Our last few days in Brazil have finally arrived!
Our time here passed so quikly, I can`t believe we`re leaving already. But it`s really been a good time and God`s has just blessed us beyond measure in so many different things, like the places we got to see, friends we made, things we learned and all the great meals we had! It`s going to be hard to leave this place! Over these last few weeks I`ve grown so close to the people here in Ubatuba and I`ll always have a special place for them in my heart! I cannot over emphasize how friendly, caring and hospitable these people are. They have spent so much time with us and have taken us for countless number of meals. We thought we`re coming here to bless them, but sometimes I feel, that we`re the ones that`s been blessed! I`m so thankful to God for our time here, it`s definitely something I`m going to remember and it`s been more than amazing!
During our time here, I saw God working in so many different areas and I`m so encouraged by it all. But the two areas I saw God working most(or that stood out for me), was the area of 1)Relationships with other people and 2)Drama as a tool to sharing the gospel. Let me explain.
1) 1st) - Relationships – During our time here, I`ve just come to realize how important relationships are. Good relationships with people, are the key to reaching them and touching their hearts. People don`t respond or allow you to let them speak into their lives, if all you ever do, is only bash them with the bible and preach to them, without everreally getting to know them and spendig time with them. People first need to know that they can trust you and that you love them before they`ll allow you to start speaking into their lives. I`ve seen this so clearly in our time here in Ubatuba. The first half of our time here we only spent on building friendships and getting to know the people. Not really ministering to them in the sense of preaching, but just showing them we care and and lovedthem. It was amazing to see how they started to trust us and become friends with us. They started opening their lives up to us, without us even asking them to do it. So as we became friends, we started sharing the gospel and sharing our testimonies of what God has done in our lives. Their response was really great and they took to heart everything we shared with them. God showed me in this area that it`s first building a friendship and winning their trust, before starting to minister to the people.
An example of this - One of the first people I met here, was one of the youth leaders here in the church and we immediately made a connection. As we started spending more time together we became good friends. But during worship one night, I noticed that he was a bit down and was`t feeling very good. So I went to him and asked him what was wrong, and he told me that he had lost his father to cancer a few months ago. So I shared my testimony with him of also losing my father and I just encouraged him by telling him how God has been working with me through that. He really appreciated it and it was amazing to see how his trust in me litterally doubled after sharing my testimony and how he opened up to me from that moment on. He even invited me to his wedding, wich was on satarday night!!
2)
2n2nd) - Drama as a way to sharing the gospel – I never saw drama as an effective way of communicating the gospel and ministering to people. But after our time here, that view of mine has taken a 180 degree turn! Last week we went to a school and did a drama there. It was about a girl that got involved with all the wrong things and how all these things started to control and dominate her life. But in the end, she meets Jesus, and He takes out her old heart and gives her a new heart. He cleanses her from all she had done, and she follows Him. After the drama we shared the gospel with the children and gave them an opportunity to commit their lives to Christ. So many children came to the front and made a commitment to follow Jesus! After that day, these children came to the local church and are now starting to get involved in the youth ministry. Drama is such a powerful tool to use!
Now…some other stuff we did!!
New food – Last week, the people took us for what they call & ldquo;lunches”. It`s basically a burger, but not just any burger. It`s probabaly the biggest burger with the most toppings on you`ll ever see! It makes any other normal take away burger look like a cookie! It`s really good, wish we had that in south africa!!
On Sunday we went to a place where there`s a river with a couple of waterfalls! We made a day of it and it was such a good time! There is so many different things you can do there, there`s a little hiking trail, there`s this long rope that you can swing on into the river, you can jump off the waterfall(it`s about 6m-7m high)
The other day we went snorkeling, but we couldn`t really see any fish!! We would have gone deep see fishing but there was just not enough time! Two days ago, I went surfing with a proffesional surfer and it was really just a treat! He`s also part of the local church here and he`s really really really good on a surfboard!!
Satarday night I went to the wedding that I mentioned earlier. I borrowed clothes from the people here, and it felt so good, to just wear a decent set of clothes again!(all our clothes here are always dirty!!)It was awesome, it`s only been the 3rd wedding Ive been to, but it`s my first international wedding! It was such a beautiful wedding, they don`t do weddings that much different than in south africa, but all I can tell you, is that these people know how to eat and how to eat well!! I had one of the better meals of my life at that wedding!
The next country we`re going to is Colombia, so you can really be praying for that. We`re going to go help missionarry`s there with upgrading and repairing their facility`s!!
If there`s anything I can pray for you guys, please just mail me!!
(This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Thank you for all the prayers and support
Gerhard