Brasil Dia 41

Tudo Bem,
I hope you are all doing well!  I can't believe that I am only 13 days away from the end of the outreach portion of my YWAM (or JOCUM as it is called here in Brasil) DTS (Discipleship Training School)!!!

It really seems like yesterday that Ava and I began this journey.  It is a bittersweet end.  I have made a tight connection with the people of Brasil and made friendships that I hope will be lasting.  My relationship with my Papa God, and the love of my life has continued to expand to new levels.  He teaches me something new everyday, and continues to humble me and create patience within my character.  The only thing I want to live for is to love Him passionately and make Him know throughout the world to His people. 

As I return to the States, I will be fasting and praying for Ava and I, and I encourage you to do the same.  I want to step exactly in the footsteps that He has marked for Ava and I.  I still feel led to go to the Kona base in Hawaii in July, so I will be praying for confirmation for that. I will also begin to raise financial support to be in full time missions.  Please pray about how you could support us monthly. 

Our school leader, Alan, has joined us this week in Brasil.  He has been such a refreshing joy to us!  He also has brought us all kinds of goodies....like peanut butter, granola bars, and reeses cups!  On Sunday night, he took us out to dinenr at a Churrascaria.  If you don't know what that is...and you live in Greensboro...they have one there!  It is a Brazilian Steakhouse...or Brazilian Barbeque as they call it here.  We went to a very, muito, muito fancy one.  They even pulled out my chair for me to sit in!  Then, there is an all you can eat buffet of salads, pastas, and carne (meat)!  The waitors bring around the chicken, sausage, and various cuts of steak to the table.  They even had lamb and chicken hearts....which I did not partake of!
It was a very elegant surprise for us, since we have been roughing it for so long!

This week has been one of my favorite weeks here.  Beginning on Monday, our team has split up, and we are working at the various JOCUM houses each day.  Monday and today, my group was at Casa Rocha (The Rock House).  It is a sort of community center for the kids of a local favella (slum).  It is actually the oldest favella in Belo.  Part of the day we helped with classes they have for the kids in the house, and the other part of the day we went out in the favella to visit the families of the kids. 

Try to imagine with me....a very steep dirt and rocky road, surrounded by very dirty, and falling apart stone buildings.  There tired, old and young men on every corner....sometimes even children...are the lookouts for the drug traffickers.  They signal when the police are coming in.  We turn down a narrow, tiny hallway between the buildings, and arrive at one of numerous metal doors which is scattered with bullet holes.  Our guide yells up to one of the windows, and a lady motions for us to come up.  We enter a dark building, and climb two flights of stairs before entering a very tiny room.  We go up another flight of stairs and are suddenly flooded by sunlight as we are out on the roof, overlooking the entire city of Belo Horizonte....mountains and all.  As we talk to this tired mother of three children, and pray over her....we can here the neighbor screaming at one of his kids.

Each family that we visit, is overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit.  The people that I have met in these immpossible situations have had the most hunger for God's presence that I have ever seen.  It has been such an honor to meet them and be able to bless them and speak into their lives.  They are so hungry for the word of God and for His love.  They are begging the JOCUM workers to come visit them everyday.
And of course the workers are few.
Please keep the Casa Rocha in your prayers.

I can't wait to talk in person to more of you about the work YWAM is doing here.
I will talk to you all soon,
Brooke