obrigada

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O, happy and tired am I...on the eve of another adventure...

(The following was meant to posted last Friday.)

We´re home again! That is, back in the city where we were born...a Cidade Maravilhosa, Rio de Janeiro, River of January. We more or less laid low the last few days in Contagem, Minas Gerais. The mission work we did with Street LIFE was good--and intense, and tiring. I can count on one hand the times I´ve slept in past noon this year, and Monday was one of those times.

So we flew into Rio today, and tomorrow we fly to Rio Grande do Sul to meet Fabiani Medeiros and family and church!!

But first, pictures.


Me and some translators! We had a great time talking together. They were invaluable members of the team.



The first Sunday David and I went with the team to a Baptist church. The team led worship, preached the word, and prayed for the congregants afterward.


Praça Sete: the busiest downtown plaza in Belo Horizonte. The team led worship, conducted skits, and called for people to commit their lives to the Lord and receive prayer.


In front of this brothel we did the same thing as at Praça Sete. I couldn´t believe how much business that place got--I counted 7 men exit in 15 seconds from one of the two entrances.


Some team members here are standing in front of a rehabilitation center in the city of Contagem, where we also ministered.


Ye Olde Trailer. This guy carried equipment everywhere for us.


Dave praying for a fella at the rehab center


Wednesday night we had worship and teaching at the YWAM base in Contagem--with everybody living on the base. Here are a few youth from the Church of Grace and Peace doing a skit.


Thursday was churrasco (Brazilian grill-out, sort of) and leisure day. Here´s David having leisure.


This is what I mean by churrasco. yummmmmmmmm.


The next day we went to a favela that has a mission for kids. Here are a few houses in the favela.


A view of the city from the favela.


Many hangings of Scripture decked the walls of the mission.


Some kids. Some, if not all, receive help from the ministry.


Corredores do Reino (Runners of the Kingdom) is the name of the ministry. This ministry teaches the things of God kids who usually have dead, absent, or imprisoned fathers; tries to prevent the kids from getting into drugs (drugs being the reason people in the lower part of the favela don´t go up to the higher part); offers after-school tutoring; provides meals to kids who wouldn´t eat otherwise; conducts athletic programs; and teaches computer skills. I learned all this as I toured the house the mission operates in. The pastor there is a runner, and he recently took a couple kids to Rio for a race/marathon. That news was the straw that broke the camel´s back--tears came to my eyes when I saw all that this ministry was doing for these kids.


We went to another rehab center on Saturday. There´s a skit the team does to Free by Steven Curtis Chapman--at one point everybody jumps up in "freedom" from sin. Dave caught on might quick.

Whoa, Nelly

Here´s my first crack at a computer since Saturday. My apologies for leavin´ y´all hanging, except the apology doesn´t apply to Peter Schellhase since he otherwise communicated to me his sentiments concerning the loss of Brasil, i.e., that they should´ve lost to Ghana and their loss gives him no pain.

Kidding, Peter!

So, we ended up joining a team of about twenty people plus translators here in Belo Horizonte. The team is made of of youth from the Church of Grace and Peace in Toms River, New Jersey, and a few people from Street LIFE, an urban ministry from New York City. Every day we´ve breakfasted together, then met for worship, prayer, and teaching, then lunched together, then hit the road for a ministry destination. So far we´ve gone to minister outside a brothel, in a downtown plaza, in a rehabilitation center, and a church. Today we´re returning to the brothel after we hit a favela (a very poor neighborhood--see pictures below of one in Rio).

During the ministry session, the team has a time of worship (drums, guitar, keyboard, bass, vocalists), drama (in conjunction with a team from Youth With A Mission), and prayer. At the end of every session we ask for anyone who wants to repent and surrender his life to Jesus to come forward for prayer. We also invite Christians who need to recommit their lives or have a special need to come forward. For outside ministry in downtown Belo, several Brazilians have always come forward for each category. It has been incredible to pray with individuals to make Jesus Lord of their life. The struggle for me has been that I´m not easily able to recommend a church family to them.

David and I are now staying overnight at the church which is hosting the team of Americans instead of at Gilberto and Jussara´s place. This move has eliminated the need for back-and-forth rides and made the sleep thing a little easier. On the 10th we´ll go back to Gilberto´s, since that´s the day the team heads back to the States.

It´s been a good time. It´s definitely been spiritually draining in some ways--for instance, the street that had the brothel and porn theatres had a feeling of oppression that wore off on me. It´s a battle. But it´s awesome to see what worshiping God in public does to transform the atmosphere, and it amazes me how every time we go outside to evangelize a group of people choose to stop and stay the whole time to hear what we have to say and receive what we have to give. I´ve also been extremely encouraged because I´ve been able to translate for people. You have no idea how thrilling this is for me. After five years of informally studying Portuguese I can talk to Brazilians. Not eloquently, mind you--but it is communication. Thank you, God!! All the study over the years and the 100+ hours we spent in the classroom last month in Rio were without a doubt worth it.

I´ve got to skedaddle. Please pray for us to stick close to the power of the gospel, keep our eyes on the Lord, serve, and be fortified against the enemy. Thank you!

Brasil lesson

A carioca is someone born in the city of Rio de Janeiro. David and I are cariocas.

A mineiro is someone born in Minas Gerais (which technically means General Mines, and mineiro means miner). David and I are meeting mineiros right now, or at least people living in MG.

A paulista is someone born in São Paulo. David and I had an easier time understanding paulistas than cariocas (they seem to talk more slowly, clearly, and simply).

A gaúcho is someone born in Rio Grande do Sul. Dave and I will be meeting a lot more of these guys starting 15 July.

Portuguese Lesson #2

lágrima
1. tear
2. many of which are the result of today's World Cup match between France and Brasil

)o`:

Mineiro state

Our flight to Belo Horizonte, the 5-million-person capital of Minas Gerais, was quite all right, though we were surprised by a check-in line of maybe 100 people at the international airport in Rio. Varig, once the classic Brazilian airline, tanked last week and has thus made air travel interesting for all in Brasil. But! The line went fast, the cappucino was good, and Gol (another airline) took us smoothly to Minas.

We were met by Jussara, Gilberto's wife, who took us to where we'll stay until 14 July. Gilberto and Jussara are in leadership at a YWAM base in Contagem, which is an hour out of Belo (see links to the right). David and I are staying at their home, but day to day we'll meet with a team of Americans that arrived a couple days ago to minister. Tomorrow, however, seems to be set aside for an excursion, as we'll all be going to the Feira Hippy in Belo Horizonte, a huge outdoor market that happens every Sunday. I had heard about it but didn't think we'd have the opportunity to hit it. A pleasant surprise.

On a different note, I recently posted a prayer request for fellowship. I realized today that provision of fellowship has been happening just in my relationship with Dave. We're going through Seeking Him, a Bible study by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom on personal revival. Walking through confession and repentance together has brought us much closer, and God has also been changing us in unexpected but very good ways. I didn't foresee this aspect of God's kindness. He is so kind.