Christmas and Reconciliation

Well, we made it through our 3rd Christmas here in Brazil. The temperatures were in the mid to upper 90’s and the humidity was worse than in Georgia. For real, it was. So, to say the least, it didn’t feel like Christmas at all (because it was so hot). MJ had all of her Christmas decorations up (which looked awesome) but when it’s 89 degrees ‘inside’ your house and you’re drenched in sweat- it’s hard to make your mind think it’s christmastime. We’re used to cold temps at Christmas or even the occasional snow: ) But there’s no chance for that here on the other side of the equator. Oh well...

But one great thing happened for us this year for Christmas. Our oldest adopted son, Marlon, came home for the first time in over a year and a half! 

If you didn't know he was gone and you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a couple of blogs for you HERE and HERE.

MJ, Samanta, Marlon and Me after dinner Christmas Eve.

We hadn’t heard from him since he left home in July of 2012’. We had heard stories about where he was and what he was doing (and they weren’t good ones) and the kids would occasionally see him in town, but none of us had any real contact with him at all. Then, out of nowhere, I got a Facebook message from his girlfriend back in October and they wanted to meet me. I went and met with them and it went really well. He was living in a house on the same property as his girlfriend and her parents. He was also going to school at night and working for his girlfriend’s dad during the day. So, even though he wasn’t home with us, I was happy that he wasn’t out running the streets anymore and that he was trying to finish his education. 

Anyway, after that initial meeting, Me and MJ went the next week and met with them for lunch. It was good getting to get reacquainted with our son. We’ve been praying for a year and a half for Marlon. He’s made some bad choices but we believe that he isn’t beyond God’s reach, no matter what he does. So our prayer is that God will continue to pursue him and save him. 

The week before Christmas we received another message from Marlon’s girlfriend (Samanta) saying that he wanted to spend Christmas with us. We weren’t really sure how to respond because Marlon hasn’t seen any of his siblings up close in such a long time and we didn’t know if the holidays was the best time to do it for the first time. But after thinking about it and talking to all the kids we all decided to invite them over for Christmas Eve dinner. So Marlon and Samanta came and had dinner with the whole family. It was actually very nice having all us together again. We looked at old pictures and videos, we laughed and visited for a few hours... it was good.

Marlon and Samanta with Ana, Robert, Gabriel and Diogo- acting crazy (normal) before they went home.

But more important than Marlon being reconciled to us, his family, we want him to be reconciled to God. That’s our main prayer for all of our kids. Sure it’s great that we’re all together and that we all love each other but our kids making Jesus lord of their lives and following Him is by far the most important thing to us as parents. Just because they’re growing up in a ‘ministry family’ doesn’t mean jack. They’ve all got to make the decision on their own. And we’ve got to continually point them to the cross and pray that the Spirit of God pursues them and that He draws them to God. And we as parents have to keep praying until they give their lives to Him.   

Samanta, Marlon, Kevin (Maryssa's 'friend', haha) and Maryssa at a camp
we just held this past weekend for an orphanage from Curitiuba. 

We’re thankful for all of you who have been praying for Marlon. Please continue to do it and we’ll continue to update you on what’s going on his life: )

Passionately Following Jesus,

Jim

Relationships

To us, one of the most important things that we’re doing (besides spreading the Gospel which is paramount in everything we do) is developing real relationships with the children and teenagers that we minister to. And that can’t be done by just seeing them once and then moving on to the next group of kids. So we strive to be around the same kids numerous times over the course of the year. And we’re starting to see amazing results because of this ministry philosophy. 

One of the relationships we have is with a girl named Stefany. We’ve known Stefany for almost 6 years now. She was in the orphanage that we adopted all our kids from when we adopted back in 08.’ We would see her every year when we came back to the orphanage (usually during Spring break mission trips) and it always broke our hearts to see her there year after year. Our hands were full so there was nothing we could do as a family (adoption), which was very frustrating. But we kept in contact and developed a great relationship with her nonetheless.

Me and Stefany at the orphanage back in 2009.'

MJ and Stefany back in 2011' during a visit to the orphanage in Curitiba.

When we moved to Brazil Stefany was turning 15 and was being moved out of the orphanage and into another facility for girls 15-18 yrs. old in a different part of Curitiba. We still maintained contact with her though and MJ started corresponding almost daily with her via email and Facebook. Over the past 2 years we’ve been able to have her out to the camp, at church with us on Sunday and she’s even come with us to minister at another orphanage (actually she ministered with us last weekend at a camp). She tells us that she wants to work with children when she grows up and that what we’re doing has inspired her to do it. It’s crazy... here’s a girl, that even though we couldn’t adopt her like we wanted to, we didn’t give up and we’re still able to impact her life just like she’s one of our daughters. God is so good.

MJ and Stefany at an outreach we did back in December at an orphanage in Columbo. 

Matthew and I were at an orphanage a few weeks ago (that we had just done an outreach at) talking to the director. I was trying to get some feedback about our last event at his facility. When he began talking he said. “we were different from all the other groups that came to do things there.” He said, “the kids love you guys because you’ve developed relationships with them.” When he said it, it was a huge encouragement to me. It’s one thing to have God give you a vision for ministry but it’s totally different when you see how it’s actually working and you get to see the fruit of it. 

The reason I’m mentioning these 2 stories to you is because I think it’s important that you know exactly what we’re doing here in Brazil. Because ultimately it’s because of you, our faithful supporters, that we’re able to do anything here at all. 

Me and Stefany at a camp we just had for an orphanage from Curitiba.
It's amazing to see what an amazing young lady she's grown up to be.

I know what it’s like to give an offering at a church (or to make a donation to a cause) and you always wonder where/what your money was going to do and if it was actually going to make it to what it was intended for. Well, for us the answer is, “yes!” Over two years later, here in Brazil, our goal and mission is still the same;

“To reach the children and teenagers of Brazil with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Thank you for allowing our family to be here bringing the Gospel to these kids (as well as too many more to mention). We’re excited about what 2014’ is going to bring and we’re thankful for every one of you who’ve partnered with us and who allow us to do what we do: )

Love Ya,

Jim, MJ and the Whole Dunn Gang