There are a few things that if you come to Brazil you should never forget: your swim suit, your rain coat, your smile, and your alarm clock . This little town of Ubatuba is crammed full of over 102 beaches. I have been here almost two weeks and I am ashamed to say that I have only been to about two of them, and I have yet to make it into the water. (rest assured, it will happen) Now, it being rainy season and all here, it can be kind of a downer to be walking down the street and the sky opens up with ginormous rain drops pounding you on the head and wetting your last pair of dry pants. Luckily, the thought of “it could be worse” is always stored in the back of your mind for such a time of this to help remedy the
whole situation. Smiling. People smile, especially the friendly people of Ubatuba that will try at any means possible to find a way to communicate with you. In fact, the people are so friendly, they want to spend time with you. Late nights of eating acai treats, eating weird Arab meat pies at the local fast food restaurant and no stranger to this people group. With the “breaking of bread,” life stories, life questions, and life with God are some of the favourite topics that will keep you up until the wee hours of the morning. Later that morning, you are still satisfied with your decision to share life with the Brazilian people over the previous night, when the much needed beckoning sound of the alarm clock resounds at 6:00.
This is the Brazil I have come know. It is a country full of beautiful sun rises and beautiful people. It is a place that most of my team has come to love; the cool thing is, God does too. I see him working here. I see the churches here are thriving. Youth ministries, dance ministries, prayer ministries, drug rehab ministries, ministries to local tribes, ministries to local schools and I am sure there are so many more that God is using and working through to reach the hearts of the people of Brazil. Worship in the church is alive and vibrant. People are free to dance and wave banners, kids can be themselves by dancing in the front or sitting close while the pastor is preaching, people are getting involved and lives are being changed right before our eyes even in the time we have been here. God loves this people. God is working in and through these people and I get to play a part in it!
This week we had some great experiences, life changing. One of the highlights of the week was having the opportunity to spend time at the Rehab center that is a ministry of the church. At first, I was thinking that I would arrive at this all men facility and not have anything to say and not even know how to connect with these people. Once we arrived, I immediately connected with some of them because I am America (God Bless America!). Evidentelly , one of the men had spent some time in the states and that became the springboard for the rest of the days conversations. During our time there, gathered together for a corporate time of worship and one of our fellow team members brought a word of encouragement from scriptures. After our time together, we divided into smaller groups and this is where
I really saw God move. In our group we started talking on the topic of love, and for the next two and a half hours we talked about faith, shared our testimonies, talked about our roles in the body of Christ, we encouraged each other with scripture and common struggles, and prayed together. I don’t know how to put into words how exciting this group was for me. God really showed me his faithfulness during our time there. It was only him that softened those guys hearts to open up and talk to us and ask questions about our faith and why we believe and do what we do. After the group, we ended our time together with a delicious lunch! I left there that day feeling so encouraged and even more joy over my salvation in Christ. We had such a good time there, that we decided we will return this week again and do the same thing over again.
Another really exciting thing that happened this week is I have had the opportunity to get to know some of the women in the church a little better. Over the last few days, we have been able to have a couple Bible studies and discussions about life with Christ and our callings. I can really see that God is using these times to teach both the people I am with and I things about His character and how He is constantly pursuing us as individuals. It is amazing to see people’s faces light up when they discover the truth that God has a plan and a purpose for their future. When this happens, in that moment I think, “This is what this year is about.”
God is doing some cool things here in Ubatuba as you have heard, but you have only heard
from my perspective and what I am experiencing. He is doing much, much more in and through the people on my team and in the church here. And, there is more to come!
Prayer requests:
- The church of Brazil and all its ministries
- Continue to pray for Acts 2 unity within our team
- Pray that through that unity that the overflow of the God in us would impact the people we come in contact with
- Discernment to know when and to what ministries God is leading us to take part in
- Please continue to pray for courage and boldness (Joshua 1:9 and Acts 4:31-33)
- Finances