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Our annual Beach Project has come to a close. Another “Prosa na Praia 2019” is in the books!
It was a good one. So many people we hoped would come did, and so many others, also. We were hoping for 60, we had over 70! Young students, learning to not only walk in their faith, but to lead, also. Staff growing in capacity and leadership. And so many other students at the crossroads of belief.
The hustle and bustle is now over, but the work continues. Please labor in prayer with us for these students. January is summer break in Brazil, but we will continue to track and connect with students.
Campus
Prayer for 2 Guys
in Campus
In the last post, Ministry Front - 2019, I spoke of a few Bible studies in which I have helped lead. This post is to ask for prayer for 2 guys in one of these Bible studies.
I have told them I am praying for them to have faith, for God to grant them faith, to quicken their souls and for a transformative understanding of grace, the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Now I want ask you, also, to pray for the - Daniel and Gabriel.
Daniel and Gabriel have great questions. They have a great desire for real answers to their questions about God, the gospel, justice, grace and mercy. Their commitment to our Bible study has been steadfast. Their attention to the passages we have studied that highlight the essence of the gospel has been unquestionable. We have studies texts like Ephesians 2:1-10, Colossians 1:13-23, Romans 3, and others.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:44
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Please pray for them. Pray for a regenerated heart. For a step of faith to trust in the grace of God through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
Part 2: Ministry Front - 2019
(This update is going to be split into 2 parts, to help summarize and paint a picture of the past 6 months. This part is an update on the Ministry Front, the other in an update on the Family Front.)
The mere fact that 2019 has not seen a single update from us is an indication that it has been a busy year. Yes, the Family Front has been busy, but so has the Ministry Front. I will try to summarize below based on my current roles.
Area Director & Campus Director: My role as Area Director is to oversee the campus teams and help lead and coach the Campus Directors of each team. Interestingly, 2019 began without a Campus Director for either of our campus teams. Demps Dempsey, our Regional Director, and I stepped into interim Campus Director roles for 2019. That means a good bit more time back on campus, leading young staff directly in their personal ministries, and thinking for the strategy and execution on the campuses. My specific campus team at UFMG is composed of 6 staff. I, also, am trying to keep my ear to the ground for both campus teams and our English Initiative team in terms of relationships moving forward in their investigation of Jesus and discipleship. I have enjoyed being back to the grassroots, relationship-based reality of the campus dynamic. I have led two Bible Studies with students the past two semesters. However, both of these roles in themselves are full-time. Meaning, any given day has some give and take as to which “hat” I am wearing.
Resource/Admin: This year I fully handed the reigns of the Resource/Admin team to Pedro Albuquerque. He has done a wonderful job, and the Resource team continues to serve our entire team tirelessly and effectively. However, there were some things that I was not able to pass on last year to the Resource Team - most importantly the Visa and Residency processes in Brazil for our non-Brazilian staff (15+ American and 1 South African). In 2018, Brazil’s newly approved Immigration Laws were being put into action. We were only finding our bearings toward the end of 2018, and now in 2019 I am passing on the baton for these processes to the Resource Team with the help of Fabiana (Resource Staff) and her husband (our Legal consultant) - my Brazilian in-laws!
Leadership Team: The past 18 months have brought many conversations and meetings for the Leadership Team to help the entire team focus on contribution, team dynamics and health (physical, emotional/mental, spiritual). That has meant some hard and heavy conversations and some team members moving on or entering into a time of sabbatical/furlough. Also, the past 6 months have been exciting as we discuss the direction for our leadership structure for the next season - how to become more Brazilian, more contextualized and organizationally less dependent on outside resources. Next year, there will be more updates about what that will look like over the next 3-5 years.
Local Church: On September 16th, our church pastor, Daniel Souza, officially ended his tenure as our pastor at Comunidade Horizonte. His family’s four years at our church, his leadership and his teaching was transformative in the life of our church at just the right time. They left with many tears after making a difficult decision to move on to their next place of ministry. With Daniel’s absence, our church elders, myself included, will continue to lead the church. We will have an interim pastor who will take on the bulk of the teaching responsibilities for the next year as we seek God to call our next pastor. I will also be taking on some greater leadership as the Session President until our next pastor is installed.
It is a lot. I don’t pretend it’s not. But I have consciously been saying “no” to some other roles and appointments. Also, Tathiana and I have begun weekly counseling (some weeks individually, others together). Please pray that I, also, will be a loving husband, father and most importantly stay grounded in my relationship with Jesus through the Word and Prayer.
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:28-29)
Current Role 2018 + New Role 2019
in Team, Campus, Personal, Admin & Resource
Resource Team 2018 - CO Belo Horizonte (L to R: Luca Diorrane, Marquise Piton, Fabiana Vidal, Jon Elam, Pedro Albuquerque)
Since January 2011, I have been charged with the role and responsibility of being the Resource Director for our CO Belo Horizonte team. I started as the sole administrative staff at that time, transitioning from 9 years of fruitful experience as a campus staff. Today, I am very happy to have several co-laborers with me on the Resource Team (photo above) and to be able to pass the reins to Pedro Albuquerque, a young leader ready to work and serve.
Therefore, 2019 will usher in some changes for the Elam family.
Leadership Team 2018 - CO Belo Horizonte (L to R: Melanie Rogers, Demps Dempsey, Jon Elam, Priscila Albuquerque)
By means of days of prayer over the past 6 months, conversations with our Leadership Team (see photo) and current circumstances, I will be stepping into a an Area Director role for our team next year. This is a role that will have a direct connection to the campus ministries at UFMG and to our campus staff in a leadership, strategic execution and shepherding role.
My new Area Director role will not only mean change for me, but change for the whole family. Our office is currently located at our hub-church building on one side of the Belo Horizonte metropolis, and we have lived within walking distance of the office for my entire tenure as Resource Director. We will be moving across the city to be close to the campus teams at UFMG and, also, to the majority of our staff who live close to the campus. In terms of distance it is not even 10 miles, but in terms of commute and traffic, that’s anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. Therefore, we will be making the move!
Isaac will be starting a new school, stepping into First Grade. Tathiana will be moving away from close proximity to her sister Fabiana (also on our Resource Team) for the first time. Fabiana and her husband Diego are an integral part of our family circle here in Belo Horizonte; every week our kids have several touches with their “tia & tio”. This might be one of the hardest changes we face. Also, Sara will start a preschool once we get settled.
We have prayerfully and consciously accepted this new role as part of what God has called us to with Campus Outreach. We are both apprehensive and excited about the changes on the horizon. Overall we believe this a good fit for us as a family and for our contribution to the ministry and mission for the next years. We want to be part of what God uses to build laborers in his harvest field NOW and FOR THE FUTURE (Matthew 9:37-38).
Please pray with us for a few specific things in light of this new role in 2019:
- To find a new apartment that fits our needs of being close to staff & campus and a family of 4 with small children. An apartment’s size, location, layout, neighbors and noise are things that can ADD a lot of daily stress or CREATE a restful home life.
- For Isaac’s transition to a new school and new social context (see Tathiana’s last update for more on Isaac).
- For Jon to be able to transition well from a Resource role that is mainly task-oriented and execution to a role that is mainly management, shepherding and people-oriented.
- For Tathiana to rest in God’s plan and to engage with our team now that our kids are a bit older, she has more free-time and we will be living close in close proximity to most of our team.
- For Sara as she will begin a preschool program 3 days a week at the same school at which Isaac will enroll.