Life Through My Lens: Missionary Spotlight- Brazil

Chris, Ginger and Tekoa Mackey

-Brazil-

Christopher and Ginger are missionaries in Brazil with New Tribes Mission. They are new to the field, and recently had their first child in August of 2008. They are currently in a formal language training of Portuguese, the national language of Brazil. At the end of the year, they will be moving into a tribal village in the Amazon jungle, and live with a tribe called the Yanomami. There are already some missionaries there, and even some tribal believers, but the church as a whole needs a lot of help. The Mackeys hope to step in to help bring the church to maturity so that they might be able to function on their own. Please pray for the Mackeys, as they feel that this work is not their own, but God's work. They pray that they will allow God to work through them to accomplish this task.

Click here to visit their website.

Here is their recent newletter:

Mackey Moments

March '09

Dear Family and Friends,

I just want to start off by saying how humbled and thankful we are by all of you. We know that our country is going through some difficult times financially, and we are humbled by the sacrifices that you make. I am reminded today that the Lord says He is going to come back at any time and He tells us not to worry about anything. We know that He has already won the battle and that Satan's schemes are in vain.

Ginger and I are praising God through our language training. We are continuing to learn more and more about the Brazilian culture and are growing in our comprehension and speaking ability in Portuguese. At the end of May, we will be concluding ONE year of being here in Brazil! We will be evaluated in our language ability at the end of May, and I need to be at a high level. This will mean that I should be comfortable speaking in most circumstances, even to the point of giving a sermon in Portuguese. So with that in mind, it looks like I will need some more time to arrive at that level.

We have just received a recommendation from our field leadership to move up to Manaus, Amazonas, for the next summer and semester. We will continue to study Portuguese there, and will benefit by getting accustomed to the humid, tropical climate before moving into the tribe. We will also be close to our field leadership and get to know them better. Please PRAY for our upcoming move, and PRAY that we will arrive at proficient levels in the language by the end of the year.

Please PRAY for our permanent visas that we have been waiting on since last September. Our visa process is progressing well, but these types of documents take a long time to be completed.

Tekoa is doing very well and changing every day. He is now eating solid foods, and although he keeps trying, he's not yet crawling. We know he will be soon, though, and then the chase will begin!

We are blessed by you all. Sincerely,

Christopher, Ginger, and Tekoa Mackey