be evident in every area of my life (mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually).

And my prayer for you is that you’ll be re-amazed at the fact that a Omniscient, Omni-present, Holy, All-Powerful, Creator of Everything-God sees and loves you more than you could ever imagine. Really, He does. And that should never be just a business-as-usual revelation to us. Just something to think about: )

Killin’ Spiders for Jesus,

Jim

“Thanks Mr. Frog,” for Covering-Up My Mistakes

My father-in-law is a jack-of-all-trades. He’s the kind of guy who knows how to do anything. (Anything except make his daughter submit to her husband, that is.... lol! jk. Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one.) But seriously, he can fix or build pretty much anything. He’s in his 70’s and he stays on the go all the time doing stuff here around the camp. He’s a huge asset to the ministry here in Brazil. But when you’re like me (I like to refer to myself as being a non-mechanically inclined un-carpenter) it’s a struggle not to feel inferior when you’re measured up against him and when it comes knowing how to do stuff. And it’s especially difficult living this close to him and not being able to all the things that he can. And to have to see him working and building something everyday and not having the ability (or desire, haha) to do all the stuff he can do... it’s hard on the ego. So, when there’s something to do here at the camp, that’s within my sphere of knowledge and that I know I can handle, I jump right in and do it. And I usually try to do it alone so that I can prove to myself and everyone else that I’m not totally useless when it comes to construction projects. And that brings us to today’s blog.

I poured a small concrete pad the other day. It was about 12‘x 10’. They don’t have cement trucks that bring you what you need here, you have to mix it by hand. Not that big of a deal... so I thought. I had Marlon help me mix it and I formed it up and poured the pad. Again, not that big of a deal. Not that big of a deal... “when you have the right tools!” And of course, here I don’t. Surprise, surprise. And it’s not like there’s a Home Depot right up the street that you can just go grab what you need either. If you don’t have the tool you need, oh well. You’re just out of luck. What you have to do then, is make something from scratch. So after I poured the pad and skreeding it (that’s where you take a board and pull it across the concrete to smooth it out) I was sitting there admiring my handy-work drinking some guarana (a Brazilian soft drink). Then MJ walked-up and made a snide comment about the fact that it didn’t look perfect. She said something like, “did you mean to leave those little pot marks in it?” Which made me want to try and make it better. That was a mistake. So, I tried to make a homemade float (a tool we used in the States to smooth out concrete) out of a board, the handle from a broom and some duct tape- to smooth it out better. And, to make a long story short, I totally jacked it up! I totally messed-up my perfect (so I thought) little pad. So I fixed it the best I could and called it a day. I was pretty discouraged and it wasn’t pretty.

Then I had to go to Quatro Barros (a nearby town) to run some errands and was gone about an hour. When I got back the kids met me in the driveway and were all saying, “Dad don’t be mad but one of the dogs ran across your pad.” For real? You’re kidding, right?” So, I made my way over to where the pad was and sure enough... dog prints all over that thing. As a matter of fact there were also cat prints (we don’t own a cat!), bird prints and frog prints! That’s right, frog prints! What are the chances of that? But the funny thing was that I wasn’t mad at all. As a matter of fact I actually felt better than when I left it. Why? Because all the animal prints had totally taken the focus off of my cruddy cement work and put it on the copious amount of animal footprints (or paw prints if you want to get technical, haha) that now littered my once beautiful (in my mind) pad. Awesome. Now nobody could see how bad my cement work was because of all the footprints and I was happy.

If you think about it though, that’s similar to the way that God sees us who are Followers of Christ. He doesn’t see all the sin and brokenness that we have in our lives... all He sees is the blood of His Son. Man, what a relief. I don’t have to struggle with the fact that I’m not perfect because “the Blood” takes all the focus off me and puts it on the sacrifice Jesus made. So that means my imperfections (and yours) are hidden in Christ. I John 1:7 says, “if I walk in the light as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus continually cleanses me of my sin.” What an awesome promise. Thank you, Jesus for your sacrifice.

Thankful,

Jim

A Different kind of Blog

Hey Guys!
Well, I wasn’t going to write anything today and was just going to start posting again on Monday. But as I had gotten out of the shower (after pouring some concrete here at the camp today) and was getting dressed I really felt impressed by the Lord to write something. Now this is totally different than what you usually read on this blog (i.e. sarcasm with some kind of point at the end or just me ranting about something). Today is serious. You’ll know if I’m writing to you or not in a second. If I’m not writing (speaking) to you, then have a great weekend and we’ll talk to you on Monday. OK, here we go...
I was just minding my own business getting dressed. It’s 5:05pm here in Brazil (we’re 3 hrs ahead of everyone at home in the Eastern Time Zone). There’s nobody here at the house right now so it’s unusually quiet. And as I was just spending some time enjoying the silence, I felt the Lord impress on me to write to someone (I have no idea who you are either) and I feel like I needed to write this now. There’s someone reading this blog that’s actually just said (either out loud or in your mind) “that if there’s really a God, why doesn’t He do something to reach-out to help me?” Well, this is that! He loves you and He does care. He sees what you’re going through and He’s just waiting for you to come home.
This isn’t a fluke... I’ve never ever written a blog like this and I’ve been blogging since 08’ but I’m telling you God loves you and He does care! You even have a knowledge of God but you've never really had an intimate relationship with Him like He desires, but you can. If you look in a Bible in Luke 15:11-31 there a story about a guy who had left his father. He did his own thing, lived a pretty fast life, blew all his money (that was suppose to have been his inheritance), he was all alone... but then one day he decided to go home. And when he did, his father didn’t wait until he got all the way up the driveway and to the house... the Bible says that “while he was still a great distance away he (the father) saw him (the son) and ran to meet him!” That’s the same with you. God’s not gonna greet you with his arms crossed and make you jump through a bunch of hoops before he takes you back... He’s just waiting to see you coming up on the horizon so He can go and meet you! So you wanted a sign? Here’s your sign: )
I don’t know where you are in the world (this blog is actually read by thousands of people each month from over 20 different countries) but we have contacts from places all over the world and we’d love to try and connect you with a church or another believer to help encourage you. So if you’ll write me at HopeAndLifeBrazil@gmail.com we’d love to get you hooked-up with some other people who are following Jesus that could help you. God reached out, so watcha gonna do?

Love Ya,
Jim

There’s Always A Blessing... It Just Depends On How You’re Looking At It

We went exactly 3 months living in the jungles/mountains/boondocks/wilderness (or any other adjective you want to use for where we live here in Brazil) without a vehicle. That’s right, 3 months with “no transportation!” Forget the part about having to walk uphill no matter where you go or the fact that we were stranded unless we could get someone to take us down the mountain (usually only for food or to use the internet). Then disregard the part about having a family our size, it’s been very trying to say the least. Brad and Carolyn have been very gracious to us and chauffeured us to all our governmental appointments and to buy groceries pretty much whenever we needed something. But when you’re independent like me, that can be extremely painful. Not being able to do something as simple as buying bread for the family to eat, without having to find someone to take you, was one of the most humbling things I’ve had to endure here. But our car sold in the States a few weeks ago so we were ready to buy a car here... finally!

Cars are very expensive here in Brazil and the selection isn’t anything like vehicles in the U.S.. We had found a 1980 Toyota 4x4 truck (that would seat 8 legally) for a little less than R$20,000 but it sold before we were able to get it. Bummer.

Then we held a camp a few weeks ago. The Pastor of the church, that had the group here, had a car he was driving that was for sale. It was a 1998 Volkswagen station wagon that will seat 5 legally. He was selling it for R$10,800. It had 96,000 kilometers on it but the speedometer didn’t work, so who knows how many miles it had?! We test drove it and thought it was OK but not really what we were looking for. Then after a week or so passed we felt like that car, although it wasn’t what we wanted or even that our whole family could fit in, was what we needed to get. For some reason we felt like that was the car we needed to buy, so we purchased it: )

It doesn’t have A/C, power steering, or power anything now that I think about it, it shakes pretty bad when you’re going over 50, it’s sits so low to the ground that it scrapes at certain places as you’re traveling up and down the mountain, it can’t seat our whole family at the same time, it doesn’t have a radio, it’s a stick shift so MJ can’t drive it... I could go on and on about the negatives. But you know what else it doesn’t have? A monthly car payment. It also allows us to get wherever we want without having to ask someone to take us. So we’re thankful. Is it exactly what we wanted? No. Is it something that we would have bought back in the States? No. Is it what God has blessed us with right now? Yes. And for that we’re thankful. Seriously, we are. It was so nice to be able to go and pick Michael (our oldest son) up from the airport by ourself when he came to town. It’s also nice being able to go down the mountain to buy groceries whenever we needed them instead of on somebody else’s schedule. And now the kids can jump on the trampoline and climb trees (I had banned them from doing this because we didn’t have a vehicle that could transport them to the hospital if someone got hurt... just call me Mr. Safety). You see, I can either focus on all the things that are negative about the car or I can look past all that to see the positive. It’s the same with every area of my life too. There are always gonna be negatives. But on the other hand there’s always gonna be positives too. It just depends on how I’m looking at it. The thing is, nobody (including God) wants to be around somebody that’s always looking at the negative side of every situation. There’s just something about an unthankful, negative, Debbie-downer attitude that repels people. And, on the other hand, there’s something about someone who’s always able to find the bright side of every situation and that has a positive outlook on life that attracts people. That’s who I want to be.

Is my car “a beater?” Sure. Is it luxurious? Nope. Actually it’s anti-luxurious. But it’s what I have and I’m not walking! So I’m not denying the fact that the car is-what-it-is. I’m just choosing to focus on the positive part of owning it. What about you? Are there areas in your life that you’re constantly complaining about? Have you noticed people leaving the room when you enter? It could be your attitude (or maybe you need to shower more, haha). We want to attract people, not repel people. So, this is one area I’m gonna try to improve on this year. What about you?

Just something to think about: )

And before I forget, “Thank You” to everyone who prayed for our car to sell in the U.S. and for us to get one here. Obviously, the picture at the top is our new car. Funny thing is, it’s the same color as our car we sold in the States. The only difference is... well, everything but the color. Lol!

Riding Not Walking,

The Dunn Family

Fasting Tips

This will probably be my last blog on fasting. But since a lot of people are fasting this time of the year I thought I’d give you some creative fasting ideas that I’ve picked-up over the years. I mean, if people can produce “Daniel Fast Cookbooks” and “Guides to Fasting”, why can’t I just give you some helpful fasting tips here on the blog? Today I’ll be giving you some helpful tips for The One Day Fast and The Daniel Fast. So, here you go:

One Day Fasting Tips
If you’re doing a One Day Fast you can follow these 3 easy steps to make your fast more enjoyable and more do-able:
Step 1- Eat as much as you can right-up until midnight the night before. Even to the point of gluttony (you can ask for forgiveness later). That way your stomach will be as full as possible the next day.
Step 2- Sleep as long as humanly possible the day of your fast. The more time your not awake, the better.
Step 3- Carefully schedule your day. Whenever you wake up (hopefully around 4-5pm) you can start getting prepared for dinner (which can be eaten at 12:01am). Go to the grocery store and purchase whatever it is that you’ll be dining on as soon as this thing is over. Choose a grocery store far from your house. Just remember, you’re trying to waste as much time as possible and a long drive will eat-up (pardon the pun) time for you. Choosing a scenic route, where you don’t pass 100 fast food restaurants, is suggested. You don’t want to backslide and pull into one of them in your weakened state. When you arrive at the grocery store park as far as possible from the store. That way you’ll waste more time by walking (pretty smart, huh?) all the way to the entrance. Walk slowly through the store as you shop. Remember, you’re trying to make it til midnight, so there’s no hurry. Then when you get home (hopefully around 9-10pm) you can start getting everything ready by marinating, chopping, prepping, etc. for your feast. You can start cooking around 11:15-11:30 and then at 12:01, bam! Bon Appetite, you made it baby! : )

See, that’s pretty easy, huh? Hopefully this will help you endure the 1 Day Fast. Now we’ll be discussing the Daniel Fast and great menu ideas for that particular fast.

Daniel Fast Tips
If you’re doing the Daniel Fast fast you’ll find this very helpful. I know people say that the Daniel Fast is suppose to be fruits and vegetables so if that’s the case, then here are some of my favorite things to eat on this particular fast:

- French Fries (they’re potatoes, which last time I checked are a vegetable)
-Ketchup for the Fries (although most people think tomatoes are a vegetable they’re actually in the fruit family... see how informative this blog is?!)
-Fried Okra
-Fried Zucchini
-Fried Mushrooms
-Fried Rice (vegetable fried rice, of course)
-Egg Rolls (they’re basically all cabbage and what goes better with fried rice than an egg roll?)
-Popcorn (they’re made from corn and corn is like the king of the vegetable world)
-Veggie Burgers (because you could always eat a burger... fasting or not)
-Veggie Dogs (warning... these are pretty new on the market and haven’t been fully perfected in the “area of taste” so they’re pretty nasty. But if you just have to have something that’s shaped like a hotdog then there ya go)
-Apple Pie (Apples are definitely a fruit but depending on how strict you are this may

or may not be allowed. But, if you rationalize it in your mind long enough, you can

pretty much justify eating anything.)

There. I hope all those ideas help you out. I mean, fasting needs to be made as easy as possible so that we can all make it through, right?

Obviously this particular blog is meant to be a joke. The sad thing is that I’ve pretty much done all that stuff when I was fasting (in the early years of trying to fast, that is). It’s like I would get so weak (mentally) and then I’d rationalize each particular food item in my mind and then I’d go ahead and eat it. Man, food (or lack of it) will definitely mess with your mind. And, when you’ve never fasted before, even going one day is a huge undertaking. But, as I’ve matured (haha), I’ve been able to look past all of the legalistic stuff that goes along with fasting and look at the main thing instead... Jesus. He’s the real reason for this whole fasting thing anyway, right? I need more of Him in my life, in my marriage, in my home, in my ministry and in my city. So, rather than focusing on all the stuff I can or can’t eat, I try to focus on Him. Yeah, sometimes it’s still difficult, but rather than letting my mind meditate on food items (like BBQ ribs, cheeseburgers with mushrooms and bacon, chocolate cake, fried shrimp, a thick juicy steak, fresh yeast rolls... you know, stuff like that) I try meditating on Jesus and His word in those times. I know that sounds obvious but as obvious as it is it’s easy to lose focus. So, as you’re fasting this year, hang tough and keep your eyes on Jesus and you’ll make it through to the other side. He has great things that He wants to do through us this year and our fasting is just preparing the road for it. But french fries are definitely made from potatoes, so what’s the big deal?

Just Trying to Help,
Jim

Daniel Fast, Really?

I want to go ahead and fire-up a warning shot. If you’re on the Daniel Fast right now with your church or just by yourself, don’t read this blog until you finish. Because if you’re doing it and you read what I’m about to say, I don’t want to be responsible for you breaking your fast. If you do break it, it’s just because you’re hungry so don’t use me as the excuse just because you want some meat. I warned you, OK? Alright, here we go...

One thing that really bothers me about fasting (besides the whole “going without food thing” haha) is how people talk about the Daniel Fast. There are actually cookbooks for people based on the Daniel Fast with actual recipes for people who are on this particular fast. I wonder if Daniel, ever in a million years, imagined that his fast would be immortalized like is has been in American Christendom? And I wonder how we (christians) get what we call the Daniel Fast from scripture? Seriously, I do.
I remember getting scolded by a sweet lady at our church (if there was ever a group labeled “the fasting nazi’s” she could definitely be a part of their club, for sure) because I had mentioned eating white rice while I was on the Daniel Fast. But she set me straight. How was I to know that I was only suppose to eat brown rice on the Daniel Fast? I mean, scripture clearly tells us “only eat brown rice, not white rice”, right?... so how did I ever miss that? And how was I suppose to know that I couldn’t use seasoning on my food too? How was I suppose to know that? The Bible clearly says not to, right? What about Mrs. Dash? That’s an all natural seasoning, so could I use that? Man, this is way too confusing.
I guess I really need to pray that God reveals His word to me in a deeper way because when I read about the fast that Daniel was on all I read is:

“In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for 3 weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full 3 weeks.”
Daniel 10:2-3

That’s all it says. Period. So, how do we come-up with all the recipes in the Daniel Fast Cookbooks that we see in the christian bookstores? And how can you say that the Daniel Fast only consists of fruits and vegetables? And where does the whole brown rice and not white, no fried foods, no dressing on my salad, no seasoning on my veggies come in? And why do we leave out the whole “not anointing ourself for 3 weeks part of the Daniel Fast?”
How can we possible feel rock-solid (by saying we’re pulling all our info from scripture) and be so dogmatic about what is allowed and what isn’t? I think we’re missing the whole spirit of what Daniel was doing anyway. By him denying himself and adopting an ascetic lifestyle, it was his way of saying, “I’m going to deny myself anything pleasing as a way of needing to hear from God.” That’s it. He wasn’t trying to eat everything he could (as long as it was in the fruit or vegetable family) either. He was doing the minimum (just eating to survive, not eating anything that was pleasurable) when it came to food for the 21 days.
I did a Google search on “Daniel Fast Recipes” and it came back with 1,660,000 results! I went on one of the links and was actually laughing at some of the stuff on there. These people were preparing all natural meatless, cheese-less, bread-less meals that could be prepared in a gourmet restaurant! These meals weren’t only awesome but they were beautiful (the pictures of them online, that is). Seriously? For some reason I don’t think those things are part of a fast as much as they are diets.
So what is the Daniel Fast? I think that’s something only you can really decide. Not something that someone else has in some cookbook. The goal shouldn’t be eating as much stuff as possible without stepping over the imaginary line, but our attitude should be to eat as little and as pleasureless as possible so that we can hear from God, if that’s really our goal. But what do I know... I ate the white rice instead of the brown. So you better not listen to me: )

Happy Fasting!
Jim

Fasting May Make You Delusional

Before we moved here to Brazil I served on the pastoral staff at a church in the U.S. for almost 10 years. One of the things that we did at the beginning of the year was to participate in a corporate fast. We, as a church body, would fast and pray corporately- together. It’s something that sounds great at first, but once it got underway? It was well... challenging. Let me explain:

Back in the early years at the church, we’d do a “corporate 3 day fasting and prayer revival thing.” We’d fast together and we’d also meet each night at the church to pray together corporately. It was good and the end result was always great. You always felt like you were a part of something that was bigger than you as an individual. But then, one year, as we got closer to the New Year, somebody had the awesome idea to do a 21 day fast instead. Really? 21 days? OK. Sounds good, let’s do this thing. Spirits were high, people were pumped... this is gonna be awesome! The New Year rolled around and we started our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Sweet! Day 1, day 2, day 3... everything was fine. Then day 4, we had just entered unchartered waters (at least for me anyway) and things got more difficult. I don’t know what happened but I slowly started to melt down. And it got worse as each day progressed. I think it was about day 14 or so that I began doubting everything we were doing. Your mind will definitely play tricks on you when you’re hungry. It was a lowlight (that’s the opposite of highlight) in my spiritual walk. And being the “Bible” or “Word” person that I am (in my mind anyway), I started pointing out to everyone that corporate fasts were never 21 days in the Bible and then I asked the pastor (my boss) if we were just doing it because other churches were doing it. Ooops... not good. What was I thinking? I (and hopefully he) can laugh about it now but at the time my questioning didn’t go over very well. The last thing you want to hear from one of your high level staff people (while you’re fasting) is all the doubt and negativity about what you’re already 2/3 of the way into! What an idiot I was. lol! I think fasting made me delusional. To say the least, I never did that again. I’m surprised he didn’t punch me in the throat. haha!

The reason I’m writing this today is because I know a lot of you are fasting right now. And at some point (when the hunger pangs kick in) you will question what you’re doing. You’ll wonder if it’s even worth it. And you may even try to use the Bible to justify breaking your fast. Don’t do it. If you search hard enough you can find stuff out there, written about fasting, that says it’s not for today. You can basically form a doctrine out of any scripture (even if it’s taken out of context) and make it say whatever you want. Don’t let the enemy rob you of what God has for you. Fasting works, period. So don’t quit. I mean, the worst thing that could happen is you’ll lose some weight and you’ll be healthier, right? So stick with it. Keep pressing into God and see what He does on the other side of this thing.

And just so you know, fasting is something that even though I struggle with it, it’s something that’s proven itself to work when prayer by itself didn’t. So, we’re fasting this year (corporately as a ministry - Hope and Life Brazil) because we need God to move and strongholds to be broken over this place. And we know that some things only come (or come out) by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:28-29). Can’t wait to see what God does: )

Hungry (for more of Him),

Jim

The pictures at the top are from this last week. They're of the property adjacent to the camp. The others are of Michael on a horse, and Matthew and Maryssa goofing off on a hammock when we were sitting around a fire (that's why the pic is so smokey looking, haha). And, by-the-way, Michael made his flight out of Rio last night. Thanks to everyone who prayed: )

What Makes A House A Home?

There’s an old saying... “love makes a house a home.” As true as that may be, and even though you may even have a plaque with that on it in your kitchen, I would have to disagree (somewhat). Because for me it’s “decorations” that make a house a home. No, I’m not an interior decorator or anything like that. And my wife isn’t making me write this blog (those of you who know her know that she loves decorating). It’s something that I’ve experienced firsthand... let me explain. Our house went from feeling like “glorified camping” to feeling like “our home.” Our container arrived a few weeks ago and MJ has decorated our house and it feels like a home now. Everything is still the same (no A/C, bugs, etc.) except for the fact that she decorated the place. It sounds trivial and I know you’ll never see a coffee mug or a plaque that says, “decorations make our house a home” but it’s definitely true nonetheless. I mean, she’s taken decorations that we bought at garage sales, stuff she bought marked down at Hobby Lobby (she never pays full price!), stuff we’ve had for literally decades, and made a 2 story shack in the jungle look and feel like something out of Good-housekeeping Magazine . It’s totally amazing. Decorations have made our house a home, for real. It’s something that may not seem like a big deal, but it’s totally changed the look and the feel of where we live... and it’s great!
It’s the same with us as Christ Followers too. Some of us just say we’re followers of Christ but our lives don’t look attractive or like we’re following Jesus at all. Our lives need more than just “saying” we’re christians. In Titus 2:10 we’re told to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. We’re not just suppose to have it (salvation through the Gospel), we’re suppose to adorn it. (If you read all of Titus 2 it gives us examples of how to do it.)
Just like MJ took our humble home in the mountains of Brazil and adorned it to make it look amazing, we can take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and adorn it with the way we live to make it attractive to the world that we’re trying to reach.

Have a great weekend : )

Trying to Decorate My Life,
Jim

The Missionary Quiz

Before I get to the quiz part of today’s blog just a little update. Michael, our oldest son, was here with us for 10 days and we took him to the airport yesterday so he could fly back home to the States. Well, last night we got a message around 10:00pm that he got bumped from his flight from Rio to Atlanta and there wasn’t even a chance to get another flight until Sunday! So, we had to buy him another ticket and he flew back here this morning and he’ll try to fly home again Sunday (gotta love flying stand-by). Please pray that he makes his flight Sunday because he’s got a lot of stuff going on back home and, as much as we’d love it, he can’t stay here forever. Thanks!
OK, now for today’s blog. Let me ask you a question. What’s the first thing that enters your mind when you hear the term missionary (besides “God, please don’t call me to be a missionary” )? I don’t know about you but I always pictured some clean-cut white guy walking through the African plains holding little African babies, smiling, working in a food distribution line (holding a giant ladle pouring soup into a bowl, of course) or even distributing medicine to the masses of people who were coming to hear about Jesus. And I always pictured all the native people being sooooo happy they (the missionaries) were there. You know... like one of those infomercials you see on Christian television. Everything always seemed so simple and perfect (in my mind, anyway). But that’s far from reality. Over the last few months we’ve come through a lot of junk emotionally, spiritually, physically, you name it we’ve had to go through it. I never would have imagined that the stress of being on the mission field would be this intense.
I heard a story (before we came to Brazil) about one guy who was on the mission field with his family and he committed suicide. When I heard the story I couldn’t comprehend how that could even be possible. It just didn’t seem plausible. I just didn’t understand until I actually became a missionary myself. I’ve felt (firsthand) the pressure of what we’re doing. It adds a tremendous amount of stress to every area of your life and it’s hard to explain unless you experience it yourself. Sure, there are good times but there’s this constant struggle and pressing that you have to do (it’s all spiritual, I know) to make it through each day. And it’s hard. As a missionary I can say with all certainty “this is a tough life.” You feel alone, you don’t have all the resources (that help make ministry easier) that you had back in the States, you’re in a culture that’s different than your own, and the hardest thing is constant pressure of being on the front line as you’re taking the Gospel into places where “the Light” is either non-existent of minimal... and I believe that’s the main reason that it’s difficult. The devil just doesn’t want to relinquish territory that he currently possesses and missionaries are taking it by force. So, props to all the missionaries out there who read this blog. You guys rock! Keep doing what you’re doing because what you’re doing is important and it’s vital.
There’s someone who’s very close to our family that made the comment a couple of years ago that “missionaries are just people who live in tropical locations on other people’s money.” I wish that person could be here with us right now, first of all so that I could smack them for making such a ridiculous statement and secondly so that I could laugh at them... for making such a ridiculous statement. Because if that person could actually see how missionaries live and the pressure they feel, they would definitely have a different perspective of the missionary life. But that’s not the reason for this blog today (to rant about the difficulties of being a missionary), the reason is this...
If you know a missionary who is actively serving on the mission field today, you need to make it a priority to pray for them today. And one more thing... write them a letter, send them an email, a facebook message, Skype them, call them, send a message by carrier pigeon, smoke signal... something to encourage them. Seriously. I guarantee they need it. That’s the reason for today’s blog. Would you do that? And if you don’t know someone who’s currently on the mission field, ask one of the pastors at your church who you (as a church) are supporting and get their contact information so you can send them some encouragement. And if your church isn’t supporting ANY missionaries... find a different church! : ) For real. Because, as Christ Followers, our only mission is to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19 and Jesus isn’t coming back “until the Gospel preached to all nations” Matthew 24:14. It's great that churches are ministering to their community but we've also got to get the Gospel to people who haven't heard.

Passionately Following Jesus,
Jim

The pictures at the top are of a town about an hour away, our last Monday Night Outreach Service, MJ and Carolyn, and Me and a couple of the students we minister to here on the mountain.

Never Pray for This

Since it’s the New Year now, I thought I’d give you some helpful words of advice right up front. OK? Cool, here we go.

If there’s 3 things that you never ever ever ever want to pray for this year (or any year), it’s these 3 things:

1. patience
2. that you want to step-up your love walk
3. that God will help teach you humility.

Trust me... don’t ever do it. If you do you’re just stupid. Life’s hard enough as it is, so why would you want to make it more difficult by asking God to open up a can of whatever-it-is that you need to have that kind of prayer answered? Just wipe the very thought from your mind. Trust me on this one. I actually prayed a few weeks ago that God would get-out all of the junk in me that was holding me back from experiencing more of Him (this may be stupid prayer #4) and He’s obliged me, for sure. It seems like I could possibly of hit the “prayer trifecta” by praying that prayer. In one broad stroke, God’s shown me that I need to grow in the area of love, patience and humility all at the same time because it seems like I’ve had the “constant pressure” of - having to walk in love because everybody’s aggravating me, to be more patient even though I don’t get my way EVER and NOTHING ever goes as planned and God has revealed (to me) parts of me that have made me realize how broken I really am (and that’s definitely humbling).

I could literally give you hundreds of examples from any day we’ve been here (and since I prayed that prayer) of how hard it’s been. Because everything has been difficult, challenging, stressful, lonely, trying... just add any other negative adjective you can think of here and I’ve experienced it.

The thing that’s funny is that I don’t ever remember praying for patience, love or humility. I just wanted to be closer to God. So what’s up with that? Why couldn’t He just allow me to have a closer walk with Him by osmoses or by giving me a heavenly vision or by appearing to me in a dream or something? Why couldn’t I just go to bed one night and wake-up the next morning having had some type of out of body 3rd heaven experience like Paul had or something? Why is it that He has to have me walk through something difficult instead? Why? Because the only way to actually walk in love is to have the opportunity to “walk in love.” Anybody can “love” when there’s no conflict or when everybody’s getting along. And the only way to be humble is to actually be in a situation where you have the opportunity to humble yourself (you can exalt yourself but you choose to lay down your way for someone else’s, especially God’s, way). And the only way to be patient is to actually have the opportunity to exercise patience. Anybody can be patient when everything’s going exactly the way you want it to go.

It reminds me of a story I heard about the pipe they used to build “The Alaskan Pipeline.” It took hundreds of miles of pipe to build it and each piece of pipe had to be tested before it was installed. What they would do to test all the pipe, before it was installed out in the field, was hook it up to a machine that would apply pressure to it. Each piece of pipe was put under extreme pressure to make sure that it was going to hold-up under the pressure that it would have to be under, hundreds of miles out in the wilderness, pumping oil. They couldn’t run the risk of putting pipe into the pipeline that couldn’t hold-up under the stress of pumping oil. This machine would prove that the pipe was solid. It would expose any stress fractures or breaks in each piece of pipe (ahead of time) so that they knew that each piece of pipe had what it took to do what it was that it needed to do... pump oil.

It’s the same thing that God does with our lives. He applies pressure to different areas of our lives so that it reveals where the weak places are. And He doesn’t do it just to torture us but so that we can work on those areas. As frustrating and as painful as it is, it’s necessary. Because if we didn’t realize our weakness in those areas we’d crumble under the pressure of the “game-time” situation He’s preparing us for. We may not be pumping oil, but we are suppose to be carriers of the Gospel to the world, right?

So, if you keep facing the same frustrating situation, maybe God’s trying to strengthen you where you’re weak? Just something to think about: )

Feeling Like A Piece of Pipe,

Jim

PS- The picture at the top was taken this morning right before we took Michael (our firstborn) to the airport. He was with us for 10 days and it was difficult saying goodbye to him, to say the least. But we know that God has us here in Brazil and him in the US for a purpose. So despite a bunch of tears, we're good with it. Please pray for him as he's traveling over the next 24 hrs.

Children’s Christmas Plays: Cute but Painful

OK, I know Christmas is over and we’ve already moved on but I just had to say something. And you know it’s true... “Kid’s Christmas Plays, although cute, are extremely painful.” Go ahead, admit it. Even if you have kids in the play, it’s still hard to sit through (at least for me, anyway). I’ve got 8 children, and being on staff at a local church for almost 10 years, meant that every single one of my kids have been in Christmas Plays every year. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not “a hater” and I’m not “a scrooge” when it comes to Kids Christmas Plays. I don’t know what the deal is, actually. Maybe it’s all the weekly practices that wear me out. They usually start rehearsing in August (I don’t even think Jesus starts thinking about Christmas that early). Or maybe it’s the music CD that they give the kids to listen to so they can practice the songs? You know the one... it’s the one that your kids want to listen to every time they get in the car. I don’t want to sound like a jerk but usually by the time the end of October rolls around (and we’ve already heard the CD a million times) the Kids Christmas Musical Soundtrack CD’s at our house usually get a “mysterious” scratch on all of them and our CD players in the house and in the car won’t read them anymore... huh? That’s weird. I have no idea how that happens (wink, wink). Not only is it a mystery, that could also be parenting tip #17 in my new book entitled “Making it Through the Kids Christmas Musical” but don’t tell my kids. Lol!
Anyway, when we moved to Brazil in September and walked in to our first Monday Night Outreach, that we do here on the mountain, guess what they were doing? That’s right... they were practicing for a Christmas Musical! The only thing worse than practicing for a Christmas Musical is practicing for a Christmas Musical in Portuguese! For real. So for 3 solid months, every Monday Night, we sang Portuguese Christmas songs. None of which we re-makes of ones we sang in English so that made it even more difficult. The reason they were practicing is because there was a church in Jardim Paulista (the same church that partners with us and teaches the kids on Monday nights) that wanted all the kids to come and perform for them for their Christmas production on December 23rd. It was painful having to practice songs over and over and over that you couldn’t understand. Getting motivated to go every Monday night was hard, I’m not gonna lie. And don’t forget the fact that we didn’t have a vehicle yet so that meant that not only were we having to endure the musical part of it, we had to walk down the mountain to get to practice. It was the equivalent of having to walk the plank on a pirate ship each week... “you did it even though you knew what was coming next wasn’t gonna be good.”
But, as painful as it was to go through all the practices each week, it was worth it. It was worth it because all the kids from the mountain (ranging from 6-21 years old) had never been in a Christmas production before. Heck, I don’t even think they’d even attended a Christmas production before. So, when the bus pulled in on the 23rd, to pick everyone up (the church sent a city bus to transport everyone to the church 25 minutes away), and I saw everyone in their “Terra Nova” shirts, smiling, proud, ready to go... all the Monday Night practices that we had to endure didn't seem to matter anymore. It was worth it. But that wasn’t the best part. The best part was when we got to the church and they sang their butts off (sorry I couldn’t think of a better analogy) and it sounded great! That was the best part. All the painful Monday Nights of singing and practicing (and I must confess... I complained about them each and every week) was worth it. You guys would have been proud of them. That was one of those times when you could see something here that you knew was making a difference. So from Me, MJ and the rest of our family... thank you for all your prayers and support. We couldn’t do it without you. Being here ministering in a remote part of Brazil is difficult, but nights like that make it all worth it. Thanks.
And by-the-way, the pictures at the top are of that night (duh, sorry for stating the obvious). The one at the very top is one of some random little girl who got up (while the pastor was praying at the end) and stole baby Jesus out of the manger while everyone’s head was bowed... classic Christmas Play action, for sure: )

Love Ya,
Jim