Volunteers For Christ

Today we realized that the physical and mental workouts we are experiencing are beginning to wear on us. Yawning and dragging our feet, we got out of the hotel and piled onto our bus at 8am as usual. Walking in to see the smiling faces of the brazillian kids raised our spirits and got us ready to face the day! During VBS we had several children raise their hands to accept Christ, and everyone who shared the Gospel felt very encouraged by the outcome. Bonds are being made with those "special" children to each of us, and we make friends and show the love of Christ to these beautiful kids. Please pray for us so we can grow these relationships even more so the kids might trust us, and listen to what we have to say. Pray that our words will be God´s words, and that he will be strong when we are weak. Our E-team that goes out each day goes right into the slums where these people live. Here is a look into the E-team by Mike Darrow:

Monday during the VBS a group from our team went out into an area known to many as the favellas, but the people within this area call it their community, a more positve approach. For myself, it was the first time sharing my faith in this capacity. It was difficult to relate to the people that we encountered. Me describing what it looked like would not do justice to what it actually was like. Knowing that there are areas like this is totally different from walking through and experiancing first hand the living conditions. On every ally corner is a fire, stray dogs bone thin roam the street and the ocassional dirtbike speeds by. The remains of building spill into the street, little kidos run the streets with no shoes, no shirts. Drug addiction and drinking control many of the adults. We came upon one group of people in which our translator offered to share the new of Jesus and they agreed to hear. It had started to rain, and so she invited us into her home. about 10 kids and 4 adults jammed into a space no bigger than your bathroom. What we learned from these people is that they do trust Jesus as their Lord. I felt impacted that these women, despite their living conditions had a belief in God, that He was good and had a plan for their lives. They had huge faith, i admired them for that. I huged each of the women, kissed them on the cheek and prayed with them breifly. Walking in thier shoes opens my eyes to whole new world.

As the week goes on, we will only get more and more tired, so please pray for our strength. We are all excited to continue this mission, with the help of all your support back home. Keep praying for the precious people of Recife, Brazil!

Boa Noite (Good Night)