My name is Debby McMaster. My husband and I and our four children arrived in Fortaleza, Brazil in January of 1997. We helped in church plants in the northeast part of Brazil until May of 2014. We then left our youngest son in college and returned in January of 2015 to a new city in the middle part of Brazil called Diamantina, in Minas Gerais. It is a historical town, and has many beautiful waterfalls within an hour drive.
We were invited to help a small congregation in this city of Diamantina. It has been a year full of struggles and blessings. We returned as empty-nesters, which is quite a change and on top of that to a city where our few acquaintances were the few members of this church. We came from a house with palm trees and 85-95 degree weather and sandy beaches to a small apartment, which felt like a refrigerator for three months of the year, because of the cold here in Diamantina and no heat in the cement apartment. I believe the hardest part has been the loneliness I have felt for the first time in my work and not knowing where I fit in. This has caused me to seek comfort in the Lord. It is like He was and is saying, “Debby, trust in me. I have things that I want to teach you and this is the only way you will be able to learn. I will supply all your needs whether it be physical, emotional or spiritual.”