Tathiana's Family Update: Nov 2017

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Over the past months I have felt a desire to send a family update. I believe this is a way to connect with you, our friends and supporters, with our family.

Isaac has made significant progress in his social interaction and speech development. His therapist is very happy with his development, and his evaluation scores put him in a not-at-risk position of the autism spectrum. However, he still has a hard time making new friends and describing details due to a limited vocabulary. He has a hard time remember names, also. We have continued to speak only Portuguese at home in order to help him. He told us several months ago that he “decided” to not speak at school, which is odd since he talks all the time at home and with other people in other environments. We believe it is in part due to his shyness, insecurity and his strong desire not to make a mistake. Due to these issues e some other factors, Isaac’s therapist suggested we increase his speech therapy sessions per week.

Currently, Isaac has 1 session with his therapist and 3 speech therapy sessions per week. That has generated a lot of extra getting around in during the day and extra financial strain. Together with his first year of school, the busy routine in a big city has been tiring and stressful, not only for Jon and I, but also for Isaac. We have good days and bad days, trying to trust in God’s provision and goodness. The truth that I seem to constantly forget is that God loves our little boy more than we do.

Sara is growing up, both in size and in personalty. She is a spunky and extroverted 1-year-old. She loves dogs and cats and destroying anything her brother builds. She spent the Brazilian winter months sick with ear infections, colds and allergies. She has begun a 6-month preventative treatment for asthma because of all these respiratory blights.

At the end of August, I underwent surgery in my right leg to remove screws and a plate from a childhood surgery that had begun to cause inflammation throughout my upper leg. My recovery has gone reasonably well, and I continue to walk with help of a cane and a noticeable limp. I imagine it will take several more months before I am back to normal. My doctor suggested I do water aerobics to gain flexibility and strength, but I have yet to begin.

Jon had 2 full-time jobs these past months - house dad and missionary. I am very thankful for his selfless service to me and the family. Beyond a doubt, the surgery was one more stress factor for our family, we’ve been exhausted!

Friends have continued to tell me that this difficult phase will pass. We are asking God to send challenges one at a time. I do believe God uses the “storm” to reveal himself and, also, reveal the sin in our own hearts. Oh, that my hope would be in His word!

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

I would like to ask for your prayers in these areas:

• Financial support
• Tathiana’s recovery
• Rest for Jon and Tathiana
• Isaac’s speech development
• Marital and Emotional health for Jon and Tathiana
• Sara’s health

Thank you for all your care and support! - Tathiana

Summer Project 2017: #pnp2017

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Our annual Summer Project (in Portuguese: Prosa na Praia) for 2017 is almost here! Our team will spend January 24-31 with a group of students and recent graduates. We are returning to Cabo Frio beach in the state of Rio de Janeiro for the third year.

For this year's edition we made a decision to invest in a better option for housing to facilitate a project that is attractive to students and, also, provides an environment conducive to building community and a shared experience for the students who will attend. Since most Brazilian universities do not have campus housing, time with students is always a challenge, and our Summer Project allows for us to create a unique experience that we rarely get throughout the year with students. Our project is 8 days and involves talks, discussion groups, bible studies and a leadership training option for room leaders. Our project has a more evangelistic scope, continuing with relationships built over the previous year, or even years! For that reason the “greenhouse” effect of relationships and gospel conversations makes this project a great tool for our ministry.

As a team, we made the decision to cover the ensuing deficit that we knew would be incurred with available funds and staff participation. However, an added challenge to the 2017 Project began in October of 2016. Our main campus focus, UFMG, had classes suspended because of a student occupation in protest of a change in Legislation to the Ministry of Education, that was followed by a professor strike. Both these events have severely limited our recruitment for lack of contact with students on campus, and we do not expect to reach the contractual minimum of spots at the hotel.

I ask for prayer for our Summer Project for the following requests:

• For this project to facilitate a momentum for 2017 as we have been tracking with a number of students who are investigating Jesus.
• For young and new Christians to grow in their knowledge and relationship with God.
• For the financial challenges to be minimized by participation from students, graduates and others who are considering joining us.

If anyone would like to consider making a donation specifically to the Project or to help a student attend the Project, please follow this LINK to donate online through the Campus Outreach giving site, with the Brazilian Summer Project already selected. 

The Great Update Drought of 2015

Last year was the scenario of the unfortunate, the lamentable, the debacle know as " The Great Update Drought of 2015". Supporters and Prayer partners, I have nothing to say except the mediocre, "I'm sorry!" Or maybe, "bad missionary, bad!"

So, 2016 rushes in with a series of BLOG posts and I will begin with a lackluster job of recapping 2015 for all, hitting only a few highlights.

1. The last post of 2015 was in April, after we spent 4 month in the US on the support trail to be positioned for the next life-phase of ministry in Belo Horizonte. God provided new partners and new support through long-time supporters. Also, the economic reality in Brazil has not been a good one, so the Brazilian currency in relation to the US Dollar has fallen, meaning out purchasing power increased without an increase in salary. Summarized, we are financially ready for the next years barring a sharp fall-off of support or an economic 180º here in Brazil.
2. As director of the Resource (administrative) Team, 2015 was an important year to consolidate my team. Fabiana really embraced her role and did an amazing job in my absence. We hired Pedro Albuquerque, a recent grad from UFMG and member of my discipleship group. And both Pedro and Fabiana got married during between August and December. They will both continue on full-time with our Resource Team.
3. Our UFMG campus team continued their coffee-shop discussion groups through out the year, and were a great way to initiate and go deeper in personal conversations about God alongside other Bible-studies and individual times with students. It all cumulated to our summer project in jan 2016, which you can read more about here!
4. Tathiana and I began to lead a Regional small-group at our church, and has given us the opportunity to grow our pastoral role in the church and invite non-campus friends to events where the central focus is on Jesus.

Year-End Giving 2014

Many pledged supporters use year-end as a time to make sure their yearly pledge amount has been met, and sometimes give some extra 1-time gifts, or even for some unexpected 1-time gifts from other friends who do not give through a pledged amount.

This year-end, due to the fact that we are beginning a support-raising season and our account balance needs some help, we make a special request to everyone to complete your pledge for 2014. Also, should anyone wish to make any other gifts other than regularly pledged amounts, these options are available:

1. Via donate.campusoutreach.org: if you are a pledged supporter you may have an online account already or need to signup for one. Gifts for up to $100 can be given through credit card or debit draft, however anything over $100 must be processed through draft of a bank account.
2. Via check: make to "Campus Outreach", with "Jon Elam 2180" on the memo line and sent to: Campus Outreach Int'l Network / PO BOX 43737 / Birmingham, AL 35243

Remember, all gifts to Campus Outreach are tax-deductible. Any and all donations need to be made online, delivered or post-marked by Dec 31st, 2014 to be considered for the 2014 calendar year.

Thank you for your partnership and commitment to us and the work of Jesus's gospel in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Prepared, Assessed and Positioned

2014 was an atypical year in many ways for the Elam fam. We met some new challenges, downshifted a bit to regain some perspective and energy, and now are headed your way for a support-raising season to get positioned for the next season of life and ministry in Brazil.

PREPARED: We called it a "semi-sabbatical". A kind of part-time rhythm for Jon and Tathiana in terms of our ministry responsibilities in order to focus on health: physical, emotional, marital, spiritual and with our growing family. It lasted from January to August of 2014. In a much-to-oversimplfied summary, it was REALLY GOOD FOR US. 

ASSESSED: Then came a sort of evaluation of our job and how we fit into what we are doing. Recently these types of Assessments within Campus Outreach have been more proactive, wanting to evaluate before any burnout comes sneaking in. Three Assessors from CO came to visit us, and also a Brazilian psychologist who has worked with several members of out team recently filled up about 4 days of meetings and read a gazillion pages of diagnostics and reports that we had previously filled out. Tathiana and I were excited about really thinking through our role, our calling and our future. Admittedly anxious to receive feedback indicating something we weren't expecting. 

What a joy it was to hear from my director and the other assessors words like "right-fit", "influential couple", "a lot of personal growth", and "leaders." 

POSITIONED: With this, we made a decision spend a few months in the US to get positioned financially for the next season. We have lost some support over the past years, and have some specific goals we would like to reach for our family. We will spend the end of December with family for Christmas in Chattanooga, then spend January through March raising new long-term support for an extended investment in what God is doing in and through the CO ministry in Belo Horizonte and possibly new cities in the near future! More info coming in 2015.

See you soon!

Conference & Contributions

October 2014 is going to meet me with some drastic climate changes. I will bid a brief farewell to Brazil's dry season finale and its 95º dry-heat and brushfire-smokey air. Then, I will say hello to a brisk Fall in the Southern US. Then, I will close out October with a return to Southeastern Brazil's arrival of its monsoon-like rainy season. These rushed travels do have TWO good reasons; not one of them having anything to do with the weather.

I'll start with the second, but most pressing, reason. During my time in the US I will be meeting with some support contacts and churches in Chattanooga and Nashville to try and raise $6500 in one-time donations. Over the past 2 years, Tathiana and I have had an above-average loss of support for various reasons, and we now need to raise a lump-sum in order to finish the year in the black. If any of my monthly and annual supporters desire to give beyond their pledge, it would be graciously appreciated.

Now, continuing the reverse order, the first reason is that I will participate for the first time in an annual conference of all the Campus Outreach administrative directors in Atlanta, GA. We call ourselves Resource Directors because we want to be administrative teams that are a resource to the front-line work of evangelism and discipleship on the college campus. These meetings bring together conversations and meetings about best practices, networking, vision for the future as a ministry and fellowship between us Resource Directors. In my almost 4 years as Resource Director in Belo Horizonte, I have not been able to participate in person because, well… I live on another continent.

I will be leaving Brazil on October 4th, spending some days with my extended family in Tennessee, then a trip to Nashville sometime in the middle, and finishing up with the conference in Atlanta, where I fly out of on Oct 30th.

Hope to see as many people as I can, and raise as much support as God allows me to.

Trunk Space!

When Tathiana and I were in the US in 2011, one of our goals was to raise 1-time support for a vehicle upgrade.

With family plans in the near future (nearer than we thought) and our little car at the end of its financial usefulness, we were thinking about an upgrade to a mid-size sedan with a trunk! Not only do babies need a lot of stuff, but working with administration for events and retreats requires a good bit of stuff, also (sound and video equipment, materials for set-up, sports equipment, etc…). Our 10+ year-old hatchback was not cutting it anymore (picture, bottom).

So here it is, our new Chevrolet Cobalt sedan (picture, top), the dealership even gift-wrapped it for us! It has a spacious interior for 5 people, large trunk, ABS and double airbags. We have already put a few thousand kilometers on it, filled it full of stuff for retreats and events, and are getting it broken-in for little Elam to arrive at the end of the year.

Thank you to all our supporters who gave to help this become a reality. In a big city like BH and a big country like Brazil with not-so-great highways, this is something that makes a world of difference.