Battles, Victories and Transition

Urgent prayer request!

Johan and Jeannette, the directors of the base here in Belo, were supposed to be leaving for Haiti on Monday to begin training for the Children at Risk School being started in Port au Prince and also to bring resources. However, there’s been a series of unfortunate battles happening in the last couple weeks; Jeannette was stuck in bed with severe back pain, her laptop crashed with all her information; Johan became very sick with diarrhea and another sickness that has left him not able to get out of bed with severe swelling in his knee.

We found out yesterday he will need to have surgery on his knee and as a result, will not be able to go to Haiti as soon as planned. There is obviously a battle being fought and we need your prayers! I haven’t heard if Jeannette will still be able to go as scheduled, or if her travel plans will be delayed also but please do pray for a quick recovery and for strength to fight this battle so the work in Haiti can continue!

A Bible study with drug dealers

The neat thing about working in the Central Support Department is that although I am not physically part of one particular shelter, I am in a behind-the-scenes-kind of way part of every ministry here at the base. A friend of mine works in one of the ministries, House of Rock, that works with children and families in one of the big slums here in Belo Horizonte. She shared an incredible story with me that happened this week with their team, and I’d like to share it with you.

This week the Rock House team was able to hold a Bible study in the basement of one of the drug dealers in the slum. She said the drug dealers asked if their team would come and have a Bible study with them. The team went, and some people shared testimonies of their lives and what God has done. They were able to sing songs together and have a time of worship. She told me that some of the men were even requesting worship songs they knew. I was so blessed to hear this testimony. It reminds me that what we do DOES make a difference; and it is these positive connections that little by little we will see transformation come to the people of this city!

Transition

This coming week things are going to look a little bit different for me. I will officially be taking over the main admissions office by myself. To be honest, this task is quite overwhelming for me as I’m still getting orientated with how things are run, communicating in Portuguese, and also working alongside Johan and Jeannette in their office twice a week. Please pray for God’s grace and wisdom during this time of transition and responsibility for me.

The biggest thing I have learned in the last couple of weeks is that life will always be full of frustrations, difficulties and obstacles. I’ve been struggling with bringing these things to God because the logical part of my brain says, “well that’s great but the facts are not going to change. You’re still going to need to learn Portuguese, you’re still going to have a lot of work in the office.” Which is true; BUT what I have learned is that when we DO bring these things before God in humility and weakness, in our simple humanity, this is the place God is able to work. He often doesn’t take away the difficulties; but he is able change the disposition of my heart, which then in turn changes my outlook and perspectives, and allows me to be taught in the midst of hard times. It is much easier said than done, but there is much we learn through the difficulties of life if we are teachable.