Bud Simon

A Powerful Reminder

Sky and water blend together at the horizon along the Xingu River

You ever wonder why you are doing what you do?

This week I had a wonderful reminder of why I am doing the work that I do. 

We had the delight of having visitors from the Cleveland area this last week.  It was great to visit a variety of communities along the river with them.  There was an awesome sense of the presence of the Lord and a simple sincerity in seeing the Spirit move among us. 

It was wonderful to worship together, pray together, fellowship together and laugh together. 

For me, the defining moment of the trip took place under the setting sun in a small community.  The meeting took place outside, in the shade of several large fruit trees.  The worship was uncomplicated.  The people were simple and genuine.  The message was clear. 

And the response was profound.  In the meeting of about 50 people, 12 came forward to give their lives to the Lord.  It was in some ways similar to "you and your family will be saved" (Acts 16).  Many were members of the same families and extended families.  The power of God fell on that place in that moment.  His touch was irresistible. 

It brought me back to the reason I came here years ago.  There are people that have never heard the simple message of the Gospel. "How will they hear if no one tells them?" (Romans 10).  I love that God moment, when a person's face lights up for the first time with the joy of salvation.  There is nothing sweeter.  I thank God for letting me partake in His work in this place. 

Wading across the mud flats at the edge of the river

FIEL

Sunrise on the Xingu River near Belo Monte

Early morning worship on top of the boat during the weekend intensive

Leadership Fundamentals (which makes the acronym "FIEL" in Portuguese) , this is always a blast, and getting better. 

This last weekend we did an outing in a small community call "Belo Monte".  This community has a couple thousand people.  It is where the TransAmazon crosses the Xingu River. 

The goals of FIEL are to provide teaching, training, and practical experience for the students in a weekend intensive.  As a secondary goal, FIEL provides the opportunity to make initial contact with community or to give encouragement to a rural church. 

The response on both sides has been extremely positive. 

The recent outing to Belo Monte was on of the most positive to date.  The students had the opportunity to spend time training in the morning in one of several areas, including evangelism, children's ministry, drama, and worship.  Then, in the afternoon, the whole team did an outreach event targeted at the children in the community.  There was a positive response and many of the children came out to the event.  It was a great moment and one of the girls on the team shared how she accepted Christ when she was seven years old and the positive impact it had on her life. 

In the evening, we had an outreach event in the small, multisport facility in the community.  There was an excellent response with people giving their lives to the Lord. 

The time made a positive impression on the students and it was wonderful to see everyone working together! Personally, this is something I really enjoy.  It is a great place to give students the freedom to practice things in a learning environment. 

If you are interested in supporting FIEL, please make a donation and earmark it for "Training". 

Thanks and God Bless!

Children reacting to the presentations that the FIEL students offered

Denise is the Coordinator for the FIEL training.  23 years old and single, she spent two years at Bible School and has been a tremendous asset to the local church and in helping reproduce training in others.  Here she is with one of the children from the weekend. 


I had the chance to take two of my children along, Caleb and Anna.  They both had a ball!  Caleb sits in on the training for the drama group. 

Books

I am an avid reader. 

I enjoy reading but I also read as a discipline. 

The discipline of reading helps to provide different perspectives and insights that shape and form my thinking and actions. 

Here are a few of the books that I have read in the first six months of 2009 ( in no particular order). 

Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen
This book is an insightful and helps me to think in a new way about problems and issues that arise.  It helps to move from a reactive place to a proactive place.  The book is written from a business perspective.  The priciples are sound and practical for pretty much any forum of life.  A quick and easy read and I highly recommend it for those that want to think differently about problem solving. 

The Message Bible Large Print Burg Lthr Lk: Large Print Edition
This is a new Bible I purchased.  I love it.  The Message, of course, is a paraphrase Bible.  But, the print for my 45 year old eyes is fantastic.  I also have always preferred the single, wide column filling the page as opposed to multiply columns on a page.  It makes the reading quick and easy.  The Bible is high also well made, being of a good quality.  I recommend this for those that enjoy the Message Bible. 

Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers
A wonderful book by Eugene Peterson.  In it, he explains the parables that are unique in the Gospel of Luke as well as the prayers of Christ.  I know, it may not sound too exciting.  However, it is eminently practical and applicable to daily life.  I have enjoed the book immensely for reflective reading and highly recommend it. 

Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication
An excellent book for those that speak on a regular basis, especially as teachers or preachers.  It will help to improve your communications by focusing your thinking.  It is an easy read and very practical. 

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
This was written by a couple of professors.  They explain in the book why some ideas and thoughts are easy to remember.  This is a must read for anyone that communicates or presents in any context.  If you are interested in people remembering what you say:)  I highly recommend this.  Funny, interesting and practical. 

Outliers: The Story of Success
Fascinating.  It covers a wide range of subjects and provides for a much wider perspective into all kinds of subjects.  It provides a creative way to perceive things that intuitively you understand as correct.  It will widen your understanding and insight.  Gladwell is an excellent writer. 

Adventures of a Bystander
This is the closest thing to an autobiography of Peter Drucker that you will find.  He tells dozens of stories from his life and interactions with famous and not so famous individuals through the years.  He shares the lessons and insights gained from those times.  A great book, if you know who Drucker is and want something that provides a totally different perspective. 

Take a look at the links to Amazon.com for more indepth reviews and information.  I got a load of other books also, but these are just a few that I found interesting and insightful. 

Good reading!

Do I Love What I Do?

You know, life is short. 

We all come to grips with our mortality, sooner or later. 

But sooner is better than later. 

As I have reflected on a number of things over the past several months, it has become apparent that it is much better to focus on my personal strengths and on the things that I enjoy doing.  We all need to do some things out of responsibility whether we want to or not (I am thinking about taxes).  However, we can, with some forethought and insights, make good life choices that will allow us to do the things that we actually enjoy doing in life and the things that re rewarding. 

Not always, but often.

And, as I look around I realize that it is easy to drift from those things and get caught up in fulfilling other people's expectations.

Rio - A Different Kind of Trip

Clenildo, Angelita, Steve, Elba, and Thiago - Clenildo and Elba are part of the Leadership Team for the Brazilian churches and Thiago is our new friend who drove us everywhere in Rio!

I had the opportunity to travel to Rio de Janeiro last week.  Yes, a little outside my normal travel schedule here in Brazil. 

However, I did have a blast!! 

I went there with the leadership team from our region and we were able to have a great time.  There were meetings for the Vineyard church planting movement in all of Brazil.  I was along as a supporter and encourager for the church planting here in Brazil. 

It would have been great to be able to take my family along - but we are in that season of life when it is  expensive and inconvenient to travel as a family! 

There was a couple of days of meetings for the leadership team and then a church planting conference (InterVinha) on the weekend.  It was great to meet with others and have alot of informal time to meet and converse.  The time flew by!

The whole time was really an excellent way to build relationships and reinforce our values.  It is also encouraging to see others who are facing some of the same challenges in other parts of the country. 

The trip was well worth the time it took for helping the relationships develop and mature.  it was great to make some new friends and deepen the old friendships!

Clenildo, Elba, Roger from Claifornia, and Milton from Baura - São Paulo during a leadership meeting

Rick Bergen, Celso from Belo Horizante - Minas Gerais, and Mark Fields, head of Vineyard Mission - USA. 

When You Can Not Read

Chico, Community Leader in Vila Nova, Maribel

Chico can not read.

Chico is not deterred. 

Chico wants to know the Bible and help out in his local church. 

Through the sharing of the Gospel in the remote area where Chico lives, he gave his life to the Lord.  He had struggled since then because he never learned to read.  The desire was there, but he never had the opportunity to learn. 

Then we were able to provide him with a "Proclaimer". 

A Proclaimer is a small electronic device with a dedicated memory.  On the memory is a copy of the Bible in Portuguese.  The controls on the device allow the user to find book, chapter, and verse and to move there with relative speed and ease once the user learns to use the controls. 

The Proclaimer, a small device that enable people that can not read to hear the Gospel on a regular basis

The Proclaimer is power in a number of ways:  by an A/C power adapter, by a hand crank that powers a battery, or by a small solar panel. 

Here is the really wonderful part of the story. 

When I was in Chico's community during a recent trip, I listened as Chico stood up and spoke before the group.  In his sharing, he quoted several verses verbatim.  I was amazed and grateful.  Here was a man who had never read, but was able to quote Scripture. 

My heart was touched.  It was wonderful to see that even such an obvious barrier as not being able to read was able to be overcome by the persistence of one man to share the Gospel with his community. 

Thanks for your prayers!!

The church community where Chico ministers

If you would like to help out Chico and other national leaders like him, please donate to:

Altamira Region (on line)

Or earmark for "the Altamira Region" and send to:

Xingu Mission
PO Box 340785
Columbus, Ohio 43234
USA

Leadership Fundementals

The Students and Teachers from the Leadership Training Intensive

We just had a great weekend out on the river. 

We were able to take a group of students out to have a wonderful time doing a leadership training intensive. 

the topic this month was focused on evangelism.  This was the second in our series of leadership training modules.  We met at a community on the river and 32 students took part in the training. 

It is great to see the passion and the sincerity that pulse from the lives of the students.  The goal is to teach in a series of weekend intensives through out the year.  These intensives will help equip the students with the skills they need to step up to a new level in their churches.  It is exciting to see the students embracing the teaching and the opportunities to share. 

One of the most energizing things is when the students are engaged and both sides can see the urgency and relevance of what is being transmitted. 

Thanks for each of you that has been praying for us. 

If you would like to help support leadership training for the Brazilians, you can do that by giving to: 

Altamira Leadership Training

Please earmark the donation for "leadership training" or e-mail me and let me know. 

Anna, four years old, who went along with me to "help out" on the trip.  We had a great time together!

Anna, my four year old, also went on the trip with me.  We had a blast together and it is always good to have my kids along.  It makes it more work and more effort, but I love including them when I can.  She is a delight and enjoys doing what she can to help out. 

Thanks for your prayers for our family!

Why Plant Churches?

Kids along the beach in a river village

Boats serve as the major transportation along the river.  Here they "dock" at the door of a partially completed church building as the service is ready to start. 

Why plant churches?  In fact, what does that even mean? 

For the vast majority of us, there is no frame of reference for the concept of "planting a church". 

Allow me to introduce the concept with some thoughts that can hopefully clarify this concept.  We are familiar with the idea of when we are traveling on the road and we drive through a small town or approach one of those many off ramps along an Interstate.  As we look around we see nothing familiar.  And the thought floats through our minds and often passes from our lips, "This place needs a __________ (McDonald's, Taco Bell, Starbuck's, Tim Horton's, or whatever fills in your blank.)"  By casual observation, we realize that there is something missing that would improve the moment and the location. 

Now move that awareness into the spiritual realm.  Consider that there are places that have no church.  The thought process is similar when we consider the need that exists here in the Xingu region of the Amazon.  As we step back and consider the three dimensions of human life - physical, emotional, and spiritual - there is an awareness of a tremendous gap in the lives of these people.  The church is the only institution that tries to meet needs in all three of these dimensions. 

But often, we can not even imagine a place where there are no churches.  Literally, our imagination fails us.  Why? Because almost anywhere we drive in North America, we pass dozens of churches.  It defies our thought process to consider that there are corners of this world in which there is no church.   Or the thought of walking hours or paddling a canoe hours to go to church.  We are outside of our box, we are out of range of our reality. 

Of course, just because we struggle to imagine something does not make it less real.  This is where our faith moves into action.  We step out with the intention of helping change the story and reality of these people. 

That is one of the reasons that we plant churches here and why we need help working towards this goal that God has set before us. 

Angles - the lines of the boat come together

Storm clouds gather over a river community

ON LINE DONATIONS

Impressions

El Shaddai (El-Xa -Day) Bike & Tire Repair - It took me four days to figure out the El Shaddai part, you know, Hebrew spelled phonetically into Portuguese examined by the American mind

 Assurini Ferry Landing

Two days, one exciting night, alot of mud, a simple message, a team of eight people - this is the making of a good time.  I had the opportunity to visit Esperançinha, the location of one of our new church plants.  The seasonal mud gave the trip the characteristic that makes so much of the work here in the interior. 

There is a sense in which it is easy to view the work through a romantic lens.  Drifting carefree down the river, surrounded by white beaches, swimming in sparkling waters and sharing the message of love, hope, and peace with a people that delight in hearing it. 

Well, it just isn't always quite that simple. 

The truth is that most people in this region live the hard-bitten life of a pioneer settler carving an existence out of the wilderness.  The majority of people that live in rural area do not have access to electricity or running water, refrigerators, freezers, or motorized transportation.  It is the old tried and true of the last 20 centuries.  Horseback, water drawn from the river or from a well, and an oil lamp to burn at night. 

But, people still want to change.  They are passionate about finding the key to change in their heart.  And they enjoying seeing the human side of each of us.

Who we are with God.  Who we are to each other.  What we really want out of life and how we can achieve that end.  Those are thoughts and ideas that transcend cultural boundaries and touch lives. 

That is the goal of what we do, making a difference in the hearts of people.  Bringing hope to the hopeless and peace to the troubled.  Each of us need the option and the oppurtunity to be able to encounter that difference for our lives.  We ever we are in this world.

Anna enjoys a donkey ride in the community we visited

The Long Road

Assurini

Senor Antonio looks on as Pastor Clenildo serves himself some " Abacaba".  Abacaba is a regional fruit that is made into a juice.  Antonio is a new believer. 

I returned from a short trip yesterday - hot, muddy, sweaty, tired - it was great. 

Let me share a personal reflections about my trip...

I had some time to think and ponder during my short time in the Assurini.  First, a note of clarification.  The " Assurini"  is a region across the river from Altamira.  Assurini is the name of an Indian tribe that had inhabited the area years ago.  Today, it is a region of jungle, interlaced with miles and miles of trails and roads.  There are thousands of settlers that live alone and in small communities in these backwoods.  It is reached by crossing the river on a ferry. 

There is also a tremendous need for the Gospel.  After spending part of the afternoon helping build a church in a local community, I sat in the meeting in the evening.  I was moved by simple thoughts.  30 months ago, there were no Christians in this community.  There was no sense of God, of His presence, of His plan, or of His purpose. 

And there has been a change that has an eternal impact.  It is wonderful to observe men and women undergo a transformation, a softening of hard edges and hard hearts. 

And I thought to myself, this is why I keep going back.  Things aren't easy, things aren't always going well or right, but when they do, like they are in this place, it is a charge of electricity that brightens my day and lightens my load. 

And that is what makes it worth the time. 

Working on building a church out in the bush.  I am the guy behind the camera:)