Teaching the girls about Hygiene!

Recently we received a donation from people in Holland who gave to a volunteer working here with us. We had the idea to teach the girls about hygiene and then give them a hygiene kit!

Check out the fun stuff the girls received! Shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body soap, tissues, a toothbrush, toothpaste, laundry detergent, and cool stuff too like hair bows and fun sunglasses!

Kelly, my teaching partner, sharing specific ways the girls can have good personal hygiene!

Ilse, a Dutch volunteer who helped with this project and the girls with their hygiene kit bags!

Some of the girls leaving the Light House very very HAPPY with their new hygiene kits (inside the plastic shopping bags) in hand!

Camila with her goodies from the hygiene kit! She was waiting for her mom to arrive to help her carry all this stuff home.

On behalf of the girls and the Light House staff we want to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all of those who gave to this Hygiene Project! We appreciate your support and prayers!

Chase the Lion!

Chase the Lion. Grab life by the mane...
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.
Set God sized goals. Pursue God ordained passions.
Grab life by the mane.

Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.
Keep asking questions.
Keep making mistakes.
Keep seeking God.
Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution.
Stop repeating the past and start creating the future.
Stop playing it safe and start taking risks.

Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences.
Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey...

Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can.
Live like today is the first day and last day of your life.

Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God.
Burn sinful bridges.
Blaze a new trail.
Criticize by creating
Worry less about what people think and mroe about what God thinks.
Don't try to be who you are not. Be yourself.

Laugh at yourself.
Quit holding out.
Quit holding back.
Quit running away.

Chase the Lion...

Read this today and it really speaks to where I am at. I am here in Brazil by faith. I am chasing the dreams He has placed in my heart. I am walking in obedience, taking a RISK - I don't want to hold back but fulfill all that God wants through my life...

Hope you are encouraged by this challenge as I was to CHASE the LION. To passionately chase after the Heart of God and become who God has uniquely created and destined you to be.

Mother's Day!!!

Enjoy photos of the Community Mother's Day Event
we hosted to honor the many mothers here in the slum of Cafezal!

Happy Mother's Day written in Portuguese!

The literal translation is "Happy Day of the Mothers!"

This was posted on the wall behind us while we gave our presentation!

Me with a few of the girls from my afternoon group.

In a drama we presented, the girl sitting beside me needed to be covered with kiss marks all over her face. I made the kiss marks with my dark lipstick just before this photo was taken.

We both laughed so much as I was getting her make-up just right!

Dressed up for the drama!

The afternoon girls group presenting the drama for the mothers! Each girl said a reason why they know they have a special place in the heart of their mother. (For example - because my mom feeds me, takes care of me when I am sick, plays with me, reads the Bible to me, prays for me, ect...)

The girls who participate in my morning girls group singing a song of blessing for the mothers. Click on the video below to seem in action!

After the presentation we all ate cake! A sweet way to end the celebration!

A beautiful photo of a girl from my afternoon group during the refreshment time.

To all of you who are mother's reading this post- I hope you had a very Happy Mother's Day this year and may God Bless you as you continue to be used of God in this role as a mother.

Your love as a mother truly is an expression of the LOVE of God!

I also want to dedicate this special post to my Grandma Dyson who is very sick and in the hospital this Mother's Day. I want to honor her as a Mother and a Grandmother this day. May the Lord bless, comfort, cover her with HIS peace and unconditional LOVE like only He can do...

Living Miracles

Tonight I went to the 1st birthday party of a one year old boy who is living with his mother, Joyce, in the YWAM girls shelter for girls with babies, called the Reborn House. I worked closely with this young mom and her baby last year when I was working at the the Rescue House. I wrote a blog about them about this time last year.


As you can see they both are doing well! Mom is growing in her walk with God and is currently taking classes at night. Baby is healthy, happy and is now 1 year old!!!


Here I am with Joyce and her nieces and nephews that attended the party! Many of her family members live in the same slum as me! Joyce actually spent many years living in Cafezal slum as child. She later lived with her mentally handicapped mother in a hospital for three years, on the streets, in another YWAM girls shelter called Recanto, off and on in the homes of her sisters (here in the slum), and now she is living safely in the Reborn house with her baby.

Enjoy the video below of everyone singing "Happy Birthday" in Portuguese!

It is beautiful to see how in the last year God has worked in the life of this young, teenage mom. Both mom and baby are true miracles and testimonies of God's faithfulness!

A special guest at the party!

This precious girl is another MIRACLE of God!

This beautiful girl was unfortunately born with the HIV virus. Her mother, a girl who is still on the streets, passed the virus onto her. Last year I also worked with this precious baby and her mother while working at the Rescue House. The mother of this girl lived at the Reborn House for a while with her daughter but ended up returning to the lifestyle of living on the streets. Her daughter has been adopted by a lovely couple from Holland. Oh, how this couple loves this precious girl and their unconditional love has brought much healing to her life! Her health is stronger than ever now and she is a happy and lively baby! When she first came to the YWAM shelter she was extremely sick, unactive, and an unresponsive baby. God has brought much life to her!

I love to see God at work in these lives.
Living Miracles of God!

He is working - bringing life, love, change, and healing.

He listens to the cry of the needy ones...

He is a God of LOVE!