Month #1

As of last Thursday, we have been living in Brasil for a whole month! That puts us at 5 weeks being here now!! This has felt like the longest and shortest month of our lives. As of late, we've been involved in many different aspects of the ministry.

1) The Father's Love Conference was just held a couple weekends ago. It was a great and busy time, and we enjoyed it immensely! Head to Shores of Grace on Facebook to see some photos, videos, and testimonies from it. JD played the drums for 3/5 sessions and Brittni recorded the sessions. It was a great learning experience!

2) During this time, we also hosted 7 adult guests and a baby! They were visitors from the city of Fortaleza and from the Sertão. We rarely saw them since we were so busy with the conference, but it was very exciting to have so many people staying in our home. We look forward to doing it again soon!

3) We have started working with the kids at Bethany!  At least once a week, we go over for a few hours and hang out with the babies (boys and girls under the age of 3).  We spend time playing with the babies and young kids in the baby room, but we also spend time taking them out in the yard to let them burn off some energy!  On Tuesday evenings, we help take the older girls from Bethany to our base where we have a futebol (soccer) court. We often play a mixture of soccer and Brazilian dodgeball!  Here are few pictures from Bethany this week:

4) Every Friday night, staff and volunteers at Shores head to the Avenida (the word for Avenue in English) to minister to the women that work the streets here in Recife.  When we go, we go with the purpose of revealing the love that a Father has for his children, and speaking to their true identity: they are His daughter/son, and there is nothing they can do to separate themselves from His love.
       On this Friday particular night, we met a girl who we'll call Jessica.  When we approached Jessica, she was staring off into the distance completely oblivious to anything that was going on around her.  We started a conversation with her and came to understand that this was her first night back on the streets after having left them for two years!  She told us she didn't even know why she was on the streets; she had a good job that paid well, a good family situation, a life that was not stressful at the moment, etc. But here she was on the streets where her value, her humanity, and her identity are dictated monetarily.  We started sharing with Jessica about her true identity: she is a daughter and she has a Papa that loves her. We told her He has already given her the keys to freedom and all she needs to do is unlock the door that is in front of her and walk out from the (proverbial) cage she found herself in.  As we continued to share these truths with her, she eventually revealed that she has been struggling with shame and feeling like she was beyond rescuing - that it would be a waste of God's time to even try to show love to her.
       After listening to her share these intimate details of her life, it caused me to ponder, reflect, and search myself to see if I also allowed to shame and guilt to drive me further from God.  Did I allow myself to go into a place that, although it was void of God, felt comfortable to me because I knew I could control the circumstances around me?  Not surprisingly, the answer was yes.  We all, I feel, can identify with Jessica in a similar way.  We all have allowed shame and self-condemnation to push us into a place that feels comfortable, though in actuality, it is a cage that we have committed ourselves to.  It is much easier at times to convince ourselves of our guilt and shame than it is to convince ourselves that our Father loves us the same no matter what.  His love is unconditional and there is nothing we can do to earn it.  All it takes is for us to draw near to Him, and He will draw near to us. 
       In the case of Jessica this night, the Father was drawing himself near to His daughter and showing that there is nothing she can do to separate herself from His love.  His love will chase her down and meet her wherever she is at - even if it is on the side of a street while she struggles with knowing she is worth more than any price that will be offered to her that night.

5) Make sure to follow us on Instagram to see snippets of our life here in Brasil! 
       - Brittni's: @brittni.grant
       - Jd's: @the_bearded_lumberjack

Please be praying for a few things for us!
       - Our monetary needs: We still need several more people/families/businesses to partner with us to do the work we are doing here. We have about $700 out of the $2000 we are needing to raise each month. To become a partner or to give a one time gift, please click here!  This is instrumental as we pay for our rent, groceries, etc! Please let us know if you want to talk more about this!!
       - Our Portuguese learning: We are practicing our language skills for about an hour each day on our own. Pray that we absorb as much of the learning as we can and that we would have opportunities to practice our speaking and listening skills with native speakers! 
       - For continued grace: to adjust to our new lifestyles, new country, new cultures, and to being away from our families during the upcoming holiday season! 

We're here!

Hey guys!

We made it to Brasil!!! We've been here in Recife for about 6 days now, and we're so glad to be here.

Thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts throughout our travel days to get here. We truly appreciate them so much!

All of our luggage made it here without any issues - none broken or cracked or missing! We were immensely blessed upon arriving at the airport because we were only charged $1,000 for our luggage. I know this sounds like a lot, but we were expecting them to charge us about $400 more because of an oversized, overweight bag that we had. The people at United in Chicago were very kind and helpful at getting us through the process quickly. We also made it through customs and immigration without issue. There were a couple moments that made us a bit nervous when they didn't understand our visas (it isn't a very common one here in Brasil), but all was approved and we were able to meet the Shores founders for some coffee right out of customs. It was a great end to our travel journey.

Us with all of our luggage after we arrived in Recife!

Our priority for this first little bit is to become acclimated to our home and life here. To us, this means finding out where to buy cooking staples for the cheapest price and best quality (like spices at a fruit and vegetable store and frozen chicken at the closest grocery store to our house), purchasing a water filter to have drinking water, and learning the streets. It has also meant buying snacks and lunch at the padaria (bakery) around the corner while we've been busy unpacking our house. We have all but a couple small items put away in our house, and it has made it feel much more like a home!

Our Brasilian flag hanging in our new living room 😍

We have attended a couple of ministry events so far - staff bible study and the Children's Day Party. Staff bible study was a great night to say hello to people we've known for a while and to meet tons of new people! The Children's Day Party was a lot of fun! Children from the local community came to enjoy games, snacks, a play, dance, and more. We are very excited to become involved even more.

We are so thrilled to finally be here and be part of the Shores of Grace family. However, we moved in faith that God would provide all of our needs. We are currently about halfway to our funding goal of $2,000 per month. If you would like to become a monthly partner or give a one-time donation, please click the "Giving" link on the right side of our blog (or bottom if you're reading on a mobile device). You are just as much a part of our work here as we are, and we so GREATLY appreciate you.

Let us know what you'd like to know about our lives here, and we'll be happy to talk with you or write a post about it! We love and miss you all!!

Com amor,
the Grants

Update: 09/10/17

Hi guys!

We have grand plans to send out an update at least every week, but so far we've only sent out a post about once a month. Help keep us accountable to posting more so we can keep you involved in what we're doing!

1. Financial needs: We have had some awesome one-time gifts this month, adding up to almost $1000. We are still in serious need of some monthly supporters who will partner with us to allow us to serve the Brasilian people without needing to worry about where our finances will come from. We are still at about 1/3 of our monthly need (about $700/$2000). If you would like to partner with us through a one-time or monthly gift, please contact us, or click HERE to go to the site where we funnel our giving through. They are a 501c3, so you will receive a letter for your taxes at the beginning of the year! If you'd like to bless us with a physical gift, our Amazon wish list still has items on it that we will need as we get down there! Go HERE to view it.
2. We were approved for our visas!!!! This was an incredible feat of God because we received our visas back in just 3 weeks - we even found out on Brittni's birthday! It was incredible. This was key to us being able to leave on the planes we booked tickets for, so we were so excited to get them back so quickly. Having our passports back also allowed us to visit the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, so that was a fun treat 😊
3. Travel details: We will be flying out of Chicago on September 25. That means we leave to head up there exactly two weeks from today!! We can't believe how quickly it is coming up. We will leave Chicago on the morning of the 25th, spend the day in Orlando while waiting for our flight to Recife, and then take a red-eye flight to Recife and arrive the next morning on the 26th! We are so excited to get to our new home and get settled in.
4. Current life updates: During the last week of August, we packed up and moved out of our home, finished up our time at our jobs (Brittni at the O'Reilly warehouse and JD at Bus Andrews Truck Equipment), and moved into Brittni's parents' house. It was an emotional, stressful, and exciting week. After all of that, we packed a couple bags and drove 15 hours to visit JD's family in Rochester, NY. We have done numerous things, and you can see pictures at the bottom of this post! We've really enjoyed this time of rest and relaxation after packing up our home.
5. Coming up soon: We leave to go back to MO on Tuesday morning. We will be there for about 10 days before we head to Chicago. We are hoping to spend time with several of our friends and family members. If you'd like to spend time with us, please let us know!!

We are feeling all of the emotions you can imagine: excitement, joy, sadness, happiness, stressed out, It doesn't feel real yet, but we're ready to get there and make it real!

Stonybrook Park - an incredible (though long) hike with amazing views!

Hiking at Stonybrook Park

We didn't post about it on social media, but we celebrated our first anniversary on September 2nd! It's been an incredible year!!! We had tacos, AMAZING ice cream, and watched Despicable Me 3 😍

We visited Niagara Falls with JD, his sister Jen, and his mom!

We road the Maid of the Mist boat to visit the Falls!

Our ponchos were very fashion-forward 😏

View of the Falls from the Canada side

Much better views on this side!

Super vivid rainbow! I don't know that I've ever seen the purple in a rainbow.

Mini-golfing with JD's brother, Josh, and his wife, Olivia! We had a blast!

Exciting update!

Guys! We have exciting news!!

1) We bought the tickets for our move!

We needed to have a flight itinerary for our visa application, so we bought the tickets a couple weekends ago! Eeeek! As long as our visa is approved in time, we will officially be leaving for Brasil at the end of September! We have tons to do before then, but we're incredibly excited!

2) We sent all of our visa documents in to be processed by the Brasilian government!

These were sent off about a week or so ago, and now we have to wait for the decision of the government! We used a visa service to ensure we had all the necessary documents, so we are expecting to be approved, but you never know what may happen when working with a foreign government.

3) We have a move-out day for our rental home in Walnut Grove!

We recently let our landlord know that we are planning to move out of our home by the end of August. This has given us a deadline for getting all of our things packed up and ready to go!! 

4) We will be using September as a month to visit family.

We were able to visit JD's family over the 4th of July, but three days there just wasn't enough. Because of this, we will be heading to NY for about a week and a half at the beginning of September. We are really excited to get some time in with friends and family, eat some really good food, and see some sights (we're looking at you, Niagara Falls and Stony Brook)! For the last week and a half or so before we leave for Brasil, we will be staying with Brittni's parents.

Other important notes:

• We are still working on raising funds to be fully supported in this time. We're currently about 1/3 of the way to our goal of $2000 per month. If you feel led to support us in this way, we'd love to partner with you in reaching the lost in Brasil! (click HERE to give)
• We have made a list of items that we are hoping to take with us when we move, and we have added them to an Amazon registry. If you can't partner with us as a monthly supporter but still want to help, the items on that list would really help us out! Click HERE to visit the registry.
• Please be praying for us over these next couple months! Here are some specific needs/requests:
• That our visas are approved in plenty of time for us to leave on the date we bought tickets for
• That we would have plenty of time with friends and family over the next two months
• That we will deal with every emotion as they come up (even if - and especially if - they are hard)
• That we would find people to partner with us financially to reach our goal
• For our language-learning skills

Our turn hosting monthly small group dinner at ReRico Brazilian Steakhouse! Everyone enjoyed their Brazilian experience :)

Long- Awaited Update

Oi, gente! This is Brittni.

Wow, it's been a long time since we've posted! We have a few things to update on!

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about how crazy this whole thing is. JD and I are moving to Brasil in TWO MONTHS. Two months! That is coming SO quickly. We have been busy working, spending time with friends and family, and preparing our things for our move.

At the end of May, we took a trip with my extended family to Pensacola, Florida to spend time with more family and to enjoy one last big family trip before we move. We got to go to the beach, visit some extended family, see the Naval Aviation Museum, and eat some delicious food!

Last week, JD and I traveled to New York for a very quick trip to see family over the 4th of July. One of his uncles hosts a HUGE party for family and friends, and we have made it up for the last two years. It's a great time to catch up on life with family, see a great firework show, and eat some delicious food! I personally loved the strawberries and ice cream ;)

We have also spent time with some friends and family recently. A couple weeks ago, we had dinner and walked a trail with some friends from church; this week, we spent time with my younger siblings at a local arcade, Thai restaurant, and a place that sold gelato :)

In the actual process of moving to Brasil, we're making forward progress! We're still practicing our Portuguese so that we can hit the ground running when we arrive. We are also finishing up our visa application to send off ASAP!! We are planning to send it out by the end of this week, as long as we can gather the last couple documents by then (which we believe is totally do-able!). We've been busy getting fingerprinted, collecting college transcripts, recommendation letters, and more to be able to apply for the visa. We are using a visa service to ensure that we have everything we will need to be approved as quickly as possible. The current processing time is 3-4 weeks, so we are hoping to have it back in a month or so!

We have raised approximately $600USD in monthly support. We are still hoping and believing for approximately $2000USD per month to pay for all of our needs (rent, utilities, food, clothing, etc.). God has shown us his faithfulness and helped us to trust Him through the little things, so we have faith that He will show in the big things like our finances! We need your help in this, so if you have felt a nudge from God or just want to help us out, please click HERE! We have already begun paying for the rent for our house in Brasil, so our needs are immediate! Please know that no gift is too small. We appreciate anything and everything that is given through us! We couldn't do this without your help!!

P.S. - The organization we use to process our financial gifts is a 501c3, so you will receive a giving statement for taxes at the end of the year! Yay!

Joy in the Journey

Proverbs 13: 12 (The Passion Translation):
"When hope's dream seems to drag on and on the delay can be depressing,
But when at last your dream comes true, life's sweetness will satisfy your soul."

This verse is one that has brought comfort to my soul for years now.  Some of you know, some of you don't, but it has been a goal of mine to move to Brasil full-time as a missionary for going on almost 7 years now. During those 7 years, I have been to Brasil 4 times, culminating in a total time of over 1 year living in Brasil and countless weeks on the road, touring with Shores of Grace raising support for them and the vision they have.

As most of you know, the dream is at last coming true, and my wife and I will be leaving in September to live full-time in Brasil.  The joy I have is almost unspeakable!  It has been 7 years of toiling, waiting, hopes dashed, and hopes raised - over and over again.  Through all of this, I have learned a beautiful truth: taking joy in the journey.  In our culture, we have been taught that life is a series of destinations and that striving from destination to destination is the pinnacle of living out our life.  But through these 7 years of waiting for hope's dream to be fulfilled, I have found that God does not work through destinations but rather through a journey.  You see, He is not concerned with getting us to destination to destination... He is concerned that we learn to take joy in the journey and trust Him throughout it all in every circumstance.

In these 7 years of journeying towards moving to Brasil, I have tried to apply for several different visas for long-term stay - only for them to not workout. I've worked and saved for my 6-month living stints in Brasil, spending enough time there to be fully immersed in the mission lifestyle - all for it to change when I moved back after my 6 month visa expired. I moved across the country to live in another consulate's region with more lax visa applications, found the love of my life (who just so happens to have a degree and job skills that allows for a hopefully speedy/easy visa application), and we now have a concrete timeframe of when we are finally moving down to Brasil!

All of this came through walking out the journey God had me on.  Many times it made no sense, many times I was frustrated and ready to give up, and there were more than a few nights that I cried out to God in frustration and in tears.  Through it all, two things gave me hope: one is the verse mentioned earlier; second, when I graduated ministry school, our founder gave us this little nugget of truth to hold onto, "Your marching orders are your standing orders, until God gives you something different, the thing He told you to do is what He wants you to do till you have fulfilled them."  7 years later, I can now say the things I went through seem to make sense - the waiting, the tempering, the persevering - all seem to be no longer held in veil of fog, but rather the truth of light has burned it all away and now it all seems a little clearer. I say all this to encourage all of you in your journey: take joy in it, and in the process, because in the end no one remembers the destinations, but we all remember the journey.  Fight the good fight, and remember that your last orders are your standing orders! Run towards the prize and take joy in the journey.

A Casa De Tijolos

Since our announcement, we've been able to talk to several of you about it and we're so glad you're as excited as we are! So, it's been a couple weeks since we last posted about our move, so we wanted to get some more information out there so you all can have a better idea of what we'll be doing in Recife.

First, let's talk finances. This is one of the biggest areas we're having to grow our faith in because as it stands right now, we have about 2.5% of our monthly funding goal being given. As Shores of Grace staff, we will be required to raise our own support to allow us to live in Recife and work with the people there. This is something that ALL of the other missionaries do, from the founders to the newest staff, so we are not alone in this, but it is a huge undertaking. With the visas we will have when we move down, we will not be allowed to work to earn money while in Brasil. This means we cannot provide our own funding after we move, which means we are totally dependent on the generosity and giving of others who believe in and want to give towards our work there.

Our fundraising/support goal is $2000 per month. That comes out to $24,000 per year which may sound like a lot, but is honestly what we need to live. The cost of living in Brasil is no less (or more expensive) than the cost of living in the US. Let's break down a bit of where the money is going so you can see what we mean:

• We have been gifted the lease to and furnishings for a home (by some amazing friends) that is a wonderful long-term place for us to live. It is a BEAUTIFUL, five-bedroom, all-brick home in short walking distance to the Shores base, the Bethany house, grocery stores, markets, açaí, and more.
• You may be thinking to yourself, "Now, why would Brittni and JD need a five-bedroom home? Isn't it just the two of them?" We completely understand, and you are right! It is just the two of us. But, we are trying to think about the future and not just our needs currently. We envision the home being a place of community for short-term missions teams, community members, friends, students of the Shores' schools, our own out-of-town guests (family and any of you!), our own future kiddos (😉😍), and more, and we can't imagine that taking place in a small, two-bedroom apartment. 
• In Recife, a small, two-bedroom apartment (approximately 300 square feet for the entire thing) will cost about $300USD per month. An upgraded, two-bedroom apartment (a little bigger, partially furnished) will cost around $600USD per month. Further, a nice two-bedroom apartment (close to the beach, fully furnished, etc) can cost about $1000USD per month! When we compare these costs to the cost for the beautiful home that God has provided us with, we feel extremely blessed and like He has really given us a great gift! The five-bedroom home will cost the same as the fancy two-bedroom apartment near the beach - approximately $1000USD per month. We really feel like this is the place God wants us to be and we have faith that He will provide the funds we need to pay for it. He has already been giving us some great dreams and ideas for things we can do with the amount of space we'll have in our home.
• Now, you may be wondering why we are trying to push this fundraising thing so hard when we aren't planning to move for another 6 months! Well, here's the thing. The amazing friends that are giving us the opportunity to move in to their home are moving to Philadelphia to start a Shores of Grace there (visit their Facebook page for updates here)! The kicker is that they are moving in June and as you know, we aren't moving down to Brasil until September. When they move out of their home, we will be taking over the lease payments at $1000USD a month. That means that we will be paying rent for both our Casa de Tijolos (Brick House) and our rental home in Missouri at the same time. That will be approximately $1500 per month from June until September.

Here's where you come in: we are looking for people to sponsor us and partner with us in our journey to and in Brasil. Our overall goal is to have $2000USD in support to be fully funded, but our main goal right now is to have $1000USD in support by June in order to at least cover our housing expenses. JD and I are both working full-time to save money in addition to the support we receive, but we need your help! Any amount of support is helpful, so please do not feel like a small amount is not worth it! It all adds up! If we have 20 partners at $100 per month or 40 partners at $50 per month, that would fully fund us! If you have the ability to support us in any amount, click here to donate to us. Modern Day will be handling all of our giving, so give them a visit when you have a moment!

Again, there is no way we could do this without you, so please know that you are so appreciated and valued and loved for your support! And if you can't support us monetarily at the moment, add us to your prayer list and share this link with your friends. If you (or anyone you know) have questions, please get in contact with us through this blog, FB, IG, or email! We'd love to chat with you!  

A sneak peek of our new front door... it's so unique! 😍 (photo credit: Alisan Billman)

A MEDIUM bowl of açaí! JD and I like to order it with fresh, local pineapple, strawberries, and kiwi. It's a delicious way to cool off in the heat of the summer (or winter for that matter)!

We're doing it... we're actually doing it!

Guys, we did a thing. A big thing. For the first time in our (married) lives, we're moving! And not just around the corner... unless you consider 5,000 miles to be a short distance ;)

Here's our big announcement:

We are moving to Recife, Brasil!!!!
(Click here to see Recife on Google Maps and feel free to jump into Street Mode. It is beautiful!!)

We can't hardly believe it. We're so excited! We'll have a lot more details to share in the coming months, but here are the basics:

• We'll be moving to Recife to work with Shores of Grace Ministries. Yes, this is the ministry JD has been working with for about 8 years and it is the same ministry we visited back in June! See more of their work by searching for "Shores of Grace" on Facebook or by visiting shoresofgrace.com!
• Our exact roles in the ministry have not been decided as of yet, but we will be involved in their established work with prostitutes, the homeless, the girls and babies in their group home, slum outreach, and more. It's hard to find the words to explain just how much of an impact the ministry has on their local community, and we're just so grateful that we get to play some small parts. We're planning to keep this blog updated with our progress and activities as time goes on, so stay tuned to learn more!
• We do not have an exact moving date, but we're thinking we'll be headed to the Southern Hemisphere sometime in early September of this year. Crazy, we know!
• The language spoken in Brasil is Portuguese. No, we aren't fluent, but yes, we are working on it! JD has lived in Brasil for about a year (on and off), so he has some language skills, but I am working on learning the language through different apps, YouTube videos, and more. We're hoping to get some private lessons going soon as well :)
• We will be relying completely on the support of others through this time as we will not be allowed to work while we are living there. We will need approximately $2000USD each month. This is a HUGE step in faith for us as neither of us like asking for help, but this is something we cannot do without others! We are trusting God that He will provide for all of our needs - whether it be financial, spiritual, emotional or physical. If you feel led to give any sort of gift to help us in our journey and adventure, first, know that we are so thankful for you! Head to the Giving link on the right side of the blog to get to our donation page. If you can't give, please be praying for us! We can't do this alone.
• We do not know how long we will be there. Currently, we are planning on being there basically indefinitely. We know this sounds kind of nuts, but we've got some big long-term dreams for our lives there and we just can't put a time limit on them.

We hope you'll be excited for us and join us in this adventure that God has called us on. We know it won't be easy leaving everything we've known and loved, but we know that He is faithful and that we want to spend our lives serving the One who paid it all for us.

We cannot wait to see the things our Father has for us and for the people of Recife. He's already got us dreaming big dreams and hoping for wonderful things!

Please feel free to ask any questions or leave comments about anything and everything! We'll get back to you ASAP! We love you all and are so thankful for you! Thank you so much for supporting us. :)

With love, The Grant's