BRAZIL 2

I've not gotten as much about my mission trip to Brazil on the blog as I had thought. But things have also been more crazy than I anticipated. But I was looking back over my journal from the trip and thought I'd write about our 2nd day -- which was our first actually in Brazil.

We arrived after a 9 hour overnight flight from the U.S. Then we boarded a bus for a 2+ hour trip to Teresopolis, where we would be staying at the Methodist Camp. Pastor Anselmo was our first speaker and he shared about planting new churches. I'm not going to share everything he said, but there were a couple of things that really have stuck with me. One was the quote, "Churches require persistent and hard work, but it is exciting work. You must have a passion for your church. God has called you to make this church happen."

As many who read this know, my family and I are transitioning from Kingsport to Farragut. It is hard to leave a place where you have been passionate, where you have been a part of making church happen. This transition is a hard thing! But I also feel that God has a new calling for my life. It is my belief that God has set into motion the changes necessary to make that calling a reality. In a few weeks Andrew Amodei will be arriving with his family to become the Minister of Nurture at First Broad Street. He is very excited and he is already filled with passion for First Broad Street. You can hear it in his voice. He is ready to help make First Broad Street happen.

Last night I arrived home after my normal 12+ hour Wednesday marathon, which was accented by a nearly hour session of having our family pictures taken for the church directory (I'm going to let your imaginations create the picture). How wonderful to have two letters in the mail from members of First Farragut. They were letters of love, care and support -- anticipating my arrival in June. This morning I received an email from another member. He had read my blog and was still excited about me coming to First Farragut!

My "passion" for First Farragut has grown daily as I have met with their staff and committees. My excitement grows as I receive their prayers of support. Just now as I write this -- God thing! -- a package for Kile and one for Max has arrived at my office from First Farragut! I know that God has called me to help "make this church happen."

BIT: Don't ask me how I started out talking about my mission trip to Brazil and ended with moving to First Farragut. Here's some more pictures! They are from the Methodist Camp at Teresopolis. It was truly a beautiful place.