Headline Options - "Noah Called, He Wants His Boat Back" or This Little Light of Mine.

We think we figured out why this place is called a Rain Forest.  From the time we landed in Brazil up until this morning - it has rained.  The forefathers that planned the city of Recife, while I'm sure they were fine fellows, they cut a few corners by not throwing money away on something frivolous like a drainage system.  When we landed in Recife, after a blessedly uneventful three leg plane trip, it was pouring rain.  As our plane was on approach, when it broke through the clouds, I remember thinking to myself, "there sure are a lot of lakes in Recife." Come to find out, they were epic water puddles due to the aforementioned  cost reductions at the city planning meeting.  Every single piece of luggage made it, and thanks to a very good friend of VFC Brazil who happens to work for somebody, somewhere doing something - he was able to whisk us through customs without any delays.

We went straight from the airport to the Coque favella, where VFC Brazil has a Kid's Place in operation. Kid's Place is a place where kids can go; ergo the clever name.  But what a critical place - Kid's Place really is.  Life inside a favela is a living hell, by any standard you might have.  The favelas are "run" by gangs that are involved in every kind of illegal activity you can think of.  Violence is a way of life, a big, big part of  life.  Kid's Place provides families with an alternative for their children than the streets of the favela.  The after school program enables children to receive tutoring in a safe and loving environment.  They are fed and taught but most importantly, they hear about the love of Jesus Christ.

After playing and eating with the kids, we then went on a tour of the favela.  Unless you have traveled and seen the slums of the world,  nothing could prepare you for this.  Trash literally everywhere, naked children playing in the maze of paths through the wall to wall makeshift city.  The sewage literally ran through the community, everywhere you stepped was an infection waiting to happen.  A few things struck our group - one was the absence of men.  We saw people everywhere but virtually no men. And the few we saw were searching for answers in the bottom of a bottle.  The other thing we noticed was the genuine kindness of the women in the favela.  Did I mention it was raining?  We were constantly invited by these women to step into their "houses" to get out of the rain.  Houses is a loose term by any definition when you are talking about favelas.  But they were so willing to share what they had.  The last thing was the children.  Desperately wanting be with you, near you.  So willing to follow you.  It could have to do with the fact that we were a little conspicuous.  But they genuinely wanted to be part of your world if even for a brief moment.

It was absolutely stunning to think that people actually life like this.  And once they are labeled with the stigma of being from a favela - you are permanently a second class citizen.  Even within many of the evangelical churches, they don't want anything to do with with people from the favelas. Kid's Place helps support one of the only possible avenues out of the favela - education, while teaching these children that there is a hope that they can believe in.  A hope that loves them unconditionally for who they are.  I get the feeling that finding love in the favela is no easy task.

More later... Ken

When we left the favela