11/23/2017

Thanksgiving 2017!

11/10/2017

2017 ANNUAL MISSIONARY REPORT

NAME:
BROLM - Brazil River of Life Ministries (Jeff and Monica Fife)

MAILING ADDRESS/EMAIL/WEBSITE/TELEPHONE:
P.O. Box 8262 – Gray – TN – 37615
Skype: Jeff.fife
Facebook: Jeff E Monica Fife
In Brazil: 55-11-9-9511-2436

FORWARDING AGENT/SENDING AGENCY/CONTACT INFORMATION:
Chair and Secretary: LeAnne Blackmore (423) 946-1332 E-mail: bmore@comcast.net  
Treasurer: Amy Crawford (423) 426-2471 E-mail: amycrawford70@comcast.net
Trustee: Jim Knowles (865)599-5602 E-mail: jimknowlestn@gmail.com
Trustee: Phil Roberts E-Mail: Philsburgh@gmail.com
Trustee: Wilbur Reid E-Mail: wilburreid3@gmail.com
Trustee: Mark Haga E-Mail: markhaga@kingsporttn.gov

MISSION FIELD AND PEOPLE GROUP:
Portuguese-Speaking World (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, São Tome and Principe, Portugal, and USA)

MINISTRY MISSION STATEMENT:
Mission: Reach the Portuguese-Speaking world for Jesus Christ so they can reach the rest of the world.
Vision: Reach the lost through Evangelism, Mentor and Equip through Discipleship, Plant New Churches, Provide Assistance and Justice where needed.

IN THE PAST YEAR, NON-CHRISTIAN INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE BECOME CHRISTIAN INDIVIDUALS AS A RESULT OF THE WORK WITH WHICH GOD HAS ENTRUSTED BROLM:  Over 200

HOW LONG SERVING ON THIS FIELD:
Monica and I have been serving in the Portuguese-Speaking World together for 29 years. BROLM been serving this same people group since 2001.

ORIGINAL TIME COMMITMENT TO THIS MINISTRY AND CURRENT TIME COMMITMENT TO THIS MINISTRY:
Our original commitment to this ministry is for life and it continues to be for life.

HOW IS GOD CURRENTLY WORKING THROUGH YOUR MINISTRY AND WHAT WERE YOUR PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST YEAR?
GOD’S WORK THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF THE PAST YEAR:
1. BROLM is accomplishing its goals through evangelism, discipleship (personal discipleship and “Hands On” Bible College) and new church plants, promoting social work and justice where needed.
2. During this year BROLM promoted an average of 3 evangelistic outreaches per month throughout the churches that BROLM has planted in the Southeast, Midwest and Northeast Brazil.
2. BROLM offers monthly discipleship materials to all the BROLM churches and to many other Christian Churches throughout the Portuguese-Speaking World.
3. The “Hands On” Bible College is being offered at 4 BROLM congregations in the Southeast, 1 in the Midwest, 1 in the north, and 1 in the Northeast. BROLM coordinates the “Hands On” Bible College in Mozambique and Portugal. Jeff and Monica plan to teach in Portugal Sept 19 through 29, 2017 and will teach in Mozambique in 2018.
4. BROLM is helping plant the church in Areias, Recife. At the same time, BROLM is preparing new teams to plant future new churches.
5. Jeff and Monica have invested their time in strengthening the leadership at the local churches. Thus they have promoted several leadership training events, they visited all the churches and are encouraged to see each of them growing.
6. BROLM has been giving assistance to the work in Mozambique since 2003 where they celebrated 21 years of ministry in Oct 2017. The churches in Mozambique continue growing; it has been a hard year with the death of 3 church pastors and lots of sicknesses among the members of the churches. The grade school has over 1000 students. The Hope Home has the boys and girls homes with about 80 children.
7. This year Jeff and Monica also had the opportunity to speak at the World Convention of the Stone/Campbell Movement in India.
8. Jeff is also pastoring two local churches, Pirituba and Bom Retiro. New pastors are currently being trained to pastor these and other churches through the “Hands On” Bible College.
9. BROLM promoted the fourth National Leadership Summit Oct 27 through 29, 2017 where Dr. Wilbur Reid and Mark Haga were the speakers.
10. BROLM was blessed purchasing almost 6 acres of land to build a retreat/camp.

PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST YEAR:
Monica and I are very happy to see our sons growing and maturing, however more important, it has been to see their commitment with the Lord!
To see Isaac finish his first year at Johnson University and come to Brazil for his internship this summer was a great blessing. Isaac preached, led worship, did Communion and Offering Mediations and worked with the youth groups. His commitment with the Kingdom is contagious!
Roger came to Brazil in August for 18 days and he taught at the “Hands On” Bible College, what teaching gift he has, he takes after his grandpa Tom Fife. What a blessing! People love his teaching!
Overall, the biggest highlight in our personal lives is to be found by God to be worthy, and it is He that makes us worthy, to work for Him in His Kingdom! In spite of us, He is merciful and He uses us for his honor and glory!
God has blessed us tremendously to see so many souls reached for Christ and His kingdom growing. It is an honor to be used by God in His Kingdom!

TYPE (S) OF MINISTRY:
Evangelism, Church Planting, Equipping/Discipling, Missionary Assistance, Benevolence, Missionary Preparation, Translation Services, Counseling and Short Term Missions.

DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL DAY AND PRIMARY MINISTRY ACTIVITIES:
In the mission field there are no typical days, however here are some of the things we are sure to do every day:
Devotional (Prayer and Bible Readying).
Teaching and Sermon preparations.
Contact Church Leaders and Members.
Answer e-mails and other correspondences.
Family Time.
Here are some other activities:
Every Sunday – Preach at Bom Retiro and Pirituba Churches.
Every Monday – Teach at “Hands On” Bible College at Pirituba.
Every Tuesday – Teach at “Hands OnBible College at Campo Limpo Paulista.
Every Wednesday – Discipleship at Pirituba
One Thursday per month – Discipleship at Campo Limpo Paulista.
One Thursday per month – Discipleship at Jundiai.
One Friday per month – Teach at “Hands On” Bible College at Jundiai.
One Saturday per month – Teach at “Hands On” Bible College at Sao Mateus.
Once a month meet personally with the church pastors.
Every couple months – Teach Thursday, Friday and Saturday at “Hands OnBible College at Palmas, TO.
Every three months – Meet with all church leaders (pastors, elders and ministries leaders)

WHAT MARKERS HAVE YOU USED OVER THE PAST YEAR TO MEASURE YOUR MINISTRY’S EFFECTIVENESS?   HOW WELL HAS YOUR MINISTRY MET THESE MARKERS?  PLEASE EXPLAIN.
The markers we use to measure our ministry effectiveness are:
1. God’s approval – Everything we do is first presented to God in prayer, as we pray we ask God to show us where He is working so we can put our hands with His. When God opens the doors providing the volunteers to do the work and the resources we know that He is approving.
2. People to be reached, baptized and discipled - For each congregation we set tangible goals and as we start to do our part through evangelism we see the Holy Spirit do His work of saving souls in our midst and the churches have grown. We try not to focus only on numbers, but on lives transformed by God’s grace; thus we work in discipling.
3. Hands On Bible College – We have set a goal to have a HOBC at each congregation and we have seen this goal happen before our eyes, with more students at each location.
4. Church Plant – We focus on planting new churches that will grow to become strong congregations that are ready to plant other new congregations. After moving back full time to Brazil in 2015 we have consecrated on helping make these congregations stronger and God has given the blessing to see them grow stronger with vision for the future every day.

GOALS AND VISION FOR THE NEXT YEAR:
1. Continue to help the local congregations and future church plants evangelistic outreach.
2. Continue to produce monthly discipleship material for the local congregations and other churches throughout the Portuguese-Speaking World.
3. Continue to offer the “Hands On” Bible College at the local congregations in Brazil, Mozambique, and Portugal. The goal is to offer the “Hands On” Bible College at all BROLM Churches; for this to become a reality we are training new teachers.
4. Promote leadership training by visiting the local churches and encouraging them.
5. Promote the fifth national Leadership Summit.
6. Visit the work in Mozambique.
7. Attend ICOM 2018, and continue the plans for Jeff’s ICOM 2019 presidency.
8. Raise funds and start building the retreat/camp.

PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST YEAR:
Our personal highlight is the fact to be found by God worthy to work in His Kingdom.
Even though Monica has so many health limitations, it is great to see her commitment with the Kingdom and always looking forward to what God has next.
God has given us health—especially spiritually and mentally.
To see our sons, Roger and Isaac serving the Lord and willingness to come to Brazil and add to God’s Kingdom!

CURRENT FURLOUGH PLANS:
Monica and I will be in the USA from Nov 15 to Dec 15, 2017 and we would love to visit you, please, give us a date during the days we will be in the USA and we will be happy to report to you at this opportunity. Thanks!

CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION AND RETIREMENT PLAN:
See below BROLM 2016 Audit Financial Report and 2018 Budget.
We have an IRA retirement plan and we pay social security.

CURRENT PRAYER NEEDS, FAMILY NEEDS, AND FINANCIAL NEEDS:
Please, pray for Monicas health. She has had many health problems through the years and she has had many of the same symptoms that she used to have before she had the brain tumor removed in 2008.
Pray for our sons Roger and Isaac who are studying in the USA. Roger feels that his calling is teaching and he is being prepared for that and Isaac has a calling for missions and he is being prepared for that.
Pray that will give me (Jeff) wisdom to do Gods will and lead the ministry among the Portuguese-Speaking World with good health for His honor and glory.
Please, pray for each church and church leaders for God to give them wisdom to do His will.
We are in many ways attacked by Satan. The battles are many, but we know that Satan and his kingdom are defeated in Jesus name. We all need to keep our focus as we have seen his big trick is to take us off course attempting to change our focus. Thus we need your prays to “deliver us from the evil one”.
To launch the “Hands On” Bible College at other local churches in Brazil and to keep the “Hands On” Bible College in all the locations in Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique we need $10,000.
To build the first phase of the retreat/camp we need to raise $120,000. This first phase will make it possible to accommodate 100 campers.
We believe, all of our current supporters will continue supporting BROLM in 2018. If that is the case, we will be able to maintain the ongoing ministries without any extra funding; however, the “Hands On” Bible College and the new church plants are urgent needs. We also believe that God will continue to be gracious and will permit us to build the retreat/camp—all for His honor and glory.


BROLM 2016 FINANCIAL REPORT:
FROM JANUARY 1ST TO DECEMBER 31ST

2015 Designated gifts carried over to 2016:
“Hands-On” Bible College $ 9,965.25
New Church Plants $ 5,600.00
Retreat Center to be built in Brazil $ 45,500.00
Monica’s Medical Expenses $ 1,129.98
Total $62,195.23 (A)

2015 Undesignated balance carried to 2016 $29,652.69 (B)

Total bank balance on 12/31/2015 $91,847.92 (A+B)

Support in 2016:

Undesignated Support & Gifts $72,576.00 (C)

DESIGNATED SUPPORT:
Work in Mozambique $ 6,370.00
Carnival Camp $ 3,000.00
Van – Brazil $ 6,925.00
Retreat Center $48,000.00
Sao Mateus Rent $ 2,400.00
Travel Expenses $ 1,300.00
Jeff & Monica’s Salary Increase $12,000.00
Church Planting – Brazil $11,820.00
Total Designated Donations $ 91,815.00 (D)

Total Support in 2016 $164,391.00 (C+D)

Total Funds Available for 2016 Mission Work (A+B+C+D) $256,238.92 (E)

Expenses in 2016:

BRAZIL MINISTRY
Evangelism ($ 3,600.00)
Discipleship ($ 3,000.00)
Retreat Center ($ 230.00)
New Church Planting ($12,000.00)
Van – Brazil ($ 3,909.00)
Carnival Camp ($ 3,000.00)
Ministry/Missions/Benevolence ($ 8,756.36)
Sao Mateus Rent ($ 1,800.00)
Government Taxes and Bank Fees ($ 660.00)
“Hands-On” Bible College ($ 9,074.69)
Travel Expenses ($ 5,008.16)
Total Brazil Ministry Expenses ($51,038.21) (F)

MOZAMBIQUE MINISTRY
Mozambique Ministry ( $7,380.00)
Total Mozambique Ministry Expenses ($ 7,380.00) (G)

OPERATIONS EXPENSES - USA OFFICE
Benevolence/Missions ($1,800.00)
CPA Fees for Tax filings ($ 995.00)
Office Expenses  (stamps, toner, paper) ($ 720.05)
Charitable Org Renewal fee w/ State of TN ($ 230.47)
Travel to Churches ($ 651.44)
Total Operation Expenses - USA office ($4,396.96) (H)

LIVING EXPENSES
Salary ($39,840.00)
Total ($39,840.00) (I)

Total Expenses (F+G+H+I) ($102,655.17) (J)

Ending Balance in Bank Account
December 31, 2016 (E-J) $153,583.75 (K)

Designated Gifts included in above bank balance carried over to 2017:
Retreat Center to be built in Brazil $93,270.00
“Hands-On” Bible College $ 890.56
New Church Plants $ 5,420.00
Sao Mateus Rent $ 600.00
Monica’s Medical Expenses $ 1,129.98
TOTAL $101,310.54 (L)

After deducting designated funds from the bank account, the amount of BROLM's undesignated balance at 12/31/16 is $ 52,273.21 (K-L)

GIFTS THAT WERE GIVEN TO BROLM IN 2016:
38.54% COME FROM CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
61.46% COME FROM INDIVIDUALS (Family and Friends)

Thanks for your support!


BRAZIL RIVER OF LIFE MINISTRIES 2018 YEARLY BUDGET:

BRAZIL MINISTRY
Evangelism $ 3,600.00
Discipleship $ 3,000.00
New Church Planting $12,000.00
Ministry/Missions/Benevolence $ 3,600.00
Government Taxes and Bank Fees $ 600.00
Total Brazil Ministry $22,800.00 (A)

“HANDS-ON” BIBLE COLLEGE $ 15,000.00 (B)
(Angola, Brazil, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique and Portugal)

MOZAMBIQUE MINISTRY $ 4,800.00 (C)

OPERATIONS EXPENSES OFFICE USA
Operations $ 1,000.00
CPA $ 1,000.00
Newsletters and others $ 1,800.00
Traveling Expenses $ 2,000.00
Total Operations Expenses $ 5,800.00 (D)

LIVING EXPENSES
Salary $18,600.00
Home Allowance $ 11,400.00
Medical & Life Insurance $ 3,300.00
Retirement and Social Security $ 2,700.00
Total Living Expenses $36,000.00 (E)

TOTAL 2018 EXPENSES (A+B+C+D+E) $84,400.00

BRAZIL RIVER OF LIFE MINISTRIES 2017 YEARLY SUPPORT:

CHURCHES – REGULAR SUPPORT:
Bethany Christian Church $ 3,800.00
Braceville Christian Church $ 1,500.00
Coffee Creek Christian Church $ 480.00
Colonial Heights Christian Church $ 6,000.00
Cornerstone Christian Church $ 6,000.00
Howard Christian Church $ 1,836.00
Journey Christian Church $ 7,300.00
Seymour Heights Christian Church $ 9,480.00
TOTAL $36,396.00 (F)

INDIVIDUALS – SUPPORT (Friends and Family):
$ 120.00
$ 360.00
$ 600.00
$ 600.00
$ 1,200.00
$ 1,200.00
$ 1,200.00
$ 1,200.00
$ 3,600.00
$ 6,000.00
TOTAL $16,080.00 (G)

DESIGNATED SUPPORT:

NEW CHURCH PLANT:
First Christian Church $ 7,980.00
Seymour Heights Christian Church $ 3,840.00
TOTAL $11,820.00 (H)

MOZAMBIQUE SUPPORT:
Seymour Heights Christian Church $ 3,240.00
TOTAL $ 3,240.00 (I)

TOTAL SUPPORT (F+G+H+I) $67,536.00

BROLM 2018 Yearly Budget for the ministry in Brazil, “Hands On” Bible College, Mozambique, Operations, Living and Mission Trips is $96,400.00. If the supporters that have supported BROLM in 2017 continue with their regular support in 2018, between churches and individuals that support the ministry in Brazil and Mozambique, we have committed $67,536.00 FURTHERMORE, FOR BROLM TO REACH ITS GOAL FOR 2018, WE NEED AN ADDITIONAL 24.98% OR $16,864.00 IN SUPPORT.

We are praying that in 2018 we will begin building the Retreat Center in Brazil. The estimated cost is $120,000.00 and we have received $7,210.00 towards this goal so far in 2017.

We believe with all of our heart that God will move peoples' hearts as He has moved yours, and we will reach this goal for His honor and glory. We have many goals for Brazil River of Life Ministries for 2018 – We want to continue reaching many souls for the Lord in 2018, please continue supporting BROLM!

Thank you very much for supporting us! Your prayers and financial support are vital for our lives and ministry.

May the Lord richly bless you! God is good, He is among us, and He is acting!

In His Love and Service,


Jeff and Monica Fife