Brazil Spring Break 2009-Day 2

Greetings from Brazil!!

One year ago the VFC Brazil team left the small fishing village of Abreau de Una after a very emotional and successful week of staging the village's first bible study programs in Pastor Josue's missionary compound. It was evident to all that something very special had occurred that week, as village children and adults alike responded to God's call and took the first baby steps in considering His message of love, forgiveness and acceptance. As the team left the gates for the last time, a clear message was sent by God to the team and the villagers: this was just the bieginning, and God was already extending an invitation to return.

What a difference a year makes. The team arrived back in the fishing village this evening, and found not just a sleepy compound, but a full-fledged church, a church that sprouted from the vacation bible school programs organized by the VFC team last year. What a thrill it was for the team to participate tonight in the one year anniversary of the church, an evening that served as a perfect intro to a very ambitious week.

The day began early, as the team deboarded the plane after arriving in Salvador, Brazil. After a one hour layover, the plane continued its flight to Recife. The door of the plane opened and the first face we see is that of our dear friend Emmanuel, who was such a help and inspiration to all of us last year. We then were able to reaquaint ourselves with Leciu, David, Deborah, Josue, Wilson, Waska, Daniel, Regis and others who came out to greet our flight. Hugs and laughs were exchanged, and they escorted us through the airport to board the bus for the 1-2 hour drive to our hotel near the fishing village. All in all, it took the team 24 hours from our arrival at DFW to reach our destination. But the day was beautiful, the hotel staff had a hot lunch prepared, and the ocean breezes melted away any travel related stress felt by the team.

Fortunately, we had a few hours to decompress and get organized before our first event. At 5:00, Ken Miller led the team though our first devotional, and it was at this time of reflection that the team was able to shut out the rest of the world and fully dedicate ourselves to a week of fulfilling God's mission here in Brazil. With an air of excitement, we ate a quick dinner and boarded the bus to the fishing village for the worship service.

The service could not have been more special. The event was more than just the vacation bible school we left behind last year. It was a full-fledged worship service, with Waska leading a large number of kids, teens and adults through some high energy worship songs. These kids were worshiping the greatness of God with all their hearts! It was incredibly inspiring. Josue graced us with a memorable sermon full of praise and thanks. The American contingent recieved necklaces made by the village children, and enjoyed being serenaded by some beautiful interpretive dancing by dozons of girls. Many of the worshipers were participants in last year's programs, and it was wonderful to recognize and be recognized by these bright-eyed children.

But the highlight of the evening occurred when Pastor Josue recoginzed everyone who had found a relationship with Jesus Christ as a result of attending service at the church in the last year. The dozens and dozens of new Christians that stood on stage brought tears to our team, and we were ever so thankful to have had an opportunity to play a role in the establishment of this special church.

Today's post would not be complete without recognizing five teammates who did not get to attend tonight's celebration. But the presence of the Breedlove family's spirit was felt by all. To Kelly, David, Kent, Isabella and Paul, we want you to know that we carry each of you in our heart and mind this week, and you will continue to play a huge role in the success of our mission. Your example of what it means to live a Christ-centered life has been an inspiration to all of us, and we are forever grateful to be blessed by your friendship. May God bless you all.

The team is now all in bed, getting some much-needed rest before the week's activities begin in earnest. May the love of Jesus Christ fill your hearts in the days ahead. We look forward to posting again tomorrow.
Obrigado e Boa Noite!

Brazil Spring Break 2009-Day 1 UPDATE!!!

The team is on the plane in Miami and ready for takeoff; however, in the space of 20 minutes, while rushing to catch the plane, one of life's unexpected events has occurred and shaken everyone on the team. Young Kent Breedlove, an exuberant young man who was so looking forward to ministering the kids of Brazil, tripped in the airport and broke his arm. No information is currently available, but the entire Breedlove family has remained in Miami to care for Kent. God willing, they possibly could have the arm set tonight and join us in a day or two. In any event, please keep Kent and the entire Breedlove family in your prayers. The rest of the team will carry on in Kent's honor, with an even greater commitment to nurture and care for those in need.
Blessings to all.

Brazil Spring Break 2009-Day 1

Good evening from the runway in Miami!

The Brazil Mission Team has had an uneventful flight to Miami; however, we have an extrmely tight connection to our Brazil flight, so there will be no time to post an extensive blog this evening. Just know that all is well, everyone made the flight, and we are extremely excited. We look forward to a very eventful day tomorrow, and of course all details will be posted on this blog!
God bless you, and have a great evening.

Brazil Spring Break 2009-Prologue

Good evening Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Christmastime in March; that is what it feels like for the 49 team members set to embark on another magical trip to our beloved fishing village on the coast of Northeast Brazil, Abreu do Una. In just four days, our team will board a flight that will quite literally take us closer to God. Though our destination is too small to even appear on most Brazilian maps, it occupies a huge place in the hearts and minds of this special group of VFC missionaries.

Why does it feel like Christmas? Certainly not from the mild Fort Worth winter we have been experiencing. But a certain holiday-like frenzy has mobilized the individuals and families involved in this spring's endeavor. The team has been quite busy preparing for what should be a truly extraordinary week in Brazil. Meetings have been attended, Portuguese lessons have been studied, supplies have been purchased and collected, support letters to friends and family have been sent out and responded to, prayers have been prayed. Our hearts are full of anticipation, excitement, and perhaps even a dose of anxiety as the big day gets closer. Yes, quite like the Christmas season. But in the end, we know that all our hard work and effort results in a gift; the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ dwelling within us. Quite like Christmas indeed.

Of the 49 people headed to Brazil on Friday, 20 of us are returning from last year's spring break team, extremely excited to renew the friendships developed last year with the villagers, pastors and interpreters. Those of you who followed this blog last spring may recall the amazing blessings God bestowed that week, not only on the villagers but also on each member of our team. God changed lives on that trip in ways none of us could have predicted, in ways none of us will ever forget. In fact, it is extrmely humbling to note that prior to our arrival last year, Pastor Josue had been attempting to establish a weekly service in the fishing village for over three years,to no avail. But God so helped us in reaching out to the children, teens and adults of the village that the week after we left, Pastor Josue was blessed with over 200 people attending his first church service, and attendance of 75-200 villagers has continued on a weekly basis ever since! That kind of immediate and tangible answer to our hopes, dreams, prayers and effort is truly awe-inspiring. It is God revealing his glory to all involved, directly and personally. Thanks be to God!

But the blessings are only beginning. The 20 returnees have been wowed by the enthusiasm, dedication, talent and love for Christ offered up by the 29 newcomers on the team. Blog followers will have an opportunity to learn more about everyone on future blogs, but suffice it to say that this team is truly something special. We are especially blessed to be joined this year by Ken Miller, a pastor with Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth and his wife Julie Miller, a veteran of numerous summer Brazil teams working in Recife. This team has already proven its tightness by putting on a number of successful pre-trip events, such as a wonderful team-wide yard sale, supply drives and teambuilding luncheons and dinners.

Once again, our group will be ably headed up by Brandon and Cindy Boehme, who have dedicated themselves to spreading God's love to the impoverished children and adults of Recife and the fishing village. The Boehmes' selfless contributions have sprouted amazing results; a church plant in the fishing village, a daytime children's center in the heart of Recife and the purchase of rural property to be used as a Christian summer camp. Any success our team enjoys next week must be directly attributed to the vision and leadership of these two faithful servants.

Our plans for the week are ambitious, building upon the seeds planted last spring. But excitement is brewing both here and in the village, where the children and adults alike are anxiously waiting for our arrival. We are ever so humbled to have the opportunity to allow God to use us to spread his life-giving love and grace to a people in need, and we stand ready to give all honor and glory to Him by ministering to our brothers and sisters in Brazil.

Please keep this team in your prayers, along with the pastors, interpreters, cooks and all other support people in Brazil who will make this trip a reality. May God bless you and your family, and please know how much this team appreciates your interest and support.

Please check back on Friday as we begin our daily blog posts from Brazil.
Obrigado, and Boa Noite!

Lost and Found Poem

We are home and safe. Thank you for everything...
So on the last blog, I wanted to do something a little bit different. I am an English teacher, so I thought it would be really cool to write a poem. I asked each member of our team to write down a couple of sentences answering the question - What did you see God do this week? Here is what they wrote.

Lost and Found

The light breaks through
the bars in a window.
Yellow -
Green -
Blue -
Pink -
Giggles.

A dream -
two hundred kids,
such a vision,
potential for a plan.
A blueprint in
truth -
to grow a church
to strengthen a community.

God gives faces to the faceless,
an intensity,
a yearning
to reduce self
to make Him bigger.

Wisdom to teach -
Wisdom to practice patience.

God's mighty hands
hold broken hearts,
a safe haven.

He whispers as He speaks, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

A hope,
A greater passion,
A promise.

A submission -
to be used as
an instrument.

ALLELUIA! - a new perspective,
One language -
LOVE.

by - VFC Brasil Team - Summer 2008

Last Day

Friday:
Our last day of the trip occurred in the fishing village. We arrived fairly early and walked to the beach. It was very beautiful!

Vaction Bible School began at 3:00 p.m. We ran a condensed version of what we did this week - the bracelets and the flip-flops. About 170 kids/youth showed up. Probably one of the most exciting times for us, besides the kids, was the excitement that Josue possessed as he showed us the future site of a Kid's Place. These children are very impoverished, but extremely happy. There is a joy about these people that touched each one of us.

That evening we were able to attend the church service, where Josue had asked Kevin Peet to share his testimony. Josue then preached the gospel, using Kevin's story as the base. We know of at least one person who came to know Christ because of what Kevin shared. It has been truly amazing to see what happens as we share our stories about how God has worked in each one of us.

Saturday:
We are sitting in the airport listening to the last couple of testimonies from our group.
This blog will be a little bit different today. I am an English teacher, so I thought it would be fun to write a poem commemorating all that God has done this week.

Lost and Found

Day 6 - Thursday

What a long, and bittersweet day!
We talked to the kids about the Ten Commandments today. In crafts, they made hanging door thing-a-ma-jiggers (It's 12:30 a.m. Please forgive me I am a little tired - I can't remember the word.) with stickers. It was truly a day to enjoy the kids.

Kid's Place - We had 190 kids. After we fed the children lunch, we washed the feet of our missionaries, pastors, and other workers who had helped us this week. It was very moving, a way of saying thank you for letting us work alongside of them for the week.

At Anthenor's VBS, some members of our team - Kevin Peet, Amy McConnell, Teri Decker, Joe Sansanelli, Elizabeth and Landry Burdine - went out into the favela with Pastor Anthenor, Emanuell, and Wilson to talk to the people. Amy was able to lead several children to Christ, but many of the adults decided they weren't ready.

Landry was also able to talk to our bus driver, Sergio. He is a devout Catholic and read the verse, John 3:16, for the very first time.

Tonight, the men stayed at Favela da Linha for the Men's Night, while the women headed back to Coque Favela and Kid's Place for the Mother's Dinner.

Favela da Linha -
Anthenor invited around forty men; they swam and ate barbeque, which included beef, chicken and chicken hearts...yep! Chicken hearts. They are not too bad; they don't taste anything like chicken. The men were split into small groups. It started off slow, but pretty soon the men from the favela were asking some pretty deep, yet blunt questions, questions that would've taken a small group in the United States at least six weeks to feel comfortable enough to ask. Kevin Peet shared his testimony and he found one of the men in his small group carried a similar background. Many seeds were planted tonight.

Back at Coque, Amy McConnell gave her testimony to more than seventy women. Two American women sat with a translator and a group of ten to eleven women from the favela. All of these women had children who attended VBS this past week. At the end of the night, the women from the favela were given a bag of food that will last a family of four at least a month or more.

Linda Ryffel shared Christ with a woman who had recently been let out of prison! Amy was able to minister to a woman who shared the same heartache and brokenness as she experienced in her marriage. Terry Decker was also able to pray with a woman about her son as he is experiencing health problems. God has been so faithful! We also saw Maria Jose, the woman who Joseph S. shared the gospel with on the plane. It has been a good day!

"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." 2 Corinthians 2:14

We go to the fishing village tomorrow. Please pray for a fresh burst of energy and continued good health. May we all abound in His fragrance. We love you all and we will see you soon!

Day 4-5/ 2nd and 3rd Day of VBS

Greetings from Brazil!
Tuesday - 240 kids were given flouride treatments and made first aid kits. We discussed prevention and resistance.

Two stories from our kids:
1) At Kid's Place and Anthenor's, Cruz Shope picked up an evangecube and shared Christ with Evandrul (Kid's Place) and Guillerme (Favela da Linha), two of his new friends. Both accepted Christ!
2) At the end of our day at Kid's Place, Joey Sansanelli witnessed to two boys using the evangecube; these two had not attended VBS on Monday. Joseph S. helped translate and Francielle and Thiago both accepted Christ! It's amazing how God has used our children/youth in this group to change Brazil. One of the teachers from Kid's Place explained to us that because many of the kids have been hurt by adults, they do not necessarily trust adults. Our kids have this phenomenal advantage that the adults do not have, at first. How necessary our children are! Jesus says "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children" -Luke 10:21. Our children get salvation; they get the necessity of our Savior...

Teen Night. It was great! We met many of the youth in Favela da Linha and listened to David Vanderlei; for twenty years he has been talking to teens about drugs and alcohol. In fact, he has had many drug dealers threaten his life for speaking the truth. David mixed theater with music - a kind of one act show - and he showed photographs of the atrocities of experimenting with drugs and alcohol. He preached the gospel to these youth, and at the invitation many raised their hands to receive Christ. Our wonderful ladies that cooked for us last year made hotdog stew for the kids and we served them dinner and Guarana. It was a great, but a long day!

Wednesday - We talked about Joseph's coat of many colors. The children made these groovy clear pipe bracelets with beads floating in water. It was a lot of fun!

At Favela da Linha, five members of our group street-evangelized during VBS. Amy McConnell, Tammy Crooks, Matt McClellen, Joseph Sansanelli, and Craig Crockett took a couple of translators through the favela. This group talked to several people. Brazilians are very gracious and receptive to hearing the gospel, but many choose not to make a decision. It's pretty frustrating because we want people to know Christ, but we have to remember we are planting seeds. Matt talked to Maria and she prayed to accept Christ! Tammy ministered to a woman named Linda, who also accepted Christ. Please pray for healing for Linda because she has some sort of disease in her legs.

Please pray for these new Christians that they would have people placed in their lives to grow them in Christ. Pray also for God's strength and perseverance for Pastor Anthenor and the group of teachers and ministers at Coque's Kid's Place.

Thanks for praying...

Day 4 - 1st day of Vacation Bible School

Oi!
Hello from Brazil!
We had a fantastic day today. We began our day at Coque favela, where sixty kids showed up for a morning of crafts, sports, worship and a puppet show. It was very exciting! These kids are poverty stricken, from broken homes, and many do not even know how to respond to something as simple as a hug. We presented the gospel through the wordless book. Many children listened. Please pray for them, especially a little boy that was dressed in orange. He was very violent and disruptive today. Pray that these children will hear the gospel and believe. Pray that they learn how to respond appropriately to hugs and discipline. Pray also for the workers, who have such a heart for these children. What a blessing they are!

We ended our day at Favela da Linha. Those of us who came on this trip and worked with Anthenor last year were joyous to see some of the same children, only a year older. We presented the same lessons and crafts to this favela as we did to Coque favela. Linda Ryffel talked to a group of kids about the gospel. After she talked about the color white, which represents Jesus washing away our sins, purifying our hearts, she asked each one of the kids if they had asked Jesus into their hearts. Many of the kids said yes. However, a little boy named Andre said he had never asked Jesus into his heart. Then, she asked if he would like to accept Jesus into his life. He said yes! Pastor Anthenor took the boy aside to confirm his decision and prayed with him. What a day!

We are all doing well. A few of us have had some stomach issues, but nothing major. Please pray for our stamina. Also, pray for us to be transparent, so that the Brazilians would see Jesus. Your prayers mean everything to us.

Day 3

Today we visited Coque favela and Favela da Linha; these are the two spots we will be working at this week. Coque favela's Kid's Place is absolutely a dream come true for many of us on this trip. This is the same building we visited last year, but it was just a cleared out automotive transmission shop. Now, there are bathrooms and classrooms and paint on the walls to match the desks in the classrooms. There is a also an indoor caged court for soccer and other sports. This doubles as a sanctuary, which is how it was used tonight.

We were able to walk through the Coque favela to tell people about tonight's church service. Jesus says, "Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" -Mark 1:17. Just by word of mouth, the church service tripled in size. Pastor David was very encouraged. Our group, especially the kids/youth made new friends today.

Carter shared the gospel with Everton; Everton then brought his family to meet Carter, so that he could share the gospel with them. What a testimony!

Tonight we have pictures of Kid's Place and the service.

Day 2

Boa Noite!
Good Evening!! I forgot to mention yesterday that every single one of our bags, personal and vacation bible school, made it here. :)

We had a fantastic rest full day. We were able to do some sightseeing and shopping at the local "prison". All the cells were shops; it was very interesting. We spent a good majority of our day with our "buddy", visiting and goofing around as we walked through the mall. We met some kids from Coelhos favela; Coelhos favela is a favela that VFC worked with five years ago. Some of our members from the team hadn't seen those kids in five years. What a blessing this work is!

The highlight of the day occurred in the evening. We had supper at a tasty Chinese food restaurant where we met our translators, a group of about fifteen Brazilians. After supper, we visited a downtown Presbyterian church, where Lecio was hosting his workers from the July camp. We rocked out with a band and about 100 youth/adults who had worked with him. In Psalm 149:3, it says "Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing..." We praise his name with dancing! God is so good. Our Israel is Brazil, and we are glad in our King. We get ready for the week tomorrow. Please keep praying...

Day 1

Bom Dia!!
Good Day or evening from Brazil! We arrived in Recife at 4:30 p.m. (almost 24 hours from the time we left DFW). God is so good! The flight from DFW to Sao Paulo was uneventful - lots of sleeplessness, movie watching and partial dozing.

But, the flight from Sao Paulo to Recife was extraordinary! Joseph Sansanelli sat next to a Brazilian woman named Maria Jose, an attorney and professed communist. She seemed pretty disconnected and eccentric. He struck up a conversation with her, trying to find a "common denominator". They talked about family and eventually she asked what he was doing in Brazil, which then led to talking about her Catholic upbringing. He explained that he was one of thirty people from Fort Worth coming to Recife to love on and spread the gospel to the children of the favela. She seemed intrigued. As the conversation progressed, the crux of her separation from God was primarily due to her misunderstanding why there was such a disparity between the rich and the poor of Brazil. Why would God allow this? Joseph professed that God does not define value in a worldly sense; He looks straight to the heart of man to determine who is rich and who is poor. In fact, rich people have a greater responsibility to mankind. He explained that Jesus tells us it is easier for a poor man to find the kingdom of heaven... and she remembered having learned about the parable of the rich man years ago. Joseph also presented the verses found in Ephesians 2:8 and John 14:6; and after 2 Corinthians 5:17, she felt a weight lifted from her. She came to Jesus, knowing His freedom. When we arrived in Recife, we connected her to Lecio and the ministry in Coque favela, where she lives nearby. What a great day!

Thank you for your prayers. Keep praying. We love you...

Our Last Day

Tomorrow we leave Brazil, so we made the most of our time today. We went to the old Recife prison, which is now what we would call a "mall". After bargaining, and shopping till we dropped; we headed off the the newly bought camp property that Volunteers For Christ has purchased. It was really awesome seeing this large piece of land and knowing that many souls will be saved there in the days to come. The campground was BEAUTIFUL, with bamboo trees and all.

After seeing the land, we headed straight to Kid´s Place to start the teen ministry. It was just a few hours of hanging out and playing games, and a movie and testamonies to follow. Most kids were really receptive, even though no one got up to accept Christ. The seed was planted though, and those teens will have something to think about.

Today was another emotional day since we had to say goodbye to all of our beloved translators. Some were crying, others not; but everyone felt the sadness. Today is the last day for this blog, because tomorrow we will leave to come home in the afternoon. Check-out is at 2 and we will be heading to the airport soon after. It is a long trip ahead of us, so we ask for your prayers for safety, and that we will be able to rest. We look forward to seeing you all again! Goodbye for now!!!

Tchau

June 26th

Today was a day filled with many mixed emotions for our team and for the Brazilians as well. It was an encouragement to see the continued work of the evangelism team as well as to see the progress the kids have made throughout their week at the VBS. It´s quite the amazing sight to look around and see kids praying with adults and other kids to receive salvation. Some of the kids are so eager to accept Christ that they came up to us asking if they could pray with us. Praise God for working in the lives of these kids.

By the end of the first session most of us were pretty tired and mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausted from the previous days and from having to say goodbye to a lot of our new friends... and then we realized that we had to do it all over again this afternoon!!! In the midst of our tears and hugs Pastor Darril told us that crying wasn´t so much a bad thing, but instead it meant that we had done our jobs this week in sharing the love of Christ with these kids.

Tonight was a special night because there were close to 200 men and women who came to a service that we held. The guys were at Kids Place to attend a `young men´s night.´ They learned about what it means to be a real man of God. The ladies had a Women´s Beauty Night at Imperial Baptist Church (the other VBS location). The women talked about being beautiful on the inside and then us `Americanos´ had the opportunity to wash the women´s feet and paint their fingernails. Both were very powerful experiences for everyone.

Thank you again for your prayers. We can see God working so much here in Recife.

Answered Prayers

Today´s VBS was much the same as yesterday´s: fun, exciting, and tiring! Some of the kids from the community (a.k.a. favellas) that our team met yesterday came to VBS this morning. It was so encouraging to see their bright, smiling faces and recognize them from the day before. One thing that many of us noticed today especially was a growing attachment to the kids. We have formed stronger friendships with the translators as well. It is going to be hard to say goodbye to all of our new friends on our last day tomorrow!
The Evangelism team witnessed many answers to prayer today. To start, it was pouring rain in the morning, and the team was worried that they might not be able to go out. But just in time, the rain stopped. They ventured out and encouraged some believers and evangelized to non-believers. Some people on the E-team talked to one man who was very opposed to the message; one member prayed nearby for those who were talking to him, and by the end of their long conversation, he trusted Christ. Perhaps the most amazing ¨God-thing¨ that happened to the team today was that, while they were returning, Robin prayed that she would get to talk to a young man she had met the day before. Soon after she finished, she and Wilson (a translator) saw him! She had been praying that that young man would hear the gospel from a male perspective, and coincidentally Pastor Craig was there today with her. He was able to witness to the young man, and he responded positively. The interesting part of the story is that this man had commited murder and was on temporary release for good behavior. He was due back at jail in fifteen minutes! Talk about divine intervention!
By far the best part of the day for many of us was the church service in the evening. Before it began, the only people sitting in the room were us Americans and the church staff. To be honest, it looked pretty pitiful. Many of us had invited people from the favellas to come, and we weren´t seeing much of a result. Morgan prayed that God would fill all the chairs that had been set up. While the music was playing and we were worshipping, more and more people showed up at the back gate. Many of them were kids from VBS who had come with their friends, and most of the the others were the families of kids who had attended VBS. Not only were all the chairs filled, but some of the boys had to bring in more chairs! It was a very awe-inspiring moment, to look at all of those people and see what this week has done in the lives of the locals. In all, there were 97, including our team, that attended. The worship ended with the song ¨God is Able¨ in Portuguese - a truly perfect song for what we were seeing God do. After the service, several of the first-timers trusted Christ and prayed with Pastor Lecciu and Pastor Darril. It was a beautiful service, and a fitting end to a day that far-surpassed our expectations...but not God´s.

P.S. Thank you to everyone who has left comments on our blog. They have been very encouraging to us, and we look forward to hearing from you more.

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)

Monday, June 23rd

Today, breakfast started around 7:30, and by eight, we were on our way to Kid´s Place to greet the kids. You could see how anxious they were to meet us, but they seemed nervous too. However, they quickly warmed up to us, and once the worship and activities started, they forgot about the barriers between us. Many of our crew leaders were touched when some of the kids from last year´s VBS ran up to them and greeted them with a big smile and a hug. They were more than enthusiatic to play the games and make crafts with us, and the many times throughout the day that we shared the gospel with them, they were intent on what we had to say. When asked if they wanted to trust Jesus as their Savior, MANY of them raised their hands. It was a heartwarming experience to hear them repeating the prayer in Portuguese in unison (with an interpreter). We all felt truly blessed to spend this time with the kids. Their pure excitement just to be with us, and their heart to know more about God has been incredibly impacting. Who knew it would be so much fun to play with kids you can´t even communicate with?

Sunday, June 22nd

This morning started with a short team meeting outside the hotel. Pastor Darril spoke to the group about the purpose behind our trip. Since today was our first full day here, and VBS doesn´t start until Monday, the Brazil team got to enjoy the beach for a little while. After some time in the sun, we headed to the new Kid´s Place, which, through a lot of prayer and hard work, has been renovated and is now a beautiful facility for the kids to enjoy. We set up for the evening church service and waited for our translators to arrive. Some returning team members enjoyed reunions with their former translators who´d become good friends. We feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with these remarkable young people in the week ahead. Soon after we were acquainted with the translators, the newly planted Community Bible Church service began. It was an impacting experience to see the smiling faces of the Brazilians who really had a heart for God and were so welcoming. When we began worship, we sang in Portuguese along with the rest of the congregation, but Marcel was unexpectedly called up to lead the group in an English version of the songs. It was an awesome experience for the team to praise ONE God in TWO languages. To top off the night, we met and talked with children from the slum who will be attending VBS with us starting tomorrow. We need your prayers as we start off our journey with these kids.

Tchau!

We Have Arrived!

All 36 of us arrived in Recife, Brazil at 6:00pm today; healthy and mostly happy. Ten hours on a packed flight with nowhere to move can make a person cranky! BUT, that won´t stop this team. After 26 hours of travel; hot showers, pizza, and team bonding on the beach got us ready to start our missions experience here in Brazil.

We had a first-time flyer with us, and tension was high as we started to take off. Even though everyone was watching.. with a big smile, and a slightly red face, he earned his wings with flying colors!

The flight here was pleasantly uneventful, with no major delays or luggage lost. Everyone is tired, and ready to get our first good nights rest.

Goodnight! God bless. Write more, and add pictures tomorrow.

Team Members of the June 2008 Trip

Mark, Noah, & Mickie Bliss, Melissa Clay, Denise & Rachel Csatari, Mike Darrow, Sarah DeKoninck, Megan Gill, Rick & Alecia Hinston, Darril & Marie Holden, Tom & Julia Lampert, Darcy Leyder, Andrea & Mary Martinovich, Bob & Ilene McMann , Colton Morozow, Craig Poston, Marcel Provenzola, Rob Quinn, Robin Reese, Michael Reffitt, Jessica Sloan, Morgan Sweeney, Gildo & David Tori, Larry & Ruth Tregoning, Kara Ussery, Kerri Yarber, Alyssa & Sam Zantello