Day 7

It would seem that our time in Brazil is passing much faster than that of a normal week.  We woke up this morning and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together and then proceeded to watch a documentary called, "Nefarious" that Jiho has been trying to get the group together to see since before the trip.  

What's so amazing is that the people that we were so blessed to share the stage with yesterday were the very people from the organization that filmed and produced that documentary - such a profound confirmation that we are in the right place at the right time!!!

We watched the film, and we were all moved to pray and seek God's face for His will in the coming days, weeks, months and years concerning our involvement in this move against this growing form of slavery - sex trafficking.  Pastor Miles also admonished us to remember that we are responsible for what we saw in the film and also what we have been seeing here in Brazil; also that we are accountable to the Spirit of God concerning these injustices both at home and abroad.

Now we had been planning to go to Fortaleza's airport with Pastor Eduardo to raise awareness at one of the epicenters of trafficking (since airports are one of the major hubs for transporting sex slaves in and out of major cities within Brazil and around the world), so we headed over to his home for lunch and prayer for ministry at the airport.  At Pastor Eduardo's home his wife, Marlene told us of two sicknesses in her family, her daughter Jessica and her aunt who was being transported from a hospital specializing in cancer to a hospital for her heart. So we prayed for her family members and headed for the airport.

When we arrived we found out that our plans would have to be put on hold due to the protocol and procedures of the airport. So the flyers that we intended to hand out, the songs that we intended to sing, and the skit that we intended to perform there would all have to be done another day. As we waited, however, we realized that there wasn't anything stopping us from praying in the airport…so we did!  Just before we left the airport we had heard that Melanie's aunt's health issue had subsided - PRAYER WORKS!!!

We don't always know what God's purpose is for what we may consider a set back, but as a group it is amazing to see just how His grace has continually led us to places of rest, peace, and His purpose when we truly trust and wait on Him.   We left the airport with joy, knowing that we did what we were sent there to do - in spite of the fact that we didn't do what we had initially set out to do. 

     

Day 6

Today was one of those days where you can see God moving in ways that are beyond miraculous. We were able to get a little rest in the morning/afternoon and met around 3pm for devotionals. Tonight we were going to do some beach evangelism and put on a skit. The Beach and airport are two major "hotspots" for predators to find prospective girls, and to exploit the ones they currently have.

We proceeded to the gathering at 8pm without prior knowledge of what God was going to do. We prepared our skit, which came to us in prayer that morning. We found out there was a group that would already be doing some worship down at the beach and wanted to join along and present our skit. After a few phone calls, we managed to squeeze ourselves in. Little did we know what God had in store for us...

We arrived at the beach to find that it was a stage with a band performing, not what we were expecting at all. We were expecting perhaps a similar gathering as our soup kitchen night; a couple of guys with guitars and a group singing along. When we got there, we were received pretty openly as the team that came to raise awareness/fight human trafficking from the United States. As it turns out, when we had spoken on the phone with them to add us to their venue that night, they confused us with another group...

This group is called Exodus Cry and their primary goal is to fight human sex trafficking. The organizer of the event assumed we were the same team because it didn't make any sense that two different groups, from the United States, would be in Fortaleza, Brazil on the same night, in the same venue, raising awareness for the same issue... This my friends, is what happens when God takes over... Exodus Cry is the ministry behind the documentary Nefarious which travels around the world exposing this issue.

We spoke to their speaker tonight, and it was not only a Godly confirmation for us that He has greater things for this ministry, but for their team as well. God is moving, and He's uniting his body in ways that could not have been planned. We performed our skit without knowing that Exodus Cry would be speaking on the issue.

God has showed himself faithfuls in ways that our team just cannot describe. We simple have to give thanks and let God be God in our lives :-)

Day 5

"This is the Day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it" Psalm 118:24

Sunday, the day of the Lord, we took this opportunity to get a little more rest than usual. After devotions we went to pastor Lindenberg's house and spend an afternoon of praise and worship before service at his church. It was an amazing afternoon with the family where we pulled out the guitars, piano, and good ol' trusty bucket for percussion! God was glorified!!

                                     

Breaking cultural barriers... Portuguese worship!!

Pastor Miles and Elisabeth

Pastor Miles brought a powerful word that night to pastor Lindenberg's church (with Elisabeth translating).

Day 4

Our fourth day in Fortaleza began with the usual routine of breakfast and Devotionals. Afterwards we prepared our skit presentation for Pastor Eduardo's church that night. We headed out to Sister Bman's (beh-mohn) Art school in another region of Ceara (the State in with Fortaleza is the Capital). The work which Sister Bman is doing is amazing. She has an art school in a witchcraft infested area which she runs on an incredibly low budget, in order to provide a Godly atmosphere and protection for such beautiful children, trusting God to provide the means to keep the school running.

Bman and her parents who founded the school

                                   

Child Sex trafficking can start at any age, so keeping this children involved in a Christ-Centered environment is key to keeping the children safe. It's not always easy, as the black magic practitioners of the area tend to have more resources and lure the kids to them, but the battle is not our own, it's the Lords. We are trusting that God will keep these little ones safe from the perverse minds of slave traffickers and protect them against all harm.

Bman discussed the future goals of the schools with the team. Currently the school is centered around art, where the children can build anything from instruments to ceramics. Eventually, they want to build a Trade School in the land they purchased next to the school. They would like to give the children an opportunity to learn something in order to one day get a job. The land in itself is a testimony to Gods provision as it only cost them the equivelant of $2000 US dollars. We prayed over the land, the school, and the work that Bman is doing to protect these children. We had an amazing time of fellowship, praise and worship while spending time with the children.

The day ended with the skit we practiced earlier in the day. We performed it at pastor Eduardo's church. One thing that should be noted is that church's are not really outspoken on this subject. Whether it be fear or unaware of the problem, it can be considered a 'taboo' topic. Sex Trafficking is roughly the 2nd-3rd largest "business" in the world. However, despite this, the members enjoyed the skit, some brought to tears, and were very receptive to the message it brought, especially considering that this church in itself has about 100-200 children. (That night I could count at least 40 children running around). Overall it was a great ending to a blessed day.

Jiho with Gabriel at pastor Eduardo's Church

Day 3

With our leaders in place we started the day with our normal routine of breakfast and devotionals. We went to the home of one the members of Pastor Eduardo's church.  At the home we prayed about the issue of human trafficking and the stronghold of black magic and witchcraft in the area and the city at large. From there we headed straight to the streets to pray, and from the onset we saw the strongholds that we had just prayed about.

Neighborhood prayer walk

After the prayer walk we went to Pastor Eduardo's church, we prepared for the mobile soup kitchen ministry. We met around 10pm local time and drove to certain locations known for poverty, prostitution, and witchcraft. We would first stop and worship in order to set the atmosphere, we would proceed to pray for the people, and give them soup, bread, water, and articles of clothing.

We ministered to a man(Francisco), his wife, and their friend who were living on the streets. Although they have a home, the streets allow them the opportunity to find drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol with ease. With a child on the way, the couple spends away their nights high, drunk, and trying to hide from their problems. That in mind, Francisco broke down with us about his struggle to overcome and be free. Initially it was only Francisco's wife and their friend. Francisco didn't approach us and had just gotten high about half a block away,  It broke our hearts to hear him say, The transformation took place before our eyes, praying and interceding as Francisco broke down before us. He cried and wept and confessed his desire to take his life saying "The devil and temptation are always at my feet leading me away. I try and I try and I can't break away". Pastor Miles told him he can't try, because there is only one solution, and that's Jesus. By the time we were done, Francisco was not only a new man, but he was no longer under the effects of the drugs he had taken before speaking with us. Before we left, we prayed for him and his wife together, to solidify what God was doing in him.

Tears flowed, knees were bent, lives were changed, and God was glorified. He gave his life to Christ, and without hesitation, gave over the matches that kept bound to his addictions.

Francisco's friend and his wife (right)

Praying for Francisco

The night amazingly did not end there...

We encountered a group of transvestites and shared the gospel with them. Hesitant as they were, they were still receptive to prayer. As this encounter went on, their leader came to the front and boasted of his popularity in the community as practitioner of witchcraft. He tried to distract the others while we were praying, in particular this one young man who broke into tears while we prayed for him. However, this didn't prevent us from showing God's love to him too- keeping in mind that the battle is against sin and not the person.

One of the men mentioned how despite this walk, he still has a sister who prays, fasts, and shares the word with him over the phone, causing goosebumps to form. It wasn't coincidence that we ran into a man whose sister's fervently praying for him.

God has a plan for those we reached out to, regardless of whether they're aware of it or not, and we give thanks in advance for the way God will use them, to extend His Kingdom.

Day 2

We started the day with prayer and devotionals on the tenth floor of the hotel, which was led by Oliver D.  He shared a word from Jeremiah 17 where we were reminded to not trust in our own strength for anything, but in God`s strength in everything.

After a back to back breakfast and lunch (yes, back to back) we went into an impoverished area in one of the cities of Ceara. We teamed up with some of the members of a local church led by Pastor Diego to walk through that area, to call people out from behind the walls that guarded the entrance of their homes. We had posters, and a lot of energy. We called out, "Ven Pra Rua" which means, "Come to the Streets".  It is a chant that is usually used in political and union-like protests here in Fortaleza.The outcome was amazing, they came out to the streets and we were able tell them about Jesus!!!

                                      

                                      

                                     

We marched from the streets to the small house-church were we encountered the break-dancing ministry that we were slated to visit, and the reception was as beautiful as the people we went to visit.  We spent some time learning some of the moves (well, one of us...) before the service began.

                                     
                                     
                                     

Fausto holding pose for 2 milliseconds...

By the end of service five souls came to know Christ or renew their commitment with Him; and the second night also marked the arrival of our Pastor Miles and Elizabeth Adams. This was a victory in itself because as they had missed their flight due to their driver taking them to the wrong airport. The team went ahead and prayed that they would make it out eventually. That same night, they found out that they would've had to pay their ticket again, which was going to be very very expensive and seemed unlikely they would come out here had that been the case. But God stepped in and only a small percentage needed to be paid. It marked another moment in our trip where our only hope was to rely on God and his promises and He did not let us down.

Pastor Miles and Elizabeth Preaching/Translating

Children accepting Jesus!!

Fausto and Jermaine with some of the youth

Day 1

So far, there has been a lightness to the burden carried by the team on this mission trip; I don’t say that to diminish the weightiness of the call – only to say that God has already upheld His promise that, “His burden is light, and his yolk is easy”. We’ve all arrived in good spirits in spite of the fact that our two leaders weren’t able to join us right away and the reception from the collaborating church’s pastors and members was absolutely heart warming. When we arrived at the airport in Fortaleza we wondered if the church family was there, so when we saw our four names floating across the hands of the seven people waiting just outside of the arrival gate we all felt  very relieved.  

The Team:

He thought that we were going to have to call a cab but got greeted with this instead...

Fausto Bonilla

 He was relieved to finally get to the end of this part of the journey...

Jiho Jang

He was happy to have his name written in large font on a sheet of paper - yeah, he felt pretty important...

Jermaine Tai

He was wondering, "Is that my name?"

Oliver De La Cruz

Our trusty steed

Lucas

We went straight to the hotel from the airport and passed by many interesting sights, people, and smells along the way and (although I don't know the language) I got a sense of a looming question of, "what next?" lingering in the heart of the city at large.  The large gap between the wealthy and poor could barely be distinguished, aside from the few expensive cars on the road because of the general aesthetic of the city. I've been seeing articles in various periodicals that comments on Brazil as one of the great 'emerging markets' of the world, but being here made me see that Fortaleza, Brazil had not yet experienced the full benefits that the burgeoning economies of the larger cities of Brazil had known.  It also opened my eyes to the truth that the people that we were passing by were not just 'consumer units' of some economy, but rather souls that hung in the balance between two kingdoms.

After we quickly dropped our bags off at the hotel and freshened up a bit we headed for some much needed food and refreshments at one of the pastor's homes.  There we had the opportunity to fellowship with the family that we would spend a good amount of time with in the days to come. There was good food, staring contests, and some new friends.

Hod Dog, Brazilian Style

Staring Contest

The New Friends (Jiho and Luan)

After the fellowship, we decided to spend some time in prayer at Pastor Lindembergh's church.  We came in to find the congregation in the middle of a lesson in Revelation and we sat and listened to the teaching in the beautiful Portuguese tongue.  We were introduced to the members, we were each given the chance to say a few words, and we prayed and went back to the hotel for some much needed rest.  

Pastor Lindembergh next to Oliver (in blue and white shirt) 

An immense blessing that we’ve experienced here so far is a comradery between the team that we didn't have to work for at all.  There is a awareness of a deeper duty that trumps the inclination to want to complain when things have gone awry. I think that I speak for us all when I say that, it has truly been a joy to be a part of the ongoing fellowship that this missions trip has brought on.  Suffice it to say, we are all looking forward to see what God will do through us in the coming days – and we are totally and completely excited to be a part of this great work of God in Fortaleza, Brazil!!  A few things to pray for:..

1.   Complete healing for Jiho’s upper and lower back pain

2.    Continued strength and love amid and between the group

3.   A safe stay, and safe travels throughout the city

4.   Oliver's continued strength, patience, and ability to interpret for everyone while we wait on Beth to arrive from NYC, and... 

Fortaleza is like any other city, but the issues thereof are magnified given the economic and social unrest that has plagued most of Brazil for so many years.  There are many people working hard, but when the median take-home salary is approx. $300/month it is difficult to overlook the wide path of so called ‘easy-money’.  We know that God says to all those who labor to come unto Him for TRUE REST so please...

5.   Pray that God will use us to compel them to come and receive that beautiful rest that we have had the honor of entering into by His grace - answering that aforementioned question of 'what next' in the most profound and meaningful way starting with the poor and broken.