Community Tension

The atmosphere in Cafezal has been tense the past few days as there was conflict Friday night between police and the residents. Two people were killed, whom the community is claiming were innocent and not connected with the drug traffickers. The community was outraged at this violence and two buses were burned that night (The buses that transport the residents of the slum here into the city areas). A helicopter has been circling the slum ever since then, monitoring the situation. The buses were shut down, which causes a large transportation problem for the residents here as many are unable to find ways to get to work. One lady we talked to said she had no way to get to the hospital for a check up after a recent surgery.

Sunday night, two more buses were burned and now many police have arrived in Cafezal, which is not a good sign as usually the police do not have a presence here. There are a lot of criticisms of the police here in the ways they do things or don't do things. It has been said that this is a large power struggle between the drug lords and the police, but the victims are by and large the citizens of this community.

Please pray for this situation that God's righteousness and justice would flow here and not that of man, and that God's Kingdom would come in this place and that God would use the darkness here for good.

Cafezal, Belo Horizonte, Brasil

I have been in Brazil for 11 days now, and it has been a time filled with many adventures, relationships, and lessons from God.

Adventures: Climbing some mountains, jungle creek walk, door to door evangelism, floorball (floor hockey), night walk in community, house visits, firefighting, peeling and cutting dozens of potatoes, eating cheese and sweet corn ice cream, and helping with a roller skating kids' program.

Relationships: I have made lots of new friends in meeting my brothers and sisters in Christ here. I have five roommates: 4 Brazilian and 1 Swiss, who are involved in the YWAM DTS program here at the base.

Lessons: Two big lessons have stood out so far for me: Having a servant heart and releasing all fears in my life.

The verse Philippians 2:3 stood out the first morning after arriving, “Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others more significant than yourselves.” I have been meditating on that verse throughout the day as I seek to allow Christ to reign more and more in my life. In past ministry involvement, I have been so easily distracted by wanting to be liked and appreciated and noticed for my work, but God has been speaking to me about what He desires in ministry. He desires me to be faithful and ministering with a humble, servant heart, so that when people encounter me, they don't just see me, but they see the Living God within me and through me.

God also impressed on my heart His desire for me to let go of all fears in my life. Friday night February 4^th I wrote: “I was looking down on the city and just taking in that i was looking down on literally a few million people, and it occurred to me that my fears were getting in the way of my faith. I am freaked out by big cities and I have already felt that since being here, when we drove here the first night thru the city, and today on the bus in the main part of the city I was pretty intimidated.
Then I remembered another thing that David (one of the team leaders) had said in the session he led about perfect love casting out fear. And I was just making an inventory of things that cause fear in my life such as big cities, stepping out sometimes for Christ especially with peers, or a mild fear of death or trials.
And I realized that I wasn't letting God into those areas completely because He is love, perfect love, and He casts out all fear. So I was praying over those things and asking Him to cast out the fears that I have and asking Him to make me fearless. Then right after that, a couple bats flew by right in front of my face and were circling around me, literally within inches. and I tensed up and then smiled as it seemed that God was already throwing this at me as starter material so I sat there, slowly relaxing as they circled me and then once I felt pretty much completely calm, they left.”

I am excited to see what else God has in store in these upcoming weeks.

'Be Strong and Courageous'

Wrapping up the back story: Needless to say, the internship details continued to come together and I was accepted to join the Lighthouse staff in Belo Horizonte, Brazil for three months.

I am currently in Denver en route to Brazil and am getting renewed with a sense of excitement for this trip. Last night I was feeling pretty jittery and anxious, and then today I just felt like I was in a trance and it didn't really sink in that I was going to be on my way to Brazil.

Before I left my house today, I found a pendant from a Hungarian friend that had this verse:

'Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.'
Joshua 1:9

I wanted that to stick with me, so I tied it onto my backpack before heading out. While sitting in the Omaha airport, I was still having this trance-like feeling and I took out a note that Anna had written me for that day which included the same verse that was on the pendant.

I really felt God hitting me with that reminder, challenge, and promise and I began to lose that feeling of cloudiness and begin to gain excitement and a sense of courage for what lies ahead.

I was reminded that God has called me to Brazil, therefore I have no need to fear because I am in His will and the Creator of the universe is with me and preparing the way for me.

Thanks everyone for your prayers today, I have really felt their power!

Brazil Leadings (Parte Cinco)

The encouragement of others in seeking backup plans for internship continued and seemed to cloud my thinking a little. Then in the same week I met with ministry workers involved in each of the two spots that logically made sense for me to pursue and I passed through the week without discussing backup plans with either ministries, which I believe was a test that God desired me to pass with faith.

On November 18, 2010 I wrote:

The week of internship temptations seems to have passed by without me caving in. God really gave me strength, trust, and inner peace with Brazil. Today, while discussing my potential internship in Brazil, I was advised that I can pursue backup plans while still being open and pursuing the main internship that I feel God leading me into. After leaving that meeting, I was uncertain about how to move forward. I went to work right after that (afterschool program) and during reading time one of the kids put an alphabet book in front of me to read, and the very first thing my eyes saw was 'B is for Brazil.'

I believe that God is clearly leading me to Brazil and for me to pursue other options, even as backups, would be adultery of trust and faith. The only peace I have had is with singularly pursuing interning in Brazil, even though I have fears and hesitations with seeing myself there.

God is continuing to teach me to trust in Him and His glorious plans. If I can prove faithful with this, it could allow for God to lead me into even greater things for His kingdom and His glory.

Brazil Leadings (Parte Quatro)

As the internship deadline drew close, I was still waiting for a decision from YWAM and being somewhat barraged about pursuing backup plans.

On November 15, 2010, I wrote:

"Last weekend, Elias and I went to Chicago to visit some friends and see a 116 Clique concert. The pastor of the church we went to was teaching on Mark 6:45-52 where Jesus walks on water. He addressed something that had never jumped out before. It says that 'he (Jesus) made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side' while he went off to pray. A storm arose and it says that 'he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.'

Jesus sent them into a storm that they couldn't get out of. They still persevered and painfully made headway. Sometimes we have to painfully make headway with what we feel God leading us into and wait for Him to act.

That sermon was very encouraging and it seemed confirming that I need to continue on making headway with Brazil as I feel that is what God has directed me to.

Brazil Leadings (Parte Três)

Continued from previous journal entry:

"In the meantime, I still didn't have any word from the organization I was hoping to intern with. Then that Saturday night, I came across a prayer letter I had written about the previous summer's Brazil trip. I read through it and and received a surge of excitement as I saw that I mentioned the possibility of doing some street work with YWAM while I was in Brazil. I looked up YWAM and saw they had a sizeable ministry in Belo Horizonte (the same city I would be in with the other organization) and I noticed that they accept volunteers for one to three month terms. I emailed them and heard back very quickly, and things began to progress with the application progress.

I sincerely believe God is leading me there. It is quickly approaching the internship finalization deadline and I am trusting God will deliver in a big way. It's in God's hands now, and there's no better place."

Brazil Leadings (Parte Duas)

"Thursday night October 14th. God spoke to me at BASIC (a large group worship gathering at UNI). The songs were about trusting and not fearing, two big things with me right now. I went in trying to keep my heart and mind open for anything God might want to communicate to me. The speaker shared a story about running the Chicago Marathon and how he hadn't adequately trained for it and had to walk the last ten miles. I felt God was telling me to get back to work on studying Portuguese for I would be in Brazil and God doesn't want me to have to walk it, but rather 'run with endurance the race set before me.' The night ended with the song 'Solution' by Hillsong United, which had been kind of the anthem for me going to Brazil in the summer, a song God really used last year to move my heart in that direction."

Only You can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners past
And set the captives free
Only You can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing
Be a Father to the fatherless
Our Savior and our King
We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet
We will run this race
In the darkest place, we will be Your light
We will be Your light

-Solution, Hillsong United