We arrived back in Brazil two week ago. It took us about 10 days to get everything back in order. The house is all disorganized after 7 months away, and we had to get the phone, and internet hooked up again (it seems that we cannot get much done without the internet :). Everything is hooked up now so we are ready to go!
This week I started the next phase of the project. There are several things that I have to do before I can actually start building. What I have to do is not necessarily sequential, I can be doing many of these things at the same time. 1. I have to create a non-profit, and register the non-profit so that we can transfer the title deed of the property over to the non-profit. The property is in my name and the city won't buy into our project building proposal if the property is in my name. 2. The surveyor (topographer) is coming this week to provide a topographical layout for the architect. Once the architect is done then she will send it to the engineer who will take it to the city to apply for the building permits. 3. Once we have the building permits we will begin working on the building project.
The goal is to get the documents in order, and get this project approved in the next couple of months. Yeah, it takes a long time to get anything approved here in Sao Paulo. Pray that God will remove all of the obstacles that stand in the way of us getting this project underway. Also, we have 2 building teams that are slated to come down sometime in the next year. We have not set dates because it depends on the building permits, but if you are interested in bringing a team down just let me know.
May 03, 2011
March 08, 2011
Back to Brazil
We have had a wonderful six months here in the U.S. reporting to all of our ministry partners all across the U.S. In the month of December 2010, we were able to reach our financial goal! That means we will be able to go back to Brazil next month with enough funds to being the next phase of our project. I'll be an optimist and say we will be able to begin construction by August 2011. For this project, we have to have city building permit. It is supposed to take 1-2 months for us to get our permit so I will double that estimate and say 2-4 months (yes, here in Brazil that is thinking optimistically). Pray for us as we begin this project. We understand that the money to build the project is not the main thing, the presence and blessing of God on the project is the main thing. We can have all the money to build what we need, but if God is not in it every step of the way, we will not accomplish anything. Right now we have 3 ministry teams that will come down to Brazil in 2011. If you are interested in joining one of those teams or putting your own team together to help us in any please let me know.
December 02, 2010
HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT
On November 30, 2010, I had the privilege of having a meeting with a known Christian business-owner in Chattanooga, TN. This man, who supports many mission projects around the world, was interested in hearing about the project proposal (visit www.brazilforchrist.com/prayer.php).
I presented the project to him, and he called me back the very next day on December 1, 2010 to tell me that he would match, dollar for dollar, every donation that I receive for this project by December 31, 2010. His only condition was that I would have to receive the funds by December 31, 2010 in order for him to match the donation. Future pledges for the project would not count.
PLEASE CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH US TO REACH OUR GOAL. WE KNOW THIS IS SUDDEN, AND WE KNOW THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME, BUT GOD OPENED THIS DOOR AND I AM ASKING YOU TO STEP THROUGH THIS DOOR WITH ME.
WE MUST RECEIVE ALL CHECKS BY DECEMBER 31, 2010 IN ORDER TO RECEIVE MATCHING FUNDS FOR THOSE DONATIONS. PLEASE DESIGNATE YOUR OFFERING TO JONATHAN MATHEWS - BRAZIL PROJECT.
Make Checks Payable to:
BWMOM, Inc.
P.O. Box 3303
Chattanooga, TN 37404
If you have any questions please call me at 615.351.4964.
PRAY
I presented the project to him, and he called me back the very next day on December 1, 2010 to tell me that he would match, dollar for dollar, every donation that I receive for this project by December 31, 2010. His only condition was that I would have to receive the funds by December 31, 2010 in order for him to match the donation. Future pledges for the project would not count.
PLEASE CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH US TO REACH OUR GOAL. WE KNOW THIS IS SUDDEN, AND WE KNOW THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME, BUT GOD OPENED THIS DOOR AND I AM ASKING YOU TO STEP THROUGH THIS DOOR WITH ME.
WE MUST RECEIVE ALL CHECKS BY DECEMBER 31, 2010 IN ORDER TO RECEIVE MATCHING FUNDS FOR THOSE DONATIONS. PLEASE DESIGNATE YOUR OFFERING TO JONATHAN MATHEWS - BRAZIL PROJECT.
Make Checks Payable to:
BWMOM, Inc.
P.O. Box 3303
Chattanooga, TN 37404
If you have any questions please call me at 615.351.4964.
PRAY
November 05, 2010
Partnership Packet
If you are interested in receiving a partnership packet please let me know and I will send you one in the mail. We have a bunch of material put together that will help you gain a great understanding of what we are doing and why. Plus you recieve important information about how you can personlly participate in helping us reach our financial goal.
Just email me at jmathews@brazilforchrist.com and give me your mailing address and info., or you can go to http://www.brazilforchrist.com/ and sign-up there.
Just email me at jmathews@brazilforchrist.com and give me your mailing address and info., or you can go to http://www.brazilforchrist.com/ and sign-up there.
Securing Partnerships to Build
Hey, just writing to let you all know that we have been in the U.S. since about September 1 and we will be here through the Spring of 2011. Our goal is simple: we need to raise capital to build the first phase of our building. We finished all of the groundwork this past year: excavation, perimeter walls, etc.. but now we are ready to lay some footers, put some walls up and a roof and we need money to do that. If you are interested in helping with our project just let me know. You can help in many ways - you can contribute financially, you can give of your time and participate in a construction team next summer or the winter of 2011, or you can help with your skills and knowledge (arquitecture, design, etc...). One way or another, we hope you can at least pray that others will fill in the gaps where needed. Remember... we serve an awesome God that is ready to use us wherever and whenever we are willing. We are not awesome but He is and He loves doing great things through not-so-great people!
May 28, 2010
THIS PHASE IS DONE!
Since our last update in March, many of you contributed towards this project and we just want to thank each one of you for your generosity in helping us reach our goal. As you may remember, our goal was to get the property “job site ready” by rebuilding our perimeter walls and finishing any needed excavation work. With your help we were able to bring this phase of our project to completion. It took some time to arrive here but we are “JOB SITE READY”! You can visit our photo gallery via our website www.brazilforchrist.com to see all of the pictures of the property. Now, we are ready to move on to the second phase of development. We are ready to build!
We want to start this next phase of this fundraiser emphasizing that we are just trying to get a simple structure put into place where we can hold meetings. If we start off with the basics, what do we need? Two things we HAVE TO HAVE: 1. Bathrooms and 2. Covered and Enclosed area for meetings. It doesn’t have to be super nice; it just has to keep people in from the weather and a place for people to use the restroom. We do have a master-plan for our project and so what we build will not have to be torn down later on to make room for something else, we will simply modify it and integrate it into any future development.
We are still putting together a list of estimates and studying the cheapest way to build what we need and soon we hope to be able to present all of that to you.
Over the next couple of months we are going to be purchasing basic building materials as funds are available and stock them on the property. We will be mostly buying 6” and 8” blocks, pavers, sand, stone, and some tools. These are durable goods that we can begin purchasing now to be “ahead of the game” later. The main reason we are doing this is to take advantage of the current high in the exchange rate. As many of you know the U.S. Dollar has fluctuated 25% in the last 18 months – it rose 25% and then dropped 25% in that period. Imagine trying to set a budget for a project under those circumstances.
I could save the contributed money and cash it in for building materials IF the exchange rate jumps or I could end up saving the money for a high exchange and it never come around and then I’d be forced to exchange funds at a low rate at a time that I really needed materials. The best plan is buy materials as funds are available and thus getting the “median advantage” of the exchange rate. Within the last month the U.S. Dollar has gone up about 10%, it may gone down tomorrow or it may continue to rise. I don’t know but one thing is for sure, if I buy over time I’ll get the average of the highs and lows.
This is just one example but the principle applies to every single item we have to purchase. I may say we need a certain amount for a project today and that amount may not be enough tomorrow. So, we are asking you to consider giving towards these building materials.
Go to our picture page to see the progress...Web Album
We want to start this next phase of this fundraiser emphasizing that we are just trying to get a simple structure put into place where we can hold meetings. If we start off with the basics, what do we need? Two things we HAVE TO HAVE: 1. Bathrooms and 2. Covered and Enclosed area for meetings. It doesn’t have to be super nice; it just has to keep people in from the weather and a place for people to use the restroom. We do have a master-plan for our project and so what we build will not have to be torn down later on to make room for something else, we will simply modify it and integrate it into any future development.
We are still putting together a list of estimates and studying the cheapest way to build what we need and soon we hope to be able to present all of that to you.
Over the next couple of months we are going to be purchasing basic building materials as funds are available and stock them on the property. We will be mostly buying 6” and 8” blocks, pavers, sand, stone, and some tools. These are durable goods that we can begin purchasing now to be “ahead of the game” later. The main reason we are doing this is to take advantage of the current high in the exchange rate. As many of you know the U.S. Dollar has fluctuated 25% in the last 18 months – it rose 25% and then dropped 25% in that period. Imagine trying to set a budget for a project under those circumstances.
I could save the contributed money and cash it in for building materials IF the exchange rate jumps or I could end up saving the money for a high exchange and it never come around and then I’d be forced to exchange funds at a low rate at a time that I really needed materials. The best plan is buy materials as funds are available and thus getting the “median advantage” of the exchange rate. Within the last month the U.S. Dollar has gone up about 10%, it may gone down tomorrow or it may continue to rise. I don’t know but one thing is for sure, if I buy over time I’ll get the average of the highs and lows.
Example of how the exchange rate affects our budget:
1000 - 8” Cement Block:
One Month Ago $1515 vs. Today $1366
This is just one example but the principle applies to every single item we have to purchase. I may say we need a certain amount for a project today and that amount may not be enough tomorrow. So, we are asking you to consider giving towards these building materials.
Go to our picture page to see the progress...Web Album
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