Family Institute of Latin America

January 2012 News

2012-01-25T15:29:00.012-02:00

A WEEK OF MINISTRY IN RECIFE
Jerry spent the first week of December in Recife in the Northeast
of Brasil ministering at several congregations.
1. Monthly couples meeting on Romance and the Stages of Marriage at the Boa Viagem church with 65 participants.
2. Relationship building workshop at the area wide men´s meeting where 46 church leaders participated in our DISC seminar. 15 different congregations were represented at the event held at the Boa Vista church.
3. Jerry preached and led the Bible class at the São Lourenço church on the Power of Forgiveness.
4. All day leadership workshop with the staff of the Boa Viagem church.
5. Area wide meeting for seasoned leadership couples on conflict styles in marriage at the Boa Vista church.
6. Interviews and counseling sessions with the house parents of the Lar Maná children´s home.
It was a very full week! But it was wonderful to work with the brothers and sisters in Recife again after several years of not being able to go there. The Lord is good!

Jerry teaching at the DISC seminar

Men at the DISC seminar

Couples meeting

With Daniel Palk who helped organize the events.

SABBATICAL

December 12 to March 12
We began our sabbatical on December 12 after Jerry returned from his trip to Recife. This past couple of years have been exhausting, but very fruitful! We felt God calling us to a time of rest and renewal. A time to reflect on where we are and where we are going with our ministry. A time to recover from the stress of a very active mission. We thank God for a sponsoring church who has supported us in this decision and for friends and supporters who are encouraging us. We have been on sabbatical for a little over a month as I write this. We have rested, exercised, gotten back to eating well, read books, and spent wonderful time in prayer and listening to God. Next week we will be traveling to the US for a retreat at Sonscape in Colorado. Sonscape retreats minister to church workers in need of rest and spiritual renewal. We are looking forward to having others minister to us! Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and as we seek His wisdom during this retreat.

Workshop on Gestalt Therapy
Our first step into sabbatical was a weekend retreat to learn about and experience Gestalt Therapy. It was lead by a well known Brasilian therapist, Jorge Ponciano. Jerry got him to sign a couple of his books. We went with some very dear friends from the church in Campo Grande. It was a great way to start winding down and venture into a new arena of learning. It was held in a beautiful place in the interior of São Paulo state where we could feel close to God in His creation.

KRIS HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

The best part of December was having Kristofer here for 3 weeks. We missed getting to have the whole family this year, but it was wonderful to see Kris and spend some time taking care of our boy/young man.
Kris is now in his last semester of teaching at Heritage International School in Kampala, Uganda. In June he will be returning to the US and looking for a job in Indiana so he can be close to his girlfriend (who is also a teacher at HIS).
Angela finished her masters in Modern Languages in December and is now teaching part-time high school Spanish, a Spanish class at the University of Texas at Arlington and also working on some translations for one of her professors.
Much love to everyone!! Thank you for your support and encouragement.

DECEMBER 2011 NEWS

2011-12-13T16:05:00.007-02:00

YEAR END ACTIVITIES

BIBLICAL COUNSELING CLASS AT SERCRIS
After our retreat with the Campo Grande leaders that we reported on last month, Jerry stayed in CG to teach a class on Biblical Counseling to the students. It was a 3 day, very intensive class, but one of the things he most loves to do!

MENTORING ENDS FOR 2011
Our last mentoring session for 2011 was a fun day of doing the DISC relationship workshop with our group. Since this is a group of church leaders from this region, half of the group were domineering, directive, hard-driving Ds. It was fun to watch them try to hash out who would take charge of their group! This is always an eye-opening experience for people that helps them understand who they are and how their personality affects others. It was a great way to end our year of growth together.

BRASILIA RELATIONSHIP WORKSHOP
We spent Thanksgiving week in Brasília conducting a relationship retreat with the team and leadership there. Bryan Gibbs went with us to work on strategy issues while we focused on relationships. It was an important time for healing conflicts, facing our failures and renewing our commitment to the lost in the city of Brasília.

Sculpting tends to bring out conflicts that need to be addressed.

Sharing this Brasilian version of Thanksgiving was a real treat!

SABBATICAL PLANS

Our Sabbatical has officially begun! We wanted to let you know how grateful we are for the responses of love and support we have received. We praise God for His care through your gracious words of encouragement and your financial gifts to aid us in our recovery. We plan to spend most of our sabbatical here at home where we do not have responsibilities but we do have good caring friends, access to physical exercise and the comfort of our own house. We will be attending two retreats to aid us in our renewal, one here in Brazil next weekend and another in the US (Sonscape) the end of January. We will be in the US for two weeks in order to attend this retreat and talk with some of our resource people. We have received almost all the money we need for this sabbatical. However, we are still lacking funds to do some needed therapy. If you would still like to contribute, send your funds to Prestoncrest Church of Christ, Attn. Teresa, 12700 Preston Rd, Suite 210, Dallas, TX 75230-1824. Make funds payable to Prestoncrest Church of Christ and earmark it Heiderich Sabbatical. All our love! Jerry and Gail

November 2011 News

2011-11-20T15:52:00.006-02:00

SPIRITUAL RENEWAL RETREAT IN CAMPO GRANDE

THE GIRLS

THE GUYS

We had a wonderful 4-day retreat with 6 leadership couples of the Campo Grande congregation November 12-15. We started with the 24-hour couples “Vision Retreat” that we have done here in Itu. Then we spent some intense time in individual intimacy building with God and some awesome sharing time as a group. We also had time for relaxation and fun in a beautiful place lush with God´s creativity in nature. Here is some of the feedback we received about the retreat:
**We know that the Lord’s service is lonely and we often need psychological and spiritual assistance. But this worker is reluctant to seek help because he thinks he is “unbreakable” and “bullet proof”. Little does he know that Satan is at work laying traps that the most experienced of preachers can fall into. I hope these events will continue to aid us with the support we need.
**Thank you for providing unforgettable moments of internal and external peace. During this encounter requests for forgiveness were made and friendships restored.
**At a time when I most needed to be quiet and meditate on the words of the Lord this opportunity was given me. Wonderful to know that the Lord is God and He was directly providing these pleasant moments along with His wisdom and the beauty of His creation.
**I learned that I must act as a child and not as a servant. I can serve God out of gratitude for being treated as His child and not serve to try to win His love. I am not disposable to God. The retreat made me look at myself and helped me to take off my mask in all areas of my life, spiritual and marital.
**This event was innovative and restored my desire to serve. I was becoming very hardened and did not want to take part in anything. Thank you for great contributions to my life and my marriage.
**Thank you Lord for the gift of being here. The best event I have ever attended!
**This retreat met our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. New horizons of transformation impacted our lives as individuals, couples and a group. As couples it helped us to be intimate and open with each other. It was a time of intimate renewal with the Lord. I leave here refreshed not just for 24 hours or 360 days, but for life.
**I am taking home with me: spiritual restoration and renewal of my desire to serve. A deeper intimacy with my husband. Clear knowledge that I serve as a child of God. I am His daughter, not merely His servant!

COUPLE TIME

SOLITUDE

WORSHIP

RELAXATION

October 2011 News

2011-11-10T17:11:00.010-02:00

CONTINENT CARE CONNECTION
For the past 4 years Continent of Great Cities has sponsored a spiritual renewal retreat-alternating years between men and women. This year Jerry attended-not as a worker but recipient of ministry, care and renewal. It was exactly what he needed and we will share with you next month some of the results of the transformational week there. For more than 15 years, beginning in Brasília, we have been leading and sponsoring spiritual formation-renewal retreats aimed principally at Brazilian leadership couples. The CGC retreat, in addition to being larger in scale and involving a bigger "ministry team" are helping to change the church culture and paradigm of what spiritual maturity means. Minister self-care and support is becoming main-stream in Brazil.
The 48 missionaries and the 15 caregivers who attended this year´s CCC in Atibaia, São Paulo

GLOBAL MISSION CONFERENCE
On October 16 we traveled to the US to participate in the Global Missions Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. We were invited to help teach three classes on Missionary Care. The first was on the “Therapists Role in Missionary Care”, the second on how “Seasoned and Ex-missionaries can help care for workers on the field” and the third was on how “Congregations can better plan for the care of their missionaries”. As you know, this is a subject that is dear to our hearts and a major part of our ministry here in Brazil. We pray that the sending churches will become more and more aware of the need to help their missionaries serve long term by caring for them physically, emotionally and spiritually during their time on the field and furloughs. We were encouraged to find many people becoming more interested in this vital aspect of missions.

FAMILY NEWS
During our 17 day trip to the US we spoke at the GMC, visited with Angela and Joel, spent 3 days with Gail´s mom and her husband in St. Louis, met with our missions contacts at Prestoncrest and traveled quickly to Abilene and Midland to see friends and advisors.
One of the highlights of the trip was co-preaching with Gordon Dabbs at our supporting congregation (Prestoncrest in Dallas). Gordon was a missionary in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and he and his wife Ila have been good friends and a great encouragement to us since they took the pulpit job at Prestoncrest.
We preached on forgiveness and took questions from the congregation by text-messaging. This is a subject that needs to be talked about more often. There were lots of good, hard questions to answer!

Sharing on forgiveness with Gordon Dabbs at Prestoncrest Church of Christ

Taking questions by text from the congregation.

PRAYER NEEDS:

1. As we go into the final stretch of 2011, we need prayers for stamina. It has been a very busy year and we have another month of travel to go before we recover and regroup during the holidays.
2. Please pray for our spiritual growth retreat in Campo Grande, Jerry´s class on Biblical Counseling at SerCris training school, our last Mentoring meeting of the year, a relationship building workshop with the Brasília leaders and evangelists, and Jerry´s trip to minister to several groups in Recife.
3. Angela, our daughter, is taking her finals for her master´s degree in Modern Languages and could use prayers for finishing well. This is the culmination of 3 years of studying and working. We are very proud of her!!
4. Kris is still teaching at Heritage Christian School in Kampala, Uganda. He will be coming home to spend a couple of weeks with us at Christmas. Please pray for his safe travel.

Thank you all for your love and care, for your generosity and your prayers. May our God grant you peace and hold you safe in His arms. We love you!!!

August-September 2011 News

2011-10-11T15:42:00.009-03:00

FROM NITEROI TO NATAL

During the month of September we stopped at home for exactly 5 days. And not 5 in a row! We went from Niteroi to Brasília, to Palmas, to Aguas de São Pedro and then to Natal. In Niteroi and Natal we conducted Team Building retreats. These retreats begin with a questionnaire sent in by each team member before we even arrive. Upon arrival, we meet with each couple individually to talk about their personal, marital and ministry needs. The rest of the workshop is based on where the team is and what they are needing at the moment. This was our second retreat with the Niteroi Team and our first with the current Natal Team (we were there in 2003 with a different team). Our goal is always to help team members maintain their focus and sustain their mission by taking care of their personal spiritual needs, marriage strengthening, improving team functioning and helping them cast a vision and goals for the next year. It is a joy for us to work with these dedicated families who work so hard to spread the word of the Lord here in Brazil. Please keep them in your prayers.

Niteroi Mission Team: McGees, Nichols, Roberts and Zincks

Natal Leadership Group

Baptism in Natal

Team Sculpting

AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

Elder Link Brasília

In 2011, 4 regional Pastoreai (Elderlink) events have or will occur in Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Brasília and Recife, Brazil. We participated in the Brasilia version where Jerry taught several classes along with Bryan Gibbs and Tim Maynard and Chris Worsham from Park Plaza in Tulsa (they support one of the evangelists in Brasília)
It was a wonderful time of vision casting about developing Godly leaders for the church and the women who will lead at their side.

Palmas

We traveled to Palmas, TO, where the next Continent of Great Cities team will be sent in 2012. With us were current members of the new team: Kátia Costa, Flávio and Fernanda França and Paulo and Renata Figueiredo. Also, Dale Brown from Golf Course Road, and Tim Maynard and Chris Worsham from Park Plaza came to consider investing in the mission. We met Arlindo and Susanna who currently work with a school of the Bible and a small church meeting in the city. We are considering two more couples to join this team before they go to the field. Please keep this project in your prayers.

Couples Reteat in Itu

We spent a wonderful weekend with 48 couples at a retreat center in Aguas de Sâo Pedro for the annual marriage retreat hosted by the Itu church. We lead one of the discussion groups based on classes by F.H. Gates on the book Love and Respect. Five of the couples who attended are not associated with any church and we pray that they saw Jesus among us. It was a wonderful time of worship and renewal of our marriages highlighted by a special time of forgiveness between partners.

SPECIAL EDITION: What is FILA?

2011-08-26T17:59:00.004-03:00

Family Institute of Latin America
Leadership Training and Mission Team Development

Jerry and Gail Heiderich
Directors

Jerry and Gail Heiderich have been taking the Gospel to Brazil for 31 years. Jerry has a Bachelor’s degree in History and Religion and 2 Master’s degrees from ACU: Missions, and Marriage and Family Therapy. Gail holds her Bachelor’s degree in Bible, and a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. They have been married for 35 years and have 2 children. Angela, a graduate of ACU, is married to Joel Garner. She teaches Spanish in a private school in Dallas while finishing a master’s degree in Languages, and is a member at Prestoncrest. Kris, also an ACU graduate, is returning to Kampala, Uganda to begin his second year teaching English, Drama and coaching basketball at a mission school. Jerry and Gail co-direct the Family Institute of Latin America, headquartered in Itu- a small city near São Paulo, Brazil.

The Heiderich’s ministry in Latin America has been divided into five phases, or stages. They were first sent to Brasilia as church planters. After several years they focused more on pastoral care of members and helping members mature and develop into leaders.

While still in Brasilia Jerry and Gail began to lead marriage and family seminars. From 1995-2005 they lead 85 seminars, throughout Brazil in which more than 1500 couples participated.

This overlapped with their third phase, which began in 1998; When the FAMILY INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICA (FILA) was founded. The focus on this ministry was leadership development and team conflict and crisis intervention. Jerry taught at all the 4 major preacher training centers and Jerry and Gail began to develop and host spiritual formation retreats and seminars. Since this chapter in our ministry began, more than 3,500 have attended at least one weeklong seminar, retreat or conference. After living in Brazil´s capital for 22 years we moved to a city with 3 million population in southern Brazil, Curitiba. During this chapter of the ministry we worked with Continent of Great Cities teams- often called in during stressful and conflictual situations.

After working with so many couples, families, mission teams, church staffs and leaderships in crisis situations, we decided we wanted to get to them earlier- in a more preventative and pro-active way, before relationships exploded. This fourth phase, as with the others, required re-tooling, which we obtained via seminars, research and interviewing experts in the field. We focus on key congregations, church leadership couples, and church planting mission teams to do on-going work, like regular check-ups with the doctors. Team and church leadership workshops usually are for three days; spiritual formation retreats are for 3-4 days.

Three years ago we moved to Itu- a small city about an hour away from the mega-city of São Paulo. Geographically it helps us with our travel-heavy schedule and hosting events for the dozens and dozens of leaders who work within driving distance of our home.

Our latest stage is a continuation of the fourth one- with an important caveat- we are focusing on training those who can replace us in each aspect of our ministries. We will also develop a training course for churches on “Church-Minister” relationships and specifically how churches can better care for their ministers, deacons and elders.
In the past 15 years we have worked, often multiple times, with more than 20 mission teams in Brazil and including the ones in Mexico City, Asuncion, and Santiago. At the same time we have worked with more than 30 churches and church staffs in Latin America, and also with Continent of Great Cities, La Mesa staff and elders, Prestoncrest staff, and the group Acappella in the US.

The FILA is a unique, continent-wide ministry dedicated to church planting and leadership care in Latin America. The key to Church growth is planting new congregations for spreading the Gospel and sustaining strong leadership for growing new churches. The mission of the FAMILY INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICA is to “TRAIN LEADERS AND FORM AND DEVELOP TEAMS”. Team development includes staff-deacon-elder relationships. The FILA has been at the forefront of many areas of ministry, introducing and innovating for the churches of Christ in Brazil.

1. Mentoring: FILA introduced the practice of mentoring to the churches in Brazil, specifically the need for ministers and leaders to have a support group and accountability to avoid the common error of neglecting their marriage, family, and even their personal relationship with God. In 2011 FILA is mentoring 15 influential couples from the region, one Saturday a month, in leadership development.

2. Spiritual Formation Retreats: We introduced a different type of retreat for American Missionaries and Brazilian leaders- retreats where spiritual disciplines were emphasized, a safe place to be authentic and be ministered to, and create on-going support groups for key leadership couples in each region of Brazil. Jerry and Gail participated in the first Renovaré (A spiritual formation organization) retreat in Brazil and will be utilizing the experience in it´s own retreats.

3. LeaderSource. Jerry spent three weeks in 2010 in an intensive course in Indiana that presented the most Biblical model of leadership development he has yet encountered. Since then FILA has sponsored 7 training events in which 200 leaders have been certified in this model. This model is more comprehensive in that it is not a strictly academic model, rather it involves dynamics and activities that prepare leaders for all areas of ministry: spiritual, experiential, interpersonal, and didactic.

4. Elderlink. FILA, along with Continent of Great Cities (CGC), brought the Elderlink team to Brazil. This was the first time they had given their seminar internationally. The seminar was designed to encourage and equip new elders and nourish those already serving. Thirty-five leadership couples from every corner of Brazil, including two from Santiago, Chile, participated. This year there will be five regional Elderlink meetings, with all Brazilian leadership.

5. Turn-Around Churches. That is the term for churches whose growth is either in decline or has stagnated for a significant time-period and who resolve to “turn things around”. FILA has partnered with CGC to work with those churches and specifically their leadership to evaluate and possibly recruit new ministers for those works. We are currently working with 4 churches in this on-going process.

6. Natural Church Development. This is a ministry that began in Brazil and has spread throughout the world. A questionnaire was developed after studying more than 1,000 churches in dozens of cultures and 8 qualities that growing churches have in common were discovered. FILA was the first to introduce this congregational evaluation to churches of Christ and it is a vital tool used for “Turn-Around churches”.

7. Acappella is more popular in Brazil and any other country. Two years ago the group decided to become “Musical Missionaries: Bring new people into the churches and help churches grow”. For the first time- they decided to perform in churches outside of the US- and Brazil was first. Keith Lancaster, the group´s founder, called on Jerry to serve as liaison and coordinator of the events. He accompanied the group and served as translator during the events. In 2009 three concerts were held and in 2010, seven, and more than 4,000 attended, nearly half of those visitors.

8. Family Life Ministries. The family life ministry in Curitiba was the first of its kind in churches of Christ. FILA has recruited a couple in ITU to partner with and train churches to establish like ministries in their local congregations. In 2010 FILA sponsored training for family life ministries with 13 couples from the region, one Saturday a month.

9. Missionary and Minister Screening: We are looking for those who are best suited to be full-time ministers, or church planters, or mission team members. Partnering with CGC, we have developed a screening process that involves psychological testing and interviews, phone interviews with current and past co-workers and which all culminates with Quest. This screening retreat has been adapted from the Christian churches- recently the fastest growing church in the US. This 4-day intensive event, for 5-7 screening couples, has been translated into Portuguese and adapted to Brazil. This is the best process currently available to prayerfully help those who wish to become part of a staff or mission team.

The FAMILY INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICA, in addition to generous support and sponsorship from the Prestoncrest family, counts on funding from more than 20 individuals and foundations and the following congregations:

Park Plaza, Tulsa OK
Central, Bloomington, IN
Richland Hills, Ft. Worth
Southern Hills, Abilene
La Mesa, CA
Continent of Great Cities, Dallas

2011-08-26T17:27:00.005-03:00

NEW MISSION TEAM FOR PALMAS, TOCANTINS

In July we spent two weeks in Campo Grande. The first week was devoted to a team workshop with the new team we are helping to form and train in conjunction with Continent of Great Cities Ministry. This team has had many battles and changes along the way and we know the enemy has had a hand in some of it, but some of the changes have been blessings. We started with 4 couples and a single woman and are now planning to send 2 couples and a single. We also began forming this team to go to Goiania, Goias, but through many converging circumstances, we have felt the Lord leading us to a new capital city in the state of Tocantins. This team (pics above): Paulo and Renata Figueiredo and their children, Guilherme and Isabella, Flávio and Fernanda França and Kátia Costa are getting ready to move to the city of Palmas in January 2012. Our 5 day workshop involved team dynamics, processing and prayer about the changes on the team, and logistics and finances for the team. We ask for your prayers for this team as they prepare to carry the message of the cross to Palmas. We also ask you to pray for a third family to join them so that they may be a stronger force for the Lord in that city.

SERCRIS ANNUAL STUDENT REUNION

Our second week in Campo Grande was devoted to the annual SerCris student reunion. All ex and current students of the training school are invited for a 3 day renewal, retooling and reuniting retreat. This year Jerry taught on the LeaderSource material he has been developing through the SGA events we have hosted and the 3-week course he took last summer in Indiana. The course is about how to develop leaders in the image of Christ by employing methods which touch on the didactic, the relational, the experiential and the spiritual aspects of our formation. In the four pictures to the right you will see some of these aspects. Much work was done in groups to gain relational insight. We had a demonstration of learning by doing (experiential) where some of the men were taught how to put on make-up through explanation, demonstration, practice on themselves and then practice with supervision on another person. We also asked one couple to write all their hurts and resentments on some fruit and vegetables. They had to carry this sack of pain around with them for 2 days while reading scriptures several times a day on forgiveness. This relational, spiritual and experiential activity resulted in their learning quite a bit which they shared with the rest of the group at the end. All of the students left excited and transformed about using this method of disciple development in their own ministries throughout Brazil.

RENOVARE RETREAT

After our return from Campo Grande we spent a wonderful weekend of recovery at the first Renovaré retreat in Brazil. The Renovaré ministry is dedicated to helping ministers maintain their own personal spiritual growth and communion with the Lord. This is one of our main focus as we work with church leaders so not only was it good for us, but we also learned some wonderful new ways to help the ministers we minister to. The picture shows us with the speakers at this event: Lyle Smith and Mindy Caliguire who brought us inspiring lessons on the story of the prodigal son.

COSTA RICA

At the end of July, Gail and Angela took a mother/daughter trip to Costa Rica, something they had been saving for awhile to do. Angela is a Spanish teacher so we wanted to go somewhere where she could use her language skills. Costa Rica is a beautiful country full of volcanos and wildlife. They are very conscious of ecology and preservation of their natural resources and we were impressed with the pride the people have in their country. We went to the capital, San José, to visit the Arenal Volcano which is an active volcano, and to the Cloud Forest in the mountains.
At the left we are as close as they would let us get to the Arenal Volcano. We had a wonderful guide who filled us with information about volcanos and the country that Angela will be able to use in her classes.

After the volcano tour we spent some time in the nearby town of La Fortuna taking in the culture and shopping for souvenirs and then walked 7km back to our hotel.
To the right, we are riding in a boat across the Arenal Lake to our next stop in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Behind our hotel here there was a forest with trails and lots of wildlife and plants to observe. I loved exploring that forest!

This is a picture of our day in the trees on the zip lines. This was the most exciting part of the trip! We did 14 lines including a Superman fly, a short rappel and the Tarzan Swing (see my facebook for videos!). I enjoyed so much getting to spend some time alone with Angela and being in such a beautiful place was a huge bonus!

NEWS

While Gail was enjoying God´s creation in Costa Rica, Jerry was in Brazil working, preparing for several trips and visiting the church in Vitoria where we are helping to revitalize the congregation together with Continent of Great Cities.
Please be praying for our workshops in Niteroi, Brasilia, Natal, and Campo Grande in the next several months. We will also be speaking at the Global Mission conference in Dallas in October. Please let us know if you would like to help us with expenses for that trip as we are needing some support for this.
Thanks to each one of you for your loving support and encouragement.
All our love! Jerry and Gail

June 2011 News

2011-08-17T10:46:00.008-03:00

Kaiseres Ministry Team

Counterclockwise: Jerry, Carioca Marins, Mark Kaiser, Eric Peter, Barbara Alves, Alice Kaiser, Jackie Beth Shilcutt and (Chewie)

Mark and Alice Kaiser are at the forefront of several ministries here in Itu, most notably the ministry to youth and the ministry to chemical dependents and homeless men and women in our city.
They have a permanent team of three other young adults helping them with these ministries and they also have a constant stream of interns coming and going who want to help out with this exciting and important outreach.
Recently this ministry team asked us to help them improve their working relationship and learn how to deal with difficulties that arise in their busy, intense lives.
Our first meeting with them set the basis for further work with this team. We spent the afternoon taking the DISC assessment and working through the interactive dynamics we have developed to help teams understand each other and deal one on one with the interpersonal conflicts they often have because of their differences in personality, values, fears and priorities. It was a great first session and we plan to work with this ministry team more in the months to come.

JUNE EVENTS

Ministry Fair

We were able to share about our ministry at the annual ministry fair at church recently and show our brothers and sisters just what we are doing when we are traveling.

Counseling
The ministry fair opened up several opportunities to serve our local community through counseling and consulting on ministry issues.

Shilcutt Visit

We had a wonderful visit from Bryan and Tracy Shilcutt, long time supporters and friends. Their daughter Jackie Beth has been here this summer working with the Kaiseres. It was wonderful to have them in our home for a few days.

Brasília Weekend
Just two days after his return from Israel, Jerry and Bryan Gibbs made a 4 day trip to Brasilia to continue mentoring the mission team and coach the leadership on the work there. Topics included ministry and leadership development (including training for elders and deacons), evangelism strategies, and maintaining focus. They also encouraged each person in their own walk with God, their marriage, family and team relationships.

TRIP TO ISRAEL
Jerry received a wonderful gift from one of our supporters: A trip to Israel with an ACU tour group. Jerry was a part of a group of twelve men who were making this journey together. He spent 11 days exploring the world where Jesus lived and ministered.
The picture to the right has the temple dome in the background. Jerry is standing near the trail on which Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time.

He spent several hours reading and praying at the wailing wall, which he visited 3 times, and watching the celebration of sabbath among the worshipers there. Impressively, most of Israel basically stops from Friday night to Saturday sunset.

He was able to compare the lush greenery around the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus did much of his ministry in the north of Israel to the extremely arid area surrounding the Dead Sea in the south. Jerry at the Dead Sea where one does not swim-- merely floats!

The twelve men who accompanied Jerry on the trip. They debriefed together each evening.

May 2011 News

2011-06-17T14:27:00.007-03:00

Celebrating 50 years of Missions in Brazil
National Men´s Conference: ENOC

The annual men´s conference, which is held in Sao Paulo at Easter, chose this year to honor the first big mission team that came to evangelize Brazil in 1961, 50 years ago! Several of the original members of that team came for the event. The theme was “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever”. Jerry attended the conference to help pass the baton of leadership from the Americans to the Brazilian leaders of the church of Christ. This has been the goal of our ministry for many years and we are excited to see more and more Brazilians taking up the responsibility of nurturing and expanding the Lord´s church.

Preparing for Pastoreai 2011

Last year´s ElderLink kickoff was a great success. The planning committee met in April to firm up plans for what we now call “Pastoreai” (in Portuguese). This year events will take place in Recife, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba. These events are being organized by leaders in each region. Jerry will be helping with the event in Brasilia.

Mentoring Leaders in São Paulo

One of the highlights of our work each month is gathering with the couples in this mentoring group. We had meetings on April 16th and June 4th. We will skip July because of vacation time here and resume in August. This is a group of talented and dedicated people who are serving God in many ways. We have 2 preachers, 2 elders, a camp director, a couples´ minister, a business man who spends his extra time in leadership training, a couple who do podcasts and videos for the church, a church planter and a director of a school of the bible. At these meetings we are striving to motivate, inspire and challenge each other as we also spend time with the father, with our mates and in prayer for each other. There is never enough time! We praise God for the opportunity to share in the growth of these wonderful servants.

UPDATES!

1. We took a 3 day trip to the city of Cuiabá this month to meet with one of the couples on the Goiania team. It was an intense time of important conversation.
2. Kristofer is back in the US for the summer and staying, off and on, with Angela and Joel. He will be traveling to see friends and family.
3. Alexandre and Erica, neighbors of Bryan and Becky Gibbs here in Itu, were baptized on June 4th. We are excited to see this wonderful family return to God.
4. We are still in need of funds for our trip to the Global Mission Conference in October. We have already bought our tickets on faith. If you would like to help with our trip to speak on the need for missionary care around the world, please send your contribution to: Prestoncrest Church of Christ, 12700 Preston Road, Suite 210, Dallas, TX 75230, and specify Heiderichs GMC funds. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

April 2011 News

2011-05-16T13:52:00.007-03:00

QUEST: discovering those who are ready.
Goiânia Candidates are put through their last evaluation process

The Candidates

“Take care of yourselves and the whole congregation” That is Paul´s admonition and part of his final words to the elders in Ephesus. And what a challenge that is- to care for ourselves and the people we minister to! Dealing with the “formation of Christ” in others is not unlike “the pains of childbirth” Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians.

Caring for ourselves, on the other hand, is not only challenging and difficult, it is easily neglected. And in the middle to long term, very costly: emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially and relationally.

As we have learned to better prepare and equip mission teams, we have seen that the sooner the “care” aspect is initiated, the better.

For the past 6 months we have been a part of Continent of Great City´s screening and evaluation process to form the newest team that will establish a church in the city of Goiânia.

Through psychological testing, interviews, phone calls and conversations with colleagues of the candidates, we can assist them in knowing themselves better, assess their strengths and discover areas that need work. We can help them learn to relate better in their marriages, team relationships, and ultimately, with God- who is often the first to be neglected in the minister´s life.

Quest is another fantastic new component of the screening/missionary care process. It is a comprehensive weekend where 14 characteristics of an effective church-planter are evaluated.

Open air worship

The month of April was dedicated almost entirely to preparation for, execution of and follow up for our first Quest seminar in Brazil. Quest is a three day intensive time of interviewing , observing, and evaluating the readiness of couples to take on the task of full-time mission work. For this retreat we had 6 pairs of assessors. Each met with the 5 candidate couples and one single twice for interviews based on 14 characteristics of an effective missionary. We also observed as the couples worked in groups to prepare presentations. Each night the assessors met to share their feedback on each of the candidates.

Assessors: Jerry and Gail, Alaor and Miriam Leite, Bryan and Becky Gibbs, Ina DeMarco, Paulo and Ingrid Bottaro, Becky Holton, Valentim and Leila Zanatta

At the end of the weekend, the candidates were told if they had been accepted to the team or if they needed to work on some area of their lives before being considered for this type of mission. Quest is designed to be a very difficult and emotional process. We were so grateful for the help of Becky Holton who came down from the US to guide us in this event. She is the psychologist who works for Continent of Great Cities and she has been through this process with other teams before. We were amazed at the leading of the Holy Spirit in this process. All the observers agreed on the decisions that were made and felt at peace about God´s direction.

Sharing the bread and the wine

Global Mission Conference

The Global Mission Conference is held bi-annually and this October, for the first time, it will unite all major missionary-support groups with Christian Universities to become the largest mission event in the churches of Christ.
Gail and I have been invited to participate in two key discussions at this event involving missionary care: “Therapy and Missionary Care” and “The Seasoned Missionary´s Role in Missionary Care”. We are excited to help churches and missionaries better understand and commit to invest in on-going care of the ambassadors of the Gospel.
This will be the first time in many, many years that Gail and I can interact with so many missionaries, churches and missionary care people in one setting. In addition we plan to visit Gail´s mom and step-father, who recently suffered a stroke.
To do so, we are asking for your help. Costs for this trip will be $3,000. We do not have the extra funds for this investment. Your generosity over the past 31 years has never failed us and we ask once again that you help us to make this trip. Please send your funds, beyond your normal contribution, to the Prestoncrest church. Earmark the check for “Heiderichs” or “Family Institute” and specify GMC Funds.

Prestoncrest Church of Christ
12700 Preston Road
Suite 210
Dallas, TX 75230

Thank you for your love and support!!

March 2011 News

2011-04-26T17:14:00.005-03:00

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IN ATIBAIA
Leaders from all over Brazil met to learn new ways of developing healthy leaders in their churches.

The primary purpose of the FAMILY INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICA is to form healthy leaders. Leaders who are well and thriving spiritually, emotionally, psychologically and interpersonally. The result of developing leaders in this manner will be healthy, thriving churches- growing in quantity and quality. We have been searching for strategies and models that are Biblical, practical and effective to form leaders who not only have academic knowledge of God´s word, but who have also learned to live, create relationships and build character that reflect an intimate walk with the living and powerful Christ. Last year 190 church workers in 5 Brazilian cities were introduced to the “Connections” model of leadership training. Last summer Jerry spent 3 weeks being trained in this model. This year we gathered 21 influential leaders and training school teachers from around the country to spend a week immersed in the model. Robert Walter and Tod Brown presented the first two courses- “Building Healthy Leaders” and “Doing Design” of the LeaderSource material. The participation, feedback and overall experience were phenomenal. We divided up the duties of the coordinators: Robert, Tod, Bryan Gibbs and Jerry. Also, we have formed work teams with the other participants according to their area of ministry, to create Learning Exercises for their specific ministries. There is a team working on ElderLink (called Pastoreai in Portuguese), another working on the minister training schools, and a third working on marriage and family ministries. It is difficult to explain this process in a few words, but we are so excited about the possibilities for the growth of leadership in the Brazilian church and we ask for your prayers for this continued ministry.

Some of the fun we had in March!

Gary and Kathy Wolf, supporters from Prestoncrest church in Dallas, came to Brazil to visit the family of one of the exchange students they have taken in over the years. They just happened to be in a city near us and were able to come visit us for two days, worship with the Itu Church, and meet some of the people we work with here. What a blessing! Thank you Gary and Kathy for your support and encouragement. Your visit meant so much to us!

During the Leadership workshop Jerry was able to work with two of his favorite people, Tod Brown and Robert Walter. These two have taught us so much and been great friends.

Three more 24hr retreats were held during the month of March, each with 4-5 couples participating. There are now 13 couples who have been trained to conduct this event in their own congregations. This is the Marital Sabbatical retreat that we reported on last month.

The Itu church held its first women´s retreat during the first weekend in April. Gail helped conduct the group dynamics sessions. Nearly 40 women participated.
We continue to do counseling by Skype with missionaries and church leaders throughout the country.

This month we conducted our last clinical interview with the couples being considered for the Goiania team and spent many hours preparing for our first Quest seminar with that team which will be held in April. Quest is their last step in the evaluation process. The candidates will be interviewed by 6 different assessment teams. These teams will then determine, with God´s help, which couples are ready to go to the mission field. We ask for your prayers for this important process.

Many blessings on all of your who support us with your prayers and generosity. We know God is making a difference in the Brazilian church because of your vision in helping the Family Institute.

February 2011 News

2011-03-24T14:45:00.004-03:00

GOIANIA TEAM SELECTION
Five couples and one single set their sites on the city of Goiania

We are again working with Continent of Great Cities to form a Brazilian mission team to reach out to the city of Goiania in the state of Goias. This is the same state where the Federal District (Brasília) is located.
During two weeks in February we hosted the couples who are candidates for the Goiania team in our home for a day or two each in order for us to conduct clinical interviews with each of them. We had already administered a battery of psychological tests to them and Gail had scored and written reports on the results. The next step will be a seminar in April that we call Quest. During the Quest all the candidates will be together for the first time. They will each be evaluated further by a group of 13 observers (including ourselves) who will interview them about their readiness based on 14 characteristics of successful church planters. This will be the final step in the screening process and the members of the team will be selected after this seminar.
We ask for your prayers that God will select those He knows will best accomplish His goals in the city of Goiania.

Pictured:
Bryan and Becky Gibbs
João and Ina DeMarco
Gail
Marcus and Aretha Estanislau
Adão and Liliane da Silva
Luciano and Juliana dos Santos

24 HOUR MARRIAGE RETREAT

Our mentoring group is beginning this year with several “sabbatical” retreats on marriage. We began with one retreat including 5 of the 16 couples in the mentoring program. Next month these couples will conduct the same retreat in 3 groups with the rest of the mentoring couples. After all of the retreats, each of these 16 couples will be able to conduct this simple but profound retreat in their own congregations.
The retreat is a 24 hour exercise in expanding the vision for our marriages. We spend time in group discussion, couple time, and prayer considering 3 areas: looking back at what God has done, looking up to search for His guidance and looking forward to the future.
This same formula can then be used often by the couple as a way to focus and renew the marriage.

Sharing meals together during the weekend.

Family News
We were able to take a break during Carnaval for renewal and planning for the future of our ministry while taking care of a friend´s home in Florianopolis.
Angela will be finishing her masters in December and needs prayers for making it through this semester and time to study for her final exams next semester.
Kris is still in Uganda teaching and having adventures. He has rappelled off a 100 meter waterfall, rafted the head waters of the Nile and is now on a trip during spring break to the beach in Kenya. He will be in the US this summer and then return for another year in Uganda.

January 2011 News

2011-02-22T15:48:00.007-03:00

ANNUAL MISSIONARY CONFERENCE, 2011
During the week of Jan. 9-14 we gathered, as we do every year, with our fellow missionaries from Brazil and South America. The conference was held in Belo Horizonte. This year we had 30 participants to hear wonderful lessons from Randy and Rhonda Lowry. Randy is president of David Lipscomb University and a specialist in conflict resolution and mediation. Rhonda specializes em Spiritual Formation. Both of these areas play a vital role in our work with leaders and teams so this was a great time of retooling for us. The Lowry´s were a special blessing to us since we got to spend an extra day with them sharing our experiences and asking for their counsel in several areas of our ministry.

We have been doing psychological testing on 5 couples and one single woman who are being considered for the new Goiania team being recruited by Continent of Great Cities. This will be an all Brazilian team like the one we developed for the city of Brasília. Gail spent a week scoring their tests and writing reports so that we can move on to the next phase of clinical interviews with each of the couples. Jerry was busy with preparations for our mentoring group activities and the Leader Source retreat.

PARAGUAY MISSION TEAM WORKSHOP
During the last week in January we traveling to Assuncion, Paraguay for our second workshop with the team there. Last year we went to help them integrate two new families to the team. This year we went to help them add another family and say goodbye to original team members, Chris and Vickie Fry who are on their way back to the U.S. The church there now has a national leadership group and the new missionaries will be evangelizing and helping the leadership to mature until elders can be appointed.
The workshop consisted of 3 hour interviews with each of the couples, two days of team interaction, group dynamics and dealing with issues and then a final one hour session with each couple. We will be sending them our recommendations for individual and team growth based on our time together.
The Frys have told us several times how much they wish their original team had invested the time and money to have a team retreat like this every year. Keeping the members healthy and communicating well makes the work together a joy and a blessing for the kingdom.

The team in the yard behind the church building: Frys, Blackmers, Hardins, Spradlins and Yegros.

Team sculpting, to get a picture of group functioning and relationships.

Keep praying for the Leader Source Connections retreat for leadership formation, Goiania team selection, and our mentoring group.
We love each of you so much and praise God for your support and encouragement!!

December 2010 News

2011-02-22T14:24:00.010-03:00

TWO WEEKS IN CAMPO GRANDE: DECEMBER 2010

We received this letter of appreciation from Zanatta, elder at the downtown church in Campo Grande and Practical Ministry Mentor/Professor at SerCris minister training school.
1 - Classes at the Training School for Christian Service
Jerry has a very dynamic style of lecturing. He addresses deep issues with questions that lead to reflections, which seeks to simultaneously engage the students. At the same time, he teaches how to reach an understanding of the issues discussed. Jerry taught on Spiritual Formation. 
2 – Alumni Annual Meeting
The 66 participants at this meeting (December/2010) came from nine states, fourteen cities and seventeen congregations. Some students have experienced some difficult situations throughout their ministry. The students took advantage of this annual meeting to talk about some of the areas that are most important to the worker: how to deal with conflicts, disappointments, how to keep focused, and expand our vision. Jerry and Bryan Gibbs lead the talks and discussions during this three-day meeting.
3 – Leadership Retreat with seven couples from the Downtown Church
In the past three years, the leaders of this church had been going through some stress and challenges. The retreat was well conducted and couples were able to deal with difficult issues in a mature way and the result was the building of trust and the beginning of healing among everyone. God bless you all, because the churches in Brazil have been blessed by your generosity through Jerry and Gail.

Class on Spiritual Formation at SerCris School for Christian Service

Student Reunion for SerCris students past and present

Spiritual Growth Retreat for leadership of the downtown church in Campo Grande

COMMENTS:
The participants in the Spiritual Growth Retreat in Campo Grande each wrote us notes about their experience. We would like to share a few of their comments:
>I discovered that I still have a lot to learn about my wife after 40 years together.
>I was able to share with my husband all that I have been suffering and agonizing over in the past several years.
>I understand better how my wife´s past has effected her and our relationship.
>I learned how to improve my marriage and deal with my daughters.
>I realized that I was not the only one dealing with the situation in our church and I have found the courage to talk to others who may be affected.
>This retreat helped me to find God again in my heart!
>I got to know the other leaders better and feel I can support them better now in our work together.
>This retreat helped me to reestablish my identity in this body of Christians. Traumas happen in the body and they need to be treated.
>I was liberated from the guilt I was feeling about some things that have happened.
>This retreat brought me peace, comfort, clarity, direction and renewed enthusiasm for God´s work.
>I learned that I need to pay more attention to my wife.
>This time opened the door for my husband and I to talk about some things we had been avoiding.

Family News and Prayer Requests:
We were so blessed to have our kids here for 10 days at the end of December. Getting to spend Christmas together again was wonderful.
We took advantage of being on the same continent to get some family photos taken. We miss our children so much, but times like these make it easier. Angela and Joel are still in Dallas and Kris will be in Uganda until May of 2012.
Please pray for our stamina as we start this new year of work for the Lord. This first semester is full of travel and projects and we truly need your support in prayer for the following:
1. Workshop with the mission team in Paraguay.
2. New Brazilian mission team in the selection, testing and preparation stages in 2011. This team will go to the city of Goiania, Goias.
3. Mentoring group meeting once a month at our house.
4. “LeaderSource Connections” retreat for leadership formation

Heiderichs and Garners, Christmas 2010

November 2010 News

2011-01-06T14:56:00.007-02:00

Willow Creek Summit, 2010, Brazil
This year, because of the generosity of our donors, we were able to help 62 people from 11 congregations attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It was presented in cities all over Brazil so that brothers and sisters could go to a place near their homes to learn, be encouraged and challenged with new ideas and inspiring messages. We believe this event is the best opportunity each year to expand the vision of the leaders of the church here in Brazil and we are grateful for the vision of contributors who see the value of helping church workers grow and mature in Christ and as His spokespersons. All who participated were very grateful for the experience.

Participants in Cuiabá

Participants in Pres. Prudente

Participants in Recife

Participants in Natal

Participants from Itu, Butantã and Itaquera in São Paulo

Participants from Nove de Julho, SP

Participants from Rio de Janeiro

Participants from Vila Guilherme, SP

Brasília Supporters
The 2nd annual meeting of the supporters of the new Brasília team was held Nov. 11-15. Representatives of Central, Amarillo, Park Plaza, Tulsa, North Davis and Centerpoint, Dallas and Continent of Great Cities came together to encourage, report, renew goals and see what God has been being doing in Brasilia. Jerry and I worked as consultants for Continent as translators, organizers and therapists for the weekend.

The Brasília team singing for their visitors

Prayers for each of the team members, and the churches represented.

Mentoring Returns
Last weekend we had a planning meeting for a new mentoring group that will meet monthly during 2011. Twelve leadership couples met at our house for most of the day on Saturday to plan a schedule and get a taste of what this year´s project will include. We will be focusing on strengthening marriages, spiritual growth and learning new ministry skills. These influential couples represent 9 different congregations here in São Paulo and we know they will take what they learn back to their home churches and teach others.

Women's Bible Study Group
17 women from the weekly Bible study that Gail is involved in met for their year end luncheon this week. This is a Bible study that has attracted many unchurched women from Itu. Since we arrived here 2 years ago 4 of these women have become Christians. Please pray for their husbands to also see their need for God and be willing to hear His word.

That's the news for November. We pray that each of you has a wonderful Christmas and New Years surrounded by loved ones and full of the blessings of God’s spirit in your hearts and lives. We love you all and cannot tell you how much your prayers and support mean to us!!

October 2010 News

2010-11-22T14:09:00.010-02:00

Couples Retreat in Itu

Thirty-five couples from Itu and surrounding cities attended this year’s couples retreat at the Ibiqua Eco Resort in Avare, Sao Paulo. Jerry delivered 5 lessons on the Five Love Languagaes by Gary Chapman. The weekend also included group sharing sessions, a sunrise worship service and wonderful fellowship. Many of the couples were visitors and one of these has since been baptized (Roberto e Fernanda Engler). Afterwards several of the couples came to Jerry seeking counseling for their marriages. We are witnessing God’s work in the lives of these couples. If you would like to see some video testimonies about this event (in English), please go to our blog site (www.institutofamiliar.blogspot.com) and see what some of the participants had to say.

Galavanting with Gail

Gail has had two opportunities to be with sisters from around the country in the last couple of months. She taught a class on Patience at the Guarulhos,SP
congregation’s women’s retreat. Her broken ankle over the
summer really helped her prepare for this!
The first week in October, Gail was blessed to participate in the third Continent Care Connection held in Marisias, SP and sponsored by Continent of Great Cities. A team of 17 American sisters came to teach, counsel, and encourage 41 missionary women from seven Latin American countries. It is so encouraging for us to be able to spend a week with women who understand what we are going though and who can help us become stronger spiritually and emotionally. It gives us motivation and resilience for doing God´s work. Thanks to anyone out there who helped support the CCC this year.

My sharing group at the CCC, they taught me so much!

The 17 incredible women who served us and loved on us.

Three New National Teams
In August we began planning and screening for several new Brazilian mission teams. We serve as consultants for Continent of Great Cities in this effort. Our job is to do the screening, testing and relationship development of the couples who are being recruited and trained. At this time we have 3 possible sites for new teams. One will be a completely new work and the other two will be helping churches that already have great buildings and locations and have a desire for revival and new growth. Please pray with us that God will send to us those he has prepared for this work.

New Elders Selected for Itu Church

Four new elders were selected to serve at the Itu Church along with the four who already serve here. Bryan Gibbs, Edson Delgado, Adão da Silva and Luiz Barros were called out by the congregation to help shepherd the flock alongside Antenor Gonçalves, Zezo Camargo, Sérgio Guazzelli and Durvalino Rossi. We are excited to see more men taking on the sacred responsibility of eldership.

BIG MAC ATTACK!

The British magazine, The Economist, has developed an informal way of gauging the purchasing-power parity of the US dollar. Since 1996 they have been gauging a country’s currency as super-valued or under-valued, as compared to the dollar, based on the price of a Big Mac. Because the Big Mac is basically the same product, sold in 120 countries, it is used as the basis for their “index”. The average price for a Big Mac in the US is a bit over three bucks. Guess what? The average Big Mac in Brazil costs nearly US$ 5.50, loosing out to only Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. So, for those of us who get our funds in dollars, they don’t go very far.
To keep our continent-wide (twice the size of the US) ministry reaching into the lives of leadership couples and church-planting teams we ask that you prayerfully consider an end of the year gift to the Family Institute of Latin America.

Testimonies about the Itu Marriage Retreat

2010-11-19T13:37:00.002-02:00

Adão (new elder at Itu church) and his wife Lili, tell about their experience at the Itu Marriage Retreat

Renato and Denise talk about how the marriage retreat has renewed their life together.

September 2010 News

2010-10-21T10:51:00.005-02:00

SPIRITUAL GROWTH RETREAT--SÃO PAULO

In his book “Pastors at Risk” H B London reports results from a Fuller Theological Seminary study about the challenges of ministry: 80% of ministers believe that it has negatively affected their family, one-third report it has ended or nearly ended their marriage, 70% say their self-esteem was negatively affected by ministry, one-third involved themselves in inappropriate relationships with a church member, and 70% regret not having a close, intimate friend to share with.
For the past 20 years our mission has focused on meeting these challenges with ministry couples. “Spiritual Renewal Retreats” have been a powerful antidote for hundreds of missionary and leadership couples. An environment is created where each participant can commune with God, with their spouse and with other workers in ways more profound and transformational than they have experienced before.
We also “gift” them with the best books available on self-care and renewal, marriage, and mentoring relationships. During the last third of each 4-day retreat we emphasize the importance of an on-going commitment to the practices and supportive relationships gained. Each couple schedules regular meetings with others from the group and shares their commitment to make one major personal change.

TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE...

Usually we can handle only 5 couples at one of these retreats and still give the personal attention everyone deserves. This time Antenor and Phyllis Gonçalves partnered with us on the group work and individual counseling sessions. We were able to invite 9 couples! We thank the Gonçalves for their servant hearts and their invaluable help. We are always praying for more talented couples to help us in this ministry to the ministers. We are seeking couples like the Gonçalves in each region of Brazil.

FEEDBACK!!

Thank you so much for these wonderful moments together. After this retreat, we are not the same people. We are encouraged and confident to really serve the Kingdom as a family. God bless your lives. Alisson and Nívia

This retreat was a response to prayer for us. We had not had a break in 4 years of ministry. We were able to stop and make some important decisions about our future. We thank God for this time of renovation. Flávio and Fernanda

This retreat was a spiritual renewal for us. We have decided to have family and individual devotional times. I have plans to meet twice a month with two of the other brothers from this retreat. Thanks so much! Genildo and Mariluci

We love what we do, but I often get so busy doing it that I fail to take a step back and wait on God´s direction. I am carving out more time to be alone with God now. Mark and Alice

We were profoundly transformed by hearing everyone´s life stories. I think we will now talk about our lives before and after this retreat. João and Ina

As full time workers, we can easily miss the most important part of our ministry, that is, the Lord of our ministry. This retreat helped us to remember HIM. This was the first time in 2 and a half years that we have been alone with out our kids. Joncilei and Kária

This retreat was a real spiritual revival, we left so encouraged, blessed and full of energy to keep going with our ministry. We learned we need time to stop and recharge our batteries. We really see how God is working in our lives. Luciano and Juliana

This week has helped me to make some important decisions about my ministry. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am seeing ministry in a new way. Shebas and Sandra

This retreat showed us that we can make changes in our busy life. We were challenged to walk in God´s presence, seek peace in our relationships and listen to the stories of our brothers and sisters. Valter and Edna

PRAYERS

Pray for these couples as they impact the kingdom.
Pray for Gail´s health.
Pray for more people to help us with this ministry to church leaders.
Pray for our travel to Brasilia, Niteroi and Campo Grande in the next few months.
Pray for the new Brazilian Mission team we are beginning to form.
Pray for our family as we are living on 3 continents.

August 2010 News

2010-10-14T10:21:00.004-03:00

Elder Link comes to Brazil

Presenters from the US: Charles and Judy Siburt, Randy Harris, Roland Orr, Jim and Lana Trietsch and David and Jeanne Wray. Coordinators of the event in Brazil: Bryan and Becky Gibbs, Jerry and Gail Heiderich, João and Ina de Marco, Alaor and Miriam Leite, Antonio and Lucimar Ferreira, Valentim and Leila Zanatta, and Antenor and Phyllis Gonçalves.

Thanks to all who made it possible!!

For the past 10 years the Elder Link ministry has been equipping, encouraging and linking those who serve as leaders in Churches of Christ. This means that not only elders, but also ministers, deacons, ministry leaders and spouses have taken advantage of an opportunity to improve their leadership skills and experience much-needed spiritual refreshment.

During the weekend of August 6-7, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Elder Link was held outside of the US. Thirty-seven couples and one single, including 14 Elders, 17 Ministers, and 7 Missionaries came from every corner of the country; 18 cities and 13 states were represented, including 2 families from Santiago, Chile.

In the fifty-year history of the churches of Christ in Brazil, this was the first such event aimed specifically for elders, ministers who work with elders and those preparing to become elders, and their wives.

This ministry, headed up by Bryan and Becky Gibbs, along with 6 other couples, most of whom serve as elders, have spent more than a year planning and organizing this special weekend. Our goal is to encourage more churches to select elders and more mature men to aspire to be elders.

Immediately after the retreat, 20 couples, representatives from each region of the country, stayed for a one-day planning and preparation meeting for “Pastoreai” the Brazilian equivalent of Elder Link which will begin next year. Four “Pastoreai” events will take place in Brasilia, Recife, Sao Paulo and Curitiba.

Brazil will be impacted for years to come because of your vision, support and commitment to the development of healthy and vibrant leadership for the congregations here. We pass on gratitude and brotherly love from all those who participated and wanted to express their excitement to you through us.

Jerry translating for Randy Harris

The participation and reaction of those who attended was enthusiastic. Here are some responses:

The church in Brazil is 50 years old and Elder Link gave us one more secure step toward the maturity of the church.
Encouraging! Stimulating! Those who are already elders were encouraged in their work. Those who aspire to be elders were stimulated to serve. Everyone was impacted by the challenging lessons.
The elder link experience was a landmark. An historical event for the leadership of the church in Brazil. This is a movement that requires bold decisions from visionary people.

Here are the 75 participants from the Elder Link retreat.

Family News and Prayer Needs:
Angela began her 5th year of teaching Spanish and is taking 2 classes toward her master´s degree in Modern Languages.
Kristofer was invited at the last minute to teach at Heritage International School in Kampala, Uganda. He had only two weeks notice and got there a week after school started. He needs your prayers as this is his first year of teaching and in another country. He has now lived on 4 different continents.
Gail has recovered from her broken ankle. Jerry had pneumonia and Gail had bronchitis after returning to Brazil from furlough, but both are feeling much better now. Please pray for us to stay well.
Kris and Angela and Joel are all coming here for Christmas! We are feeling so blessed that we will have the family all together for a few days.

Kris visiting his friend, Joseph, who is a driver at the school. He spent the weekend with Joseph´s family in a village about 3 hours from Kampala.

July 2010 News

2010-09-08T11:27:00.004-03:00

Acappella Draws 3,500 to Brazilian Churches

What people said about the concert:

14 people came from the neighborhood into our building for the first time. These are people who would not normally come into a church building.
Many people were impressed by the group and the way the church members worked to serve during the concert. They will be back.
The church in Recife has an outreach to street people. Acappella sang especially for them one day and the next week there was a huge turn out to help with the food distribution.
Young people were especially impressed by how exciting a cappella singing can be and invited their friends to the concert and to church.

Acappella has a mission to bring new people into the churches in Brazil and help those churches grow. They want people to get to know the church of Christ and to get excited about a cappella singing. This years’ 7 city tour was the culmination of a year of collaboration between Jerry, Acappella ministries and churches throughout Brazil. Acappella sang at 6 churches and did one commercially promoted concert in Sao Paulo. Jerry coordinated the 6 concerts in the churches and accompanied them to Brasilia and Manaus where he served as translator for the group.
Every church was excited about the greater visibility that the church received and all of them had stories about people whose lives were touched by the music, the lyrics (which were projected in Portuguese) and the servant spirit of the members of the group. We are thrilled to have helped make this happen in 3 churches last year and 6 this year. We pray that next year will bring even more people to hear God’s word in song.

Stats from the Acappella Tour 2010

Belo Horizonte: 342 for worship and 323 for the concert.
Fortaleza: 340 at concert
Brasília: 327 at first concert and 360 at the second
Curitiba: 506 at concert
Manaus: 350 for worship and 600 for the concert
Recife: 360 for concert
São Paulo: 6000 at promoted event

May/June 2010 NEWS

2010-07-12T18:23:00.010-03:00

Furlough and Futebol (soccer)

Prestoncrest Church Staff

The month of May was a whirlwind of team building retreats. We were able to serve and minister to our supporters with one of the ministries we perform on the field with teams and church staffs. We conducted one-day team-building workshops with the Acappella group, Continent of Great Cities staff and the staff of our supporting congregation, Prestoncrest. We also spent a week with another of our supporting congregations in La Mesa, CA working with their elders and ministers. The main focus of these workshops is to help them cooperate in self-discovery dynamics and trust- building exercises. Seeing each other as real people increases greatly their ability to work effectively as a team.

ACAPPELLA

CONTINENT OF GREAT CITIES STAFF

LEADERS OF LA MESA, CA, CHURCH

We were glued to the TV during the world cup games rooting for our two countries. Unfortunately, they were both sent home before the finals. We will be ready for 2014 in Brazil!

During the World Cup of Soccer, we cheered for the U.S. and Brazil....then we cried.

Furlough Events

1. Though she could not walk with them because of her ankle, Gail went to encourage her brother´s family on their annual walk for ALS, the disease that took her Father, Bob Walter.

2. Gail made it to Kristofer´s graduation! We are so proud of him! Thanks for all the prayers that got Gail through the surgery and the trip to the US.

3 and 4. Gail began her Furlough time in a wheel chair and those electric carts in the stores. But by the end of furlough she was walking with just the boot for support.

5. We were blessed to attend a retreat for missionaries sponsored by Missions Resource Network. It was a wonderful time of worship, sharing and renewal with other current and ex-missionaries.

We love all of you and enjoyed getting to see many of you during our time in the US.

April 2010 News

2010-05-06T13:24:00.004-03:00

Furlough: Blessings and Challenges

As many of you know, Jerry has been in the US for almost 6 weeks now. The first two weeks were spent guiding the Antunes and Borges families around Texas to visit the churches that support the work in Brasilia, thanking those brothers and sisters and learning from them valuable lessons about growing healthy churches. It was a mutual blessing for Jerry, the two families and the churches they visited. Then Jerry went to Elkhart, IN, to take a 3-week course on leadership development through LeaderSource (class pictured above). He has said this is the best method for leadership growth he has ever seen and was thrilled to be able to learn so much that he can take back to the churches in Brazil. Jerry is now in Dallas preparing for furlough events in the next two months and waiting anxiously for Gail.

Gail is still in Brazil!

Gail was supposed to travel to the US to meet Jerry on April 30, however, she fell on the 27th and broke her ankle. Surgery to put a pin in the fracture and realign the bones is scheduled for May 4th if we get approval from the insurance company. We are not sure yet when she will be able to travel to the US. The big disappointment is that she may miss Kristofer’s graduation from ACU on Saturday, May 8.
When she does get to the US she will be on crutches for at least 45 days and we have so much work scheduled for these two months of furlough!
This is going to be a challenge for us, but we know God is in control and we are trusting him to guide us through.

Lunch with friends in Itu. So many people have been helping Gail

What to put on your prayer list

1. That Gail´s surgery will be successful.
2. That Gail will be able to travel soon and make graduation and if not, that she will feel peace about missing it.
3. That God will bless our furlough. We will be conducting several relationship workshops with our supporters.

Many thanks to everyone who has sent prayers and encouragement to us during this time. We are truly blessed to have you as friends!

March 2010 News

2010-03-31T13:32:00.010-03:00

Team Building Workshop: Asuncion, Paraguay

During March 6-12, we conducted a team-building workshop with the Asuncion, Paraguay mission team. This team has been on the field for almost 7 years and just purchased their own building. They have a group of about 90 wonderful Christians meeting there.
The team asked us to come help them because they are in a period of transition. Several of the original team members have left and new ones have come, others are in the process of leaving and still others may be returning. Quite an upheaval! The team needed some help regrouping and finding some direction for their next phase of work.

We throughly enjoyed getting to meet and share with the Frys, Hardins, Blackmers and Spradlins and we know God will use them powerfully in the years to come.
After the workshop, Gail stayed for the Come Before Winter retreat to be held nearby the next week. During the weekend she participated in a women´s day where Sharla Marcum of Ecuador spoke. She does not speak Spanish, but was able to understand most of what went on. The Paraguayans were willing to try to understand her English and Portuguese and speak to her in those languages. What a privilege to be able to meet and worship with so many different people throughout Latin American.

Come Before Winter,
Paraguay,March, 2010

Above is pictured the Come Before Winter cloak which has now been to 19 renewals all over the world. Each country adds its own flare to the cloak before it is passed on to the next place. Gail was blessed to participate in this the third renewal in Latin America. 28 missionary women, including American and national workers attended the 5 day event. The week consisted of the study of Psalm 103, worship, prayer and fellowship. This is one of the events that keeps missionary women healthy and growing while serving on the field. We thank all of you who contribute to the CBW ministry and the special women who came here to minister to us.

Preparing for Elders in Brasília

While Gail was still in Paraguay, Jerry and Bryan Gibbs made a trip to Brasília for one more step in the maturation process of that church. They met with the leaders, evangelists and the whole church to begin discussing the development and selection of elders. The two families pictured on the right above, along with Ron Prater, have been leading the congregation for the past several years. As a continuation of this search for church maturation, the Borges and Antunes are now traveling with Jerry in the US for the next two weeks. They are meeting with the congregations and elders of the churches that support the Brasília work. Their goal is to personally thank these brothers and sisters for their sacrifice for the church in Brasília and to glean as much knowledge and insight as they can about how elderships function and serve. Their itinerary is laid out below. Before they all left, Jerry and Bryan helped the Brasília congregation to understand their mission in the US and to bless their trip. Jerry is serving as their translator, guide and mentor.

Trip Itinerary for Jerry, Borges and Antunes:

March 26-29: Park Plaza in Tulsa, OK
March 30-31: Central in Amarillo, TX
April 1: Abilene, TX
April 2-4: North Davis and Turnpike in Arlington, TX
April 5: Prestoncrest and Continent of Great Cities in Dallas, TX
April 6: McGehee Foundation in Jacksonville, FL

Furlough Plans!
Jerry is already in the US touring with the Brasília leaders. After that whirl wind trip he will be headed to Indiana for a 3 week course in leadership development at the headquarters of Strategic Global Assistance. This is the group that he toured Brazil with in December.

Gail is still in Brazil working on taxes, reports and a whole list of other administrative jobs!

She will be joining Jerry in the states on May 1. Kristofer will be graduating from ACU on May 8th and then we will begin furlough activities which include visiting as many of our supporting churches and individual sponsors as possible in two month’s time. We will be in the US during May and June.

Please give us a call so we can catch up! Our cell number in the states is: 214-460-7370.

Thank you all for your love and inspiration. God is growing his church through strong leadership families!

February 2010 News

2010-03-04T16:08:00.005-03:00

Discovering Gifts in Brasília

Early this month we returned to our beloved Brasília to help them through one more step in their maturation process. This time we conducted a seminar on Finding your Gifts. 65 members participated in the 2 day event which consisted of group study of the passages on gifts in the Bible, a questionnaire on finding your gift, listing and sharing of talents, and plenty of fellowship. Jerry and Bryan will be returning to Brasília again in March for the next step which is helping the congregation choose deacons and elders.
God is truly blessing this congregation with renewed growth and maturity.

Teamwork in Niteroi

The Niteroi Mission Team

This month we were blessed to spend a week in steamy hot Niteroi (accross the bay from Rio de Janeiro) with the new American mission team in that city. They have been there a little over a year now and will celebrate their first public worship service on March 7. The team invited us to assist them with a team building workshop which is very good strategy. After a year of working together, there are always issues that need to be dealt with and relationships that need renewing. We congratulate this very talented team for its foresight and desire to keep healthy as they work together for the Lord.

Human Sculpting of team relationships during the team building workshop.

During these workshops we spend at least 4 hours with each couple encouraging them in their individual and marital needs. We also spend 2-3 days with the entire team working on relationship building, trust building and specific team issues. 55 hours in 5 days!
We are so grateful for the opportunity to be involved in the lives of so many wonderful, dedicated servants.

Worship in the nearly finished auditorium that will be inaugurated with the first service open to the pubic on March 7.

Elder Link Plans Underway

The ElderLink organizing committee met this month to continue plans for the event that will gather all current and future elders here in Brazil. The event will be held in August of this year and will count on initial help from the men who conduct Elder Link in the US.
Attendees will include elders, ministers, deacons and wives from every corner of Brazil. We plan to make this a yearly, regional event with Brazilians planning and conducting in each region of the country.
Please continue to pray for the success of this event and for God to raise up men who are prepared to serve His church as servant elders.

Acappella Update

Jerry is promoting Acappella’s tour of Brazil this coming summer. They will be performing in 7 cities, mostly in church buildings. They want to edify our brothers and sisters and help them reach out to their communities.

This past weekend we went to Curitiba to meet with the leaders of the church. We helped them map out a strategy for reaching the community with the news of the Acappella concert to be held there on July 30. We gave them ideas on how to advertise, organize the concert and use it as a tool for evangelism. It was good to go back to Curitiba and see the brothers and sisters we left a year and a half ago.

Acappella will be blessing these cities in July and August!
Brasília
Manaus
Recife
Belo Horizonte
Curitiba
Fortaleza
São Paulo

News and Prayer Requests

Jerry and Bryan Gibbs are working on several projects together for Continent of Great Cities: Elder Link, new national mission team, and appointing elders in Brasília.

Tomorrow we will be traveling to do a team building workshop with the Asuncion, Paraguay mission team. Gail will stay another week there to attend the Come Before Winter women´s renewal.
At the end of March Jerry will be traveling to the US in the company of two of the leaders from the Brasilia church and their families to visit the churches that support the work there.
In May and June we will be on furlough in the US. We hope to get to see you!!!

Pray for us!!
Elder Link in Brazil.
Plans and success of Acappella tour.
Workshop with Acunsion Team.
Jerry´s trip with the Brasilia leaders to the US in April.
Our furlough in May and June.
Candidates for a new national mission team.

January 2010 News

2010-01-27T15:39:00.014-02:00

Beginning 2010 with Friends

Praying for one another at the January 2010 Missionary Conference in Salvador, Bahia.

We are blessed here in Brazil to be able to begin every new year with a week-long conference together with our fellow missionaries from around the country. This is a time to learn, share and focus on what God has done in the past year and will do through us in the new year. 2010 began in Salvador, Bahia, where we had some wonderful lessons on intimacy with God from Jim and Susan Clark of Abilene, TX. This conference is so important to us that we have missed only a handful over the past 30 years. Jerry is responsible for inviting the speakers for next year’s conference. We are so grateful to the teams who plan and host this event each year (we take turns) and to the brothers and sisters from the US who come to feed us with the wisdom God has given them.

Jim and Susan Clark open the gift we gave them for being our speakers this year.

Retrospective of 2009

January: Send off for the Brasilia Mission Team.
Class on Relationships and Team Dynamics for Mexico City team at Baxter Institute in Honduras

February: Reach Brazil Retreat in Atibaia for developing leaders and vision for the church in Brazil. 60 leaders from around Brazil.

March: Church Staff development, using the DISC method, in four major cities: Rio, Belo Horizonte, São Paulo and Brasilia.

April: Retreat to create Church Vision and Mission Statement in Brasilia. Coaching and Mentoring the team and the leadership.

May: Third Team Workshop with the Salvador Mission Team.
Trip to US to begin preparations to bring ElderLink to Brazil

June: Therapy Supervision Group met monthly. 8 couples from 6 congregations who work to strengthen couples and families.
Kristofer´s internship began with a Bi-lingual camp.

July: Itu church building inauguration.
Medical Campaign reached 742 needy people.
Visit from Max Lucado to launch new book and performance by Acappella

August: Leadership development at São Bernardo church in Campinas.
Priorities seminar at Guanabara church in Campinas.
Mentoring/Coaching trip to Brasilia

September: Kris returns to Abilene.
Began our 30th year as missionaries in Brazil: Brasilia, Curitiba, Itu and all over the country training and mentoring leaders.

October: Spiritual Renewal Retreat for leaders and Marriage Encounter for 55 couples in Fortaleza.
Marriage Retreat in Itu.

November: 51 men and women from all over the country attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit.
Brasilia Supporters Gathering
Leadership Retreat at Victory Church in Rio.

December: Leadership Training Seminar in 5 cities, 184 elders, deacons and evangelists. Follow-up to Reach Brazil Retreat.

2009 was fantastic!!

God led us to many wonderful places and people this past year. It was a blessing to see the Brasília Team launch its work in the capitol of this great country. They have been there for a year now and the church is growing. House groups have been formed and 13 baptisms. We feel so grateful to have been a vital part of their selection, training and mentoring.
Having Kristofer spend his summer here working with us and the Itu church was a dream come true for us and we know it was a life changing experience for him.
This past year we saw FILA’s vision for leadership growth and development take a major leap forward with several nationwide events to stimulate and motivate our brothers and sisters to take up the lead in Brazilian churches.

2010 will be Great!

We are looking forward to continuing with team formation and leadership training this year.
We are currently deciding on a new location to send a new Brazilian mission team. We will be starting at the beginning with recruiting, training and mentoring this new team.
Leadership training will continue with ElderLink in August. We look forward to encouraging all the current elders in Brazil and motivating other leaders to prepare for this service.
We will also be taking our furlough this year in May and June. We can´t wait to see all of you and be able to tell you in person of God’s work through the Family Institute.

Some Family News

Angela and Joel
Our daughter and son-in-law have been married now for 2.5 years. Angela is finishing her fourth year of teaching Spanish at an all girls school in Dallas and working on her MA in modern languages and literature with an emphasis in Spanish. Joel is an electrical engineer and works for National Instruments. We miss our kids so much but are very thankful for the ease of internet communication.

Kristofer
Kris is in his last semester at ACU and doing his student teaching in English at Abilene Christian High. He will be graduating in May. We ask for your prayers for him as he decides what the future holds for him after graduation.

Jerry and Gail
We have a busy few months planned before furlough and we need your prayers for health and energy. God bless each one of you and thank you for your prayers, your support and your love.

December 2009 News

2009-12-30T18:14:00.013-02:00

Five City Leadership Training Tour

Tod Brown, Ricardo Sobral and Robert Walter

Tod Brown and Jerry

6,500 miles. Five cities in 12 days. 184 elders, deacons and evangelists representing 13 states, 39 cities and 56 congregations. This was the scope of the recent event organized by Jerry, sponsored by Tod Brown of Midland, Tx and conducted by Robert Walter of Strategic Global Assistance. SGA offers a practical, holistic approach to leadership training emphasizing context to enhance content. The Biblical model shows that the content we learn must be presented in a context that is relational, spiritual and experiential. One-day seminars were conducted in each of five cities except for Campo Grande where a week-long program included World Cafe Bible studies and group dynamics conducted by Tod and Jerry. Robert joined the two in Sorocaba and mentored and traveled with them to Belo Horizonte, João Pessoa and Fortaleza. Leaders were excited about this new focus for training which includes, but does not rely solely upon, classroom teaching. This is the best leadership training model we have come upon!

Group work in Campo Grande

Applying Lessons in Sorocaba

We wanted to share some of the comments we received about the seminar:
"The group dynamics will encourage our congregation to be more involved in each other´s lives."
"This new vision for leadership development is less academic and more practical."
"I learned the importance of not trying to work alone. I need others."
"We need to develop character not just competencies. Our connection to Christ is the priority."
"I can use this model in my personal, marital and family life too."
"Jesus is the model for leadership development. He used this model to train the disciples."
"I am 50 years old and have been a Christian for 26 years and this is the first time I’ve seen leadership training done this way!"

Praying for one another in Campo Grande

Participants in Belo Horizonte

Blessing in João Pessoa

Participants in Fortaleza

Leaders and Evangelists in Campo Grande

Plans to bring ElderLink to Brazil in 2010

Brazil has an estimated 200 Churches of Christ. Of these only 14 have established elderships. One of our objectives is to increase the number of elders and elderships in this country over the next 10 years. The group of servants pictured on the right met recently to dream about how this could be accomplished. This group includes elders from Recife, Campo Grande, São Paulo, and Itu along with Bryan and Becky Gibbs, who called the group together. The first step in our plan is to bring ElderLink to Brazil in August of 2010. Lead by Charles Siburt and David Wray, Elderlink’s mission is to equip, encourage and promote communion between church leaders. Many of these leaders are isolated, tired and unsure about the responsibilities of their role. Our hope is that teams of elders and evangelists can be formed out of this first seminar. These teams will then make ElderLink into a Brazilian ministry and take it to churches in all the regions of the country. We ask that you pray for us in this endeavor to strengthen the churches in Brazil with strong, sustainable leadership.

Training group for New National Mission Team

Our second big project for 2010, as consultants for Continent of Great Cities Ministry, will be to recruit and train another national mission team. We are so thankful for the success of the Brasilia team! God is doing great things in that city. Now it is time to start over with another city and team. Our training team, pictured to the left met last week to brainstorm about possible cities and personnel for this new endeavor. (Valentim and Leila Zanatta, Bryan and Becky Gibbs, Alaor and Miriam Leite and the Heiderichs) We will let you know soon where the new team will be going. Please pray with us that God will direct us to the field He has ready for harvest and to the people he has prepared to work the field.

Happy New Year to each of you!!
All our love and best wishes!!

November 2009 News

2009-12-07T15:05:00.007-02:00

Continent Care
Connection
13 servants devoted to missionary care, keeping those who serve Brazil healthy.

In October, a team of 13 men from the US came to Brazil to minister to missionary men. The retreat was sponsored by the Continent of Great Cities ministry. Jerry spent a week with these men and 42 of his fellow missionaries at a retreat designed to help these hardworking men rest, refresh and renew in the Lord.

The entire group was blessed with classes, group discussion and prayer, counseling opportunities and sports activities.

Therapy
Supervision

Our supervision group included 8 couples from 5 different churches who work with couples and families. We met once a month this year to study cases and learn more about helping families let God influence their lives. We had our last meeting for 2009 on November 7. We plan to continue this equipping ministry next year.

Leadership Summit

This year we received a generous donation to pay for leaders throughout Brazil to attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. The Summit was exhibited in 17 cities and we were able to send 51 men and women to experience this life changing event. The Summit has expanded our vision of leadership, given us new ideas for motivating our congregations and shown us that God is capable of much more than we can imagine! We have received thanks from brothers and sisters all over Brazil for this opportunity.

Brasília Supporters Gather

Representatives of each of the 4, US supporting churches of the Brasília project gathered in Brasília October 10-13 to visit their missionaries and see for themselves what God has been doing in the capital. Jerry and Gail and Bryan and Becky Gibbs were there to help with translation and to give an overall view of the whole project up to now. We were privileged to witness reports, videos and musical presentations by the three couples on the team and to hear from each of the two leaders of the congregation about the progress of the new team and the church. What a blessing on Sunday to see the birth of one more new Christian, another man placing membership and to hear the congregational chorus sing. We are so excited about what God is doing in our beloved Brasília!!

Leaders Retreat in Rio de Janeiro

Júlio Cesar, José Luis and Sergio: Elders at the Victory Church

We spent the weekend of Oct. 16-19 with the Victory church in Rio de Janeiro. Friday night and Saturday were devoted to a group dynamics workshop with the elders and staff of the congregation. This was our second time to work with this group. The elders, pictured at the left, have been working together since January and are to be commended for calling us in to help them learn to lead this wonderful congregation. On Sunday, Jerry preached for the congregation and we were able to spend some one on one time with several couples in the church.

Elders and evangelists investing in team relationships

Brothers and sisters in worship at the Victory congregation.

Blessings on each of you during this holiday season. Thank you for your continued faithfulness in praying for our ministry and supporting us financially. We cannot thank God enough for allowing us to serve the men and women who lead His great church here in Brazil.
Jerry is on a 12 day trip to 5 cities right now. He is working with Tod Brown and Robert Walter presenting leadership workshops for 150 elders, deacons and preachers. We ask that you keep him in your prayers.

October 2009 News

2009-11-12T16:22:00.014-02:00

2 Events in one Trip: Fortaleza
We recently spent two weeks in Fortaleza in the northeast of Brazil, where we lead two retreats. The first was a spiritual renewal retreat for church leaders in the region. 6 couples, representing 4 congregations, spent 3 days with us in study, meditation, counseling and fellowship with the goal of strengthening their spiritual lives so that they can sustain their leadership in the local churches where they serve. You can read their comments on this page.

David and Babi Ingram, our hosts for the two retreats.

The second retreat was a marriage encounter with 55 couples from the area churches. We spent 3 1/2 days together. Jerry taught 8 classes and Gail taught 2 for just the women. They blessed us with their enthusiasm for keeping their marriages strong. We had a romantic night with declarations of love and a talent show where we were roasted as part of the entertainment.
This was our first time to work with the churches in Fortaleza and we hope to be able to return in the future.

Lima and Fátima: this time of revival was wonderful.
It brought my wife and I closer together.

Valter and Lindalva: we want to thank those who sponsered this retreat, God bless you more and more.

Charles and Emanoela: this was the best retreat we have ever participated in because it focused on our personal needs. We felt very loved.

Jonny and Simone: this retreat was an answer from God. We love serving the Lord, but it takes its toll on our family. This retreat was an oasis in our journey.

Josemar and Lenira: we are thankful for this time of learning, reviewing our values, meditation on scripture and strengthening of our vision.

Fortaleza marriage retreat with 55 couples.

Strengthening couples in Itu
This time we were close to home at a wonderful retreat center in the interior of São Paulo. Luciano and Juliana are the couple responsible for the marriage ministry at the Itu church. They planned a fun-filled weekend and asked Jerry to lead the class times. Several visiting couples and non-Christian spouses participated in the event and said they were blessed by what they heard and experienced.

28 couples from several churches in the region around Itu participated in this year´s couples retreat

All were blessed by Jerry´s classes and the wonderful fellowship.

A beautiful setting for the retreat.

Prayers for Health as we travel

Jerry spent the months of September and October with quite a bit of pain in his knees and feet. He is having difficulty with pain and swelling in his joints. He was barely able to walk at all three of the above retreats. Right now he is better but still having difficulty from time to time. Our travel schedule does not allow for much rest time so we need to take very good care of ourselves. We are exercising and eating healthily, but we need prayers for God´s intervention. Getting old is no fun, but there is still much work to be done.
The main focus of our ministry is caring for those who are leading our churches. We hope you will pray with us for leaders who are able to sustain their ministries over the long haul.

We are looking at spending our first Christmas in Brazil without our kids close by. This won´t be easy!! We ask you to keep us in your prayers during the holidays. Pray that God will bless us with brothers and sisters here to be our family.
We also ask for your prayers for our financial needs. The dollar has lost 25% of its value here this year which means that our money does not go as far as it once did. We are so grateful for each one of you who contribute to our mission. You are a blessing!!

September 2009 News

2009-10-06T15:19:00.013-03:00

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

2009-09-14T14:01:00.015-03:00

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

2009-08-13T14:54:00.008-03:00

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

2009-07-09T14:26:00.008-03:00

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

2009-05-28T14:18:00.007-03:00

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

2009-04-27T16:45:00.010-03:00

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

2009-04-16T16:51:00.007-03:00

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!

February 2009 News

2009-02-23T16:05:00.007-03:00

Raising up Leaders

Participants from the Reach Brazil Retreat

Jerry spent a week in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in January at the Baxter Institute where he taught a class on Interpersonal Relationships and Team Dynamics to a new team of Spanish speaking missionaries, from 3 different countries, who will be moving to Mexico City to begin a new church. It was quite a challenge for him to present material that he has only in Portuguese while speaking English and being translated into Spanish by Calvin Henry of Continent of Great Cities.

Team from Baxter Institute preparing to evangelize Mexico City

After months of preparation the Reach Brazil retreat was held in Atibaia, SP from the 5-8 of February.
30 influential couples from every corner and region of Brazil.
60 (49 Brazilians) disciples, including missionaries, deacons, preachers, businessmen, elders and entrepreneurs representing: 16 States, 21 cities, 26 different congregations.
This event was a dream come true- many years in the making. It began three years ago during discussions with Dale Brown, of Golf Course Road church in Midland, Texas. It was soon apparent that we shared many of the same dreams and passion about developing leaders, planting new churches, and expanding the Kingdom in Brazil. Challenging and expanding the vision of Brazilian leaders was our main goal. Later we connected with his son, Tod, and Bryan Gibbs of Continent of Great Cities.
The three-day event included no lectures. Instead, Tod facilitated our communion using the “World Café” dynamic in which everyone participates and contributes equally. The openness and involvement of everyone was amazing to experience. This may have been the most important and transformational retreat we have sponsored in 29 years of ministry in Brazil. Every participant reported that it was a remarkable time of authentic communion, prayer, Bible sharing and visioning for the future of the church in Brazil.

Bible study using the World Café dynamic

Catch up News—We wanted to catch you up on what we have been involved in here in Itu over the past several months.
Kris got here in time to help with the food distribution that this church promotes every December to help out poor families in the area. 172 families came to pick up their food and hear a message about God’s grace. Kris also helped out with directing a play put on by the youth during the Christmas program. Kris plans to come back to Itu this summer to help out his parents and to work with the youth ministry.

The Itu congregation distributed 172 baskets of food to the poor at Christmas. (Kris & Gail)

Itu Christmas program

In January, the missionaries here in Itu hosted the annual Missionary Conference. Don McLaughlin from Atlanta brought us some inspiring lessons from the book of Hebrews. We loved getting to share with our fellow missionaries from all over Brazil and some from Paraguay and Chile. During the conference Jerry recorded two TV programs with F.H. Gates and Antenor Gonçalves, who have a weekly, nation-wide program shown here on Saturday evening. You can view the programs online at www.igrejadecristo.com. Jerry was on the Jan. 24 and Jan. 31 programs talking about marriage and raising children. “Open Your Bible” registered 72,000 responses and 82 baptisms in the first year of broadcasting.

Missionary Conference in Itu

Jerry on the TV program Open your Bible

We led a couple’s retreat at the Guanabara congregation in nearby Campinas the last day of January. 16 couples participated. The next week Jerry gave a Bible study for the young professionals group where several visitors were present. When we are home in Itu we want to be used by the church here as much as possible. We are happy to be able to share in the work being done in this dedicated community of believers.

Prayers: All our love and prayers go out to each one of you during this challenging time. Some of our supporting churches have cut back on their contributions because of the economic crisis. We ask you to be in prayer for us as we are for you, that God will grant us what we need to continue to do His will “whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” Phil. 4:12. For we know the secret of being content.

January 2009 News

2009-01-21T12:04:00.008-02:00

Friends and Family day for the Brasília Team

Otávio’s mother was baptized at Friends and Family Day.

The Brasília Team is on their way to their new home. They each have found an apartment and are in the process of making their move to Brazil’s capitol where their training will continue with teachers from CGC and the Family Institute. Before their departure, we invited them and their friends and families to a special goodbye party at the Ninth of July church in São Paulo. In 30 years of ministry, this one is among the most memorable weekends we have experienced. This is the first Brazilian team recruited by CGC. It was the first "Friends and Family" workshop for a mission team in Brazil. This inspiring Saturday included testemonies from Bryan and Jacqueline Bost and Maria Dutton, long term missionaries and mentors to many on the field. They shared their inspiring stories- of faith, courage, defeats, rejection and discouragement, victory, changed lives, churches begun, and families and supporters who sacrificed and tenaciously supported them. António and Ju Borges, from the Brasília leadership, were there to assure the parents that these three couples will be well cared for in Brasília. The team shared their dreams for the mission they feel called to embark upon. Each family unit was able to get together separately to share their love for each other, express their concerns and hopes and pray specifically for the success of each couple. The highlight of the day was the baptism of Otávio’s mother. Sunday was the “sending off” service for the team at Nove de Julho and João De Marco, one of the elders, blessed them. Jerry’s sermon challenged the church to remain focused on God’s mission in Brazil. This weekend was the culmination of months of preparation by the Family Institute for the event and more than two years of preparation of the team.

Bryan and Jacqueline Bost

Dona Maria Dutton

Here are some of the team’s thoughts after the event. God gave us a great gift when my mother decided to give herself to Jesus. I have been praying for her and studying the word with her for 15 years. On this day I witnessed the baptism I have most wanted to see. God presented me with the joy of going into the fields to find the lost knowing that my mother is no longer among them.

Families and Friends of the Brasília Team

This weekend helped many people to get a more mature idea of what missions is all about. Our families are feeling more comforted about us being far away from them. Today they understand how important this work will be for the Kingdom.
It was good to share some of what we have been through in this training and to hear the experiences of those who have worked in ministry for so long. I feel we have gained allies and supporters for this work. I loved being able to tell my family what they mean to me and how much I will miss them.

Each family prayed for God’s power in the life of their team member.

Elder’s blessing on the team. Keep these families in your prayers: Junior and Patricia Lira, Otavio and Alessandra Calegari, Renato and Carol Pereira.

A Personal Note
At the very time this amazing day ended, six thousand miles away, the celebration service for Prentice Meador began. It was Prentice, with two other men, who first scouted out Brasilia thirty years ago.
We were so blessed to have our children here with us over the holidays. We thank Joel and Angela and Kris for spending the time, energy and money to give us the best Christmas present: time together.
This week Jerry is in Honduras teaching at the Baxter Institute. He is helping to train a Hispanic team that will soon be going to begin a work in Mexico City. Please be in prayer for Jerry and for this new church planting team.

Our love to each of you who make our work a joy by your encouragement and faithfulness.

December 2008 News

2008-12-15T16:13:00.007-02:00

The Northeast of Brazil is comprised of 9 states and, with more than 50 million people, almost a third of the nation’s population. It is noted for it’s ethnic mixture and strong adherence to Catholicism and Spiritism. This is the fastest growing area in Brazil with some cities growing at an astounding 15% yearly!

It is also where the churches of Christ have perhaps been enjoying the fastest growth. In the last ten years the number of congregations has tripled, from 28 to the current 100! There are 50 full and part-time workers in these congregations. Forty-one have graduated from EBNESR, a training school run by Randy Short.

Because of the fantastic growth of churches and number of workers Gail and Jerry have spent two weeks there annually for the last twelve years. This year we were privileged to participate in three big events.

Above: Biblical Counseling: These ministers participated in the weeklong counseling training course administered by Jerry. In addition to lectures they were given case studies to resolve and spent one-third of the class actually being trained in live counseling.

Below: Graduation: EBNESR has graduated 41 workers and trained another 60. They have a unique system in which church workers travel to Recife for an intensive, one-week course, each month. This way, they are not taken away from their ministry, and classes take on a more practical, “hands-on” nature. Pictured here are the 5 graduates and some of the teachers who participated in the life of these ministers over the last two years.

Impact Northeast: These seven couples were chosen as ones who have impact and influence beyond their local congregation and city. This was the second annual spiritual renewal retreat in this region. Maciel and Janaina were added this year, having recently moved to Recife where they will direct the new Children’s Home. This unique event is having a powerful effect on their lives, families and ministries. Here are some of their comments:

**We mark our ministry in two eras: before and after knowing the FILA. Our lives and ministries have not been the same since Jerry and Gail began coming to the Northeast to minister to us.
**In more than 10 years of ministry, this is the only time that we have had someone devote time exclusively to minister to our needs.
**This retreat has impacted me so much; it is like new blood in the veins of my spiritual life.
**Being able to stop in the course of my busy life of work and church activities to pray and reflect has reinvigorated my energy and improved by leaps my relationship with God. May plan is to better develop this area of my ministry, to build up other church workers, beginning with the students at EBNESR and reaching out to other workers who live farther away, through email. We have seen how important it is for each worker to have someone in whom they can confide.
**Our view of God has changed. We have a Father who loves us and cares about us and who takes pleasure in helping us in our work. Our children want us to come to these encounters because they have seen how much we have changed. The attitudes of our church members have changed too. They respect us and are partnering with us in the work. They are concerned for our spiritual health as their leaders. I am able to encourage my team of ministers here with the blessings I have received from these retreats.
**We now understand the necessity of pastoring our church leaders. Out of our experience with these Impact retreats, we have begun in Salvador a project to spread this blessing to other workers in our state. We will be meeting twice every semester to share about our spiritual needs. We have already planned all the events for 2009 and hope to replicate what Jerry and Gail have done with us with the workers in the 5 congregations in our city.
**To the brothers and sisters who have invested in sponsoring this event I would like to say that you are doing something admirable in caring for the emotional and spiritual needs of the soldiers in God’s army on the front lines of the battle. This ministry is very important and will help us avoid many losses in the combat against our enemy.

Randy and Kathy Short-logistical and financial support for Impact Northeast.

Merry Christmas to all of our loved ones! May God grant you peace in His presence and guidance as you serve His name.

All our love, Jerry and Gail

P.S. We have a new land line at our house now: 55-11-4023-4566

October-November 2008 News

2008-11-28T09:29:00.012-02:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Since mid-October we have been to 4 different locations in the state of São Paulo and Brasília. We began this trek with a weekend seminar at the new Mauá congregation. This church began meeting the end of August and they already have their own meeting place and about 30 members. We conducted a DISC workshop with them to help them learn to trust each other and work together effectively for evangelism and church growth.

Gail had the privilege of attending two women’s conferences: one with 260 Brazilian sisters from all over the country and the other with 60 missionary wives from Latin America brought to us by the Continent of Great Cities ministry. Both conferences were wonderful times of fellowship and spiritual renewal for all involved.

Jerry helped to organize a leadership retreat for 10 key Brazilian leaders along with Dale and Tod Brown and Bryan Gibbs. They are planning to have another
retreat in February with 30 key Brazilian couples. The idea is to prepare these couples to take the Brazilian church to the next level of growth and better equip Brazilian leaders.

In Brasilia we, along with Bryan Gibbs, conducted a church wide survey based on the books by Christian Schwartz on Natural Church Development. (We believe this is the first Brazilian Church of Christ to take this test.) The congregation was able to see where they are in terms of 8 characteristics of growing churches. The results motivated them to make some changes, as they prepare to receive the new mission team arriving in January. We are very optimistic about what God is going to do with the church in Brasilia in the next couple of years. While in Brasilia we also met several times with each of the 3 leaders to encourage and equip them for the changes and growth

The Mauá congregation works on relationships.

The men’s leadership retreat was an inspiration for impacting Brazil with Christ’s love.

Annual Women’s Congress

The wonderful sisters who came from the US to minister to the missionary women of Latin America.

Seminar on Natural Church Development with the Brasília congregation.

At home in Itu: Renowned artist, Rolando Diaz, visited Itu at the end of October. He is a member at the Preston Road Church of Christ in Dallas. During this, his second visit to Itu, he performed 3 live painting recitals with musical accompaniment to raise money for the construction of the Itu church building. His generosity, love for the Lord and for Itu was obvious to many people in this city and greatly appreciated by the congregation here.

Our newest sister Ireni was baptized on November 9th after studying with one of the men of the congregation and several women who have a weekly Bible study near where she works.

Bryan and Becky Gibbs visited us for several days to look at apartments, furniture and meet with the elders of the Itu church. They are planning to move here in September of 2009 to work for Continent of Great Cities as on field recruiters and trainers for Brazilian mission teams. We plan to continue to work closely with them in this preparation of national teams.

On Nov. 25th, the three couples of the Brasilia mission team spent a day here at our house in a mini-retreat to plan for their move in January. We have been so blessed to participate in the selection, training and spiritual growth of these 3 wonderful servant couples.

Rolando Diaz creates a painting before a live audience at the Itu shopping mall.

Ireni, new sister reborn in Itu.

The Gibbs with two of the Itu elders, Rossi and Maria, Zezo and Marilena.

The Brasilia team, their kids, and our wonderful baby-sitters, Mark and Alice Kaiser, in our back yard.

Our Gratitude!!! In this time of difficult economic crisis, we are grateful to the Father for each of you who have been able to continue to support this ministry financially. Your sacrifice is an example of Christ’s generosity and we want you to know how much it means to us. May the Lord bless you always with His grace and give back to you 100 fold!

Jerry and Gail Heiderich

**We are greatly saddened by the loss of our dear friend and long-time supporter, Prentice Meador, who left us to be with the Father on Nov. 25th. Our prayers go out to his family. We will miss him.

August-September 2008 News

2008-10-23T15:05:00.006-02:00

Family Institute Moves to São Paulo

Inscription on the portal to the city of Itu: Jesus Christ is the Lord of the City of Itu.

September 11! An important date for us, but for different reasons. 28 years ago, on this date, God brought us to our new mission in Brazil. In that time we have made four big moves. Every one of them has been strategically important for the church and the Family Institute ministry. The move to Itu, São Paulo, is aimed at centralizing our ministry geographically and cutting back on long trips since much of our work is already in this region.
“All roads lead to São Paulo”. Half of the 40 million people in the state of São Paulo live in the immense city of São Paulo. It is the hub to all Brazilian airlines and the road system is the best in Brazil. It is also a center for church leadership and mission team formation. Many of the major church and leadership events occur here. Most of our team development activities in recent years have taken place in this region. After much prayer and consultation we think this a wise move for the effectiveness of our nation-wide ministry.
We left well-prepared leadership couples in Curitiba: they will be appointing elders by the end of next year. They have 8 full-time evangelists and 2 full-time church workers. We counseled, mentored and discipled 40 couples and 75 individuals in our six years there. Many leadership couples were saved from divorce, others from leaving the church or their walk with God. Dozens grew and matured and were prepared to equip others to grow. A new congregation was started and we were able to play an integral part in preparing the students from the training school to become church planters by mentoring them after graduation. We were blessed to be part of amazing transformations in our six years in Curitiba.

Saying goodbye to the Curitiba congregation

Jerry speaks during communion at the Itu congregation.

Furlough Report: We spent the months of July and August in the US on our furlough. When we were in Dallas we stayed at Angela and Joel’s house along with Kristofer. It was wonderful to have the family all together. Gail’s mother and her husband even spent a few days with us. We visited all six of our supporting congregations where we met with the elders and Jerry spoke before the congregations. All of them were very supportive about our move and our ministry. Jerry spoke at the Global Missions Workshop for the Brazil Interest Group on the state of leadership development in Brazil. He also spent a day with a new team that is heading to Rwanda sponsored by the Richland Hills Church in Fort Worth. He led the three men of the team in a team dynamics workshop. It is so rewarding to be able to show our supporters the kind of work we do here on the field.

Flag ceremony at the Global Missions Workshop.

Rwanda Team

Introduction to the city of Itu: Itu, population 160,000, is in the state of São Paulo about 1-½ hours from the huge city of São Paulo. We arrived in Itu on August 30 and began looking for a place to live. Some members of the church here already had a place picked out for us which we saw a couple of days later. We still looked at many houses before deciding the first one was the one we believed God has picked out for us. The owner was remodeling the house and wanted to spend a few more months on it, but we convinced him to let us move in after he finished the projects he was working on. He even lowered the rent since he didn’t get to finish the job. We love the house are so blessed. As of today, we still have a handful of boxes to unpack, but we are getting there. Plenty of room for visitors!

The church here has welcomed us with open arms. Many members have helped with our move. We already feel at home here. Our second weekend here we attended a couples retreat where we got to meet many of the families in the congregation. There was even a baptism during the retreat. Myuwa is a gourmet cook who has been attending the church for quite awhile with her Christian husband Jeff. It was so exciting to see her take on Christ with her husband at her side.

Antenor baptizes Myuwa in the pool at the retreat center as Jeff gives support to his wife.

The Itu church is in a building program. The location is wonderful, on a main road right beside the only mall in town. We are already meeting in the building though it is not finished. This month they are putting in windows and ceiling tiles. We will be worshiping and contributing to the work of this congregation when we are not working with leaders in other parts of Brazil. The Itu congregation has 4 Brazilian elders and a full-time Brazilian preacher (Antenor Gonçalves).

Itu church building

Note to Contributors

To all of you who so sacrificially contribute to the ministry of the Family Institute, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude. When the Continent of Great Cities was receiving our funds, they kindly send out a letter of gratitude and confirmation that your funds were received each month. Prestoncrest, who now handles the receiving of our funds, is unable to do this because of the shear volume of their missionary staff. We will be receiving a quarterly statement from them of your contributions. It is my intention to let each of you know after I get that report, that your money has been received and put to use in the kingdom. Thank you for your understanding on this issue and thank you for your faithful support. God bless each of you with His mercy and grace.

NEW CONTACT INFORMATION:

Jerry and Gail Heiderich
Alameda Sant´Ana 683
Jardim Theodora
Itu, SP 13301-850
Jerry: 11-8214-9951
Gail: 11-8214-9950

July 2008 News

2008-10-14T14:57:00.004-03:00

400 yr. old restored neighborhood in Salvador

Impact Salvador! During an extended weekend we gathered with five Brazilian couples who minister in two of the congregations in the city of Salvador. There are a total of 6 congregations with around 400 members in the city. We held a spiritual growth retreat similar to the one we did in Recife last year. Our goal is to help church workers all over the country grow spiritually, keep their families strong, and stay healthy in their ministries. At these intense retreats we give personal attention to each couple who are working on the front lines of evangelism and church growth. We create an atmosphere of support where the couples were able to learn new ideas, rethink priorities and share their needs and experiences. We place special empshasis on individual, couple and group prayer during our time together. Each couple shared that this was the first time they had experienced such a retreat aimed at their own spiritual and relational needs.

We chose couples who are having the greatest impact on the brotherhood through their lives and ministries, those leaders who already influencing others in their city and region We challenged these couples to pass on their experience to others in their congregations so that this work can be multiplied. The funds for this retreat came from donations to our ministry. Your generosity is transforming the leaders and the growth of the Kingdom in Brazil.

Reactions to the Retreat

We were impressed by how the subjects discussed and the advice presented about the spiritual dangers surrounding the life of church workers were so relevant to our lives. It seemed like the Heiderichs understood our daily lives and recognized our specific needs and could, as such, offer biblical orientation to meet those needs. We left the retreat feeling renewed and excited. We made decisions to prioritize our personal growth and be more authentic before our congregation. We want to thank those of you who made this event possible, through financial resources, through your support of Jerald and Gail and through your prayers. This ministry to the ministers is so important! What a great vision Jerald and Gail have of the necessity of this work in Brazil. As far as I know, they are the only ones doing this type of work and it is very effective. God bless you for all you have done, through them, for God’s men and women all over Brazil. Nilton and Rosemery Barretto

We are so grateful to God for you because you have taken such a weight off of our shoulders that we could hardly stand to carry any longer. We did not know how to give it all over to Jesus. The retreat was excellent and now, on Monday morning, without the masks we had been using, things are much better. Life seems so much easier and we feel we can handle the difficulties that were about to make us explode. Seems like only now I have realized that the church is not my personal responsibility and the world is not my problem to resolve. I feel the love of the Father and it is so good to feel at peace. You can’t imagine how happy and joyful we feel!
José Antonio e Nilza Zara de Paula

As a full-time church worker this retreat definitely helped me. The things I learned and recognized about myself became a launching pad. I now feel free to let God really restore me without putting up walls before the great work He wants to do in my life. I know this change will benefit my ministry, my family and my marriage. Thank you brother for this opportunity to look into my own soul without prejudice, masks or any other filters. Rogério Fernando
I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and tell you how much this retreat meant to me. Today I feel emotionally relieved to know that other people feel the same way I do. This was a great time of spiritual growth for me. I will gladly be a multiplier of this work in my congregation, helping my brothers and sisters here and showing them that we need to take off our Superman capes and share our real selves. Rita de Fernando

My wife and I could not let this opportunity pass us by. It was a marvelous weekend; a gift to us. I thought the techniques used during our discussions were very interesting. We all shared intimate stories about our lives. It was wonderful to get to know my brothers and sisters better. The impact was greater because Jerald and Gail were the first to share deeply personal aspects of their lives. God bless you for this work that is so gratifying for all of Brazil and I want to thank those who I don’t even know whose contributions made this possible. Thank you, Daniel Carlos Bahia Lopes
I thank God for this retreat and the work that Jerald and Gail are doing with the support of brothers that I will never know. But God knows you and He is pleased. This was an unprecedented experience in my life. It was so important for me to talk about things in my life that have kept me prisoner for so long. It was good to participate with my husband in this restoring experience. The fascinating part is that we were challenged to multiply this experience with other couples so that they too might benefit from God’s marvelous love. Thank you God. Thank you brothers. Iracema Maltez Pimentel Lopes.

We thank God, we thank you and we thank the North American brothers for sustaining this important work, which has certainly blessed many families here in Brazil. For my wife and I, this retreat was a great blessing where we could see how useful we are in God’s mission and learn that our problems are not the most difficult in the world. This time together with our brothers and sisters was very important. We got to know our co-workers better, we prayed together and we strengthened our bonds of fellowship and friendship. We will do our best to continue this work with others because we were spiritually blessed and we want to bless other families in the same way. André and Lilí Sanches

June 2008 News

2008-06-19T16:11:00.004-03:00

Salvador, Bahia. Salvador is the third largest city in Brazil, after Rio and São Paulo. It is 550 years old and was the first capital of the country. The ICOS (church of Christ Salvador) is one of 6 Churches of Christ in this great city. This congregation is being evangelized by 4 American missionary couples. They have 35 members and an attendance of 70 after 3 years of work. We spent 5 days with this mission team at the end of April. This was our second team-building workshop with this talented team. Last year they were in the midst of loosing one of their team members and things were very stressful and uncertain. This year we found a team that is working well together and focusing on evangelizing their part of the huge city of Salvador. We admire their desire to keep growing as a team and not to let anything hinder their effectiveness.

Salvador Mission Team

Thanks: We are so thankful that Jerry and Gail have been able to work with our team and family over the last two years. It is such a blessing to have a couple come in with so much experience in church planting. We know that when we share the challenges that we face as a new church plant here in Salvador that we are speaking to people who can truly empathize with our situation. Their experience gives them much wisdom that has allowed them to confront, head on, the problems and conflicts that our team faces. But the greatest thing is that they do this with so much love, care, and concern. At the end of our last workshop we commented to each other how comfortable we felt sharing our deepest fears and challenges, as this is not something that we would have to or want to do in any other profession. But after 2 short weeks of conversation over the 2 years, Jerry and Gail have gained our confidence. It is so freeing to be able to share with someone some of the deepest aspects of our lives, knowing that they will treat us with the love and care that we would expect from deeply concerned mentors or overseers. This is so important because as missionaries we do not have these kinds of relationships here on the field, as our mentors live so far away and don't have the same perspective that Jerry and Gail can have when they come and work with all of the families of this church plant. Thanks again Jerry and Gail for your life-giving, spirit-renewing, ministry. In Him, Travis and Alicia

Worship at the ICOS congregation in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

To me, the ministry that Jerald and Gail offered our mission team was a depth of understanding into our lives and our families that cannot be measured. They helped us to understand ourselves, our marriage, and our teammates in new ways while encouraging us to trust each other. They have seen it all and done it all, and they somehow manage to stay impartial while each family shares their defeats and victories over the life of their ministry. We believe that every family in mission work would benefit from an intensive workshop with the Heiderichs and hope that they continue to offer their considerable expertise to struggling families and mission teams who want to improve their relationships but do not know how. We have more fun and less conflict because of them. Thanks guys!
Em Cristo, the Quireys

We have been so blessed by our time with the Heiderichs. They have worked with us personally as well as our whole team. The first time they came to work with us was at a crucial point for our team. Through their guidance and counsel our team was able to be more open with one another and build a deeper level of trust than we had ever experienced. We know that God sent them to our team at just the right time and we continue to benefit from the tools they have given us. Through their second visit with our team we were able work more on how to be a healthy team and work together in productive ways. The Heiderichs worked to challenge us individually and as a team to grow for the betterment of the work here. Personally they challenged us to not have blind spots in our life that leave room for Satan and to stay focused. We are grateful for what the Heiderichs have done for our team and us and by extension the church family here in Salvador. Randy and Jennifer Porter

Praising the Lord in Salvador

Jerry and Gail helped our team work through some things that have come up in the first few years of our ministry here in Salvador. It was good to have them help us do that. We now have some great suggestions on changes we need to make to become stronger in our walks with Jesus and in our work together as a mission team and young church leaders.
Matt and Mary Virginia Mabery

Other News: We will be arriving in the US on June 24th. We will be traveling to report to our supporting congregations, fundraising and visiting with family until August 24th. Give us a call!! 214-669-8260. Your encouragement makes our work a joy and your prayers keep our spirits lifted. God is doing great things in the country of Brazil!!

Remember: All contributions for this ministry should now be sent to the Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas: 12700 Preston Road, Suite 210, Dallas, Texas, 75230. We want to thank Continent of Great Cities for handling this for us for so many years and thank our sponsoring congregation, Prestoncrest, for being willing to take on the task. Please write to us if you have any questions about this change.

May 2008 News

2008-05-29T13:32:00.008-03:00

Curitiba´s Servant Leaders

Elder Preparation: On April 11-12 we hosted a retreat for the servant leaders of the Curitiba congregation. Decision-making was the theme. Jerry and Gilberto led the men’s sessions and Gail led the women. The men discussed how to make the best decisions and how to lead the congregation to growth and maturity. The women talked about how to encourage the men and how to avoid conflict. The purpose of these retreats is to prepare competent men to serve as elders in the near future.

SerCris Students, Campo Grande

SerCris Training School: During the week of April 14-18, Jerry taught a course on Spiritual Growth for Leaders at the preacher training school in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. He teaches this class and one on Lay Counseling to each group of students that pass through the school. The elders at this church and the teachers at the school have been very supportive of our work and often ask us to help out with graduates of the school as they work with congregations throughout the country.

Brasilia Team, Brasilia Leaders and support team

Brasilia Team Retreat: We traveled to Campinas, São Paulo, on April 30 and spent 6 days at our final retreat with the Brasília team before they move to the capital in January of 2009. This was a training and integration retreat with the leaders of the Brasília congregation and the project support team all present. We did individual counseling with each of the 3 couples, group counseling with all of them and integration exercises with the team and the leaders. Others on the support team dealt with financial concerns, moving issues and how to conduct effective meetings.

England and Greece!! Jerry had a once in a lifetime experience! He traveled to Europe and met up with Kristofer after classes were finished. They spent three days in London, 4 days in Greece and 2 days in Oxford before going their separate ways, Jerry back to Brazil and Kris to Dallas. They went to Delphi, Corinth, and Athens and took a boat tour of 3 islands. The highlight for Jerry was getting to preach for the Athens Church of Christ where Dino Roussos is the evangelist (he is also supported by Prestoncrest). Jerry’s sermon was translated into Greek, Russian and Belgium. Kris and Jerry were moved to be able to stand where the apostle Paul preached on Mars Hill and where he stood trial in Corinth.

Big Ben!

Prime Meridian, Greenwich

C.S. Lewis, Tolkien hangout

With Dino where Paul stood trial in Corinth

On Mars Hill

With translators at Athens Church of Christ

Other News: Next week Jerry will be attending two courses in São Paulo, which will serve to better prepare him for the work we do with missionaries, staffs, and church leaders. He will be studying about Servant Leadership and Mentoring.
Kris is now back in the US and looking for a summer job. Please pray he will find something quickly.
Gail will be in the US on June 5th and Jerry will arrive on the 20th. We will be visiting our supporters and family until August 18th. We hope to be able to see many of you while we are in the US. We would appreciate your prayers for our safety as we travel.

Please note: All contributions for this ministry should now be sent to the Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas: 12700 Preston Road, Suite 210, Dallas, Texas, 75230. We want to thank Continent of Great Cities for handling this for us for so many years and thank our sponsoring congregation, Prestoncrest, for being willing to take on the task. Please write to us if you have any questions about this change.

God bless you all!!

April 2008 News

2008-05-09T11:36:00.010-03:00

Annual Easter Encounters. Easter weekend is huge in the Brazilian church. The men have their biggest yearly event, ENOC (National Encounter of Christian Workers), at the camp in São Paulo. The young single women gather at a retreat center nearby (ENOCÍTA), and the married women meet in Campinas at ENOCA. This year Jerry was a keynote speaker for the 450 men at ENOC and Gail spoke to 60 young single women at ENOCÍTA.

ENOC and ENOC´ITA

Leadership Couples. At these events we always spend considerable time counseling with Christians from all over the country and setting up workshops and seminars for the rest of the year. The week following these national encounters is an intensive study for church workers in Campinas. This year we were two of the featured speakers. Jerry spoke to the whole group on Family and then we split into men and women where Gail directed the women’s group and Jerry the men’s. These retreats give us the opportunity to spend quality time with preachers and elders and deacons from all parts of the country.

Intensive Study Week in Campinas

Uberlandia. We spent the first week in April in the city of Uberlandia (3/4 Million) in the state of Minas Gerais. Golf Course Road in Midland, TX is supporting a full-time Brazilian coouple in this city and has been looking for another couple to help them out. We interviewed a potential couple and evaluated how the two couples would work together, including psychological testing and group dynamics. It was a very productive week and we believe both couples benefited from our time together. We were pleased to be able to worship with the loving and growing congregation of about 60 members. Jerry gave the Bible lesson and the sermon.

Uberlandia Building (one of two in that city)

Daniel and Guida, Wanderson and Cida and their children.

Uberlandia congregation during worship.

Other News: One or both of us will be traveling almost non-stop between now and our furlough to the US in June. In an eight week stretch Jerry will be in Curitriba only 7 days! We could really use your prayers for safety and for stamina as we continue to serve God in this unique ministry. We feel blessed every day for the way He has prepared us and for the doors He has opened for us to help strengthen the leadership couples, church planting teams and congregations in Brazil. Gail will be going to the US on June 4th and Jerry on June 19th. We will be in the states until August 18th. Our plan is to visit all of our supporting churches and spend some time with family. We hope to be able to see many of you.
For those of you who are keeping up with Kristofer´s travels in Europe, I have included some pictures from Paris below. This week he is in Italy. Jerry will be joining him for 10 days in May and they plan to go to Greece.
God bless all of you and thank you for your prayers and support.

Bike tour group in front of Notre Dame.

Eiffel Tower at night.

Kristofer looking very European!

March 2008 News

2008-04-16T16:59:00.007-03:00

March Madness!! Not the basketball kind! Our update is a little late this month because for the last 5 weeks one or both of us has been on the road nonstop!
The last week of February we ministered to two different groups in São Paulo. First we spent three days counseling with a group of 40 Christians who have been worshipping with the Itaquera church. They all left, in the past several years, a church that was very cult-like. They now want to begin a new congregation of the Church of Christ in the area of São Paulo where they all live, but first they wanted help to overcome the hurt and fear they have over their experience in the controlling, manipulative church they came from. We were humbled to see the desire on their part to serve God in spite
of the way they had been treated. Please keep these brothers and sisters in your prayers as they begin a church in the city of Mauá.

Mauá church plant

Next we traveled to the city of Praia Grande to spend 4 days ministering to two families who have begun a new congregation in that coastal city. Chris and Alessandra Kelley were missionaries in Buenos Aires for 7 years. They have now come to Brazil, where Alessandra was born, to work with her parents Francisco and Liduina Lira in establishing a church. Their supporting congregation, Southwest in Washington State, asked us to help them through the adjustment of beginning a new work together. Junior and Patricia Lira, from the Brasilia team, are helping on weekends before they go to Brasilia. He is son and brother to the other two couples. This is a very evangelistic family!

Praia Grande team and church plant

The beginning of March found us back in Florianópolis with the church we have helped back to health over the past 4 years. This time we opened an evangelistic series they are conducting this year on the family. Our topic was Dealing with Crises in the Family. Several visitors took part in the weekend and are now studying with members of the congregation.
March 4-18 Gail was able to fly on our free miles to Dallas to help Angela and Joel paint their new house. What a job! Meanwhile, Jerry stayed in Curitiba counseling and mentoring members of the church here and preparing for the next several trips we will be making in April. He also met with the new Niteroi team on their survey trip to Brazil to share with them about our ministry. They are due to begin their ministry in October of this year.

Niteroi Team with Jerry and Georgia Freitas

Other News:
Angela and Joel are now moved into their new place and there is room for Kris and for us when we are there visiting. We thank God for this blessing. Kris is still in Europe. He has been to a concentration camp in Germany and canyon jumping in Switzerland. Such an awesome experience! Please pray for the work we will be doing in Uberlandia, Campo Grande, Salvador and with the Brasilia Team in the next few weeks.

Thank you all for your love and prayers on our behalf.

Kristofer in Switzerland, so beautiful!

February 2008 News

2008-02-19T18:09:00.007-03:00

Can you help us?
On the other end of the line was Hebert Palomino, responsible for Baptist missionary care in all of South America. He was calling from Chile where he was attending his brother’s funeral and would leave the next day for the US. He shared with me the need for immediate help with one of their missionary families in Brazil. Two assailants had held a family of four hostage in their own home, at gunpoint. For three hours they were bound, threatened, and pistol-whipped as the gunmen tried in vain to get them to tell where all their money was hidden (they had none!). The son had several wounds on his head and the father had suffered a concussion. Dr. Palomina asked if we could help this family deal with this traumatic event.
We were referred to him by friends of ours, Mark and Caron Johnson, regional supervisors for Baptist missionaries in southern Brazil. The family was flown to Curitiba where we spent two intense days with them and the Johnsons administering Critical Incident Debriefing. We had used this type of counseling before with mission teams and had learned how to do it from the staff of Resources for Living, headquarted in Austin, Texas.
We recently received reports from the family that they are recovering well, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
“Can you help us?” Three weeks later it was the Johnsons who called, asking for assistance. Their daughter had been sequestered, along with a friend, by two armed bandits while on vacation. The captors drove their car, with the two teenage girls in the back seat, outside of the city and dropped them off on an abandoned road, physically unharmed. After walking for about 45 minutes the girls happened upon a house and after some time convinced the owners that they needed help.
Once again we gathered at the Johnson’s home where Gail counseled with the daughter while Jerry met with the parents and brother.
Ministering to those who minister is a vital aspect of the Lord’s work in Latin America. We are passing on what so many have done for us in nearly 30 years of mission work. We include a letter of gratitude from the Johnsons to all of those who are our partners. Not just financial partners, but those who have trained, supervised and mentored us, with a special nod to so many at Abilene Christian University and Continent of Great Cities.

Dear Jerry & Gail,
Words cannot express how thankful we are for your recent support, encouragement, and assistance in dealing with the two traumatic events within the lives of our missionary colleagues and in our life personally.
The immediate counsel that you two provided within hours of these
two different events involving armed robbery, battery and assault, and kidnapping were vital in the healing process for all parties involved.
There are very few people such as you who are both professionally qualified and God called and empowered to minister in this way.
We thank God for you and the friendship you have extended to us over the years. And we also wish to thank your support network for recognizing this unique gifting you have and providing you with the resources you need to accomplish this important task.
May God continue to richly bless you as you minister here in Brazil.
Mark & Caron Johnson
Southern Baptist Missionaries in Curitiba, Brazil

Missionary Group at the Conference this year.

Dr. Willis still going strong in his 80´s! Kris had him for Old Testament last semester. He and his wife came all the way to Brazil to minister to us.

Other News:
In January we were contracted by Continent of Great Cities to counsel at the annual Missionary Conference held in Canela, Rio Grande do Sul. Dr. John Willis was our speaker and Jerry led two devotionals each day.
Angela and Joel have bought a house in Garland (suburb of Dallas) and Gail will be traveling to the US March 4-18 to help with the move.
Kris is enjoying his time in Europe and we are all jealous! He has been to Scotland and this weekend will be exploring Spain.

Please note our new email address: jgheiderich@gmail.com. We will be slowly changing over to this address.

Kris at Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh, Scotland

Kris and friends at National Gallery in London

Angela and Joel’s new house!

January 2008 News

2008-01-19T16:11:00.000-02:00

Happy New Year to all of our Supporters and Prayer Warriors!

Second Graduation of IBSB Students

Cícero, Nilza, Rodrigo, Luis and Joaquim

Here in Curitiba: The big event at the end of the year here was the graduation of 5 more students from the Bible Institute of Southern Brazil. Cícero and his wife Nilza are currently working as evangelists here in the congregation. Joaquim has been a house group leader for years and plans to continue with that work. Luis will be working with the church in Campinas, São Paulo and Rodrigo will continue his studies. The Curitiba Church ended the year with 260 adult members and 90 children. We are thankful for the 20 baptisms and 10 transfers that God sent to us in 2007.
Jerry is meeting with 4 of the men who have graduated from the Institute to mentor them in their work with the church plant in Sitio Cercado and encourage their continued spiritual growth, teamwork and maturity.

Prayers for Bryan as he raises support

Brasília Team Update: The final workshop of 2007 with the Brasília team was held in São Paulo. Jerry lead the 4-day event consisting of coaching and training the 5 couples. We were joined by Alaor and Miriam Leite and Valentim and Leila Zanatta (who we are hoping to train to help us in our ministry). Bryan Gibbs spent one day with us and then went on to Brasília to meet with the leaders and church members there. Major decisions were made at this retreat. The first decision is that the team will now be going to Brasília in July of 2008. Fundraising is taking longer than was at first expected, making a January arrival impossible. The second decision is that the team is now in its final form of three couples. Two families have decided not to participate in the project for various reasons. The three families who now make up the final team are excited about getting to work in Brasília and the congregation there is better prepared to receive them. The couples will spend this first semester of 2008 preparing themselves for full-time ministry and working together as a team.

The training and evaluation team for the Brasília Project.

Prayer needs: Please pray for generous individuals and churches that will join with us in the vision for church growth in Brazil’s capitol city and support the Brasília Team. Pray for wisdom for us as we map out our schedule of events for 2008. We want to be doing what God needs us to do here in Brazil and multiply our ministry in the lives of others. Pray for our family, as we will be living on 3 different continents this semester. Angela and Joel are in Dallas (trying to buy a house), we are in Brazil and Kristofer will be participating in ACU’s Study Abroad program and living in Oxford, England. He leaves today on this new adventure. We are excited for him, but feeling the strain of everyone being so far apart. God bless each of you with surprising new adventures this year. Thank you for continuing to partner with us in this wonderful ministry.

November 2007 News

2007-11-30T16:41:00.000-02:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We pray all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We spent the holiday with friends at the beach in Florianópolis and had a restful time of remembering God’s great blessings on us and this ministry during 2007.

Writing about our gratitude to God at the Servants retreat.

Curitiba News:
We held our last Servant’s Retreat for the year 2007 on Oct. 19-20 with the couples who are serving the Curitiba church as leaders. The retreat was dedicated to thanksgiving and gratitude for the blessings God has granted this church in the past year. The participants wrote thank you letters to their spouses and shared with each other admiration for the work each had done this year. Jerry is teaching Interpersonal Relationships at the Bible Institute and continues to mentor the men from the last class who are working full time as evangelists.

The students at IBSB work on relationships.

Travel News:
At the end of October Jerry made a 10-day trip to the US to speak at the World Mission Workshop at Oklahoma Christian. He spoke about how our training at ACU in counseling and marriage therapy has lead us to greater evangelism, church planting and leadership development in a cross-cultural setting. His class was packed and he was able to see many friends and ex-Brazilian missionaries. While in the US he met with several people at ACU and spent some time with Kristofer, Angela and Joel.

São Paulo Women's Conference.

While Jerry was in the US, Gail traveled with 20 other women from the Curitiba church to the annual Women’s Conference in São Paulo. There she counseled with six women from different cities in Brazil and helped to lead the worship time. There are always many visitors at this event and this year one of the women was baptized.

Baptism at the Women's Conference.

November 9-11 we were on the road again to work with the leadership of the church in Florianópolis. We have visited this church many times over the past 4 years to help them grow and establish a strong leadership. They have suffered two splits in the past several years, but God is working powerfully to keep them strong and give them hope. We enjoy working with this church because of their positive outlook and caring spirit in spite of their difficulties.

Leadership couples at the church in Florianópolis.

Prayer Needs:
This has been a very busy year for us and we are looking forward to some time off as we celebrate the holidays. Kristofer will be coming to spend two weeks with us from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2. Please pray for his safe travel; for our physical recovery from all our travel this year; for the continued preparation of the Brasília team (more on this next month); and for Angela and Joel since we will not get to see them.
We praise God for each of you. We can’t do this without you! May our God grant you peace and bless you with His mercy as you seek to serve Him in your community. We are so thankful to have this ministry and to see God’s hand at work in the lives of so many Brazilian brothers and sisters.

October 2007 News

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Financial Crisis for Ministry!

After nearly 30 years of Ministry in Brazil, we are in the third year of the most challenging financial crisis ever with the Brazilian Economy. The dollar exchange rate is exactly HALF of its value from three years ago. That means, not counting inflation, everything now costs TWICE as much. We have worked hard to discipline and cut our expenses but now funding has become critical. In order to continue vital ministries throughout this huge country, we are appealing for your generous help. If you can help at the end of this year or in 2008, please send contributions c/o Prestoncrest Church, 12700 Preston Rd. Suite 210, Dallas, TX 75230: Attention Family Institute of Latin America.

First Graduates of the Biblical Institute.

Curitiba News: In August the first graduating class of the Biblical Institute of Southern Brazil (IBSB) received its honors. The Institute, which operates in the Curitiba church building and is run by the evangelists here, granted diplomas to 4 couples who studied for two years. Three of these couples are now working full-time as evangelists for the new church plant here in Curitiba in the Sitio Cercado neighborhood. Jerry meets with these three one morning a week for mentoring and prayer.
Jerry taught an intensive class on Spiritual Growth for Leaders to the second class of students at the institute in September. Today he began a bimester class on Interpersonal Relationships with the same group.

Class on Spiritual Growth for Leaders at IBSB

Travel News: Jerry attended a Pastoring Pastors Consultation in São Paulo. There, together with 100 leaders from 33 denominations and 17 parachurch organizations in Brazil, Bolivia and South Africa, he contributed to a study on how to best help church leaders to grow, remain dedicated and overcome difficulties. Jerry also attended the Willow Creek Summit that was presented for the first time here in Curitiba as well as in several other Brazilian cities.
We spent the last two weeks in September in the city of Campo Grande. 30 couples, including several first time visitors participated in a marriage seminar on the weekend. Jerry preached at two congregations on Sunday and taught a weeklong intensive course on Counseling to the students of the SERCRIS preacher training school. We also spent some important ministry time with the two elders and the preacher of the church there.

Marriage Seminar in Campo Grande

Prayer Needs:
1. Jerry is traveling to the US this weekend to teach at the World Mission Workshop at Oklahoma Christian University. Please pray for his safe travel and for God to bless his time in the states. He gets to see Kris and Angela and Joel!
2. Please be in prayer about our next retreat with the Brasília team, which will take place in mid November.
God bless each of you with His power and grace!

Class on Lay Counseling in Campo Grande

September 2007 News

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News from Curitiba

There were two baptisms during the month of August in the Curitiba church. The first was João Ferreira de Assis, a man who owns a barbershop down the street from the church. Earlier in the year our neighbor across the street from the church, Teresinha, was also brought to the Lord. We are thankful that the congregation is having an impact on those who live and work around the church building! The second new birth this month was Eder Geovani Camargo, son of one of the strongest families in the congregation. He grew up in the church but had never made a decision. He is now truly a member of the family!

Eder’s Baptism

The first weekend in September was our annual 3 in 1 Conference. Jerry gave one of the keynote speeches on caring for our church workers throughout Brazil. He also taught a class on Biblical Marriage. We had our biggest turn out ever this year with 150 visitors from 8 Brazilian states and 21 congregations, plus our own members. On Sunday, the building was more packed than we had ever seen it.

Sunday morning at the 3 in 1 Conference

Travel News: Our first ever invitation to speak at the Nove de Julho congregation in Sao Paulo, one of the first churches planted in Brazil, came from the elders who asked us to help them with a Family Day in August. We spent the weekend teaching and interacting with the 100+ people who attended the event. The following weekend Jerry traveled to Sao Paulo again to attend an interdenominational conference on mentoring and pastoral care of church workers. He was able to learn many strategies and concepts to help us in our work with leadership training.

Kris shared his insights on parenting from a teenagers view at the Family Day at Nove de Julho.

Brasilia Team: During the 4 day holiday weekend of Sept. 7 (Brazil’s Independence Day), Jerry traveled to Campinas to meet again with the new Brasilia team and the leaders from Brasilia. He and Bryan Gibbs, Alaor and Miriam Leite (our training team for this project) and two leaders from the Brasilia congregation met with each couple twice: first to nail down financial and logistical details and second to talk about mentoring and spiritual growth issues that we have asked each family to deal with as part of their preparation.

Elders at the Itaquera church lay hands of blessing on the Brasilia Team after the Sept. 7 meeting.

Prayer needs

1. Please remember our financial situation here in Brazil. The dollar continues to stay very low and we need to be able to keep the support we have and, Lord willing, receive some special contributions to continue to travel to places where the churches cannot afford to pay our way.
2. Also, keep the Brasilia team in your prayers as they seek the financial backing they need to make their move to the capitol in January 2008.

August 2007 News

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Heiderich/Garner Wedding

The big event in our family for this year took place on June 30 at the Dallas Arboretum. Our daughter, Angela, married Joel Garner in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. Jerry gave his little girl away and then said a prayer of blessing as all the parents gathered around the couple. Kristofer played guitar and sang as Angela walked down the isle. Our good friend, Bob Chisholm conducted the ceremony. The reception followed at the Prestoncrest Church singles room.

We are so happy for them and are proud of our new son! If you would like to see more pictures of the wedding you can go to www.institutofamiliar.blogspot.com. Joel and Angela spent their honeymoon in Buzios, Brazil, near Rio de Janeiro and then spent a few days with us in Curitiba so that Joel could get to know our wonderful country.

Brasília Leaders meet new Evangelistic Team

Evangelistic Team, Brasília Leaders and their families
The Brasília Project, which will unite 5 Brazilian evangelists with the exiting leadership and a 50-member congregation in Brazil’s capital, has been our number one project this year. By the end of 2007 we will have made 6 trips to either São Paulo or Brasília to facilitate the training of this team and the leadership in Brasília. The Brasília Project is perhaps the boldest move in Church of Christ ministry in Brazil since the São Paulo team arrived in 1960. Charles Sibert, Vice-President of Church Relations at ACU and consultant to our ministry for many years has called this the biggest “merger” he knows of in the Church of Christ.

Brasília Congregation
We spent July 20-29 in Brasília where we interviewed each of the local leaders and shared with them the results of the testing we had done on each couple. The team arrived on Tuesday of that week to get to know Brasília and the church. We conducted team dynamics workshops with the whole group. In mid August, Jerry returned to Brasília to give feedback and recommendations to the leadership as they prepare to receive the evangelistic team in January of 2008.

Other news and prayer needs

After the wedding Kris spent 5 weeks here in Curitiba with us. It was wonderful to have him back home. He traveled with us to Brasília and São Paulo and helped us with lots of technical stuff that we are too old to understand. He is now back at ACU beginning his sophomore year as an English major.
The big event for this next month is the annual 3 in 1 Conference, which we host here in Curitiba. Christians will be coming from all over Brazil to participate in classes on Church Growth, Small Group ministry and Marriage and Family. Please keep this event in your prayers.
This has been an extremely busy year for the Family Institute. God has opened many doors and we are grateful for the way He is using our talents. However, the work is getting to be more than we alone can handle. We ask you to pray specifically for God to raise up other couples who may be able to join us in this ministry of preparing and sustaining strong leadership families in Brazil.
God bless each of you and thank you for your support!

Angela and Joel's Wedding

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Here are some pics of the wedding which took place on June 30, 2007. If you double click on the pics you can see them full size. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughtfulness during this special time in our family!