We Didn’t Even Know It Was Coming!

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with today's blog.
Its just a shot of some horses that were running wild on the mountain where we live.

We’ve been without power so many times over the last couple months that they need to change the name of this place to "Blackout Mountain!” It’s ridiculous. It’s like we’re living back in the 1800’s or something. I think the power company intentionally does/doesn’t do things correctly just to generate work for their repair department because there’s no possible way that we should be without electricity this much- it’s 2015’ for goodness sake! OK, I’ll stop ranting and just get to the real reason for today's blog- sorry: )

On Wednesday Night (2 weeks ago) we went to bed around 11:00pm and fell asleep pretty fast. We were really tired because it had been a long day. We woke up around 1:30am to the sound of rain falling and blowing against our window- which was awesome since it really hadn't rained at all on the mountain in over a month. But then it happened. We were abruptly awakened around 2:00am as we heard the upstairs door smash into the wall making the loudest crash imaginable as the dogs all went crazy and the electricity blew-out simultaneously. Then I heard the most horrific winds I’ve heard since I was a child. 

I grew up in South Florida and had been through my share of hurricanes and tornadoes. We even lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for about 4 years where tornadoes were actually a common occurrence. But, here in the jungles of Brazil, there are no Hurricanes or tornadoes. We’ve had several thunderstorms and high winds. And we've had our share of flooding but never any storms with sustained winds like this.

The winds blew so strongly, and for so long, that I actually thought our house could be blown apart. It was scary. After a few hours the winds stopped and we went back to sleep even though the electricity was still off and the rain was still falling.

When daybreak came the kids went down to the bottom of the mountain to buy bread and they saw that a lot the people that lived at the bottom of the mountain had lost their roofs and everything was in shambles because of the high winds. 

Some of the men from Terra Boa trying to repair a roof that was lost during the storm

As I went to Curitiba (to go into the office) later the next day I saw that the city was hit pretty hard as well. The winds were so strong that almost all the roadside signs were either blown to smithereens or blown over. And when I say “blown over” I mean 5” steel tubing bent in half by the winds (see last pic). It was crazy. 

One of the signs totally demolished by the wind

If you look closely you can see the 5" steel tubing bent in half by the high winds

And what’s crazier is that nobody knew it was coming. Nobody.

Then, just this past week, we had another storm. But this time it was a hail storm. And it wasn't just your average hail storm either. It’s like golf ball sized hail was being shot out of a shotgun from the sky or something.

Golf ball sized hail fell from the sky like it was being fired out of a shotgun

Our house at the top of the mountain wasn't hit that bad. But at the bottom of the mountain it was a different story. At Kevin’s house (Maryssa’s boyfriend) the hail was falling so hard and in such quantity that it knocked the steel grates out of the satellite dish they had in their yard and it penetrated straight through the roofs on both houses that belong to his parents. Actually almost all of the people in the town lost their roofs (to these shotgun-like holes) as the hail made it all the way inside their homes.

Hail 

You can see daylight from the inside of the house because of the hail damage

As I drove down the mountain the next morning I could see people frantically trying to cover their roofs in the rain as others were trying to make repairs. The ones who could afford to purchase new roofing material (before the construction store ran out) did and everyone else was forced to cover their homes with plastic. 

You can see that a majority of the homes in town are covered in plastic

The thing about this storm (just like the last) was that there was no warning. I don’t know if it’s because of a lack of technology (no early warning system for stuff like this here?) or maybe it's because everyone’s not glued to their televisions like they are back in the States to see the warnings that scroll along the bottom of the screen- I don’t know? It was/is very sad. Most of the people effected can’t afford to just run out and buy new roofs because it’s pretty expensive (in comparison to how much they earn) and it’s definitely affected the people here in Terra Boa. So please pray for our community.

(Warning: Here’s where I’m gonna get all ‘preachy' and I know this subject is considered offensive but I’m sorry- it’s just how I feel.)

OK. The thing that sticks out to me the most is how nobody knew these weather events were gonna happen. And, if someone knew these storms were coming, they sure didn't spread the news because it seemed like everyone was caught off guard.

But there’s something else that's hit me as I’ve thought about this. As I was seeing my neighbours and how they were effected by these last 2 weeks of bad weather it made me feel very sad for them. 

But, as sad as I felt for them- there’s another event that’s coming and it seems you don’t hear much about it and there’s no alarm being sounded to warn people either.

Because as damaging as the hail was and as terrifying as the winds were- those things pale in comparison to what I’m referring to. And it’s the return of Christ and The Day of Judgement. 

Now I know The Church has been talking about and looking for this for a couple of thousand years now. But, be that as it may, The Day is coming. The Day where everyone form every tribe, nation and tongue will be assembled before The King- to be judged. How terrifying is that?

Hebrews 9:27 says, “it's appointed to man once to die then the judgement.” There will be 2 groups of people assembled before The Lord that day- the saved and the lost. The ones who trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins will be in one group and the ones who didn’t will be in the other. The ones that were washed in the blood of the lamb and whose names are written in The Lamb's Book of Life will be going into an eternity with Jesus while the others into an eternity of darkness, pain and suffering. 

And even though we as christians have this information and we know this event is coming- it’s like we (yes, even us  missionaries) get caught up in ‘life' and forget about (or at least lose the urgency of) telling others about the salvation that’s available through what Jesus did on the cross. It’s crazy. 

I know this subject is intense and it’s not fun to talk about. But how horrible will that Day be if all of our friends, neighbours, co-workers, etc. see us going to Heaven where there’s so much joy and peace that we can’t even comprehend it- while they're being sent to a place that's worse than any nightmare anyone could imagine?... And all because we didn't tell them. How sad would that be? And how will it feel to look them in the eyes on that Day? I know one thing- it'd be way worse than not letting people know that a wind or hail storms was coming (so that they could get prepared), right? So let's help people get prepared because The Day is coming: )

Love You Guys!

Jim and MJ

Not Getting Your Way

When you were a kid did you always get your way? Of course not. Because your parents knew what you needed better than you did, right? But, as a kid, it’s hard to understand that sometimes. We thought our parents were just being mean or that they didn't want us to have fun or that they were just trying to control us or something crazy like that.

But as we’ve gotten older and some of us have children of our own now, things are clearer. We understand why our parents didn't give us certain things or why they made us wait or why they didn’t allow us to go somewhere that we really wanted to go. We understand that it was because they loved us and they knew better than us.

It’s the same thing when it comes to God. We ask Him for certain things or we ask Him to change a particular situation and a lot of times the answer is no. Or wait. Or maybe it’s just what seems like deafening silence. 

So what do we do? How do we react? Do we throw a fit like we did when we were kids and our parents didn’t give us what we wanted? Do we pout? Do we get angry? Or do we trust Him. Do we realize that He knows best and that He’s a good God- a God that loves us and that He isn't trying to hold back something from us? Because He’s got our best interest in mind- always.

In Mark 2 there’s a story about 4 men who carried their paralytic friend to a house to be healed by Jesus. There were so many people at the house when they got there that they had to go up on top of the roof, cut a hole in the roof and then they lowered their friend down with ropes placing him smack-dab in front of Jesus. But, after all the work of getting their friend there, they weren't expecting Jesus to do what he did. They weren't expecting Jesus to say, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” no! They were expecting Jesus to heal their friend. That’s why they went through all that trouble and why they did what they did. But Jesus, being God and knowing what their friend really needed, forgave his sins instead. Because that’s what was most important at the time. 

Sure, he did eventually heal him too, but Jesus did what needed to be done first. 

I truly believe that some of us are in the same situation right now. We’ve got pressing needs, big issues, overwhelming problems, huge decisions that need to be made- and we’ve prayed. We’ve asked God to intervene and to change whatever it is that we need changed. We’ve asked Him to give us _____________ because it would make our lives so much better. We’ve been trusting Him to _______________ and it seems like He’s not listening.

But just like the situation with the paralytic… "Jesus doesn’t always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we need.” 

So, if you’re struggling right now because it seems like God isn't listening. Or if you’re frustrated because God isn't answering your prayers fast enough or in the way that you think He should- just relax. Take a deep breath and trust. Rest in Him and in His goodness as ‘a Father.’ It’s gonna be OK: )

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

                                                  Jesus- in Matthew 7:7-11

Love Ya,

JIm

Winter Mission 2015': July Edition

To a missionary, mission teams/trips can either be a blessing or a burden. I hate to say it but, before moving to Brazil as a missionary back in 2011,’ I had been on mission teams that were probably more of a burden (to the missionaries/pastors) than they were a blessing. It’s like we came into town with our own agenda and our own set of things that we wanted our group to experience that we didn't even take the time to consult with the people that we were ‘supposedly' coming to help- just to make sure that we were actually helping them.

But now that I’m on the other side of the mission trips (where I’m the missionary/pastor) I realise that putting together a mission trip for a group from another country is hard work. It takes a lot of prayerful planning, it takes time arranging hotels, transportation, ministry venues, translators, meals, materials, etc.

And to do all the work for a group to come from whatever country their coming from to ‘help' me and my ministry only to see that they really didn't want to help at all- they just wanted to ‘do missions’ so they could have an experience and mark it off their spiritual bucket list or something like that is discouraging, draining and a burden that isn't worth all the effort.

So, to all the missionaries/pastors that I may have offended in past years by steamrolling my way into town with a group without actually making sure we were blessing you- “forgive me, it wasn't intentional and I’m sorry.”

The reason that I began this blog this way is because we just finished hosting the 2nd team (22 people) of the Winter (or the Summer if you're in the US) from Graystone Church USA. And I just want to publicly thank them for not only helping us- but for truly encouraging us.

Heath Hollandsworth is the Missions Pastor at Graystone and the one thing that he’s always done when he’s come/sent teams is to make sure that they were doing things that were actually helping us and helping move forward ministry that was already taking place. This is HUGE for us as missionaries. To have a team come in and serve alongside of us to help move along something we’re already doing is a major encouragement to us. And these last 2 groups from Graystone have truly empowered us to continue doing what we’re doing. So, from Me, MJ and the whole Dunn Clan- ”Thank You Graystone! We love you guys: )”

Last week was another great week of mission work here in Brazil and we're grateful that The Lord is allowing us to do what we do: ) Here’s some pictures and a brief description of what happened last week during Winter Mission 2015: July Edition. 

Day 1

 We started off the week at Lar Herminia. We did a mini VBS/sports camp with games, crafts, and Bible stories. We also cooked lunch and dinner for the kids as we spent the entire day with them. Some of the ladies from the team did facials for the house moms while Monica (one of the translators and our driver) ministered the Word to them. Maryssa was also able to do more of the Jamberry Nail Wraps (that were donated) for some of the moms and teenagers there at the Lar. After dinner that night we had a church service with worship, testimonies and a gospel centred teaching. The kids at Lar Herminia are amazing. Having done ministry in this facility for over 5 years now we’re able to see the kids grow up and to be a part of their lives. Being able to develop relationships with them is so important to us and we love them all just like they were our own: )

Day 2

We began the day at the i3C as the team gave testimonies and the Executive Pastor from Graystone, Barry Lusk, spoke to us about Grace. Then it was back to Lar Herminia where we hung-out with the kids and then cooked-out hotdogs and some of the girls made American-style mac and cheese for the kids: ) After dinner we had a church service for the kids with worship, testimonies and another gospel centred message from Barry.

Day 3

Day 3 began at Encontro com Deus (aka- Patrick’s Place) where we put on another mini VBS sport camp for the kids that are a part of the day program. These kids live in a very dangerous part of Curitiba and to be able to help Patrick reach these kids with the Gospel is an honor. After the last session at Patrick’s Place we headed over to Lar Moises and ministered to the 20 kids that are in this orphanage. Having just begun ministry in this orphanage, being able to go back in with another group of missionaries was a big step in building relationships with the kids and staff there. And to top off the day- we were able to get pizza for all the kids at the end of the night: )

Day 4

We returned to Patrick’s Place for a few hours, in the morning, where Patrick spoke to the group about the history of Encontro com Deus and encouraged us to remain steadfast as we fulfil God’s call on our lives. Then we went out to the camp (Refúgio)to give the group a look at what ministry in the jungle is like.

Day 5

On Day 5 we ministered to approximately 400 kids ages 2-6 at the Betania School in Villa Zumbi. It's always a joy ministering to these amazing kids. They live in such an impoverished village and are surrounded by violence- so to be able to tell them about Jesus and to love on them is truly an honour. That evening we went back to Patrick’s Place (the battered women’s shelter) and the women from the team ministered to the teenage moms and their children as the guys prepared dinner for them all.

Day 6

On the last day, after a quick trip to the city for souvenir shopping, we ended the trip with a Game Night and Pizza Party at Lar Herminia. Saying goodbye to all of the kids there is always a difficult time for the team but new friendships were made and hopefully lifelong relationships were formed as everyone said their final goodbyes that night.

This trip was a huge success. It was an encouragement to the hundred of kids we were with, to the staff at all the institutions we were in, to Me, MJ and our kids and most of all- it was a WIN for the Kingdom as the Gospel and the love of Jesus were proclaimed: )

We Love You Guys!

Jim and MJ