Ministry Reportback 2008 – MCBrasil

2008 was a year to remember… or for many a year to forget. In several ways our faith was challenged as we dearly missed our daughters, granddaughter, family and friends in the U.S, and along with other Americans, suffered serious financial challenges in both our personal lives and in trying desperately to raise support for the work here. Yet, we are grateful for the sacrificial giving of wonderful family and friends.

We are witnessing young people on our team, who were once on the streets, being transformed into beautiful mature adults, passionate about making a difference in the lives of others and beginning to experience some of their dreams being realized. Our team is back from a Christmas "summer break" in which most had opportunities to minister: Edinho and Everson in Bahia and other locations in the northeast of Brasil, Amanda and Suelem in Rio de Janeiro, Anderson in Suriname, Sidney in Africa and Gustavo and Paulo Vitor serving as volunteers in the Restoration House in Belo Horizonte. We are proud of the many different ways they engaged their training experiences to bless many people in places Jocelyn and I may never travel to.

We are grateful for the continued sacrificial giving of wonderful family and friends. We have come into 2009 with a strong assurance that we will see our expansion goals met as our family continues the adventure of following God with all that we've got. In this new year we'll need your prayers, love and continued support like never before. If you are not already a monthly sponsor, we could sure use your support as we enter a new and exciting expansion phase. - Please be encouraged and join us in praises to God as you read our Ministry Reportback 2008.

The Moore Family

Let's start out by saying, "Whew! We made it through 2008 with our lives intact!" At points we wondered if we'd make it, mostly because of our human emotions and moments that challenged our hearts and faith as never before. Moving to another country by itself is complicated enough, moving to another country to plant a discipleship ministry is complication on steroids. Yet, in spite of all of the difficulties, we discovered the grace and provision of God even greater than the moments when we felt circumstances would swallow us alive.

Our children on the other hand have walked through this transition with amazing resiliency and tenacity. We are proud of how quickly they have adapted to the culture and acquisitioned the language. As parents, we are always concerned about our decisions and how they will impact our children. We would never want to put them in a situation or circumstances that would in any way hinder especially their relationship with God.

For my birthday, our second daughter Aravis who attends college in San Diego wrote a "Tribute to Dad" that blessed us tremendously and helped us put this adventure into a proper context. – She wrote: I hope you know that, while some may call you and Mom's decision to move bad timing (with two daughters in college and two in high school), I think it's the best timing anyone could have hoped for. What better time to demonstrate a willingness to embark on a no-holds-barred, people-think-we're-crazy, this-is-absolutely-the-right-thing-to-do adventure than when your children are on the brink of choosing their own adventure? So, thank you for not using us as an excuse not to do what God was calling you to do. It might have been convenient, but what you've done is so much more valuable to all of us. It's valuable now, when we are still struggling through it, and it will be even more valuable later, when we can say that great things were accomplished because we were willing to let them happen. (Even at the expense of convenience.) Boy, I love how God loves us!

Cultural Realities

We are learning in real-time that the realities of social-economic racism and discrimination are very significant considering the vast majority of residents living in some of the worlds ugliest and most dangerous slums are of African descent… in other words, they're black!

Although the typical Brazilian would argue the issue of racism and discrimination, mostly based on their personal feelings regarding race and ethnicity, the overwhelming fact is clear that these social ills exist in abundance despite their denials. And it would take less than 30-seconds to prove the point. We need to simply look around. Who are the people driving cars and who are pulling recycle carts through the streets? Who are sitting in offices and who are sweeping the streets for less than $2 a day? – Advertising billboards silently remind people at every glance what "skin tone" is most the important. Take a peek into any restaurant and you'll almost never see a "black" couple enjoying the savors of Brazilian cuisine. That is simply the reality that we are learning to work in.

And what makes this work such a daunting task is the fact that because of these social-economic realities, the social classes will not mingle (literally), particularly in social settings, including and especially at church. Hang onto your hat, but where it has been attempted, middle-class church members have been known to emphatically state that their children "will not", under any circumstances participate in ministry programs with children from the poorer communities. – Sad… but reality. And in many instances, the cultural mindset of many leaders in ministry supports this kind of social segregation. No, they're not "bad" people. It's just that it's been the normal standard for decades, and Brasilians are not known to fight for issues of social justice. So, if you happen to be among the "haves" opposed to the "have nots", everything is wonderful. "Hey, what's the problem? Life is good."

So, our ministry challenge among the poor is huge, because as we often wonder amongst ourselves, "Who's church are we going to invite these people to?" - That is a huge part of our daily reality. Ministering to people by the hundreds is not hard at all… it's getting them into a healthy church where they can be nurtured and cared for is more the dilemma. – There are millions of children growing up in Brasil who have not only the curse of poverty to contend with, but the fact that they are Black makes their likelihood of escaping the cycles of dysfunction even more impossible. Trying to build a bridge for the church is a huge and daunting task that we believe God will not let us fail. (Note: obviously a huge concern for your prayers.)

MCBrasil Students

Our hope and confidence continues to be inspired whenever we see our students. They are enjoying wonderful growth in every area for which we credit them learning how to apply to their lives both personal and spiritual disciplines. Most of the Brasilian students have very difficult and in some instances tragic stories to tell about their childhood and teenage years. The social-economic conditions that exist here are brutal and unforgiving. In almost every case, these young people, barely in their twenties, have seen and experienced far more than we could ever imagine. The realities of their world are very different than most people living in the USA.

But in spite of the harsh realities of being born and raised in Brasilian slums, every one of our students have worked hard and are enjoying the benefits of their efforts, especially in the area of learning English. In addition to their personal and spiritual development, their ability to apprehend English will be the difference maker for their future lives.

Enhanced Partnership Expansion

And as a direct result of our student's success, we are now enjoying the opportunity to enter into the next phase of our planned expansion for Master's Commission in Brasil. This next phase which has already begun reflects our efforts over the last three years to identify and unite the best practices of at least two other distinct ministry organizations for the benefit of discipling and training young adults. As will be published soon in a new website, we have embarked upon a powerful partnership in Belo Horizonte, a city of 6 million people, combining some of the most effective strategies involving discipleship, mercy ministries, cell group ministry, and leadership principles. We have now permanently repositioned part of the team to Belo Horizonte for this exciting expansion phase. A second move with the rest of the team will be completed in the next six months.

We have the distinct honor of being the lead architects of this project which intentionally focuses on the total outcomes of every student's discipleship and training experience. This intentional focus inherently forces the total partnership to re-think its training strategies and priorities, by placing a greater value on the intended outcomes for every student.

Jocelyn and I were recently evaluating the curriculum of all three organizations and are very impressed by the quality of the total combined curriculum's. Talking with other friends in ministry, we don't know of another project of its kind. The outcomes promise to be powerful and life changing.

Immigration and Visas

Unfortunately as the USA's international relations in many countries continue to become more complicated as each day passes, so does the processes and requirements for bringing American students to Brasil for long term training. We have discovered that the immigration processes faced by Americans are not universally applied to other nations. For an example: we have a student from Canada who was processed with the same exact documents in less than seven (7) days, while the process for our American students has in some cases dragged on for seven months. As you might imagine this is extremely frustrating and disheartening for most young people. Because of this we have lost several students.

To address this difficulty, we have tried several different angles to engage senior consulate diplomats in order to highlight our history and involvement with Brasil, especially with former street children and the number of young people who have been able to spend two-years in the United States with us. – Every Brasilian with knowledge of immigration procedures all agree that our argument for relaxed visa standards is certainly worthy of notice.

Recently our own Congressman, Dan Lungren has graciously agreed to assist our efforts to engage the office of our US Ambassador to Brasil to help us find a permanent solution to our immigration and visa needs. In my email request to the congressman, I stated that we believe it is necessary to knock on the front doors of senior Brasilian diplomats requesting their assistance. Half joking, I suggested we knock first on the front door of Brasil's President Lula. (Hey, it doesn't hurt to ask!)

Wishful Thinking

Some "Wishful Thinking" ways that could dramatically change our day-to-day needs would be for MCBrasil to purchase two-homes or as many apartment units as possible that would serve as student housing and two VW 12-passenger vans. With housing and transportation being the greatest day-to-day ministry expenses, we would like to see a major miracle in these areas. A suitable 3-4 bedroom home would cost approximately US$80,000. – A moderately used VW van will cost approximately US$15,000.

Our Greatest Immediate Needs

In light of the global economic crisis, our greatest needs continue to be adequate funding and monthly support. This is especially difficult in the face of wonderful successes in almost every area. We continue to make significant progress with our discipleship strategies and ministry outcomes… and we are really excited and grateful for the many areas we can point to as successes. But, trying to gain ground fiscally continues to be a booger, especially since the global crisis has hit full blossom.

We are desperate for your continued prayers, replies to emails, and posted blog comments. Please don't stop. But, we are equally desperate for you to make a continued sacrifice of your financial gifts, even if it can be as little as $25 a month, especially in a country where the exchange rate is greater than a 2-to-1 ratio. Your $25 dollar gift becomes more than $55 in Brasil's currency. Now that's putting your money to good use!

You wonderful financial gifts can be mailed to: MCUMI, Inc. - PO Box 279512 - Sacramento, CA 95827-9512

Or you can give securely online using PayPal by visiting our website's Donate Now page. It's just that easy.

With your prayers and continued sacrificial giving 2009 promises to be a very good year in spite of the economic crisis. Any way we look at the challenge, God is still in control.

With our love and appreciation,

Richard and Jocelyn Moore - Master's Commission Brasil