October-February, transition, transition, transition

Without doubt, the last five months have been the most chaotic and stressful in all my life. I hope you will forgive me for failing to keep in touch as we prepared for the move. It is not because I didn't want to; its just because things were so crazy that I simply couldn't sit down and write. However, now I can.

First of all, we are all OK. We are renting my late Grandfather Cecil's house from my parents, which is a true blessing. Not having to worry about a place to live first thing really helped us settle in. We are very thankful for that. We took three weeks to unpack and rest, and to begin checking things out. I (Chris) have been working at Southwest, our sponsoring congregation. They have agreed to support us for one month here for each year we served, so until October. My first task is to write a summary of our work for the last ten years and what we learned from it. Southwest has been a fantastic support to us while we make the transition to a new career. I am working on my MBA, with a concentration in Human Resources, and looking for a new job in HR somewhere in the Northwest. I know recent hard times have made everyone reevaluate their giving, but I ask any of you that can continue to support us through the transition to please consider doing so. This will ease the burden of the church here that is watching over us as we make the transition and help them not to have to use finds that could go to the field.
Jonathan began Kindergarten last week. Stephanie participates in Southwests' preschool two days a week. Alessandra is busy learning a new culture, preparing to get a degree in Psychology or Communications, and handling many of the loose ends we left in Brazil like the selling of our things and the house. All in all, we are recovering from the stress of the last few months (and years) and getting settled fairly well. Shopping is still quite difficult because of so many choices. Many times, we get stuck browsing in an aisle in the supermarket, finding many things we had looked for in Brazil and were unable to find. One time I got so distracted I just walked out of the store without anything. One big loose en din Brazil is our home. Please pray for it to sell, which will enable us to truly settle here.
I would like to fill you all in on some of the details of the last months and the current Church situation in Praia Grande.

On the 9th of October, Vera was baptized. Vera is Adriana's mom, and grandmother to Isabele and Leticia Guerrero. Vera had been catholic for a long time, but after studying first with her family, and then with Francisco, and visiting our congregation steadily for the last three years, she decided to obey the gospel. She was baptized in the ocean on a rainy and windy day, and all her family served as witnesses to her confession of Christ.

Vera's daughter, Adriana, is married to Carlos Guerrero. They were in our prayers a lot while we were in Brazil. You may remember Carlos was out of work for over six months. He did finally get a good job, and has even been promoted since he began to work. Since then, they have been trying to have a third child. Adriana found out she was pregnant only 1 week before we left, and was very excited about it! We just learned that there are some significant complications with her pregnancy due to high blood pressure. She may have to be on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. We ask for your prayers for her and a safe delivery of their new baby.






















Adriana and Alex celebrate as their mom becomes their spiritual sister

As soon as the weather permitted we began to work on the house to get it ready to sell. I prepped the yard for turf, got the "for sale" sign made, and prepped the house for painting as well. Several walls had been broken to install our new wiring, and they had to be smoothed over before painting with something about like mud. There was a lot of sanding involved. Francisco helped a lot, working several days on the outside of the house while I prepped the inside. My mom also scheduled a trip to see us in order to help us with the house.






















While she was here we all worked non-stop to get things done. In the end, we didn't
get everything done that I wanted to, but the house looked much nicer. The inside was completely repaired and repainted, including replacing some of the tiles on the bathroom wall. The outside also looked nice for the first time. Thanks, Mom and Francisco, for all the help.


Florinda, the second person that was baptized in Praia Grande, recently moved from her old house to a new place much closer to Francisco and Liduina's home. She had been wanting to move to a new home for years, but when Liduina challenged her to really ask God for what was on her heart, she began to ask for a two-bedroom house with a kitchen and some other things. After just a few weeks of turning this desire over to God in prayer, it happened. A builder offered to trade houses with her. He even helped her pay for the move, and so for basically nothing, she got the place she had been asking for, down to the specifics. She was so encouraged, and so impressed that God would care about the little things in her heart. She now is helping Liduina weekly with the children's class. Her quiet spirit and patience bless that group of vibrant children, and her willingness to serve strengthens the body. She truly loves to serve the Lord who saved her, and gave her her house.



The kids class remains impressive. We had between 12 and 24 in the little room, but thanks to Alley and Liduina's perseverance, Florinda and Adriana's patience, and the older helpers' preparation, the classes run pretty smoothly. Some of these kids are practically raised on the street, and can be pretty rambunctious. However, they need the Lord, and they need to be mentored by Christian men and women. This crowded kids class is one of the biggest long-term opportunities for the church to have an impact in the neighborhood. Please keep the teachers and kids constantly in your prayers.

Continent of Great Cities provides missionary care in most of South America, and in October Alley had the opportunity to attend their "Continent Care Connection," or CCC for women, which was very near to us on the coast. This free service to missionary women is a rich experience, led by leading professionals in missionary care--psychologists, counselors, former missionaries, and inspirational speakers. We are so grateful to CGC for providing this service. It has helped both of us as missionaries, and especially helped Alley prepare for the move. Thank you all for your service to missionary families In South America!

As part of our reentry, we saw Christian Psychologist Leonora Temple. Leonora fast became our friend as she helped us through some issues ranging from the assault three years ago in our home to reentry and what we might expect to find (or not) as we moved back to the US. We are thankful to her for her help, and to Southwest for encouraging us to take the time to get help before the move.

Alley's visa process finally ended after several months of waiting. The consulate in Rio asked us to provide a background check from Argentina since we had lived there several years. However, it took 3 months to get the documents from Argentina and have them translated. Once the Consulate received them, Alley's permanent visa and passports arrived in about two weeks. What we had been waiting on had finally arrived, and we began to scurry looking for good airfares. Our return had become a reality.

In Brazil, the "Sweet 16" birthday happens at 15, and parties for 15-year-olds usually resemble a wedding more than a birthday party. In December, Ariane, Jorge's oldest daughter, turned 15 but was planning not to have a party since they had no money. Jorge asked Alley if she would make a cake for her, so the whole church got involved to give her as nice a 15th birthday as we could. Alley made a butterfly cake (which was delicious). Ariane invited her boyfriend and extended family to worship, and afterward we all celebrated with her. She wept tears of joy and gratitude. We were able to

make a deep impact on her and her family, who still struggle with many questions after her mother abandoned them.

Jorge praying for Ariane at her 15th birthday party

One of the visitors we have reached out to is Fanny. Fanny is a neighbor of Adauto and Jane, members of the Sao Vicente congregation. She has a little boy and was expecting their second. She came to Alley to ask about a baby shower. Alley and Liduina put together a great baby shower, including games and food. It was such a success (and different from Brazilian showers!) that Fanny has now been coming to worship. She is hungry to grow in her faith, and excited to talk about it with anyone.

In a small congregation there are many opportunities to serve. Praia Grande is no different. Here are some pictures and videos of our worship:

Francisco leading "Create in me a pure heart, O God" and Carlos leading the Lord's Supper

Jorge prays for the offering; "With Christ as my Vessel" in Portuguese!

The congregation averages about 20 adults on Sundays (plus the 12-24 kids).

Cida and Marcia; congregational singing

Lucas helps pass the Lord's Supper Francisco always helps visitors find verses

Francisco preaching in his usual fiery way

Many Brazilians move across the nation as they seek work. Sometimes they lose contact with their families. Through social media, there is a growing trend in Brazil of finding lost family members and being reunited--they even have a reality show in Brazil to help families find each other. Francisco, in fact, hadn't seen his mother Dulce for almost thirty years. She lived in another state, and moved after they had lost contact. Recently, Alley made contact through Facebook with one of her cousins, and were able to find out where she and Francisco's brothers are now living. Alley wanted to meet her grandmother for the first time before we left Brazil, so she and Francisco made a quick trip to Recife to catch up.















Alley, Dulce, and Francisco




Together after 30 years


After almost 4 years working in Brazil, the day came to pass on the work: January 26, 2011. We had a wonderful experience working with this wonderful and beautiful people. We had the opportunity to teach and to learn a lot through the years. After saying goodbye to Argentines in 2007, it was very hard to say goodbye again to our Brazilian church family. But the work is continuing without us. We believe that God's plans are superior to ours, and we know that God is in control and helping the work in Praia Grande. Francisco and Liduina, together with all the members in Praia Grande, are taking this responsibility very seriously. We all know the mission doesn't belong to us, but to our creator. We are very happy that God gave us the opportunity to spread the seed of the gospel on the hearts of Brazilians and our prayer, daily, is that the seed grows and produces many fruits for the glory of our Savior. We miss our Brazilian sisters and brothers in Christ, but we are at peace knowing a lot of good news will come in the future, and one more time, God will have the victory.
We want to say thanks to each one of you that supported us through our 10 years of mission work in Argentina and Brazil, supporting us emotionally, spiritually and financially. You were on the mission field with us each time someone got baptized, or when someone came back to the Lord to reconcile after years walking in the darkness, and when our hearts were sad and feeling hopeless. Through your prayers, we made it through hard times, and you WERE there, rejoicing in moments of joy. We want to say thanks from the bottom of our hearts for your mission spirit and love for the lost.
Our new journey has started in United States. We won't be full-time missionaries any more, but our hearts still live for the mission to spread the gospel, no matter where we are. We are very thankful to our God for loving us and caring for us each day through this transition. We hope we will have the chance to remain in contact with you. We love you very much. May God bless you every day, and continue giving to us all the strength to continue being His ambassadors, because every thing we do is for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In Christ
The Kelley Family

June 2009 update

Greetings, supporters! Many good things are happeining in the work and our lives, and we wanted to share some of them with you.

First, thanks for all your prayers for Jonathan and his surgery. He is fine now; all went very well. He is back in school and fully active. We thank God that he is recovering so quickly.

We had a couple of birthdays this month: Leticia and her father Carlos both celebrated with us after worship with special cakes. This fellowship is wonderful, fun, and shows how the church is truly growing into the spiritual family that God desires it to be.

Jonathan, Leticia, Debora R., Alessandra, and Debora C.

Carlos and Leticia

Mother's Day was also a very special day here. One of our newest members, Marcia, brought flowers for all the moms. She is a great example as she encourages the body with her creativity.

Vera, a regular visitor, Adriana, and Janete from Sao Vicente, on Mother's Day

Alessandra and Florinda preparing the Lord's Supper

Many of our new members show growth as they begin to serve the body. Florinda began to help with the preparation of the Lord's Supper immediately after her baptism. Carlos has been preaching, and does a great job. Marcia and Alessandra make cakes and momentos for special occasions. Jorge and Pedro have begun to help in worship with the offering and the Lord's supper. These are small things on the surface, but with time, can grow into great service and encouragement to the body. That is what church growth is about: each one grows and encourages the others, like ligaments and sinews, attached to Christ, who directs all for the benefit of His body.

Alessandra and I were both priveleged last month to bear witness to the marriage celebration of Caio and Sabrina, two young members. They are a great couple and deserve your prayers for a healthy marriage. We pray God will use them in many ways as they grow with us in the church here.

Chris, Caio, Sabrina, and Alessandra at their wedding reception

The body here continues to grow in number, to be blessed with visitors, to grow in love, and to grow in relationship to Christ. Together we have 18 Bible studies per week, most with non-Christians. Our cell group in Mirim is maturing in love and in faith, and this week we hope to beign our second cell group in Boquerao in the home of Deni, another new member. Please pray for these opportunities and for the growth of the Kingdom in Praia Grande, Sao Vicente, and the rest of Brazil.

Chris Kelley

January 2009

The work in Praia Grande is going well. We average 22 on Sundays and are working on learning new songs. In December we were encouraged by many visitors from São Paulo. One of the families that visits us frequently is from Campinas, about three hours away. They love to stay and visit, and even treated us to pizza after worship. It is so nice to be appreciated!

We would like to give a special thanks to the Christ’s Heritage congregation in Lynwood, Washington. They graciously donated a digital projector to the work here.

The new digital projector

New possibilities open up with digital technology!

It is a wonderful and flexible tool for both outreach and worship. I was told about this special donation in a phone call on Sunday evening. I wanted you all to know it was the same evening the bulb burned out of the old overhead projector we had been using. I have no doubts that God is looking over the work here and blessing us. Many times that blessing comes through you.

Another special thanks goes out to the Kite family, who generously responded to a previous newsletter with a donation to help us with the church's legal fees as we try to set up our official non-profit status. Thanks for the timely help! We are currently awaiting the city's approval of the statute, at which point we will be official and can apply for a CNPJ number. This is our tax-exempt number that will allow us to recieve donations from businesses for food baskets, camp supplies, building materials, and even properties. Please pray that the process will continue smoothly.

The Holiday season is almost always a busy season, even though it may be a different sort of busy. I started off December with a urinary tract infection, which had me down with a fever for two full days. Then Christmas and New Years, which here on the coast means lines for everything. An hour to get to church (7 miles away). Lines of an hour in the supermarket. Parking gets scarce. The water pressure drops significantly, and in some neighborhoods, including the church building, there is no water at all on the 24th and 31st of December. The motorcycle helps me get through the traffic and park a little easier, but I guess I still like the laid-back pace more than hyper city speed.

Brazilians usually eat Christmas Dinner at midnight Christmas Eve, then open presents. It makes for a late night. In fact, at about 10:00 Christmas Eve, our neighbor Bete called Alley and told her that all her family had cancelled, and they were alone. Alley went over, and took some fajitas (our Christmas Eve dinner) for them to try. Alley stayed until after midnight, which in Bete's eyes was like forsaking her own family to be with theirs, so it meant a lot. We tried to be as American as possible for Christmas this year, which meant celebrating the next morning, so Alley was free to encourage this dear neighbor.

We had to work hard to convince our Brazilian family to try opening presents Christmas morning instead of Christmas Eve. After it was over, though, they all seemed to like it that way. Jonathan and Stephanie absolutely loved it-more for the presents than the schedule.

Chris carves his first Christmas bird(s). Turkey and Chester.

Christmas dinner was in the afternoon, outside, since the weather was nice (80 degrees). We took advantage of the fact that everyone was here to take a team picture too.

Please join with us in prayer for the Guerrero family. Carlos and Adriana had been struggling financially until about six months ago, when they both got new jobs. They had been growing in their faith and Carlos has even preached for us twice, but recently they have begun to be with us less often, and haven't come to worship for the last month. Please pray that they won't let the jobs God gave them become stubling blocks to their faith.

Our new sister in Christ, Florinda, got really sick last month with a bad flu. Alley stopped by to visit her and she could barely get out of bed. Florinda is retired, and didn't have much food in the house. Alley made a quick trip to the supermarket for some basic necessities, including coconut water, one of the best electrolytes there is for combatting dehydration. Florinda was so encouraged that she began to feel better right away. Florinda is working on putting one of her favorite Psalms to music.

We celebrated the end of the year with a pot luck on the last Sunday of December. Everyone brought different dishes and we spent around three hours eating and fellowshipping after worship. The end-of-the-year pot luck was delicious.

Gingerbread houses are irresistable!

It was truly a great evening, perfected by the lime mousse for dessert, made by Edson (a professional cook, and regular visitor). We then invited everyone to our house to ring in the new year later on that week.

Marcia and Carol checking email. We started our New Years party about 10 am.

Marcia and her son Lucas and her mother Ofenicia came, along with Francisco and Liduina, Florinda, Alley’s sister Priscila and her husband Jefferson, and her cousin Carol. So we had a full house and a wonderful time of fellowship.

Chris and Lucas playing LEGO Star Wars

Lucas got a haircut in the afternoon, and Chris did after that!

Priscila, Ofenicia, Liduina, and Marcia preparing dinner

Marcia's mother, Ofenicia, is a member of the church from Aracaju, Recife, in NE Brazil. She wrote a letter to the church in Sao Vicente looking for a congregation for her daughter and son-in-law to attend. Adauto showed the letter to Francisco, who went to visit with Marcia and Edson. When we inaugurated the building in December of 2007, Ofenicia came and brought Marcia with her. Since then she has been a faithful member, and even volunteers to help Francisco and I clean the building every Friday. She is a dear sister to us. Please keep Edson, her husband, in prayer, as he is considering baptism but still has a few doubts.

New Years dinner

They have a fireworks display at the beach every year, so all went down to the water to ring in the New Year and watch the show. Everyone loved it, except Stephanie, who is terrified of fireworks.

Another highlight of the month was meeting as a team to plan next year’s calendar of events. We spent four hours together thinking through sermon topics, youth and married activities, ladies events, and everything we could think of in order to get ahead of the game next year and be as fruitful as possible in helping the church grow. I look forward to describing each event to you all as they happen.
May God bless you all in 2009. May it be a year filled with purpose, faith, hope, joy, peace, and love, as we each grow to be more like Christ; our Savior, our example, and friend.
Chris and Alley Kelley

September 2008

Hello everyone! We have been off-line for about six weeks now, but are now reconnected and ready to communicate! What a blessing to be able to read all your past emails! We were beginning to feel like we were living in a cave there for a while.

The church here in Praia Grande is doing well. We are slowly, but consistently, growing, as you will see in the fotos this month. Our family is well, the kids are wonderful, and God is, in many ways, blessing us.

Junior Lira preaching in Praia Grande

Alley's brother and sister-in-law, Junior and Patricia Lira, have been attending and helping the church here in Praia Grande for the last year. Patricia has helped Alley teach children's classes and Junior has worked with the youth from both Sao Vicente and Praia Grande. They have been a wonderful encouragement to all of us. After a trip to the US in September-October, they will be moving to Brasilia to work full time, together with their team, as evangelists. May God bless you on your travels and in your new ministry!

The kids love class

Alley is wonderful, as usual!

Junior Lira leading a relay race with youth during Games for Brothers

Games for Brothers was an event for the youth from Sao Vicente and Praia Grande at our home. We planned for twenty people, but the result was quite different. We had 55. Most were visitors from Sao Vicente who had heard about the event through thier friends. For about half the youth that came, it was the first time they had opened the Bible or sang a song of praise. Please pray for these visitors. Pray our follow-up strategy will help bring them to their savior.


Many of you have heard of our neighbors, Beto and Bete (Roberto and Elizabete). They are the ones who called the police for us when we were held at gunpoint in our home. They are proving to be great friends. Here we are in Sao Vicente having coffee together. We hope the friendship will grow into brotherhood as we share the Gospel with them.

Speaking of sharing the Gospel, Francisco, my father-in-law and teammate, is involved with 18 Bible studies right now. Two are discipleship studies and 16 are evangelistic. He walks or rides his bike to most of them (about 25 miles a week) and his leg has begun hurting him recently. Please ask God to keep him strong so that nithing will interfere with his work. He is a true trooper in the Kingdom! Please pray for these opportunities to yield fruit as well!

Florinda, Francisco, and Liduina

Speaking of yielding fruit, Florinda, one of Francisco's contacts, was baptized last month. She is a wonderful, innocent new sister who absorbs everyting we can teach her. The assurance of salvation, that we sometimes take for granted, brings her to tears every Sunday as we worship together. How great a gift we have in the free gift of grace through Jesus Christ!

Florinda, a new sister in Christ

By the way, baptizing in the ocean is quite tricky.

We were also blessed last month to host the Project Brasilia Team. This team of three Brazilian families will go to teh capital of Brazil next year to evangelize in the center of the city. We were priveleged to have them in our home for a full day of culture, fundraising, travel, and team relationship counseling. I even put my creative juices to use inventing a board game to help improve team communication and relationships. May God bless the team to have a strong impact in Brasilia.

Since Junior will be leaving soon, I have had to begin leading singing much more often. It is something I love to do, but I am still learning many of the songs. Of course, practice does bring improvement.

Our congregation averages 25 on Sundays. In the adult class on Sundays we are studying the book of James. It is very meaty, and great for starting good discussion. The last Sunday of every month we spend the adult class praying for each other.

Florinda, her first worship with us after her baptism. Francisco, as usual, greets people at the door.

God is blessing our efforts here in Praia Grande. Please pray for him to continue to send seekers and open hearts to the School of the Bible, studies, and worship services. Pray that He will multiply our efforts, provide for our needs, and bring many into the Kingdom in Praia Grande.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Ephesians 3:20,21