The past 6 weeks in Brazil have been entirely surreal. Just before I left I was in an accident and totaled my car. The pain was so bad the morning of my flight that I entertained thoughts of changing my ticket. I left with doctor’s orders to ice my neck every hour on the plane. They weren’t sure how long it would take the muscle damage to heal, or if it would get worse, and I had limited movement. However, by the time I landed in Recife 20hrs later, the intense pain had stopped, and by the end of the week i had most of my range of motion back.
Everything has changed since I have been stateside. All new staff, a new base, the safe house (Projeto Betânia) is now open, we’re working in a new slum, ministering on different streets, we hold church for the community every week. What started as our staff worship night now averages 100 people from the community. We have a clothing bank in the basement, and every Saturday we have a pool party at the base for the kids from the slum. Although nothing is the same, it feels like I never left. Everyday has been sweeter than I could have even imagined.
As I have said before, the previous terms I have served in Brazil were groundbreaking years. Walking through the rejection of building relationship as Americans, learning through trial and error, being trained, and trusting through the struggle. I am so blown away to be back and now seeing the fruit of those years. We have nine of the most beautiful girls (under age 18), in Betânia, and a tenth just moved in yesterday. Last week, two more girls (one 15 and one 22 years old) made the decision to leave prostitution at the banquet we have each month to bless those still trapped in the sex trade. God is so faithful, and moving so tenderly on these hearts. Every day I work alongside four adult women who we met on the street and hired to provide alternative income when they chose to leave prostitution. They are some of the strongest women I have ever known.
Street church is both humbling and raw. I will never get used to sitting on the curb with a young girl while she huffs glue and nurses her baby. Putting a five year old to bed on storefront stairs and watching children call stray dogs to lick their open wounds, takes an emotional toll. As hard as it is to watch the ongoing pain of God’s children, I am so in love with this country, these people and what we do here. There is no place I would rather be. Our girls, who have already been rescued from abuse and now live in Betânia, often come with us to the street to minister. There are no words to describe what it is like to watch them give away the freedom they have received. It is incredible, knowing what they’ve lived through, to see them so full of God’s victory that they can’t keep it to themselves.
The new base is a five-minute walk from the house we lived in 3 years ago. At that time Shores of Grace was a team of ten people sharing one house where water poured through our ceiling every night. I walk past our old house often and remember what God has brought us through. This summer alone, we have had visitors from over five nations. Every week for the past six weeks, we hosted a new team whose contributions have allowed us to greatly bless the people we serve. My photos from some of these events attached. One team sponsored a cook out in the local slum where we fed close to 500 residents. We were also able to take the Betânia girls to a salon, something they have never done before. I took portraits for each of them and printed albums to remember the day. Most of our girls have no photos of themselves – not even baby pictures.
I could go on and on, but I won’t. In summary – my vision is renewed, I am full of hope, and I am sure that every dollar spent over the past 2 years of mind numbing visa paperwork is worth it all. Please continue to pray for my visa as I process the final documents. There is one more paper I am waiting for, and so have extended my time in Brazil while we wait for it to be done. I am excited for every additional day I have here. I am also still working to complete my degree so that I can facilitate therapeutic arts in the safe house. Because of the change in my travel plans I will be taking online classes from Brazil starting next week. This will be particularly interesting because we generally loose Internet when it rains, which can be several times a day. But here we go!
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support.