10 Days in Engenho Da Pointe

4 hardworking men from South Carolina, 4 evangelists from Georgia, 10 volunteer workers from the village, 10 paid bricklayers from the nearest town, 5 translators, the Jefferson's, and I beheld the Lord in what felt like the middle of nowhere these last ten days.

When we arrived there was only a cement slab in place. 5 days later we welcomed over 100 curious Quilombolas from villages near and far to hear one of the clearest gospel presentations I have ever heard from a pulpit!


2 days later we returned for church service and found a local mother with a circle of 16 kids closing out their Bible lesson, and adults arriving for worship and teaching.

Highlights include:

• Watching the church fill to overflowing and 2o more people standing outside the church to watch and listen through the windows on the evening of the first service.

• Being welcomed into people's mud homes and having the deep joy of sharing the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ with them. Watching the spiritual battle as they shifted in their chairs, and denied that they'd ever committed one single sin showed the hardness of many hearts in that region. Many others were ready to put their faith in Jesus. Let us continue to pray for them as the enemy swoops into try to steal the seeds that have been planted.

• Deep conversations and tearful prayer times with my 2 new and dear gal friends that came as translators.



• Long conversations with our unbelieving male translators about many spiritual topics and the Truth of Christ.



• Almost being trampelled by an angry bull on a narrow path. We were thankful to get away from the chase with mere broken flip flops and scrapes from the prickly bushes we jumped into. One girl fell on her butt down an incline and the heavy, out of control bull skimmed by within a foot of her.


• Working/sweating on high, shaky scaffolding.


• Oreos, pretzel Combos, oatmeal pies, Starbursts, and a stomach ache...compliments of the American visitors!
  
• Playing with the same kids day after day! They are so precious!
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• Lesson's from God in the depths of my heart.

We played games with the kids, taught the women about prayer and worship in song, kept the 25 men watered and fed, painted ceiling panels and walls, testified to Christ in homes, ate good food at our hotel, and enjoyed sweet fellowship in Christ.

Today I am resting and packing to leave for a ladies retreat in another city tomorrow at 6:30am. Supposedly I'm singing...but that's all I know so far.
Thanks for your prayers and emails! Glory to God who does ALL things well!

Broken

Today I am so broken. Attitudes I'm shocked by have bubbled to the surface again. I'm holding Christ's hand as He leads me through jungles of my heart that are yet uncharted. I admit that I hate the feeling, the weakness, the desperate need for mercy from God and from those I'm learning to love...but I am so thankful. Do not cut this short dear Lord. Kill my flesh completely.

Pictures

Camera Phone.


At last political season is over here. No more 3x5 fliers handed to me on every corner. No more cars with gigantic speakers strapped to the roof cruising with speeches and loud music. Now it's just a lot of Obama talk here.


My door is always open...you're welcome anytime...if you can make it. :-)



Ummm, yummy sandwich made from tapioca (the white powder you see will fuse together to make a tortilla like wrap! One of the words for the tapioca root is actuall pronouced "yummy"!
I know about 10 unrealated recipies that are all made from tapioca!
It's now a joke between Deborah and I..."Umm, what is this? Must be tapioca". It usually is.
I looked up the nutritional facts online and found "Nutritional Value: weight gain"!


I finally found out that this gorgeous (or creepy) mansion on a green hill is a Philosophy building for University students.


I have walked by this a hundred times and just yesterday saw the writing. It says "Only Jesus Saves! Amen!" It is in a neighborhood that is saturated with evil spirit worship. Yay!

Me...a Surfer?

Today I missed my morning jog so during my lunch hour I walked about a mile or two to the beach to swim for exercise. While swimming, out of no where (well he was behind the big wave) appeared a surfer headed straight for my head. What should the uneducated do in this situation? Fortunately he stood up and sank about 6 feet in front of me. He said something in Portuguese that I didn't understand but then we discovered that we could communicate in English (it's not very common for me to run across English speakers).

Long story short-ish, we talked about my work as a missionary, and he closed off a bit when I began to talk about Christ, so I prayed that the Lord would soften his heart and continued down a different topic of conversation. When he asked me if I wanted to try surfing my immediate answer was NO! I've have long said that I would never surf (too scared and generally uninterested) but must admit I have grown more curious after watching them every morning as I jog. So after another topic of conversation I told him that I changed my mind but was nervous.

First I learned how to get on the durn board. Then how to balance my body on the board as the waves came (without tipping over). Next I learned how to paddle while remaining balanced, and then how to stand up. He made the instructions sound so easy, and I knew it could not be as easy as it sounded, but I just jumped up and he lit up like a light telling me that it was almost perfect. What? 2 more practice "pop ups" and I was ready for a wave! After riding a few small waves, and missing a few too, I was ready to paddle out to some larger ones! Yay, this was so scary and fun! Finally I felt myself getting tired and we took a break before just a few more big waves came and we called it a day.

The little rest turned into a quite full conversation in which I got to tell him how my sins have been forgiven, how the Holy Spirit teaches me from within and helps me understand the Bible, and how Christ has totally changed my life. I got to explain a little about the character of Jesus and some of His teachings while on earth. (The only exposure this guy has had to Christianity has been catholicism and charasmatic churches where the preacher yells at you and asks for all of your money. I was happy to explain how unlike Christ many of those beliefs are)

Several times thoughout the lesson he would interject a random question like "How long have you been a missionary?", and 10 minutes later another stand-alone question like "Are your family members Christians too?" When we returned to the shore I offered him the book of Luke for his reading pleasure but he kinda skirted around the offer and never ended up taking it. I will see him again in a few weeks for a free Brazilian martial arts lesson on the beach, and will be praying for his soul until then! Praise the Lord who does all things supremely!

I was horrified when I got home and saw my lobsterfied face (very unwise!). I have "strawberries" on my knee, hips, and ribs, and a really sore neck...but it was totally worth it!

Here's to facing your fears!! And here's to letting yourself enjoy the Lord's blessings! And I just can't go without saying how matchless the Lord is.

(Caption: "Call me"...err...uh..."Hang loose")

Totally Answered Prayers

I just wanna say thanks to all of you who asked our Lord to help with the details of final preparation for our church building project. It was just an hour or two after I posted this on here and on facebook that all of our problems started to resolve! The day was so much more productive than even a typically good day of work here! God is really in to answering His kids requests! What else is there to say besides...muito obrigada Pai (thank You Father)?!

The Jefferson´s Asked me to Post a Request for Prayer this Week

God has answered all of our requests of Him so far, so let us ask Him to pave the way before every step we take these next few days in preparation for the costruction of a small church in an interior village that we work with. Two small teams of 4 are coming from the States...one with construction experts, and one with men who were the first to bring the gospel to this village almost 3 years ago. Now there are about 30 church attenders of which about 15 are believers in Christ. We willl also be accompanied by Brazilian friends from our church here in the city.

We are facing many road blocks in the final steps of prep this week. These include things like banks on strike, ordered materials delayed, a freak occurance where our internet company cancelled our connections for no reason, and others.

The Bible says that Jesus´ death and resurrection disarmed the enemy and subjected Him to humiliation. Since his weapons are powerless against us, let us call on the Almighty to carry our efforts forward and let us be ready to receive those who are coming from the US! We do not despair in the setbacks, and we are not surprised either. Trials of various kinds are sent to test our faith and develop perseverance in us! May it be so in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Thank you for your partnership friend!

Love in Christ,

Sarah

God's Grace

God's grace is amazing. My eyes were first opened to some depth behind this statement about a year an a half ago while reading Romans by my apartments pool in Houston. I burst into tears when what seemed like the most simple of conditions changed my life forever. I have not recovered from the awe of His grace that I first discovered that day...and I pray that I never will. Oh the depths of the riches born of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways. To Him be glory forever and ever.

• It's by his grace that I can turn my back on sins that have always convinced me that I must obey their call.
• By His grace I am physically safe here in Brazil (unless He chooses to apply His grace to me through injury).
• His grace shelters me from slavery to moral filth and temptation that is so prevelent in this age.
• His grace gives me a clean slate EVERY time I fail Him. (tears flowing)

Who is like our God?

• Through doors of grace I find that simple conversation with Brazilians in broken Portuguese can state the most profound truth the world has ever known.
• Because He loves to show His grace He calls the worst of sinners to be His chosen and most beloved.
• Because His grace is so complete, not a drop of my own guilt belongs to me anymore.
• Because He's a gracious Shepherd, I shall want for nothing.
• Because He's chosen to make my faith mature and complete, lacking in nothing, He sends many trials to test me. Many.
• Because He loves me so, He's teaching me that the safest and richest place to be is out of my own control, and in His. (Though I try to wrestle with Him, He does not give up, or give me over)

There is more to say of Him, but you already know that. We have a gigantic book full of testimonies about His grace. It is my/our food.

I am so weak. I do not have strong faith. I am so often disobedient. I'm too often focused on myself or some worldly love that I have. I think I have rights and struggle when people don't recognize them. But God...He's perfect. And God...is living His life through me. Amazing grace.

(Click here to view lyrics)

New English Service--Outreach Tool!

A long and sweet Sunday, increased my compassion for ministers everywhere who do 3+ services a weekend.

Yesterday was our first church service in English at the church that we regularly attend on Sunday's (in the city). The pastors there have great love for the Jeffersons, and consequently me too. They asked us if we'd be willing to hold a 6:00 service in English so that people can invite unbelieving friends, co-workers, neighbors to come learn or polish their English for free! The normal evening service in Portuguese is right afterwards so many people will likely attend both.

Last night was our first service and, though hardly advertised, we had about 80 in attendance! My soul was deeply blessed as we sang many songs, involved congregants in scripture reading and "special music", and then Keith preached on being quick to listen and slow to speak. It was a switch to have to help the people sitting next to me find scriptures whose book names they didn't recognize...and I admit that I had the urge to stand up and say "this is how I feel!"...but resisted! :-) Oh that many who come for free exposure to English will get more than they bargained for...opened eyes, repentance, faith, eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord!

Afterwards we had about 10 minutes to talk with people IN ENGLISH before hopping into the truck and traveling across the city to lead services at another church. The pastor of that church has a burden for the struggles that America is going through right now so they called us onto the stage, stretched out their hands, and prayed for the US. Lovely.

I got back to my apartment at about midnight, thanking the Lord for the privledge of proclaiming His Word.

Church Building Prep.

Team work in the Quilombo

Earlier this week the Jefferson's and I travelled into the interior to purchase church building materials and have them delivered to the Quilombo. In true Brazilian style, the bricks were not ready when we got there, so we were told to come back the next day (or possibly the next day). We got hotel rooms, purchased wood and roofing, and by dark the next day we had led a 18-wheel, flat bed truck, carrying 1700 cinder blocks down steep roads full of deep ruts into our precious village. We'd asked a Christian in the village to round up a few men that would help us unload the bricks, and to make sure they knew it was not a paying job. I was a little concerned because it was dark, the bricks are pretty fragile on bad roads, and we were only hoping that someone would show up to help us unload! When we arrived there were about 30 villagers waiting in the street for us! Right away they began unloading and about 45 minutes later we had a big stack of bricks!

The really cool part of this is that most of these people are not believers. It was a team effort that was enjoyed by all and a perfect and unexpected chance to preach the good news because all were gathered 'round at the end! Keith praised the Lord for what He's doing among them and gave the men a challenge to follow Christ. Then several Christians started proclaiming that they would be the first to marry in the new church (Quilombolas are never officially married). Oh man I would love to be there for that! This particular village has about 15 Christians...of which 2 are men.

I played with the children so as to keep them away from the heavy bricks for the evening. We took lots of pictures, played London Bridges and Ring Around the Rosie (in Portuguese). I can not wait to see them again!

(So happy they were in clothes this time because trying to take "shareable" pictures has been quite a task in the past. I think the pastor reprimanded the mommas a bit on my behalf last time. I would not have thought that necessary since it is the village culture, but I am thankful that he wanted to honor me in that way.)

Adventures on Buses

I rode most places in the Jefferson's truck during my first month in Salvador. Now I'm largely responsible for getting to their house for work, to church, and to Portuguese lessons on my own, so I'm still trying to figure out which buses go where (there are no brightly colored maps like you find in cities like Paris and Barcelona).

Consequently I've had two long, unexpected tours of the city by bus this week. The good news is that it has been very educational and I have had some simple conversations with Brazilians.

(I'm thankful that we have buses and taxi's in the city. See picture for a common site as you go further inland.)

Crossing the Street

I'm no longer nervous standing on the center stripe of a fast and furious street full of buses, cars, and insane motorcyclists (I hope my mom is not reading this). It's the only way to cross...one side at a time that is. Last night a hippie looking lady and I waited so long for a clearing that I got fed up and motioned to her that I was gonna run for it. She decided to join me, trotted towards me nervously, and grabbed my hand for the run!! Hehe! I'm not sure if I was acting as the Mom or she was. Once we had celebrated our victory God's Spirit stirred me to attempt a conversation with her. It was lovely. We parted ways when she saw a friend and I ducked into the hole-in-the-wall store where I buy bread each day, but then 10 minutes later as I was trudging up a steep hill we ran into each other again! Amen! She told me she lived right there, and I told her I still had a long walk home. I really hope to see her again soon since I walk down her street every morning at 6:30. It will rock if we get to talk about Jesus.

Domingo (Sunday)

Follow Up on Zane (new Christian from "Home Depot")
What a joy! What a joy! The lady who accepted Christ with us at a home improvement store several weeks ago said she would take a bus to our church the next day rather than ride with us, but never showed up. Deborah has called a time or two to follow up but did not get her. Today, however, she DID get her and the woman was very excited to talk to her. Deborah told her that she knows one person in this lady's neighborhood (far far side of the city) and that she would like to hook them up for discipleship and rides to church. Then Zane (the new Christian) out of nowhere said "does she have short hair?" Deborah thought to herself and then answered that yes she does but, thinking that this city has 3 million people, that description just didn't mean much. Zane kept describing the woman she thought Deborah was referring to and they came to the conclusion that somehow Zane knows this lady on her side of the city that calls herself a "volunteer missionary"! If the first part of this story (Zane's conversion) was not miraculous enough, here is another instance where the Lord is blowing our minds with His ability and delight in saving and training those which are His!

Church is Fun...at Last!
Those that have ever lived in a foreign culture can surely relate to the feeling of total exhaustion at the end of a simple day. Everything is new and you concentrate for hours upon hours just trying to pick out the one or two words that you know in the sea of bla bla blas around you. Smells and tastes are different. Homes, processes, traffic rules (Lord have mercy!), fashion (here you see a lot more than in the States) and expectations are different. And while it is a total adventure, it's a lot of work too! I got a headache every day for my first few weeks because I was just working my brain too hard. But NOW AT LAST I am at rest here. I feel that my remaining time here is fleeting and that is kinda sad. :-(

This morning at church I felt at home walking through the halls and responding to this person's wave, and that person's "tudo bom?" with "tudo bem, voce tambien?" and was able to ask people followup questions to things they'd told me in the past (without translation...praise the Lord!)! I didn't have that ultra out of place tall white girl that doesn't understand a word you just said feeling anymore! This morning I understood about 50% of the sermon and at least 80% of the hymns and worship songs we sang! At last I have "friends" to stay after church and talk to about whatever, and several peers setting up times to get together on a coming evening. Ahhh.

Cooking American Food
This week I grew determined to make some American food, so yesterday (my day off) I walked to several stores looking for ingredients to make 3 things I've been craving. This morning I fixed the most delicious pancakes my mouth has ever tasted! For lunch I had chicken parmesan with sauteed veggies, italian bread hot out of the oven, and fresh pineapple! One evening this week I plan to make American style cookies for neighbors, but first I have to find baking soda!

These recipies have required that I improvise because I don't have measuring cups or spoons and don't know where to buy them. The gas stove cooks quickly and tiny ants come out of everywhere when any food is on the counter! I don't have Ziplock bags, Saran Wrap, spray Pam, a salt shaker, a microwave (for melting butter) or a good knife (accept for one gigantic meat cleaver thing that I cut the pineapple with! I'm a little over cautious with knives these days! See previous post "I Know How this Looks!"). All of these missing items made it really fun...like a puzzle. And ummm...there was pay off in the end!

Back to the Quilombo Tomorrow!
Leaving for "the interior" at 7am tomorrow to continue preparation for the church building we'll raise two weeks from now! Can't wait to see them again!

Semi-Muteness

I have written several blogs trying to describe what God is doing in my heart through the power of His word and spirit, but have not had peace in posting them. Infact, twice I have posted and then retracted it within hours.

Have you ever experienced something so wide and deep that trying to write a paragraph or even a page to sumarize it seems to cheapen it? Well, that's part of why those posts will remain mere drafts. (I hope you will read the following...though longish.)

Another reason is that God is teaching me how much He does not need me to teach people everything He's teaching me!! Hehe. Some of you may be thinking "duh Sarah!" but this is quite a revelation for me. All who are genuinely seeking Him are hearing from Him too, only the truths are straight from The Source...powerful...and spoken in perfect sync with the rest of the events in the current chapter of their life. Those who are not seeking or hearing from God would not hear spiritual truths in my words anyway, so why think I have power to convince or bring a dead heart to life? (I acknowledge the other side of this in the last paragraph)

Somedays I deeply yearn to retell what He's just opened the eyes of my heart to, but then He reminds me that it is more important to live it than to tell it. In the not so distant past I would sometimes respond to His teaching with great zeal, pass it along to 5 or 10 others I thought would benefit too and then run out of steam and never really get to the part that counts...obeying Christ...loving Him...loving others. He's now led me into a season of hearing, obeying, letting Him produce lasting fruit through me, and letting those that need to be encouraged or challenged observe a life of genuine faith, that's growing...and hidden behind the great glory of Christ.

Also, I looooove to tell stories! Many of the people I'm closest to have commented at some point that they think their life is dull in comparisson to mine, but the truth is that I just think little things are big and worth making into a story. They may have a great day full of meaningful events and report at the end of the day that it was "fine" (lol! I've learned to love this and know that it's not the whole story! This is when question asking skills must come into play), but I'm gonna tell all about how cool it is that God designed us with eyelashes because that day I was riding my bike through a swarm of gnats and squinted my eyes only to discover that I could still see, but the bugs could not get in my eyes!!! You know...the things most people don't remember from their day, but there I sit like a child, wide-eyed and amazed and rolling straight into my next story about how cool it is that we have eyebrows... It can be both good and bad, but that's not the point.
While I'm living each day here, serving God, I don't want to have to be tempted by the thought that this will make a great blog and show everyone that the work here is effective. I prefer to serve God with all my heart, when no one is looking, and let God prove how great He is...so' Deus.

NOW...let me say one last thing that you are probably already thinking...
We are supposed to testify to the great things that God has done!! Indeed! We are also supposed to do our good deeds in secret so that we will not be motivated by the praise and honor of men. I guess this is just one more area where we can not make a rule that works all the time and means we can take a break from abiding in Christ. A life of discipleship is one of following the daily leading of His spirit. Christ said repeatedly that He only did what His Father told Him to do. This is my aim. It will take my whole lifetime to perfect...but that's His job (perfecting my faith that is)!
Also, I believe this is a specific season of semi-muteness (is that a word?) for my life, not neccesarily anyone elses. God has made me a "talker", and a passionate person on purpose...it is not bad, but always in need of God-centered refinement. I find it ironic that my longest post ever is about not needing to tell everyone what God is teaching me all the time!

So today God blessed me to pieces with some open doors to share His love in the wonderful name of Jesus. I have been praying for these, and many of you have been praying for them too! So let me simply say...God alone is great! Amen.

Quilombo Visit

This is the ground that will soon be covered by a church! Several years ago there was not one single Christian in this village. It started with one and now there are 15-30 meeting 3 times a week. A man from our church in the city is footing the whole bill, and Brazilians and Americans will join together and take this thang from foundation to furnishings about 2 weeks from now. I can hardly wait!

The lady on the right is Deborah Jefferson (whom I work for). Through the process of moving into her new apartment last week she found many things she wanted to give to some women in this Quilombo. The women lined up and got to approach the tailgate of our truck and fill a bag or two. They were very thankful and Deborah had a good time sharing! I kept thinking of Jesus words that urge us to come buy bread without money. How great is His gift!

Look at the gun show!! Aren't they cute! Little boys (...and big boys too) are the same all around the world. These two fellas kept begging me to take their picture, posing this way and that, and telling me all sorts of amusing things that I could not understand.

Singing in English, Portuguese, and American Sign Language on the kick-off night of a church's missions emphasis week. All of the children were dressed in costumes to represent the nations of the world. It was a charismatic church in our city and the kids were waving little white squares of fabric around like flags as we worshipped our Great King. 3 little girls did an interpretive dance, and Keith (my boss) got after it while preaching! I enjoyed it so much.

I have sung at about 10 churches so far and Keith often preaches. Deborah is a wonderful support to both of us. We are forming relationships with other potential partners and enjoying the fellowship in Christ. People have received Christ at every single service I've attended. Sometimes as many as 15. It's hard for me to not weep when I see them humbly or excitedly approach the front to declare their repentence. One woman at our church had been counseling with the pastor for quite sometime because she was strongly tempted to kill all of her family members. Several weeks ago she gave her life to Christ instead. Amen.

On a side note: I liked this dress when I bought it for $12.00 a few weeks ago, but I have worn it so many times already I'd kinda like to burn it (halfway kidding). :-)