A letter from Farris Goodrum serving in Brazil
July 2015 - Another Transition
Dear Friends,
-1_medium250.jpeg)
Jackson has been studying piano since 2010.
Recently I was invited to play the piano for a sarau at an elegant house next door to the First United Presbyterian Church of Vitoria. According to my Portuguese/English dictionary, a sarau is an evening party, and these parties are usually characterized by singing and the playing of instruments. I was pleased to be asked to participate, and since that night my mind has gone back over the years, remembering how the piano has been such a big part of my life and ministry and thinking of all the interesting opportunities that have been opened to me because of this.
My parents were missionaries in the Congo, in Africa, where I was born and raised, and I clearly remember a trip from one of our Presbyterian mission stations to another when I was only 5 years old and my brother Mark was 7. We traveled for hours, over bumpy, rutted dirt roads, to be a part of the graduation exercises and the end-of-year piano recital at Central School for Missionaries’ Children, which were important events in our lives in the Congo. My siblings, Byron, David, and Phyllis, were students at “CS,” and Phyllis, who was in the 7th grade, was to play “The Accordion Man” on the piano recital. I was enthralled by the whole program, and became determined to learn “The Accordion Man” one day!
-2_medium250.jpeg)
The adult choir that Farris directs. Thelma is in the middle, front row.
Within a few years I did learn “The Accordion Man,” as well as many other pieces, and I became the chapel pianist at CS when I was 13 years old. This was excellent experience for me, as I have been a church pianist in all of the years since that time. I was thrilled to be commissioned to come to Brazil in 1982 as a music teacher at the Bible Institute of the North, a school of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, in Garanhuns, Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil. Presbyterian missionaries had established this school 40 years before I arrived, and I enjoyed being a part of the Bible Institute during my first term in Brazil.
My wife, Thelma, had been my piano student at the Bible Institute, where we eventually got married in 1987. During my first term in Brazil the Presbyterian Church of Brazil ended its formal relationship with the PC(USA), which closed the doors on 125 years of Presbyterian mission history in Brazil. But after a couple of years in the States, where I studied at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia, and Thelma studied at a local university, I was invited to open a music department at the seminary of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, in the northeastern city of Fortaleza. This three-year music department thrived during the years that we were there, and we enjoyed our experience in Fortaleza until I was invited to go to the southern city of Londrina to teach at another seminary of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. This seminary opened new doors of ministry to me and to Thelma as I taught not only music but also Christian education, and Thelma studied theology at the seminary in Londrina, graduating in 2007.
-3_medium250.jpeg)
Students and family members at an end-of-semester piano class.
At the end of 2009 doors were closed again as the Independent Presbyterian Church, because of the financial difficulties of the denomination, decided to close the seminaries in Fortaleza and Londrina, with plans to depend less on help from PC(USA) missionaries. But once again doors were opened to us in Vitoria, an island city in southeastern Brazil, where Thelma and I were invited to make a contribution in the life of yet another Presbyterian denomination: the United Presbyterian Church of Brazil. Thelma was ordained by this denomination in 2011, and we have both enjoyed the many opportunities that have come our way in music, Christian education, teaching at the seminary, and pastoral care.
Recently we were saddened to learn that because of the sizable shortfall in contributions for the support of Presbyterian mission workers, our ministry in Brazil will have to come to an end at the end of this year. Doors are closing again, but this time because of the financial situation of our own denomination. There are many others in the same situation, and if this distressing financial reality does not improve dramatically, many more will have to end their mission work with Presbyterian World Mission by next year. We would appreciate your prayers for us, and for all of the mission co-workers around the world who are in the same situation, or who may be concerned about the future of their own ministries. We know that God will open doors, but uncertain times are always stressful. Though our assignment here in Vitoria will come to an end at the end of December, we will continue on the PC(USA) payroll until the end of June 2016. This time of transition will help us to become established as we wait for God to open doors to us, and we ask you to continue your financial support through June of 2016 just as we ask for your continued support in prayer.
As I played the piano at the informal sarau recently, I could look back and feel tremendous gratefulness for the many opportunities in our lives and for the many doors that God has opened to us for rewarding ministry over the years. As we end our term here Thelma and Joel will have the most adjusting to do because Thelma is from Brazil and Joel would like to attend the university here in Vitoria after he graduates from high school in November. Please pray that God will give us patience and faith as we wait for God's guidance in decisions we must make. Upon arrival in the States we will live at Mission Haven, in Decatur, Georgia, and will be glad to be close to our son Michael, who is in school in the Atlanta area. We would enjoy visiting the churches that have faithfully supported our ministry for many years, so that we can thank you again, in person, for the wonderful experiences in ministry that your support has made possible for us over the years.
We look forward to the remaining months with our friends and co-workers of the United Presbyterian Church of Brazil here in Vitoria, and we will continue to keep in touch with you about our activities. Thelma joins me in sending special greetings.
Sincerely, in Christ’s service,
Farris Goodrum
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 49
Read more about Farris and Thelma Goodrum's ministry
Write to Farris Goodrum
Write to Thelma Goodrum
Individuals: Give to E200349 for Farris and Thelma Goodrum's sending and support
Congregations: Give to D506380 for Farris and Thelma Goodrum's sending and support
Churches are asked to send donations through your congregation’s normal receiving site (this is usually your presbytery).
