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OH LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress."
Family Life, Missions Life, Business Life:
I know it has been a while since I have updated the blog. It makes it harder to follow, I understand. I wish somehow I could have put our lives on some sort of auto-scribe for the past few weeks, but not an option available yet with technology.
Needless to say, these past few weeks have probably been the most trying times since we have been in Brasil, and with that, honestly since our lives have begun. There are a lot of things we can't post openly online from legal perspectives and confidentiality purposes, how I wish I could share the story in full.
The first thing that should be pointed out is how awesome my wife is. If you could only be here to see it in action, you would stand in amazement at such stalwart. I know no woman on the face of this earth (nor man for that matter) willing to take on the challenges she embraces day-to-day. We stand side-by-side one another through all things. Lately, we have juggled the challenges of a 3 month old, running a business in the 8th hardest country in the world, teaching, and missions work. It gives you a new perspective on family and the value there is in being close to them in times like these.
We had a team from Charleston Southern University come down from August 1st-10th to begin laying the ground work for a project they are developing with the ENACTUS (www.enactus.org) group at CSU. The team, formally known as SIFE, came to do the initial legwork for a cutting-edge, business as missions project that will bring economic opportunity while supporting the missions work of the Greve's for 7 communities located along the Amazon River. The team completed its purpose and arrived safely back home to continue the work Stateside until their next trip. Thank you to everyone one who contributed to this team's success by gathering funding, medical supplies, school supplies, Bibles and other forms of aid. There were 16 decisions made during the team's outreach project. The team is making a movie to highlight the trip, I will upload it as soon as it becomes available!
I had the opportunity to speak at the 1st Baptist Pedreira spiritual retreat last weekend. Liz and I are still in the development stages with the church on the Sunday English Service. I got to "bust out" some old missions stories from Santee State Park, Waffles House, Ethiopia, etc. for those of you who have heard the stories or were apart of the action. The opportunity to speak at the spiritual retreat gave us and the church the chance to get to know each other a little better. This past Sunday was the church's 84th anniversary! God is doing some awesome work through the ministry there and Liz and I cannot wait to be a bigger part of it. We will keep you up to date as things progress!
As far as Global English is concerned, we are going through a big transitional period right now with employees. For the sake of privacy, I can't get into details. What I can say though is that the visa process is a daunting one. Liz and I went through similar challenges, fought our way through some tough obstacles, and faced big sacrifices in the midst of getting to Brazil with legitimate visas. Despite what people said and the actions of others we stayed committed to the calling God placed in our lives- we want to thank those of you standing with us and being willing to stay committed to His leading. We would also like to welcome our new team members, those who have made it and those who are still battling through the legal issues of making it to Brazil. We look forward to working with you all, and may God bless you!
