Braden's prize

Braden won first place in the literary competition for the Bainbridge Artsfest. He still hasn't let me read the story--he says it's about a zoo. He'll be rewarded today at Bainbridge College.

the little girl and the sea

Spring Break! We spent several days down at Mexico Beach. We had good weather; even enough to swim. We are now en route to Amy's nephew Trey's birthday party.

Jackson 5?

Anybody interested in kittens? Our neighborhood cat birthed five in our basement. They are tiny, striped, gray kittens.

Happy Easter!

employee #4237

With tax season full on for my dad, the boys and I have put in some time at the office to help manage the trash... shredding paper! Yes!!! We've shredded for almost 5 hours so far and still not finished.

employee #4236

Who knew shredding paper paid so well? It wasn't though the hundreds Braden had imagined getting.

buzz words

After the Invite10 entry quite a bit of international visitors were directed to my blog. I guess Afghanistan and Tajikistan are buzz words. I do hope those visits turn into aid for these families suffering through this harsh winter. The 71 visitors represented 24 different countries (none from Afghanistan or Tajikistan).
**Also don't forget. Double-click a word at any time on my blog for a definition provided by Answers.com.

Invite10

Due to the urgent needs in Afghanistan and Tajikistan...

"OM Mercy Ministries has started an emergency intervention. The team is providing food for 500 of the most vulnerable families in the worst regions. The goal is to support these families during the harsh winter months with food supplies, which will free up their own resources to buy heating material of their choice."

You can read more about what OM is doing at my friend Brian Mount's blog or straight from Invite10.

Brazil Day

Today Amy and I visited Simon's class to tell them about Brazil. Simon was so excited and loved that his class got to see his pictures and speak some Portuguese. I think probably the thing they'll most remember though is that we have giant frogs in Brazil. Which isn't entirely true, but fun for them nonetheless. They didn't quite catch what I was trying to say on that point.

a new direction

Dear friends and supporters,

This is a long and important letter, so I'll give you the summary and then you can read the details below:

1) God is leading us to Graduate School.
2) We have been tremendously supplied through your gifts... Thank you!
3) Please continue through June with your support (we'll be staying 3 or so more weeks in Brazil then).
4) Consider transferring your support to our national staff.
5) Please feel free to communicate with us about whatever questions you have.

After months of careful consideration, through prayer and counseling Amy and I have decided that God is leading us in a new direction. I say new direction because we are headed forward by faith to Graduate School, which means for now waiting to hear back from schools whether we've been accepted or not. I've applied to nine different schools, mostly in the Southeast, in Creative Writing. I'm super excited right now about what the future holds. I believe God is going to teach me so much in this new environment as I take on new challenges and meet new people, just as he did in Brazil and more recently during our furlough.

I want to be real clear that God has done so much to confirm in our hearts how special the work in Belo Horizonte is to us. When I first got back I suffered through a period of distancing myself from the team and the thought of continuing on in Brazil. There were multiple reasons for that but ultimately God has worked in our lives to renew us, especially in our relationship with Him. And as we've drawn closer to Him, He's turned my heart around to remember how important Brazil is to me.

One of my desires for the next few months before moving into new responsibilities is to do what I can to promote the new Brazilian leadership in Belo Horizonte. Their leadership and our support of them will be key to the continuation and growth of the new church in Belo and the outreach on the campus. Please continue to pray for them and consider potentially transferring what support you were giving to us to them. Please contact me if you are interested as I have three guys particularly in mind and I will also try and communicate with you in the coming weeks.

Our support needs have been wonderfully met. We can truly say that we have been "amply supplied" through your gifts. We know these gifts have been "a fragrant offering... pleasing to God". And we trust that over these past years as you've supported us that God has met "all your needs according to His glorious riches" (Phil. 4:18-20).

We would like to ask that you prayerfully consider continuing your support through June. That would do much to help us make the transition off staff and would provide what we need to make a trip down this summer to spend some time with the people that have become so dear to us and to sell and ship our stuff we left behind.

I know this by no means is a complete run-down of all that has gone on but I hope it can serve at least as an invitation for more communication. Like I said, you all are important to us and we want you all to be a part of this and we desire to be a part of God's continued work in your lives. We look forward to talking with you more by email. or phone.

We love you all,

Jeff, Amy and the kids