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| Partner Stories: The Dunn Family | |
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Cut Off from the Gospel |
Tim and Debbie Dunn have unexpectedly developed a passion for the people living in the hundreds of fishing villages along Brazil’s thousands of miles of Atlantic coastline. These villages are cut off from most of the rest of Brazil in many ways, including access to the Gospel. A ministry in Brazil was developed several years ago to focus on this type of hidden people group that lives in isolation less than 50 miles from many of the largest cities of Brazil. Debbie responded to the request of one of our Sepal colleagues to help serve as the translator for a church group from the United States on one of their recent visits to a group of these fishing villages. Having been transformed by her experience with this people group, Debbie returned in December 2011 to the coast along with her husband Tim and son Jonathan and several families from their church to deliver Christmas presents to families.
Sepal Ministry
As Tim and Debbie Dunn have developed their ministry in Brazil in partnership with Sepal, one of their desires has been to help the Brazilian Church access many of the resources that have been developed in the United States and are available to the American church. Since arriving in Brazil two years ago, they have often found themselves responding to questions from Brazilian pastors and leaders with “I know of a resource from the United States that meets the need you are describing… but nothing quite like it exists for the Brazilian context just yet.” Sepal is expanding the wealth of resources available in Brazil by developing partnerships with leading US Christian organizations and then contextualizing and translating materials and ideas to be used by the Brazilian Church.
One of the partnerships Sepal has developed is with the Willow Creek Association which was created to share the insights gained from and materials developed by the Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago. One of the tools that Willow Creek developed is Reveal, a tool that helps churches measure the illusive qualitative aspects of spiritual growth. As a native English speaker in a Brazilian led organization with experience in project management, Tim seemed to be a natural fit in helping Sepal integrate Reveal into Sepal. With translation of the online survey completed, they plan to conduct a test of the process in six to seven churches in early 2012 and roll out the tool to Brazilian churches later in the year.
| Partner Stories: The Kebede Family | |
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Hilina’s Story |
“…sports gives us an opportunity to bring hope…”
Hilina plays volleyball in Habtom and Heather’s sports outreach ministry in Ethiopia. She and her two sisters are being raised by their single mother who works fifteen hours a day and only earns 500 to 600 birr a month ($30-35 USD). Half of her earnings paid to rent a 5’ x 6’ tarp covered shack. Unfortunately, their rent increased and they were evicted. Hilina and her sisters began to noticeably lose weight. Hilina began joking and laughing to hide her pain.
Many new apartments have been built in Ethiopia and people were given the opportunity to put their names in a drawing to be eligible to buy an apartment. Hilina’s mother’s name was drawn. After two years and lots of prayer, they finally received the keys and Hilina’s mother borrowed money to pay the down payment. Hilina’s mother wanted to rent out the studio apartment for 1300 birr instead of living in it because it would pay for the mortgage, everyday living expenses and an increase in the standard of living for her family. But the apartment was a mess: it did not have a ceiling, others had used it for storage and items had been stolen.
The Kebedes felt God had opened a door for them to share Christ’s blessings and assist Hilina’s family with a long-term solution. Habtom and two others worked for five days putting in a ceiling, painting, fixing lights, cleaning and making other repairs. What had looked like a dump soon became a home. Two days after the house was fixed up, it was rented for 1300 birr.
Sports outreach might seem simple, but it is an investment in kids’ lives and many others like Hilina are significantly impacted each day. Hilina has gained weight and is a testimony of God’s goodness and providence.
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