Freedom!

Well, last Friday afternoon a monumental thing took place at the Dunn House. We were able to finally bring home our new van. It’s difficult to explain with words how great an event this was and how it’s going to effect our family in the future. 

For over 3 years now our family hasn’t been able to go anywhere together at the same time (except when we had a rented vehicle for a day- this maybe happened 4 times in over 3 years). Think about that for a minute. It’s difficult to fully comprehend how this effects your family until you have to actually live through it yourself. It stinks, trust me. 

When we left the US in 2011’ we had 2 cars that were paid for. Our family could come and go as we pleased at any moment. Looking back, I now realize that it’s something that we actually took for granted. When we moved to Brazil we sold both vehicles and had to use the money for plane tickets, shipping costs for a container we sent (with household goods in it) and then we used the rest for a car here in Brazil. And after we paid for all our moving/travelling expenses there wasn't enough money left for a vehicle big enough for our whole family to fit in. 

We knew that God had called us here. We could see the impact our family was making in the community, at the orphanages and in the favelas we were ministering in. But the thing that didn't make any sense to us was “why wasn't God allowing our whole family to minister together?” I mean- in the States our family was in ministry ‘together.' We were pastors at a local church and our entire family was involved in every outreach, every youth event, every church service- we were all there ‘together’ in everything we did. We didn’t think that God had just called Mom and Dad into the ministry, no. We believed (and still believe) that God has called our entire family into the ministry. So why wasn't He providing a vehicle for us?

I’ll be honest with you, it use to really frustrate me. For years we prayed and prayed- asking God to provide a vehicle for us. But nothing happened. One time we even tried to raise funds through our newsletter (a couple years ago) but that was a fail. And I didn't feel like we were suppose to beg people for money. So we just decided that it was out of our control and if it was ever going to happen it would have to be a miracle of God. It was in His hands and we were just going to trust Him.

Well after 3+ years He’s done it! He's provided a van for us. We’re humbled and so very grateful. If you don’t know how He provided it you can click HERE to read the story. And if  you’d like to see a video of what occurred on that day you can click HERE.

After weeks of searching, haggling, investigating (there’s a lot of shady car dealerships here) and finding the right van for our family we were finally able to find a great deal on a really great van. We were able to purchase a 2010’ Peugeot Boxer Turbo Diesel with low milage and that’s in great shape.

It seats 16 but we removed the back row of seats so that we can transport sound equipment and ministry supplies. So now it comfortably seats 12: ) We’re so happy that mere words on a computer screen don’t do justice to how we happy we really are.

I didn’t want this to be a long blog but just to give you a glimpse of how this is going to effect our family I’ll share a story of something that happened just 20 minutes after we took our family for their first ride together.

When we found a van it was a difficult process trying to finalise a deal and get the title put into our name. We actually spent almost a whole week working on another van deal but we decided to back out because we felt like the guy wasn't being honest with us and was trying to take advantage of 'the americans.' Every time we came home (over the last couple weeks) all the kids would run out to the driveway to see if we were rolling up in our new van. And, as each day passed,  the kids were getting pretty discouraged by us having to tell them, "nope- it didn't happen again today."

But it finally happened and we brought the van home for the first time late Friday afternoon. At that point the kids hadn't seen it and they all came rushing out with big smiles on their faces when they saw me driving up our gravel driveway. It was raining but it didn't matter as we all looked at our new van. We immediately loaded up all he kids and took them for a drive. We needed water too, so we loaded 5 empty water jugs into the car and drove down the mountain to the beverage store to exchange them for full ones.

When we pulled up to the store we recognised this homeless man who was there trying to stay out of the rain. We knew this guy because we've been ministering to him over the last month or so. He's been living under the bridge at the highway for over a month now and we've started to develop a relationship with him.

Well, after we switched out the water jugs I asked the man (through Matthew) to come outside so that Me and MJ could talk to him. We asked him how his New Year was going and if he was doing ok. He said he was doing good but I didn't think he was being honest with me. I really felt like we we're suppose to give him some money so I got $50 out of my wallet and gave it to him. He was shocked when he realised that we were just wanting to be a blessing to him with no strings attached. As I was talking to him I noticed that all the kids were in the van (it was pulled right up to the door so we could load the big water jugs) looking at us and watching us as we were talking to this man about the goodness of our God.

Me and Matthew talked to him for a few minutes more and MJ got back into the van with the  kids. When she did the kids immediately asked her who the man was and what we were doing. She explained to them that the man didn't have a home and that we were just trying to be kind to him and help him.

As Matthew and I continued to talk to him we found out that he didn't have any food and that he hadn't been able to make any money for the last several days because of the rain. He makes these cups (long story-another time) and the store that he sits in front of (to sell them) has been closed since New Year's Day and he didn't have money or food because of that. So us giving him the money allowed him to get food for a few days until his business picks back up. Definitely God's timing on our visit to this water store: )

Anyway, the reason I wanted to share this story with you is because for over 3 years now we've been here ministering and reaching out to the people in our community and our own kids hardly ever got to be a part of it or even see it happening. And for us it's imperative that they're a part of the ministry just like us. Otherwise, when they grow-up, they'll look at ministry as just another vocation or, worse yet, despise the ministry because it's what kept mom and dad away. But the fact that our kids got to see an example (firsthand) of what mom and dad have been doing for the last 3 years here in Brazil... well, I think it was an aha moment for them. And we only had the van for about 20 minutes at that point!

So more than being excited about our family going to church together, going to the store together or anywhere else together- us being able to minister 'together' as a family again is what most excites me. So thank you, thank you, thank you first and foremost to The Lord. And secondly, thank you to everyone who gave and made this dream a reality for our family. 

We believe this is only the beginning of what's going to be a great thing for our family here in Brazil as we endeavour to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people who desperately need him.

Love You Guys!

Jim, MJ and the Whole Dunn Gang