finley gary rosemarie 1988 brazil

7/27/2019 Finley Gary Rosemarie 1988 Brazil

1/13

Chr i s t fo r S ao Luis:a team ministry to Sao Luis, Maranbao, Brazil

Feb 4, 1988 Vol . 1

Gary andRosemarie FinleySao Luis

SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO;Gary & Ros ie Fin ley326 Thompson Dr.L i n c o l n , IL 62656C*17 ) 7 3 2 - 8 6 4 3

SEND ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO:Christ f o r Sao Lu i sc /o Calume t S t . Ch r i s t i a n ChurchR.R. #2 Box 367A-3Ce n t r a l i a , IL 62801


2/13

De a r F r i e n d s ,Gree t ings in th e name o f J e sus ! Th i s

is th e f i r s t of our many news le t t e r s and wehope t h a t each one wi l l keep you up- to-da tewi t h our p r epa r a t i on s whi l e we a re he r e int h e states and w ith o u r work after we move t oBraz i l in January . i

Presen t ly , Gary i s working as a wa i t e rin a n i c e r e s t a u r a n t h e r e i n L in co l n andspends the r e s t of h is t ime in the l ib rarywork ing on h i s t h e s i s f o r h i s M as te r 'sDegree. Rosie wai t s a t home hoping to becalled to substitute t e a c h .

Th i s Sunday, Feb. 7 th , we wi l l bet r a ve l i ng to Hi l l sboro , MO to give ourpre sen ta t ion . We wi l l a l so be worshippingwi th our many f r iends t ha t l ive in nearbyDeSoto where we mini s t e red fo r th e l a s t threelyears. I t looks l ike we wi l l be pre t ty busydu r in g th e first pa r t o f th e summer, bu t westill have most of the month of August openf o r camps and VBS. We a l so have most o f t h i ssp r ing open and we need to fill it up wi thda t e s to p r e s en t our work. I f you know o f achurch t h a t would be in te re s ted in a l lowingu s to do ou r p r e s en t a t i on , p l e a s e con t a c t uss o o n ! Thanks goes to th e many o f you whor egu l a r l y remember us in your p raye r s . Weapp r e c i a t e you r conce rn fo r us and th e worko f th e Kingdom. God b l e s s you a l l .

I n H is s e r v i c e ,Gary & Ros ie F in l ey


3/13

TEAM NEWS

Jay and Kim Henson a re cu r r en t l y l i v i ng he rei n L inco l n . Ja y is work ing on h i s t h e s i s andt h ey bo th a r e awa i t i ng th e a r r i v a l o f theirfirst ch i l d . A fte r th e baby i s bo rn th eywi l l be moving to Albuquerque, NM to workw i t h First Christian C hu rch , w h ich is theirs pon s e r i n g and l i v i n g - l i n k chu rch .Tony and Tammy J ackson a re a l so l i v i ng he r ei n L inco l n . Tammy is exp e c t i n g their firstch i l d any day now. Tony is a l s o i n the .Mas t e r ' s Degree program a t th e Seminary an4is work ing on h i s t h e s i s too .Wes and Angie Wrigh t a r e still min i s t e r i ngwith the Northside Christian C h u r c h inVanda l i a , IL . They have one c h i l d , Micah,who was born in July. Wes drives to Lincoln'once a we e k to finish his classwork. H e willg r a du a t e w i t h a Mas t e r o f Div i n i t y Degree i nMay. LANGUAGE SCHOOL,

In May the whole team wil l be moving to; St. Louis for our Portugese languaget r a in ing a t the Ber l i t z Language School inClayton, MO. Language school i s an i n t ens ivef ive week program with the women studyingwi th an i n s t r u c t o r f o r f ou r hou r s and th e men,with an instructor for four hours each day, ]/( f ive days a week. This program begins May 23 -^ /j through June 24. On June 27-July 1 we willi .^'': take a c lass on Inte r-Per sonal Re la tionsh ipswith Dr. Clyde Aust in and wife , of Abi lene ,TX. _ FORWARDING AGENTS'

Rich and Laura Bates wi l l be s e rv ing asour forwarding agents . They wi l l be t ak ingcare o f all o f o u r f i n a n c e s when we l e a v e thecoun t r y a s we l l a s all funds t h a t come i nbefore January . This i s qu i t e a r espons ib l i tyand we a re very t h ank fu l to have them. Thej/Bates have two children, Dana and Jamie.I/They are members of Calumet St. ChristianChu r c h in Centralia.


4/13

CALENDARFeb. 7th - A.M. DeSoto, MO

- P-M. HlLlsboro , Md

March 22-25th - St. Louis ChristianCollege Chapel ServicesPRAYER CONCERNS

Our sponsering church, Calumet St.Christian in Centralia , IL, has agreed totake on approximately one third of oursupport. We are very thankful for th i s butwe need prayer in that we might find otherchurches and individuals that will support usf i nanc i a l l y .** Pray that we will have more opportunitiesto p r e s en t ou r work.** Pray for the-other couples on the team.

326 Thompson Dr.L i n c o l n , IL 62656

r":- - ^


5/13

Chr i s t fo r S ao Luis:a team ministry to Sao Luis, Maranhao , Brazil

Gary andRosemarie Finley

NEWSLIETirEIRJuly 18, 1988 Vol. 2

Sao Luis

SEND ALL CORRESPONDENCE ANDCONTRIBUTIONS TO:Chr i s t fo r Sao LuisCalumet Street Christian ChurchR.R. #2, Box 750Central ia , IL 62801( 618)


6/13

TEAM SAYS GOODBYE TO BELOVED FRIENDSWith s i n ce r e r eg re t s the Sao Luis team hasaccepted the res ignat ion of Wes and AngieWright. For personal reasons Wes and Angie

have dec i d ed to d i s c on t i nu e t h e i r p r e p a r a t i o n sfo r se rv ing wi th us in Braz i l . We wi l l missth e s t r e ng t h s and ab i l i t i e s which they broughtto ou r e f f o r t , bu t we r e spec t t h e i r j udgemen ti n this d e c i s i o n and w ish them much s u c c e s s a sthey con tinue to serve our Lord and Savior herei n th e S t a t e s . Wes and Angie wi l l c on t i nu e int h e i r mini s t ry wi th the congrega t ion o fN o r t h s i d e Christian Chu r ch i n Vand a l i a , IL .

We (a long wi th th e Hensons and Jacksons)will ma i n t a i n t h e s ame t ime s c h e d u l e for o u rdepa r t u r e to th e f i e ld , January 1989. Pleaser emembe r u s b e f o r e th e Lord a s we a d ju s t t o t h enew d iv i s i on o f r e spons ib i l i t i e s which wi l lresult f rom t h e Wr igh t s ab s enc e .

SURVEY TRIP DRAWS NEAR : -m^

'wiPMWOnly e i g h t weeks remain un t i l we depa r t fo r Sao Lu i s andBelem f o r n i n e da y s Sep t embe r 11 - 21. The pu rpos e o f this trip

wi l l be t o a ch i e v e th e f o l l ow ing ob j e c t i v e s :1) To exp e r i e n c e t h e city first hand . and fo l l ow up on th e

demograph ic work which has a l ready been done by Ch r i s t fo rN o rth ern B ra zi1 mi s s i o n a r i e s who have visited th e city2 ) Whi l e accompan i ed by ou r r e c r u i t e r s Bob and Do r i s MyersCwho s e r v e d a s mi s s i o n a r i e s In Braz i l fo r s ix y e a r s ) we wi l lsurvey th e hous i ng marke t . Th i s wi l l make it much e a s i e r fo r usto dec i de on an apa r tmen t when we ac tua l l y move to th e c i t y inJ a nua r y .

3) We wi l l visit l o c a l shops and marke t s to de t e rmine if t h e r ea re any necessa ry i t ems no t av ai lab le in Sao Luis which we maywan t t o take w i t h u s f r om the S t a t e s .43 We wi l l v i s i t wi th a t l e a s t two congrega t ions in Belem ( thecity nearest Sao Luis where we have established churches? to gain

u nHp r - ^ t s n r j i nr> '" .f tb '= 11 's ex'nresslon i>f wo r s h i r ) .


7/13

" A c l a s s e de Por t uge se e s t a t e rm inada ! "On th e a f t e r n o o n o f F r id ay , Jun e 24 th wecompleted our f ive week in tens i f i ed course in

Por tugese l anguage with Ber l i t z Language Cente rin S t. Louis , MO. Although we a re no t by anymeans f l uen t in Por tugese , we have achievedB e r l i t z ' " s o c i a l +" r a t i ng which was ou r goa lf o r th e c o u r s e . T h i s w i l l e n a b l e u s t o g e t bywith our day to day t a sks as we a r r i ve in SaoLuis t h i s Janua ry . We wi l l con t inue wi th ou rlanguage s tudy fo r a t l e a s t one f u l l yea r a f t e ro u r a r r i v a l i n B r a z i l . unde r th e g u i d a n c e o f aq u a li f i e d B r a z i l i a n i n s t r u c t o r .

SUPPORT IN PLACE JULY 1 9 8 8Presen t ly th e suppor t which has been

c o m m i t t e d t o R o s i e an d I is 40% o f t h e amoun twe wi l l need wh i l e l i v i ng and work ing i nBra z i l . We t h ank God and His peop l e fo r t h i saccompl ishment . We r e a l i z e however , t h a t th eother 60% m u s t b e raised o v e r the n e x t fivemonths . P l e a s e assist us i n r a i s i n g wha tremains by h e l p i n g i n th e fo l lowing ways:

* Pray f o r u s d a i l y* Share information about our w o r k with

cong r ega t i on s you a re aqua in t ed wi th (ifyou would l i k e p r i n t e d mate r i a l s to sha r ewi th o t h e r s p l e a s e l e t us know, we would beg l ad to send you wha t eve r you need)

* I f you r chu r ch , c l a s s o r o t h e r g roup i sp lann ing to suppo r t us, bu t you have no tye t no t i f i ed us p l e a s e do so soon Ceven i fth e suppor t w i l l not begin immedia te ly ) so wemay p l an ou r fund r a i s i n g acco rd ing ly Cthankyou ) .

Ch r i s t fo r S a o Luis :a team ministry to Sao Luis. Maranhao, Brazi l


8/13

In the nextf o l l ow i ng l o c a t i o n s :

CALEKD/^R , .s eve r a l weeks we wi l l be speak ing in th e

* Ju ly 17 - 20 Rock Garden Chr i s t i a n Assembly ne a r WestEmmin en c e , MO* J u l y 2 0 th 7 :3 0 PM - West Emm inence Ch r i s t i a n Chu r c h n e a r Wes tEmmin e n c e , MO* Ju ly 26th 10:00 AM - Weste rn Di s t r i c t Miss ionary Ra l ly inAt l an t a , GA ( a t t e nded by 65 chu r che s in Weste rn Georg i a )

A u g u s t 7-12 High Hi l l Ch r i s t i a n Assembly nea r High H i l l , MO A u g u s t 15 - 17 DeSoto Ch r i s t i a n Church i n DeSoto , MO

OPEN DATESPresently we are available for speaking engagements on thefollowing Sundays, please share these dates with other churches

in your a r ea . J u l y 31 fl A u g u s t 7th AM CSt. Louis area or west of St. Louis)

A u g u s t 14,^lf '2 8-T.-1

S e p t e m b e r v - O c t o b e r 1 6

CHRIST FOR SAO LUISCALUMET STREET CHRISR.R. #2, BOX 750CENTRALIA, IL 62801

Sao Lais fVl\j


9/13

C h r i s t f o r S a o Luis:a team ministry to Sao Luis. Maranhao. Brazil

Gary and Rosie Finley

mmmnmOctober 18. 1988 Vol.

Dear F r i e n d s ,

Since our las t newsletter muchhappened that will affect the future ofwork in Sao Luis. In the proceeding articleswe will try to bring you up to date on thesee v e n t s . We h a v e \Ara

m u c h h a swork in Sao Luis. - - our

We have rejoiced and we have wept,end r e s u l t has been that we areaffirmed now more than ever that God hascalled^ us to partnership in His work and HeIS faithful to provide what is needed toaccompl ish His purposes .

T r u s t i n g i n Him,Gary & R o s i e

SEND ALL CORRESPONDENCEAND CONTRIBUTIONS TO :C h r i s t f o r Sao L u i sCalumet S t r e e t Christ ian ChurchR.R. #2 , Box 750C e n t r a l i a , IL 62801CG18) 5 3 3 - 4 4 2 1


10/13

S U R V E Y TRIP COMPLETED!!September 11-21 were eleven very importantdays fo r th e members of our team. We

exper ienced fo r th e f i r s t t ime th e cu l t u r e inwhich we wil l be l iving and working as webegin our ca ree r s as miss iona r ie s to SaoLuis, Brazi l . Following i s a br ie f sketch ofwhat we accomplished during our t r ip :* Met missionary families working in Belem,and s tayed as gues t s in t h e i r homes fo r t h ree

day s* Attended worship serv ices a t one of thechurches in Belem which have been e s t ab l i sh edby ou r m i ss io na ri e s th e re* Spent s ix days in Sao Luis learning thegeograph ic al layou t of the c i ty and th e bes tway to g e t from one place to another* Made contact with a number of people inSao Luis who wi l l be important to us when wemove there ( i . e . real tors , doctors, shopkeepers, Portugese language ins t ruc tors , ando ther E ng lish speakers )* Put our language sk i l l s to the t e s t as wetalked with many Brazilians each daythroughout th e c i t yThe survey t r ip was an invaluable s tep in

o u r p r e p a r a t i o n to l i v e and work in Sao Lu i s .As we f i na l i ze our p re pa ra t io ns to en t e r thef ie ld we do so with f i r s t hand knowledge ofthe c i ty and with expecta t ions t h a t a re fa rmore accu r a t e t h an they would o the rw i s e haveb e e n .

Chris t fo r Sao Luis:a team ministry to Sao Luis, Maranhao, Brazil


11/13

TEAM UNDERGOES FURTHER CHANGESWe informed you in the las t issue of ournewsletter that one of our families haddecided for personal reasons to discontinuetheir preparations, and would not be Roine

wi th u s t o Bra z i l .Shortly after returning from our surveyt r ip Jay & Kim Henson also announced to usthat they have decided to discontinue theirinvolvement with the work. This would haveleft us with only two couples to carry on theLuis establishing Christ's church in Sao

But, a ll praise belongs to our God andFather Who works all things for good to thosewho love Him and are called according to Hispurpose, the day after we learned of Jay &Kim's decision we were contacted by a couplefrom the Cincinnati area who have been awareof our work for some time and are interestedin becoming a par t of our team.Two days later we were also approached bywith whom we attended college atSLCC, they too have been considering for sometime the possibility of Joining us in our

wo r k .These couples will need to complete theirpsychological evaluations before they maketheir final decisions about joining the team.As soon as this has been completed we willannounce t he i r names in t h i s newsle t te r .

NEW TARGET DATE MUST BE SETW h ile we we r e in Brazil we learned that

th e con f e r enc e whi ch is he ld an n u a l ly by t h emi s s i o n a r i e s work ing t h roughou t th e coun t r y( u su a l l y h e ld d u r in g th e first week o fJ anua ry ) was be i ng c anc e l l e d due tos chedu l i ng prob lems . Our o r i g i n a l depa r t u r ed a t e o f th e first week in Janua ry 1989 wass e t p r im a r i ly to enab l e us to a t te n d t h i sconference a n d m e e t our fellow missionaries.

(over)


12/13

We also learned that the process ofobtaining our two year visas (permission byth e government of B raz i l to en te r th ecoun t ry and work a s miss iona r ie s ) would t akelonger than we had been told by the embassy.With these m atte rs to cons ider we re turnedfrom the survey t r ip with the knowledge thata new da te fo r ou r depa r tu re would have to bese t . The dec i s i on by th e Hensons and th eneed to consider the new couples who des i reto Jo in our team fur ther complicate th i sprocess.Presently we are discovering f i r s t handnew meanings fo r the Chris t ian pr inciple ofpa t i ence . The be s t e s t ima te we have a t t h i stime i s that we wil l be able to depart forSao Luis somet ime in th e f i r s t ha l f o f 1989.Please pray fo r us as we determine a newda t e ! We wi l l announce t h i s dec is ion as soonas pos s i b l e t h rough th e news le t t e r .

PRAYER CONCERNSIn l ight of the developments which youhave read about on th e previous pages, we askt h a t you pray fo r t he se spec i f i c needs:* Jay & Kim Henson a s they seek a new

min i s t r y he r e i n th e s t a t e s* The dec i s ions o f th e two couples who haveexpressed an i n t e r e s t in j o in ing our work* The Jack sons , ou rse lve s , and ou rsupervis ing e lde r s as we t a rge t a new da tefor our depar ture to the f ie ld (hopefully wecan announce t h a t to you sometime dur ing th emon t h of Nov emb e r )


13/13

SUNDAY - THE PEOPLE OF SAO LUIS: The people of Brazil are in some ways much l ikethe audience which Paul addressed in Acts 17 "Men of Athens, I observe that youare very re l igious in a l l respects ." The Athenians were qui te re l ig ious , yetthey did not know the LORD of lords . The people of Brazi l are very re l igious ,sp i r i tua l , and supe r s t i t i ous , yet most do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior .

Many inf luences from non-Chris t ian re l ig ions have been mingled withChris t ian names and symbols to create a widely practiced re lig io n t ha t i s verydifferent from new testament Chris t ianity . Pray that the Lord might help the people of Sao Luis to see the ne ISinadequacy of a faith divorced from Jesus Christ as we. "mw# a m.wmGod's only Son, the only Way, Truth and Life. wW 9

MONDAY - NOVEMBER ELECTIONS IN BRAZIL; This November the peopleof Brazi l wi l l e l ec t a new pres ident along with many othe rimportant government of f i c i a l s . The new government wi l l have todea l with yea r ly i n f l a t i on in excess o f 1,000%, the l a r g e s tfore ign deb t in the Third World, growing soc ia l unres t and awide range o f o the r domest ic and i n t e rn a t i ona l conce rns .

Pray t ha t the l eade rs who a re s ele cte d wi l l cont inue to view the presenceof American miss ionar ies as a bene f i t to the people . Pray t ha t doors ofoppor tun i ty wi l l remain open in th i s t roubled na t i on .

TUESDAY - ALL MEMBERS OF THE CHRIST FOR SAO LUIS TEAM: W hi l e we c o n t i n u e toava i l ourselves of the bes t preparation we can obta in (Bibl ical s tudies ,pro fess iona l language i n s t r uc t i on , demographic m a te ria ls re le va nt to Braz i l ,church growth studies , e tc . ) , we a t a l l times recognize that th e su cc ess of th isef for t is to ta l ly dependent upon th e working of the Holy Spi r i t through us andHis working in the l ives of the Brazi l ian people.

Pray t ha t we may be sens i t i ve to the lead ing of God's Sp i r i t and wil l ing tof o l l ow H is d i r e c t i o n .

ELECTIONS

WEDNESDAY - SUPERVISING ELDERS AND FORWARDING AGENTS; O ur w o r ki s t ru ly a team miss ion e f f o r t . This min i s t ry i nvo lves manyse rvan t s o f Chr i s t ; th e four f ami l i e s who wi l l be l i v i ng andworking in Sao L u is , fou r groups o f e lde r s who w i l l eachsupervise one of the famil ies , four forwarding agents (couples) ,St a t e - s i d e r e c ru i t e r s , praye r par tne r s and f i n anc i a l suppor te r s .

Pray fo r the m in is try o f our supervis ing e lde rs and forwarding agents asthey seek to make our min is t ry in Braz i l both possib le and successfu l .

THURSDAY - OUR FAMILIES AS OUR DATE FOR DEPARTURE DRAWS NEAR; I n a work o f thisallature not

t h e m s e l v e s .of the s a c r i f i c e s invo lved a re made by the miss iona r i e s

Pray fo r paren t s and grandparents who do no t look forward to separa t ionfrom loved ones , bu t who r e al i z e th at the kingdom o f God i s b igge r than any oneo f u s . A ll o f God's ch i ld ren have the r i gh t to hear o f His l ove fo r them:

"How, then, can they ca l l on the one they have not bel ieved in? And howcan they be l i eve in the one o f whom they have no t heard? And how canthey hear without someone preaching to them?"(Romans 10:14)

FRIDAY - ADDITIONAL PARTNERS IN GOD'S CALLING: Romans 1 0 : 1 5(10:14 is cited above) s ta tes ; "And how can they preach unlessthey a re sent?"

Pray t ha t the Lord wi l l lead us to churches which need toexpand t h e i r miss ions program.

Saturday - DUE PROCESSING OF OUR VISAS; The v i sas you have heard so much aboutin our n ew sle tte r a re n o t c r e d i t cards . A v i s a i s permiss ion a governmentg ra nts f ore ig ne rs who wish to en te r t he i r count ry . We need permission from theBraz i l i an government before we can en te r Sao Luis and b eg in our work t he re .

finley gary rosemarie 1988 brazil

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