Our Last Goodbye

Hello Everyone!

After more than 7 years of preparing for and now, leaving the mission field, this will be my last blog post. It is bittersweet.

So much has changed during this journey, it feels as if I have lived 2 lifetimes. There has been so much joy and heartache intertwined together. I will never be able to fully express all that has taken place within my soul and all that Brazil has imprinted on it.

I cannot say thank you enough to everyone who has supported me and my family along the way. Thank you for reading the blogs and praying for us. Thank you for sending gifts and encouraging words. Thank you for continuing to give to us financially even when we were no longer "working".

Now that we are home, we are starting new lives and taking all the steps to move forward. Ronã will have a job interview this week. (Please pray for him.) We have already bought a car and have put a deposit on an apartment. We have found a part-time school for Oliver. I am working on collecting all the basic things for our new home.

God has been incredibly faithful to us on every side and in every way. His goodness always prevails.

Lastly, I want to remind everyone that December will be the last month that we will receive donations. Any final donations can be made on the Vineyard Tuttle Crossing website and choose the option for "Missions". I will provide a link below.

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If you haven't decided already how you are planning to donate money in the future to other causes, I would like to suggest one.
Our home church, Vineyard Tuttle Crossing, is in the process of raising funds to do some much needed renovations to the church building. VTC is a small but faithful community. Our family has benefited so much from their love and support and generosity over the years. Please, consider being a blessing to them as they bless others. You can use the same link above by choosing the option for "Building Remodel".

We love you and we thank you so much.
God bless you and have a Wonderful Holiday Season!

THE MOURA FAMILY

And We're Back!

Hello to All of our Supporters and Friends!

It is so good to be home! Last Tuesday, we left João Pessoa early in the morning and arrived in Columbus late that evening. My Dad picked us up at the airport and drove us to our temporary home in Sunbury with our friends, Jim and Jo Ann McCann. It hasn't even been a week yet, but we are already feeling welcomed and loved by all the support around us from friends and family!

Last night, I got a wonderful belated surprise birthday party from my family.

 

 I just turned 40 on October 17th but because we were in the middle of preparing for the move, we didn't really have time to celebrate it. Thankfully, Ronã had been in contact with my sister-in-law in order to plan something for me so that we could all celebrate together. It was a really special time, and I was totally surprised!

Yesterday, we also had the pleasure of going to church at our home church, Vineyard Tuttle Crossing. It was so good to see so many familiar faces and get so many hugs. I couldn't help but reflect on the history we have together as a church family.
This weekend, we found a car to buy, and I will be going later today to pick it up. This is just one of the many steps we will be taking over the next few months in order to start our new lives here. We are grateful to be on the journey.
In a few weeks, we will be moving into the house of Rick and Mel Demastus while they travel to Florida for a few months. We will be hosting their home group while we are there, and this will give a chance to reconnect with some of you.
Our goal is to see everyone and connect with as many of you as possible, but we are not exactly sure when we will do that. There are many unknowns at the moment. When things calm down, we want to spend some time with you, especially so that we may say thank you for how incredibly generous you all have been to us!
We ask for your prayers over the next few months as we sort things out. Right now, we are waiting for Ronã to receive his social security number in the mail. This will allow him to start applying for jobs. He also needs to get a US driver's license. Please, pray that God gives us wisdom for direction and favor in this new season of our lives.

Out to lunch with my Dad

Oliver already seems to be fitting in so well. He has been enjoying spending time with his cousins and family.

Ronã and I are so grateful for all your love and support.

Love,
The Moura Family

We are Coming Home

Hello to our Wonderful Friends and Family!

We finally have some great news to tell you! We are coming home! We started the visa process at the beginning of February, and next month in October, the process will be complete. As you can imagine, we are overjoyed and relieved that this long journey is finally come to an end.
The last step in the process is an interview. Ronã will travel next week to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the US Embassy that handles immigrant visas is located. He has to do several medical exams before the interview. The actual date of the interview is on October 3rd. A few weeks later, the visa packet should arrive in the mail that will allow him to travel to the US.
As of now, we are planning to come back to Ohio at the end of October where we will begin our new life. We are really looking forward to this moment to reunite with all of you. Your support for our family during this time has been beyond measure, and we can't wait for the opportunity to show our gratitude in person. You guys have really held us together through your prayers, your financial gifts and your emotional support. Thank you. We are so bless by you.
We will also be leaning on all of you as we transition into a new life in the States. Our goals in coming back include Ronã finding a job, finding a place to live, and buying a car. We have been saving money in order to prepare ourselves for this new start.
We would also like to ask, once again, for your hospitality in this beginning phase. We are asking for help with living arrangements for the first few months back home. This would be for November and December. If any of you have additional space in your home that you would be willing to share with us during this time, we would be grateful. We would need at least 2 rooms in a fairly calm environment, as we have a 2 year old son. We hope to buy a car as soon as possible when we arrive, but if possible, we may also need to borrow a car for a short period. If you think you will be able to help, please send me an email directly at allygail424@gmail.com
Please, we ask that you continue to pray for us during this next month that God's favor would be with us and guide each step of the way. He has been incredibly faithful to us during this season of our lives, and we have no doubt that he will continue to do so. Thank you, again, so much. We love you!

Love,
The Moura Family

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Faster Than We Thought

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all are doing very well and enjoying the start of Spring! In Brazil, we are starting our "winter" which basically means that there is more rain and more wind than normal. We are grateful for both as it cuts down on the heat.
It has been a while since I have connected with all of you. We have been waiting to have some news to give you about our progress with the immigration process for Ronã. I believe I told you before that we expected the process to take around 10 months to a year, and we filed our paperwork to get started at the beginning of February. The first part of the process is to file a petition that proves that our marriage is legit, and if approved, allows us to start the visa process for a green card. When we were looking on the government websites, it was saying that the wait time just for this first step was taking an average of 8 to 10 months! As you can imagine, we were pretty discouraged with that time frame. However, I am very happy to say that our petition has already been approved! We got a letter in the mail at the beginning of May, which means it only took 3 months!
So, what does this mean for us, you may be wondering? Well, we have been trying to estimate how long the other steps will take, assuming that everything goes smoothly. We believe it is possible that everything could be complete within the next 6 months. IF that is the case (I am using that IF with some liberty), then that could put us back in the US before the end of the year! Please, pray for the rest of this process to continue to go smoothly and quickly. We are anxious to start the next chapter of our lives.
In the meantime, we have a lot happening here. Recently, Ronã was able to get a job as a graphic designer. He is really enjoying it, and it is giving him a lot of experience. Unfortunately however, even with a job like that, his salary is only about $300 dollars a month. He has also started taking an electrician's course 2 nights a week. He has already completed the online course he was taking for an airport worker. I finished my hair styling course about a month ago, and I am also going to start teaching English part-time with an online company to help us save a little bit of money for our transition.
The other missionaries that we were working with here, Phil and Jen, are going back to Canada for a few months for a furlough. While they are gone, we are going to move into their house in order to take care of their furry friends. We were already having to move out of our apartment because the owner is selling it to her son. It worked out to be good timing for both of us, and we will save a few months of having to pay rent.
Last week, I had the privilege of having my Mom come visit! We had a great time together, and Oliver got to see that his grandma is a real person and not just an image on a video chat. She also got a taste of what my life has been like for almost 7 years living among the Brazilian people. I am grateful she got to see it before I leave here.

Watching videos on facebook together

Saying goodbye

We are always so grateful for your prayers and support of our family during this time. Even with all the many changes we are experiencing right now, we see God working in our favor on every side. He has been more faithful to us than we could have ever imagined. You all have been so much apart of that. We love you and look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Love,
The Moura Family

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Plans for the Future

Hello to our Friends and Supporters!

I want to start by thanking you all for the incredibly gracious words we received from so many of you after the news we sent out last month. It was very hard to explain to everyone what was going on, and you all made us feel very loved and supported. Thank you again.
We want to let you all know as well exactly where we stand as a family. Please understand that Ronã and I are very committed to each other and to do whatever is necessary to take care of our family. I think the beginning of marriage is often hard for most people because of all the changes. There is a lot to learn about each other and how to live with one another. For us, we have had to deal with that as well becoming parents, several moves, working as missionaries, an age difference and a cultural difference. All those things together have created a lot of pressure that we just weren't handling very well. We needed space to grow and learn how to do life together.

Over the past month, we have spent a lot of time talking with each other as well as our pastors and leaders to decide exactly what our next steps should be and what our options are for moving forward. It is clear that the best thing for us is to go back to the States. However, this requires us to go through the immigration process. After a lot of research, we determined that we need to do the entire immigration process here in Brazil in order for Ronã to receive a green card before going to live in the U.S. This process could take as long as 2 years, however, we do not believe it will take that long for us. We have a friend who also married a Brazilian, and they both live in the U.S now. Their process took 10 months to complete. Of course, there are no guarantees, but we hope that our process will take anywhere from 10 months up to a 1 year.
As we explained before, the Xingu Mission is allowing us to continue to receive support until June 30, 2019. This is for the purpose of allowing us time to transition into our new lives. However, as you can see, our situation is a little bit different because Ronã is not a U.S. citizen. Because of the legal restrictions of receiving support through the Xingu Mission beyond June 2019, we have asked our home church, Vineyard Tuttle Crossing, for help.
Fortunately, we are able to continue to receive support through the church without a time limit. We are asking that our supporters would continue to give to us financially until we are able to receive the green card and start a new life in the States.

This process is the following. *Please note that if you are already giving through the Vineyard Tuttle Crossing church, there is no need to make any changes.

1. You would need to cancel any reoccurring donations that you have been giving through the Xingu Mission website. Contact Patty.Fultz@xingu.org in order to do that.

2. After the cancellation process is complete, set up a new reoccurring donation at Vineyard Tuttle Crossing website  http://www.vineyardtc.org/egiving

3. Enter the amount you would like to give and be sure to select the option for "Missions". Follow the instructions to complete the donation.

During our interim, we are doing what we can to cut down our expenses. We are also setting aside funds to pay for the green card process, as there are many fees and expenses involved.  You may remember that I had started a hairstylist course in order to meet new people in the city. We have decided that it would be best if I continued with the course in hopes of possibly getting a job as a hairstylist in the future. Ronã is also going to take a course that trains airport attendants. We are doing these things as a way to help prepare us for a new life in the States. We are going to continue to be apart of the small church starting here in João Pessoa, but we will no longer be involved in active ministry.

We still have a lot of unknowns ahead of us, but we are taking one day at a time and trying to do our best to prepare ourselves for the future. We ask for your prayers for God's favor and direction during this season of our lives. We thank you again for all of your faithfulness and sacrifice for our family. We are truly blessed because of you.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Love, 
The Moura Family 

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