There's less time for reflecting/recording when you are staying busy with work-related activities. It seems like church institutions are always busy in the spring, and down here spring comes early.
I meant to write about last weekend sooner. Friday night Kristina and I shot some footage for a video project about a Brazilian church plant in north(?) Dallas. I assume it was north because it was a long way from where I live, but I'm still getting my bearings. It was a very amazing story though, about these three siblings whose parents are Catholic evangelists in Brazil. The daughter came here to go to school and didn't know a soul. When she finally met another Brazilian the woman happened to be Adventist so she started going to an Adventist church. It didn't really do a lot for her, but then she started attending this church plant. Something about it clicked with her so she stared participating (not changing her beliefs or anything, just being part of the group). Eventually she started doing Bible studies and warming up to the church.
When her family found out they sent her brother up to "get her straightened out." He told her they were going to go to Catholic church. She agreed, but only if he attended Adventist services with her. Eventually he started taking Bible studies so he would have ammunition against her in their theological arguments. By this time she was considering baptism and that drove a wedge between them. The week before her baptism they were riding in the car and her brother finally broke the silence by asking her if she really understood the gravity of her decision. She was going against everything their family stood for. She explained her conviction to him and he replied, "Well, if you are going to get baptized then I will too."
When the older siblings suggested their parents send their younger brother up for school... you can guess where the story goes. The parents made them vow not to convert him. And they didn't. The church did that without their help. So now the three children of those Catholic evangelists are leading out in this Brazilian church plant. Amazing stuff.
On Sabbath I went to the Terrell Church, which is about 75 miles east of Dallas. I was supposed to meet and interview a guy there who was converted by 3ABN programming. He ended up going to a different church that week, but I talked with the pastor and arranged a follow up and got a couple leads on other stories. The church was so tiny. Maybe 20 members tops. But everyone was highly involved. One of the three kids under 20 was their greeter and nearly everyone else was involved in either music, collecting offering or sharing a testimony as part of the service. I managed to get through it without feeling like the only unfamiliar face in the room, though I no doubt was.
On Sunday I boarded a plane for Houston. It was time for the first batch of Town Hall meetings. From what I can gather these events are an opportunity for conference leadership to give reports to members of the conference and take some time to hear questions or concerns. Since this conference is so huge it pretty much requires the conference leaders going to several different regions and giving the same reports. The first two stops were Houston on Sunday and McAllen (for they very southern region of Texas, known as The Valley) on Monday.
Tuesday we flew back to Dallas. I was so glad I was able to fly for the trip. If the churches we were going to didn't have the proper a/v equipment I would have had to drive my car and bring a projector and screen to run the Power Point presentation. That would have added up to nearly 9 hours of driving instead of a 2 hour flight.
Somewhere along the way I also managed to run on the treadmill five days in a row. I've already run nearly 30 miles this month. I wonder if I could sniff 50? That would be pretty amazing. I might have to do more 5ks and fewer 2 mile runs.
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