It was sad to leave home, but it sure is good to be back home! If this sounds confusing to you, it means you’re beginning to understand the missionary life.

Thanks to the sacrificial giving of many of you, International Ministries gave us the green light to return to Brazil. In March, after our month-long teaching trip in Southeast Asia, we jumped into that most difficult part of our mobile lives: saying excellent goodbyes and packing up. The hardest part was leaving family and close friends, including our son Asa. We joke that we are experiencing “reverse empty nest” syndrome - instead of the chicks testing their wings, the nest flew away!

After one week in Brasília, we made the 9 hour road trip to Belo Horizonte.  How wonderful it was to reconnect with our church family at Igreja Batista Reviver! At JAMI (the missionary training center),we taught two intensive courses called “The Missionary Life” and “Integral Mission,” and helped with JAMI’s annual mission consultation. It is encouraging to see so many young people on fire to share the transforming power of the gospel.  We enjoyed getting to know the 23 students enrolled in the training programs, but decided it was a little crazy to jump back into full-time instruction in Portuguese only a week after we arrived in-country!

The National Baptist Convention of Brazil (CBN) has invited us to develop two national-level ministries in leadership development and local mission outreach. So even though we’re back home in Brazil, we are moving to the capital city of Brasília and starting over as if we had just arrived for the first time - but with 7 years of experience and Portuguese under our belts!

Bruce is pounding the streets to find a place to live.  Once we’re settled, we’ll be able to focus on developing the new ministries.  We’ll keep you posted.   Ann will complete another round of intensive doctoral courses this month at Palmer Seminary.  Asa is currently in Tonga with Elena and Mark doing an internship in information technology.  In the Fall, he’ll return to the Pacific Northwest to continue his college education.  So our family has now spread to 3 continents!

We’re grateful to have you with us on this journey! Thank you for praying, writing and giving. We couldn’t be here without you.