The CPC Crew On The Hill

A merry heart does good, like medicine,
but a broken spirit dries the bones.
Proverbs 17:22

The picture on the right is of most of our staff and some church members sledding and having a good time cuttin’ it up on the hill. I hope other churches and staffs have as much fun as we do…

So… what do you and your teams/staffs do together to stay healthy (aside from praying and meeting together — that should be assumed)?

I know it’s a few days late, but Happy New Year to all of you! I pray that it is a fruitful year for you – spiritually, emotionally, athletically, hypothetically, salvifically, and superfluously. Here is a great passage of scripture that I’ve been meditating on, and it is fitting for all of us as we start the year off. It’s the first chapter of the Psalms, and it should be the first chapter of our lives in 2010:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:1-6

May Christ richly dwell in you in 2010… God bless.

Hat Tip: LosWhit (RagamuffinSoul.com)

Jimmy told his story on the main stage at Catalyst. I sat there and listened to the details of how he lost his family members one by one, many to starvation. His mother found out about Compassion, and eventually, Jimmy was sponsored by a man from Canada. He pulled out a letter from the man and read it to the crowd. He talked about how that letter pointed to Christ and that eventually it was one of the components God used to draw him to salvation. Jimmy was grateful to that man. His simple monthly gift changed Jimmy’s life forever.

Up until this point, Jimmy never met his sponsor. The guys at Catalyst changed all that… The video below is the surprise moment that emotionally and spiritually ROCKED everyone in the auditorium. All of the CPC staff guys were crying like babies – me included.

Why was it so emotional and powerful? Because it pointed to Jesus. It was a picture of heaven. So many people have gone before us and paved the way for our spiritual blessings, and we may never meet them on this side of glory.

This moment was a reminder to me that “I stand on the shoulders of giants”. I am extremely grateful for those giants – both the living and the dead. They’ve made me the man I am today. They were faithful to the gospel and they challenge me to do the same.

Watch the video. You’ll see Jimmy grasp the giant’s shoulders he’s been standing on for years. (Jimmy starts his story at around 3 1/2 minutes into the video)

My favorite part of this video is when they unveil the “Chalupa Fresco” which actually helps fight global warming. Al Gore would be so proud.

If I had to summarize this trip in one word, that word would be synergy:

syn⋅er⋅gy [sin-er-jee] – the working together of two (or more) things to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects.

Our team had a little bit of everything thrown at them on this trip. On the ministry end, they had to sing, share testimonies, share the gospel in a language they didn’t know, do mime-skits that were pretty challenging to learn, and anything else that was asked of them, often at the drop of a hat.

On the work end, it was just as difficult and required as much flexibility. The guys had to haul cinder blocks, sand, cement bags, and tiles. Then they actually mixed the cement and hauled/poured it. The ladies had to strip old varnish, sand, and re-varnish doors. They also sanded and painted many other areas around Haven of Hope.

In addition to that, the art team that did the mural at the school entrance had to work very expeditiously to get it done. That included figuring out the dimensions, doing the scale drawings, and then doing the actual painting.

As I look back on this trip, the word synergy really sums it up. With everything thrown at us, and with 17 of 23 people getting sick, we could have whined and complained and taken it easy. But that is the opposite of what we did. Everyone put in 110% to get everything done. Our team realized that what we were doing in Brazil was much bigger than Haven of Hope or IBABI – it was about the Kingdom of God! Every aspect of the trip modeled a godly, Christ-centered synergy.

In our training: synergy.

In our work: synergy.

In our proclamation of the gospel: synergy.

In our worship and devotion: synergy.

I pray that future Center Point missions teams experience the level of camaraderie that we had.

Another aspect of our experience in Brazil was spending time with the children that came to Haven of Hope. Some of these children are regulars at Haven of Hope, while others were visiting on a field trip. Russ and Diane often host outside schools at the property for field trips, and we were blessed to help host one during our time there.

Our team put all their energy into making these days special for the kids. We performed songs and dramas, shared testimonies, did relay races and face painting. But the most important aspect of our ministry to the children was telling them about the love of Jesus Christ. Many of our team members were able to share individually with kids in Portuguese and lead them to faith in Christ.

In addition to the time with children, our team had the chance to visit a few English schools. These schools are comprised of teenagers and adults. Most of the students were on a beginner’s level of English, but there were many who could carry on deeper conversations. The school operated on a tutor-pupil structure rather than in a classroom format. This gave us the opportunity to get into gospel conversations with students and teachers one-on-one. God blessed this immensely, and we were able to lead many people to Christ.

Here are some photos of the ministry days (English school pictures coming soon):

Our team singing songs with the kids.

Sara Monroe cheering on the relay races.

Freddy, Zach, Chad, and Blake chased children around during a relay race.

Keri Monroe sharing the gospel with a young girl.

Sam Cirrincione and Freddy Salcido sharing Christ with children.

Jason Orr and Blake Medley hanging out with kids.

The Brazil team had to be multi-faceted this year. Not only did they have to sing, share the gospel, and preach and teach about Christ, they had to do a pretty challenging work project. Our Center Point Church family raised the money to do the work project to improve the Haven of Hope facilities. While the facilities are already in great shape, there is still much to be done to enhance it and keep it up-to-date. The team worked on the project on Monday through Thursday.

Our project was three-fold. First, there was an art team that worked on a mural for the children’s school entrance. This was spear-headed by Kurt Oetken, April Pilcher, Brian Oldham, and Serah Thomas. They didn’t have a ton of time to design and paint, but they did an incredible job with what they had. Here’s a few shots of the mural and the art team:

New mural at the entrance of Haven of Hope classrooms.

The mural art team: Serah, Kurt, Brian, April.

Second, there was a team that worked on painting and cleaning around the main room of the Haven of Hope dining room/kitchen/foyer. They had to strip rust and old paint and put a new coat on. It was tedious, trying work, but they kept going and sought to honor Christ in every minute of it. Here are some photos of the painting/cleaning team:

Marie getting the door ready for a fresh coat.

Susan, Kelli, and Erin putting on the first coat of paint at the dining room.

Zach Monroe plastering the stairway walls.

Sara and Kasey taking a much needed break after sanding and painting.

Heather, Susan, Serah, and Erin sanded the main door and then revarnished it.

The third tier of work on this missions trip had to do with a bunch of brutes and a ton of cement. The task was simple: fill in the columns on the security wall that surrounds Haven of Hope. The work was quite wearying, but it was worthwhile knowing that it was being done for the protection of these precious children. Just like the painting/cleaning crew, none of the guys complained, even at points of extreme exhaustion.

Brian Oldham jump-starting the cement mixer. Where did he learn how to do that???

The guys filling the columns in the wall.

Jason Orr wheeling sand to the cement mixer.

Chad Wiles tossing a cinder block to Jeremy Armstrong.

Cement team thanking God for a good day's work.

While the work was hard, it was very rewarding. God gave all of us at each project area the strength and energy to go on – in spite of 17 of our team members getting sick while in Brazil. It truly reminded us of one of the Bible verses we memorized:

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58

Updates on the ministry days is coming soon.

Now instead of updates, we’ll be posting some recaps of the trip so that all of our supporters and church members can know all about what God did on this trip. Since the previous post covered Friday-Sunday morning, let’s start with Sunday evening…

Sunday Evening
Brazilian church culture differs from what we are used to in the USA. Sunday morning is usually reserved for small groups and fellowship. Many churches don’t have Sunday morning services – Sunday night is when the big gathering of worship takes place. Our group was thrilled to take part in this service with the Brazilian church leaders.

We had the opportunity to participate in many ways on Sunday evening. Our drama team did a fantastic job with their wordless sketch called “The Woman”, which takes its audience through the life of a woman searching for satisfaction and approval in life, but doesn’t find it until she meets Jesus Christ. The message of this drama is cross-cultural and cross-generational, and it had a profound impact.

Zach Monroe and Ashley Oldham in 'The Woman'.

In addition to drama, we had the opportunity to serve on Sunday evening through music. I had the profound privilege of playing guitar with the IBABI worship team. Some of the band members have been friends of mine for more than 10 years now! Here is a shot of us jamming together:

Todd playing with the IBABI worship band.

Our team members learned three songs (some of which were very difficult) in English and Portuguese – We Fall Down, Be The Center, and From The Inside Out. There was a moment of comedy on Sunday night on stage when we sang Be The Center, because half of the team started the song in English and the other half in Portuguese. Actually, for a moment I wondered if somehow a third language slipped in there. Here is a nice look of confusion from the team:

CPC Brazil Team singing Be The Center at IBABI.

Tim Parsons, our Lead Pastor at CPC, preached on Sunday night from Revelation 3. Patrick McClure, long-time missionary in Brazil, translated for him. It was a fantastic message and the perfect way to end the night. God used Tim, whose name is pronounced “chin” by Brazilians, to challenge all of our hearts and our walks with Christ. Here is a picture of Tim, Patrick, and Pastor Joel of IBABI on stage together:

Joel, Patrick, and Tim together on stage at IBABI.

More to come soon… Keep an eye out this week for more recaps.

Here is a picture from the packing party:

Sorting clothes at the packing party.

We headed to the LEX airport on Friday afternoon, connected in Dallas, and arrived in Brazil early Saturday morning. All the travels went pretty smoothly, very few hiccups. We were greeted by excited missionaries as soon as we cleared customs and we’ve been at work ever since! We’ve taken a few group photos since our arrival – check them out below:

At the airport in Lexington.

Our team at IBABI (the church: Igreja Batista Biblica) in Jacarei).

Saturday evening, the youth from IBABI came out to the Haven of Hope property for a bonfire and fellowship. Many people shared their testimonies – both Brazilians and Americans – with translators. We worshiped together and hung out late into the evening. Here is a picture from the bonfire:

IBABI youth and Center Point team together at the bonfire.

This morning, we had the opportunity to serve a poverty-stricken neighborhood that is close to the church. The church provided food for the people and we gave out clothes, shoes, and dental care items. Our team also had the chance to perform some music and dramas for the people. A number of folks trusted in Christ! Here is a photo of our “King of Hearts” team doing their drama:

King of Hearts team performing outside at the church.

We covet your prayer support! The trip has gone great, but we know that God has MUCH more in store here. We’ll have another update for you soon.