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For the first time in 25 years, the Rev. Glenn Grubb won't be climbing ladders in Brazil to build chapels and reach souls for Christ.

At 81, this retired pastor at Madison Avenue Baptist Church believes it's time to pass that mission work on to the younger set, including his son, the Rev. Mark Grubb, who is the pastor at First Baptist Church in Friendsville. Mark, along with the Rev. Tim Kimsey, the pastor at Rockford Baptist Church, is among a group of 30 volunteer missionaries who will travel to Sao Paulo and other cities in this South American country to build another chapel and shine the light of faith.

Months of preparation work have gone into the 2009 journey. The group has even requested the help of Jim Malone, an international missionary for the Southern Baptist Convention for years. He just returned from the mission field in Brazil and has been teaching Portuguese to those planning to make this journey. Some, like Mark Grubb and Kimsey, are repeat visitors. Some will be embarking on this life-changing event for the very first time.

There are seven from Friendsville going, one from Hawkins County, one from Sevier County, groups from Madison Avenue, Rockford, Armona Baptist and other area churches.

According to Mark, a lot of volunteers means fast work can be made of the chore at hand.

"We can have a building up -- windows, electric, everything -- within eight days," he said. "This is a chapel that can seat 250. The work will also include some Brazilians, too."

Cost to build one of the chapels is about $10,000, Mark Grubb said. The churches that make this annual trek raise money all year to cover expenses.

With hammers and hearts

Glenn Grubb said it is satisfying to know that even though he personally won't be involved in this project, it is continuing on. He was responsible for building 51 chapels, mostly in the Sao Paulo and Campo Grande regions. In some years two houses of worship were constructed.

"That first year, I took four laymen with me from Madison Avenue and we weren't building chapels then," Glenn Grubb said. "We did soul-winning in the streets and parks. We also had a revival in one of the chapels and had a real outpouring, with over 100 professions of faith being made. That's what triggered me."

Kimsey said volunteers from teens to senior adults are part of this mission for Christ. Some enjoy the carpentry work and seeing the chapels take shape while others appreciate the opportunity to participate in street evangelism, handing out Bibles and sharing the gospel. This Rockford pastor admits he loves the evangelism side and will never forget an invitation to preach at an Indian village in Campo Grande.

He was approached by a female Pentecostal preacher who told Kimsey a tribal chief wanted to meet him. Kimsey accepted the invitation and was also able to speak to members of the tribe. During that encounter, this Rockford pastor was able to lead the chief to Jesus along with the tribe's patriarch. Several others followed, and Kimsey said that tribal chief now carries a Bible under his arm.

"There had not been a white man in this village for over 50 years," Kimsey said he was told. He said the last one to visit had his ears cut off because the tribe members didn't like what they heard from him. Kimsey was told this story before he went and didn't hesitate at the opportunity. He said he would never have been able to preach Acts 21 if he had refused to show his witness.

Never the same

Glenn and Mark Grubb came back changed men after their first Brazil trips. So, too, did Kimsey. They can see the transformations of others just like them.

Mark said his son made the trip with him one year and had lots of personal belongings with him, including expensive shoes, music player, headphones, etc. "When he came back home," he had nothing," Mark said. "He gave it all away."

"No one goes there and comes back without a transformation," Kimsey said. "I felt ashamed the first time I went to the foreign mission field. I came home and I have two or three cars in the driveway and a television in every room. The people of Brazil could live off the trash we throw away."

The predominant religion in Brazil is Catholicism, but it has lost some of its hold, Malone said. Thirty years ago, the country was 90 percent Catholic, he said. Today it is about 72 percent. Spiritualism has a strong presence there.

Mark said on that first trip 24 years ago, they saw several alters where living sacrifices were offered to different gods.

The work required is no vacation, Malone, Grubb and Kimsey agreed. A day begins at first light and continues through dusk. But year after year, volunteers sign up for another chance to change lives.

Pat Rogers, the music director at Rockford, is one. She traveled to Brazil last year for the first time. Kimsey said every time he saw her, she had tears of joy streaming down her face.

Rogers had told her pastor she had longed for years to make such a journey.

"She told me, 'I am sitting here in the middle of Brazil doing something for God,'" Kimsey said.

That must be the same feeling Glenn Grubb felt those 25 years ago.

It goes on and on.