My life in
JOCUM (
YWAM in Portuguese) has been really busy the last few weeks. We have been going to the streets to spend time with the street kids and we also have been making visits to the
fevelas. Earlier this week, we received two volunteers in Casa Resgate (Rescue House) from Holland and they speak English! I have been helping them some with adjusting to being here in Brazil, and I have even been translating a little for them. It is great because these guys really want to learn the language so I now have some study buddies! I have been studying Portuguese lots and speaking more and more everyday. Some days I feel I am really understanding and then other days I feel like I am not understanding much at all. In time... I know. God is faithful in helping me!
This past Friday night was such a wonderful time! My team- the Rescue team- spent time praying over the city of
Belo Horizonte. From midnight until 4 am, yes in the middle of the night, we went to three different places in the city and spent time at these places praying for needs in the city and worshipping the Lord and proclaiming His LOVE. I took my guitar and got to sing and help lead the music/worship time. I sensed the Lord really moving and changing things through our time of prayer. What a
privilege to serve the Lord in this way...
Meet my friend
Janete! She is a Brazilian that works with my team here at
Casa Resgate (Rescue House). God has called her to go to Cape Verde off the coast of Africa. She hopes to go there sometime in the next year to start a community center to reach out to the poor in this part of the world. She has been serving with
YWAM Belo Horizonte for three years now and is excited about going out to another country to serve the Lord.
Janete has been such a blessing to me and has taught me SO much, as I am transitioning into life here in Brazil. She is a great friend and is truly an answer to prayer. It is so neat because our hearts and the ways we feel God is calling us to serve Him are very similar (in worship, prayer, working with children, teaching, etc...), so we really understand each other well. Janete is now helping me in so many ways too- with learning the language, culture, and also helping me learn to cook. Please pray for her as she is preparing to go to Cape Verde. Pray that God would continue to order her steps and provide for all of her needs as she is following the Lord´s leading.
I experienced a BIG part of Brazilian culture the other week. I went to a soccer game with some
YWAM staff workers! It was great! The people here are so passionate about soccer and my prayer is that this same passion would be in the hearts of the Christians here too. A passion for Christ that would be contagious!
At the game there was dancing, singing, people playing drums, and people wildly cheering the teams on. It was such a neat experience! Whenever a team would score a point everyone would go wild. Men would take their shirts off and swing them around over their heads and couples would embrace and kiss as a way to celebrate the point.
Here is a photo of my team. One day last week we went on a team outing to the countryside of Brazil- we were two hours outside of
Belo Horizonte. We stayed the day at a beautiful farm to rest and spend time together as a team. It was a wonderful day and the Lord really spoke to my heart during our time there!
Throughout the week our team often goes to different fevelas here in Belo Horizonte to visit families who have children on the streets. We pray with these families and talk with them about their children. When we are visiting the streets we also try to look out for the children of these families. Here are some photos from our times in the fevelas.
Here are some of the beautiful girls that live in the fevela! They have captured my heart and I know these girls have captured the heart of our Father. Pray for these girls! The protection and love of the Lord over their lives. Pray that they would not turn to a life in the streets.
