September 2009 News

Heiderichs begin 30th year as Missionaries!





Arriving in Brasília, September 11, 1980, and our most recent photo, 30 years later.



On September 11, 1980, we arrived in Brasília, Brazil’s then twenty-year-old capital. We began a journey that was intended to last, at the outside, five years, and slowly evolved into a thirty-year odyssey. So, this month we began our thirtieth year in service to God in this great country. We have had two sponsoring churches during these 30 years: East Sunshine in Springfield, Missouri for 22 years (including our training periods) and Prestoncrest in Dallas, Texas, for the last 10 years. Many other churches, individuals and foundations have helped with this support over the years. We have raised more than $4 million, moved 16 times, lived in 3 cities, stayed in hundreds of member’s homes and thousands of hotel rooms. We have been on 6 mission teams. Lost two parents, gained two Brazilian kids, and oversaw the construction of the most ambitious church building in church of Christ missions. And that is not all! We hope you won’t mind us telling you a bit about our journey.

The family, about half way through the the 30 years












Angela and Joel, married 2 years.














Kris, Senior at ACU, getting our families’ 6th degree from ACU










The First 15 Years



Many souls brought to Christ.












Some of our team mates. The Carpenters and the Praters.












The McClures and the Abshiers.













Ron Prater and Ellis Long.


The first 15 years were devoted to planting a church in Brasilia, working toward the purchase of land and building a permanent place for that congregation to meet. We are so blessed to have been able to help recruit and train a Brazilian team to go to Brasilia in recent years to continue the work of growing the church we began.

During those years we also spent some time back in the US preparing for the future. Jerry served as ACU´s first visiting missionary, then he was the first missionary to receive a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and Gail got her master’s in Clinical Psychology. This marked a major transition in the focus of our ministry.





Inauguration of the Brasília Building with Royce Money and Prentice Meador, long-time friends and supporters.




Tearing down the walls for construction of the new auditorium.








The church of Christ meets here in Brasília.













The Second 15 Years and the Birth of the Family Institute of Latin America

Besides all this, there is on me every day the load of my concern for all the churches. I feel weak every time someone is weak, and I feel upset every time someone is led into sin.
2 Cor. 11:28-29

“You see things and say why, but I dream of things that never were and say Why not” George Bernard Shaw

FILA is an innovative and ground-breaking ministry. When we first began FILA only a few pioneers had ventured to emphasize leadership and missionary care- including Clyde Austin and Continent of Great Cities. We were the first ministry of this type to operate on the field. Our experience showed us that missionaries, church workers, deacons and elders all need special care to keep them strong and able to lead others.

Counseling














Strengthening Marriages











Staff and Team Dynamics



God has guided us on a journey of care, first for the local church, then for individuals and churches in crisis, and then to the wisdom of prevention through ongoing care and development of the Lord’s servants. As God has dealt with our own weaknesses, He has given us a special compassion for the underside of church life, the behind the scenes difficulties that often destroy the Lord’s family. II Cor. 1:4. We have seen churches that were about to split stay together, we have seen churches that had already split come back together, we have seen staffs that were not functioning become a team again. We have seen missionaries who were ready to leave renew their commitment and leaders who would have given up find their purpose again. We are blessed to be able to see the Lord heal and transform his people.





Spiritual Renewal for Leaders










National Mission Team Recruitment and Training









Praying over leaders in Fortaleza

Since we began our FAMILY INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICA ministry 15 years ago we have travelled over half a million miles, directed more than 170 retreats-seminars-workshops, worked with more than 50 church staffs and mission teams, ministered to more than 250 missionary-elders-minister-leadership couples, and partnered with a dozen church plants. Jerry has taught at all four of the major leadership training centers in Brazil and lectured on the masters level at the Baptist Seminary in Brasilia for 5 years.

The Future of FILA

We moved to Itu, SP, a year ago to facilitate our travel and to have the church in Itu as our home base. We need refreshing and encouragement too, and that is what we get when we are here and working with Antenor and Phyllis Gonçalves, Mark and Alice Kaiser and Carlos and Elaine Castilho.
Just today, Bryan and Becky Gibbs also moved here. We will be working closely with them, as we have been for the past 3 years, in recruiting and training new national mission teams. Our coworkers in this endeavor, which began with the new Brasília team, are Alaor and Miram Leite, Valentim e Leila Zanatta and Bryan and Becky Gibbs. Partnering with these brothers and sisters has been a great blessing.
Our main focus, during this phase of our life and ministry, is the spiritual and emotional care of Brasilian leaders and American missionaries. Staff and team development is a major part of this emphasis. Our second focus right now is training others with a heart for caring for the needs of families in our churches. The multiplication of this ministry is always high on our prayer list.





We realize that this edition of our news has been very long! We appreciate your interest and prayers for the work God is doing throughout Brazil preparing and strengthening powerful leaders for His church. Because of them, His word is spreading and bearing fruit. Thanks for being with us for 30 YEARS!

All our Love!

Jerry and Gail

I shall be telling this with a sigh 
Somewhere ages and ages hence: 
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 
I took the one less traveled by, 
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

August 2009 News

Acappella in Brasília















We met Acappella in Brasília the last weekend of July to translate for them during their 3 day stay in the city. They did radio and TV interviews, Kris translated, and two shows, each with over 300 in attendance. They also sang during the worship on Sunday. These were the largest crowds the congregation has ever had in its new building. What an encouragement it was to the members. Keith Lancaster, Acappella’s founder and producer, has asked Jerry to help him plan a 10-city tour in 2010. The group wants to perform in Churches of Christ in each city to encourage the brethren and increase the visibility of our churches.



After Acappella departed, we spent 3 more days meeting with each couple on the team and with the two leadership couples. Each month the team and church receives a visit from us or Bryan Gibbs or Zanatta and Leila to mentor them in their progress. And during each month we have a virtual meeting with them over Skype. We have been working with this team for 3 years now, and we are very thankful for the way God is using the team and leadership to increase His kingdom in Brasília.
















































Good News in Brasília!!

The new team has been making lots of contacts since their arrival. They hosted a couples dinner where each member brought another couple as a guest (about 20 guest couples!) They also gave the members free tickets to Acappella to invite their friends and relatives yielding a list of over 100 contacts. They hosted a Let´s Start Talking campaign with over 50 students participating. On August 17th they witnessed the first fruit of their labors when Wallace was baptized into Christ.




















God is working in the two congregations in Campinas, SP


Campinas is the third largest city in the state of São Paulo with over a million inhabitants. It is the closest big city to where we now live. The city has two churches of Christ. The São Bernardo and Guanabara congregations both have around 150 members and are growing from Bible courses being taught in their respective areas of the city. São Bernardo has about 100 students and Guanabara has 160 students studying the scriptures every week.
This month we spent a weekend at each of these congregations. It was our second time to minister at each place. At São Bernardo we held a workshop for the 6 leadership couples using the DISC material. This material helps them to grow together as a group and learn how to work as a team. At Guanabara we conducted a seminar for 40 members of the church on Establishing Priorities in our Life. Jerry also preached at each congregation on Sunday. It is such a blessing to be able to see how God is working in so many churches across this great country and to participate in that growth by encouraging and helping to develop strong leaders in each place.






























Kris´Last Days in Itu

Kris returned to the states for his senior year at ACU on August 16th. It was such a blessing to have him here with us and watch him use his talents to help the church in Itu and Brasília.




We want to thank each one of you who prayed for him or supported him financially for this summer mission. Your constant generosity to our family is an unbelievable blessing.











May our Lord grant each of you grace and peace in the month ahead.

July 2009 News

Itu Inauguration
For the first time in over a decade, we made the decision to stay home for 2 months. We did not schedule any workshops or retreats so that we could stay in Itu and work with the exciting events planned by the church here. Take a look at all God did!


700 people attended the inauguration of the Itu church building on July 5, which included a live video link with the Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, TX. Maria Dutton cut the ribbon to begin the celebration.



Annual Bilingual Camp
The bilingual camp was conducted by youth ministers Mark and Alice Gonçalves and members of the Johnson Street Church of Christ in San Angelo, TX, during the first week of July. 30 Americans and 60 Brazilians spent 4 days together in fellowship and spiritual growth. Our son Kris helped out as a group leader and teacher for the drama class. Two young people were baptized and others have started worshipping with us.



Medical Campaign in Cidade Nova
Sixteen doctors and nurses from the US joined with 80 medical students and volunteers for a weeklong medical and spiritual outreach to a needy community near Itu. 742 people were ministered to during the week and many of them saw more than one of the doctors. We had general practitioners, dentists, cardiologists, gynecologists and psychologists on hand. We also had available donated exams from the medical school, an electrocardiogram machine and an ultrasound.









During the 5 days of the medical campaign we all worked from 8-5 and did just about every job there was to do as volunteers. We helped greet people at the door, helped with getting people to the right stations, served juice and coffee, translated for the American doctors and Jerry and Gail counseled and prayed with people who needed psychological or spiritual orientation. It was a marvelous experience and the people who were served were so grateful.

A Visit from Max Lucado



















Itu had the privilege of being the first stop on Max’s book launching tour in Brazil. For the first time he is launching the Portuguese version of a book, Fearless, before the English version. He was with us for a powerful message and book signing on Saturday night and preached to the church during Sunday worship. We were blessed to get to spend some time with he and his wife Denalyn. We have known Max since college days and we were rookie missionaries to Brazil together in the early 80s.





Acappella Performs in Itu

One week after Max and Denalyn Lucado visited, we had another special event. Acappella began its 3 city Brazilian tour here in Itu. We hosted the 5 member group along with Keith Lancaster and their wives for lunch on Saturday, they performed to almost 600 fans at the Itu church on Saturday night, and they lead worship on Sunday morning. What a blessing! Acappella left Itu to perform in Recife and this next weekend they will be in Brasilia. The church in Brasilia has asked us to come help with translating during their two shows in the city. We will stay after to meet with the mission team and leaders there to encourage and mentor them.


















































All these events have put the Itu congregation on the map here in the city. The exposure has brought many visitors to our doors and the city now knows we are open and ready to receive those who need to hear of God´s love and grace. It has been a full month of hard work and God has blessed each event with answered prayers and glory to His name.

Thanks so all of you who support our work here in Brazil. You have made it possible for us to watch and marvel at God´s hand moving in this place!!

June 2008 News

Unknown Christian Soldiers

Unknown Soldiers: Last month we watched as President Obama visited the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were reminded of the unknown soldiers here on the mission field who suffer quietly with their problems and tragedies. We get calls and emails and visits every week from these soldiers of the Lord, from every corner of Brazil. We cannot tell you their stories or their names, but we spend many hours every week ministering to their needs. We hope you will be praying for us as we seek wisdom in often times very difficult circumstances, and for these soldiers on the field. God’s kingdom needs these people to be healthy and strong and these preachers and leaders and elders and deacons need people they can turn to with their struggles.


Counseling Supervision group in front of our house. We meet from 11am to 3pm once a month on Saturday. We met twice in June since July is vacation month. We will return in August.


Counseling Supervision: Because of this great need to help families stay strong, we have begun a monthly counseling supervision group. At the request of a couple from the city of Sao Paulo we began this group and invited others to join. We now have 8 couples, all of whom work closely with family and couples ministries in their respective congregations. This experience is training couples in 6 congregations, who often have no formal training in therapy, in how to minister to the families in their church who need support. Last year we prayed fervently for God to show us how to multiply ourselves and train others to carry on our work throughout the country. This group is one of His answers.


Elder Link: Another answer to our prayers about training others to care for leaders is in the preparation stages. Jerry spent 10 days in the US this month fundraising with Bryan Gibbs. We plan to use the funding to bring the Elder Link ministry to Brazil. Elder Link is a ministry coordinated by Charles Siburt of Abilene Christian University. Its purpose is to train elders and leaders and give them a place to minister to each other. The first event will be in August of 2010. We plan to bring the leaders of the US Elder Link here to Brazil to show us how to set up this ministry. We then plan to begin a Brazilian version of Elder Link which will minister to and train eldership and minister couples all over this country. Please pray that God will bless this effort to strengthen the leadership of the Brazilian church. Visit their link: http://www.acu.edu/academics/cbs/departments/churchrelations/elderlink
/index.html

Some fun/serious Stuff!!: We have been in Itu for the past month (except for Jerry’s fundraising trip) helping the church with several projects. Our son Kris arrived on June 23 and is ministering with the annual bilingual camp this week. 30 North Americans from the Johnson Street congregation in San Angelo, TX came to attend this camp along with 60 Brazilian young people. Things are crazy as we try to get ready for the inauguration of the new church building set for this Sunday, July 5. They are putting the finishing touches on the construction and decoration of the building. On Monday, July 5 we begin work at a medical campaign in a poor neighborhood outside of Itu. 16 American doctors and medical students will join with local doctors and students to serve the public for a weeklong campaign. The theme of the campaign is: We are the hands and feet of Jesus. We will offer counseling and spiritual guidance as well as medical help. Jerry, Gail and Kris will be working full time in this campaign. Please keep all of these events in your prayers for Kingdom growth here in Itu and the surrounding
region.




Painting the church building.


























Wild celebration after Brazil win over USA in soccer championship






Newest member of Heiderich family, Chewbacca (Chewie) Jerry brought treats from the US!

MUCH LOVE TO EACH ONE OF YOU!!!!

May 2009 News

Mothers Day in Salvador, Bahia: We spent the week before Mother´s Day at our third team workshop with the Salvador Mission Team. They have just finished their fourth year on the field and have been through some difficult adjustments, common to all the teams and church staffs we have helped. The team is doing well and really getting into the work now. We praise God for the way He has helped this team to come together and mature in His service. We have witnessed individual, couple and team growth over the past 3 years!
We were able this time to stay for the weekend and visit with the congregation as they celebrated Mother´s Day with testamonies from two of the members and breakfast for everyone. There are several other congregations in this city of 3 million. Please keep this team and the work in Salvador in your prayers.




Randy Porter preaches at the Mother’s Day service.
Mother’s Day is one of the most important celebrations in Brazil.





Russell Quirey leads singing for the 50* member congregation.





Alicia Sass leads the children in a special part of the worship service just for kids.



















The whole Salvador team together: Sasses, Mabreys, Porters, Quireys and 2 year intern Heather Alkire

Back in Itu: We will be working in Itu for the next couple of months as we gear up for several special activities including Kristofer’s arrival, the inauguration of the new church building here, a bilingual camp, a medical campaign and visits from Acapella and Max Lucado. This weekend we will be hosting a church growth seminar at the Itu congregation similar to the one we conducted in Brasilia earlier this year. Please pray that God will show us all what we need to do as a congregation to impact more people in this city.
There have been three baptisms here in the last couple of months: Wanderley de Mello, Ana Rita Carvalho, and Cíntia Gomes.





Cíntia, who is confined to a wheel chair, was baptized a few weeks before her marriage to Dirk, her boyfriend of 8 years. They met on line and he came to meet her. They’ve been together ever since. Pray for him to join her in the Lord!








Wanderley was baptized after a bible study group started meeting in his home. He and his wife Carla (already a Christian) had been separated for some time and moved back together about a year ago. So wonderful to see God´s mighty hand at work in the lives of His children!


All our love to each of you! God blesses us daily through your prayers for us!

April 2009 News

Some Family Time



Gail’s mom and step dad at the orphanage, Lar Cristão

Gail’s mom, Mary and her husband of 3 years, Spurgeon Vanhoose (Van), paid us a two-week visit between our trips to Brasilia. We had a wonderful time showing them around Itu and the surrounding area. They helped us with several projects around the house that we had not had time to get done, like hanging pictures! They accompanied us to one of our monthly couples dinners, where 34 couples from the Itu church and some other area churches gathered together to eat and share about our marriages. We visited a nearby orphanage run by the Churches of Christ (Lar Cristão). Mary sells cookies every Christmas and sends the money to us to give to some worthy cause. This year she was able to give the money herself and meet some of the children she would be helping. The home has 33 children and 4 families of house parents. The church in Itu helps the home financially and with volunteer work. Van enjoyed getting to sit in on our singing practice as we worked on some new songs to teach the congregation. Van sang in the choir at his church for years and had some encouraging words for us about this ministry of music. Mary wrote down everything they did and saw and when they got back to their church they gave a presentation about their trip. Their Sunday Bible class has been praying for our work for some time. We are thankful for the support we have always received from Mary and now from Van. Their willingness to come down here to visit at 84 and 82 years old was a real motivation for us!



Mary and Gail with Andressa at the home. This baby was taken off the streets at 20 days. Andressa only weighed 2 1/2 pounds. She is now about 2 months old and has since gained another 2 pounds and is doing well.





Mary and Van under the BIG phone booth in the center of Itu.














Brasilia Church Vision










We returned to Brasilia during the week of April 9-15 with three important tasks to perform.
1. We lead the church through a daylong process of brainstorming for ideas on church vision, values and mission. The team and leaders will take all the suggestions and present the church with several ideas to vote on. Their goal is to come up with a mission statement, vision perspective and specific values that will be the identity of this congregation in their community.
2. Coaching. The new mission team and leadership are receiving monthly visits from Bryan Gibbs, Zanatta or us in order to guide them through this first year of working together. On this visit we worked on integrating the new staff members (the team) with the already established leadership of the congregation. This included discussions on the decision making process within the group, and helping them deal with relationship issues they might tend to avoid or cover up. This is something we do with each team or staff that we visit. It helps to keep misunderstandings from festering and interfering with the mission. During this trip two couples from Otavio and Alessandra’s supporting church, Park Plaza in Tulsa, OK, were making their first visit. We included Don and Donna Millican and Chris and Sharon Worsham in our discussions about expectations and communication issues between the team, the leadership and the supporting churches. Their input was valuable and helped to put these complicated relationships into perspective.
3. Mentoring. Another important job we have during these visits is to mentor each of the couples on the team. We meet with each couple individually to examine their personal and family priorities and to make sure they are adapting to their new life and work in Brasilia.


On this trip we were blessed to have one of the Itu interns, Mary Lou Thompson, accompany us. She studied leadership in college and was interested in seeing what we do to help leaders. She was excited about participating in the group dynamics and seeing the World Café method used for the church wide brainstorming sessions. When we debriefed with her after one of the sessions she said, “I want to do what you do!” We need more people doing what we do and are praying for God to raise up servants who will take on the task of ministering to leaders in Brazil

All our love to each of you! Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

March 2009 News

Elders and Missionaries from the Victory church in Rio

March was DISC month! The DISC is a personality instrument that we use often with teams and church staffs. It divides individuals into 4 relational styles, depending on what they value most and fear most in working relationships. The Mennonites have developed a workbook for presenting this instrument that is fun, dynamic and interactive. We have used this system with groups all over Brazil to help them learn how to understand each other better and work more effectively for the growth of the Kingdom. We were on the road for 22 days during the month of March visiting 4 different cities. In Rio de Janeiro we conducted the DISC workshop with the American missionaries and the newly installed Brazilian elders at the Victory church. Their goal was to work together better as a whole and to help integrate the new elders into a cohesive group. In Belo Horizonte we conducted a similar workshop with the 8 couples in the leadership group of the El Dorado congregation. In São Paulo, 35 elders, deacons, ministry leaders and Bible school teachers from the Ninth of July congregation, participated in the workshop. We had never done the DISC workshop with so many people before, but it turned out to be a wonderful time of sharing and understanding for the group. Then we went to Brasília where Jerry taught the last class out of 4 which have been offered to the new team and the leadership there in preparation for the beginning of the new outreach to that city. The class was on Interpersonal Relationships so we were able to review the DISC, which they had all already taken now that they are actually working together. We spent time in the homes of each of the couples on the Brasilia team to make sure they are adjusting well to their new city. We will be making three more trips to Brasília this year. We are dividing coaching responsibilities for the new team with Bryan Gibbs and Zanatta, elder from Campo Grande, so that each month the team receives a visit from one of us.





DISC workshops at the El Dorado church (Belo Horizonte) and at Nove de Julho in São Paulo



















The leaders of the Brasília congregation and the new
Mission team during their class on Interpersonal
Relationships.





Ministering in Itu: Before we began all the travel in March, Jerry led a seminar here in Itu on how to best use small groups in the homes. The church here is having a small group campaign this year to begin new groups in the city. There are currently 13 groups meeting on every day of the week and the Eldership’s goal is to have 90% of the church in a small group by the end of the year. Two more will begin this week, including one in our neighborhood that we will be helping with when we are in town. Gail also attends a women’s group led by Maria Dutton, wife of long time missionary, Allen Dutton. 30 leaders attended this, the first of several seminars to equip group leaders, to be offered this year.




Small Group seminar in Itu










Personal News:
We are excited that our son, Kristofer, will be coming down this summer as our first intern here in Itu. He will be working part time with us and part time with the youth group. He is currently raising money for his trip and expenses. If you are interested in helping with Kris' internship you can write to him at: kth04a@acu.edu and he will send you the information on how to contribute.

We value your prayers as we travel and minister to the leaders of God’s church here in Brazil. Strong leaders will build strong churches and reach more souls to join us in the Kingdom!