Daily News
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Our team had a great comissioning by Grace Church today. Our whole team was there and prayed for. I was so proud of them and how God is already using us for His kingdom. We leave in just hours for our adventure! Please pray for safe travels and opporutnities to share aou Jesus.
Monday, June 26, 2006
I only have a few minutes. I won't get our pictures online till later today or tomorrow. Sorry. We had a long flight but no one complained. Most didn't sleep well on the plane but watched a lot of in-flight movies. :) While flying into Brazil the weather seemed fairly clear. As we were getting closer to the city it got cloudy, gray, and cold. Then as we landed it poured - HARD! The weather has been a bit chilly. Now that I am a former Californian and now a Minnesotan, cold is all relative. We arrived in Sao Paulo and was warmly greeted by the Restoration Ministries staff. We headed to the Day Center for a tour and an awesome warm lunch. Then we had a team meeting with the Restoration Ministries (RM) staff. Right now the team in taking a tour of the slums and finding out the history of them and praying for the people. After that we are heading to a Brazilian BBQ place for an authentic meal. I will write more later! Keep praying for us... Sally for the team
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
The team is doing great! We worked with over 100 kids today (more than the church has ever seen!) in an area called Egguatemi (about an hour outside of the day center). 15 children accepted Christ! Today (Wednesday) we are in an area called Pormorar and have seen great fruit. There are many children interested in the Gospel. We are interacting with the “poorest of the poor” in the slums, and listening to their stories of how they endure trials while still experiencing great joy. I will try to upload pictures tonight from an Internet Café.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Yesterday we were at Vila Promorar. We saw 9 kids accept Christ through our VBS program. It is the most number of kids who have accepted Christ at one time in this Day Center. We visited families that have 10-13 children in one 500 square-foot home. They are so joyful, feel blessed, and love the Lord. What passion! We shared out testimonies and they prayed for us! Wow!Today we are going to one of the poorest slums, Vila Rosa. We have to be cautious and strategic in sharing the Gospel. Pray for our protection, that we will communicate a clear Gospel message, and that Christ's love will be evident in us. We are also attending a VBS today for over 100 kids at Vila Tolstoi. We are excited to reach all those kids.Sorry for not getting the pictures up yet. Internet access is very difficult. We will try our best ASAP. Sally for the team.
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Happy 4th of July! Wow it is weird that I am not thinking about BBQing, going to the lake or even sleeping in! Today is our last day in Brazil. Since my last entry much has happened. Our time in Camp California was awesome. We had 50 teens that come from the slums. We had a great time getting to know them, share with them everyday a different component of Romans 12:12, play games, and eat great meals. Saturday night was the highlight. First Dave and Aleta Johnson spoke on purity. It was a great message for kids who have been exposed to things at an early age. Then we did a skit we used in Peru, "King of Hearts." It is a mime drama about 4 people who have masks they show to the world but Jesus Christ takes the masks off for them to really accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Nathan Gallop did a wonderful job organizng this. Then Paulo Mota had the kids share their burdens so we could pray for them. It was one of the most impactful times of my life. Hearing stories for kids who have been abused, go through the trash for money, live in deplorable conditions, and so much more. After that he had our team share and it was wonderful for the team to be open to these kids. God really opened up hearts that day. Ireni Mota said it was one of the most incredibles times of sharing with this age group.
On Sunday night we went to the church that Paulo pastors, Restoration Community Church. Dave Johnson shared from Romans, Holly Long, sang a special music number, Marie Marseille, shares her testimony, and then the church showed us what worship really is. For the conditions they live in, they worship with their whole hearts. It is amazing! After church the Motas invited us to their home for pizza. We laughed, watched a bit of US television, and relaxed.
On Monday we worked at the Day Center varnishing doors, painting, organizing, and cleaning. The staff said we have done more than they even expected. Later that day we helped the staff put on a Hip Hop Outreach in Vila Rosa. It was awesome and danced, sang, shared about Jesus till dark! Before the program we walked through the slums to hand out flyers to hundreds of people. It was amazing to see the conditions they live in. There is a big sewer river that runs through this slum. It is filled with trash, waste, and factories dump their waster into it. We saw people wash their clothes and walk through it. The government won't clean it up or provide clean water. When the program started it took a while for people to come out. There were kids from the camp who took 3-4 buses just to get there. It was awesome. That night we took the staff out to the Mall for dinner as an appreciation. Then we tried to go bowling but it was too full. We had a ton of fun just hanging out and telling them how much we appreciate them.
Tuesday was a day of shopping and fun. We had a time of debrieifing where we share about our time and how God used us to reach this community. Paulo and Ireni shared about the history of the ministry and their vision for its future. Everyone on the team did awesome and Grace Church should be proud. God has revealed to us so much more about Himself through these people and this ministry. Ask one of us sometime about the trip. You won't regret it.... Thank you for the opportunity to go and reach the world!!
THIS IS ANOTHER BLOG FROM ALETA JOHNSON
Monday, June 26...
Today was our first day in Sao Paulo! We arrived safely, if a bit bleary-eyed after the overnight flight, and passed smoothly through immigration and customs. Tati, William, and Wellington (Restoration Ministries staff) met us at the airport and welcomed us to Brazil. We loaded up in the ministry bus (the coolest-painted bus in the city!) and drove to the main day center to meet more of the staff and have lunch. Then, after checking in to our hotel (very nice), Tati and William gave us a guided bus tour past several nearby favelas (a Brazilian word for slum that is not translated because they are worse than any slum the English language describes). It was a moving experience to drive past these areas of desolation and darkness as Tati described the life of the people there. We could not actually drive inside, because most do not have streets. The alleys that pass between concrete and brick structures are not wide enough for cars, and have no city planning. They twist and turn wherever someone has built a shack, then someone else built one next to it, then on top of it, then behind it…No construction codes or permits, just slapping together whatever materials people can find. Cars are not the only thing that stays out. So does the government, and the police. But the drugs, prostitution, and violence—they get in. The favelas are controlled by the drug lords. Young men stand at every entrance into a favela, seemingly idle. Tati tells us they are the drug dealers or the watchers—the ones who sound the alarm whenever the police come by, so that the other drug traffickers can slip down the web of alleys and escape. However, there is a Light that can shine in any darkness—the light of Jesus, and the hope, healing, and transformation He brings. Interspersed with accounts of favela children playing “drug dealing” the way children in the U.S. might play “house” and descriptions of the organized criminal “brotherhood” that recruits children because minors receive less jail time, were details of what Restoration Ministries does to show love to children who know no love, and to build relationships with families who need hope and transformation. Tati explained how the culture of the favelas has so degraded the people, that even if we were to meet all of their physical needs, they would still be hurting. They need the restoration that comes through faith in Jesus. As we drove, we read Bible verses that provide the foundation for the ministry and sustain its workers, and we prayed for the various needs of the favelas, the culture, and the ministry.
After the tour, we went to dinner at Bio Brazil, a Brazilian barbeque (which is nothing like American BBQ), a truly delicious experience. Then it was back to the hotel to prep for our first day of VBS!
Tuesday, June 27...
Today we went to Iguatemi for our first VBS day program. Iguatemi is a transplanted favela. The residents used to live just a bit down the road from the main day center, in the midst of the city. Then the government moved them out to newly constructed tenements. Unfortunately, the government did not bother to build closer than an hour’s bus ride to any kind of grocery stores, businesses, schools, medical centers, or places of employment. Iguatemi is located on the very outskirts, getting the residents out of sight and away from any other buildings. Except for the bars. They line the road leading up to the entrance.
In the morning we had about 20 children join us in the small community room that the ministry uses. We sang songs, did a puppet show about the Good Samaritan, and shared with the children about Jesus. Each child received a t-shirt with a verse in Portuguese and the Restoration Ministries logo. We helped them decorate the shirts using fabric markers. Then each child received a photo frame with their picture inside (that we’d taken as they came in and printed during the earlier activities) and had the change to decorate the frame. It was amazing to see these children respond to the smallest gesture of friendship—a smile, a wave, and they would come running to hug, hold hands, or ask for a piggy-back ride.
Over lunch the children left the room and we watched Brazil’s World Cup game against Ghana and listened to the fireworks every time they scored a goal (three—they won!) Then we divided into two groups and went to visit families that had asked the ministry to come pray with them. The group I was in visited Paula first. She is a Christian who has seen many hard times but also blessings. Her youngest son, a toddler, is a living miracle. A couple years ago the doctors told her she had cancer and that her belly was growing because of a tumor. She received treatment for cancer. Then, when she went in for a check-up, the doctor told her she did not have cancer, but rather that the tumor was a baby and she was seven months pregnant! However, the doctor said the baby had to be aborted because the cancer medications would have caused severe mental and physical birth defects. She refused, and today that baby is her perfectly formed, mentally healthy little boy.
Paula also praises God for the life of her oldest son. He is currently in prison because he helped with a robbery. The police had chased the get-away car, and the car crashed. When the police approached the wrecked car, they shot the passengers, including Paula’s son. However, the bullet passed through his neck and out the other side without killing him. The others died, but he lived. Now Paula asked us to pray for him, that he would understand the second chance at life that God has given him, and would turn his life over to Christ. Some of the group shared their stories to encourage Paula, and then we prayed with her. There were many hugs and tears.
In the afternoon we again held our VBS program. The ministry expected that we would have about 30 kids—and we had 70! Many children prayed that afternoon to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Praise God!
In the midst of all the hardship, it was a day of joy.
In the evening we visited the girls’ safe house and met the house parents, the girls, and learned about this aspect of the ministry.
Wednesday, July 28...
Today we repeated our VBS day programs, this time at Promorar. There we met Neusa, an amazing woman of faith who has a heart for children and has been called to serve in the Promorar favela, even though she does not live there. The main room of this favela’s day center is literally a converted one-car garage. As the ministry has grown, God has blessed them with a couple small rooms adjacent to the garage, as well as a little kitchen and bathroom. Neusa has a vision to reach every child and every mother in the favela. In addition to the children’s programs, she holds Bible study for teenagers, and classes for mothers, including Bible studies and crafts. God’s light was shining bright all day, despite an intermittent drizzle outside.
In the evening each of the ministry staff members hosted dessert for a small group of people from the Minnesota team. This was a wonderful opportunity for each of us to get to know staff members better, to see where and how they live, and learn how to pray specifically for them, their personal situations, and their work in the ministry.
Thursday, July 29...
This morning most of the group went to Vila Rosa to do the VBS day program, while Joni and Aleta went to the main day center to teach an English class. Vila Rosa is the most destitute-looking of the favelas we have visited so far, and the most dangerous. But God is working even here, as we heard from ______ who shared her amazing testimony and the vision she and her husband now have to reach all of the children of Vila Rosa. In the afternoon we did our VBS program at the main day center, and then got started painting the bare concrete walls of the third floor play room. We ended the day by watching a spectacular demonstration from the Capuiera class at the day center. Capuiera is a Brazilian martial art that combines dance, tumbling, and fighting moves, and is performed to conga drums and other percussion/string instruments I have never seen before. They teach the art at the day center as one of the activities to keep kids off of the streets and focus their energy on something positive rather than on the drugs, crime, and prostitution of the favelas. As the class performed for about an hour, they sang praise to God to the beat of the drums. It ended with all dozen or so students on their knees. Then the instructor said to us in English, “One day, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Amen!
Please pray for us this weekend. Tomorrow we leave for Camp California, where we will be in charge of a group of preteens, many of whom have never before left the favela. Pray for hearts to be touched (theirs and ours) and lives to be impacted for eternity. Pray for our team to have continued unity, communication, and for the new activities to go smoothly and convey the message of hope to the children.