Brazil Mission 2010

Day 17

2010-05-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

5.2.10

Christen writing once again here to officially close out this year’s series of emails. While we can’t believe it’s already ending, we sure managed to cram a lot into our last full day here! We started out with a baptism service at the river where twenty-two believers boldly entered the cold waters, professing their desire to die to themselves and follow after the resurrected Christ. Many of these people don’t know how to swim, so thankfully the boat passed before we began, leaving the river slightly calmer. Sammy and I were hit with the reality of how quickly the Body is growing when we realized just how many faces were unknown to the both of us. (Our last baptism was in December, with just as many people!) How thrilling it is to see the powerful move of the Lord that is taking place in Bom Retiro!After drying out ever so slightly, we headed to the shack on the undeveloped property for a yummy lunch and some good fellowship.
Jason enjoyed building relationships with budding young leaders, Maninho and Camila, while Christen heard testimonies of how the Lord had specifically changed the lives of several youth. Gustavo, who was baptized just minutes before, shared how he had come to the Lord about two months ago. With tears in his eyes, this seventeen-year-old described his passionate desire to preach the gospel around the world! In the midst of the good conversations, Jason somehow managed to find some time to sip the chimarrão as well!While we were all pretty sleepy, we pushed on through with evening preparations. Risa headed to the church for rehearsal with the band, while Jason and Sammy worked on translation of the message and Christen prepared power-point materials. (I also headed to the prayer tower to take in the glorious sunset one more time!)

The evening service provided an opportunity for each of us to be involved. After a bilingual rendition of “God of this City,” Risa sang “How deep the Father’s love for us.” Sammy then called me up to give a “farewell speech”, as I’ll be traveling state-side for at least the next month and praying about future direction concerning ministry here in Brazil. Although I didn’t require translation, I definitely noticed my shaking hands when handing the mic back to Sammy. He and Jason then continued their tag-team preaching efforts with a piercing message on the life of John and his revelation on the island of Patmos. This was especially engaging as it integrated the testimonies of two of Maui’s Brazilians via video (Thanks to Whitney Branscome`s tech skills).After celebrating communion, the three of us were mobbed with people bearing gifts, giving hugs, and saying some tearful goodbyes – which was such a testimony to the ways the Lord has used us in this city! While it was difficult to share this evening with each individual, I found myself increasingly grateful for the opportunity Sammy provided for me to pray over the youth last night. In the intimate setting, I asked the Lord to send out these young people into the harvest of the nations (just as He has done in my life). While we’re leaving, we trust that He will indeed use them in this city and beyond.

With some strong coffee in our systems, we’re preparing for tomorrow’s travels, burning CD’s of photos, checking-in for flights online, and reflecting on the many blessings (and laughs) of our time here in Southern Brazil.

Thank you for accompanying us on the journey with your prayers and support and for your continued intercession as we travel tomorrow!

"For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike." 1 Samuel 30:24

Christen,

For the team

Day 16

2010-05-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

5.1.10

Hello All!

This afternoon was our last to see Vini. He came from Lajaedo to visit the girls at Christen's and then headed to rendezvous with Jake to the top tourist spot in Bom Retiro.... the dam! While Jake and Vini were out, Risa had a good chat with Mariana (Sammy's 24yr old daughter) about God's sovereignty in our lives.

Afterward, Risa went on a quick trip to see the top half of their new undeveloped property to take some pictures. Their property is a soccer field wide and 3 acres long, The vision for it eventually is to build a boarding school, and God willing, an orphanage. This city is full of dysfunctional families and so the goal is to have the kids there all day, to be able to keep them off the streets at night. Sammy and Marcia would also like to be able to grow food on the property to help feed the children too. It is such an amazing vision that would bear unimaginable amounts of fruit! Perhaps this vision resonates with you. If you have a heart for young lives, would like to learn Portuguese, willing to teach English, and/ or exercise your special God -given talents..then this is a wonderful place for you to serve.At youth group, Risa enjoyed talking with Paola and Monik in both English and Portuguese. Both of those girls have a heart for missions so it is so exciting to encourage them in that area! Risa shared a message on the 6 Keys to Activate the Power of God In Your Life. Sammy did such a great job translating and the message really seemed to hit home with a lot of the young adults there. Then, about 15 people stuck around afterward to play the game Psychiatrist. It was a blast!And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
--Acts 2:47

From the Team
Risa (with Jason's final editing of content approval)

Day 15

2010-05-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

4.30.10

Hello Everyone!

Today we dropped off our mission team member Jessie Denham at Porto Alegre Airport. We were sad to see her go, but Maui will stoked to have her back! A band was playing when we arrived and Sammy told us that he hired them for Jessie's departure but they were really there to celebrate 3 million customers on the airline.After our airport run, Jason, Sammy, Christen, and Risa went to the giant supermarket in Porto Alegre. Soon though, Jason and Sammy took a capphuino break while the girls finished their business.

This evening, at 8:40pm Sammy and Jason picked us up and we took the dirt/back road to Estrella, a town about 10 minutes away to go to Vini Guzzo's home church called Cristo Vive (Christ Lives). Jason taught a mesage from Roman 1-6. Technically, it is the fourth time he has given the same message, but Risa is convinced that he has changed it up, even though Jason is just as adamant that Risa simply "has her spiritual antennaes up." The crowd was so receptive and by the end of the message the Pastor shared that he was extremely impacted by the word tonight. After a stirring altar call by Sammy and some long goodbyes to Vini`s parents and Marla, a friend of Christen, we were finally out to the car by midnight!

Driving home was a real adventure due to the "neblina" ( fog in Portuguese) on the hightway. We had very little visibility! But, we trusted in Sammy's excellent driving skills and he got us home safe!

Driving to the big city on Brazilian highways in the day and through fogging conditions at night...we praise God that the Lord is our Protector.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
--Psalm 18:2

From the Team
Risa (with editorial comments by Jake)

Day 14

2010-05-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

4.29.10

Happy Thursday!

Today was definitely a favorite day for the team! We got to see the Holy Spirit move in BIG ways today. The first thing on our agenda was to meet at the church for a quick run through of the dance Jessie taught during the worship workshops the past two weeks. Then Sammy and Jason picked us all up in the church´s 1960s style VW Van and we headed to Iraja School nearby the church. This is the school which former Hope Mission teams have shared Christ through week long workshops and presentations.

Once at the school, we set up and got ready for the kids to come out! With Sammy translating, Jessie was able to share some Hawaiian words like Aloha, Keiki, and Ohana with all 140 kids listening intently and replying back to her questions! Then we demonstrated some basic hula steps and they LOVED. Next, Risa played and sang Jesus Loves Me on the guitar while Jessie did actions and they soaked that up too! Then we were able to turn it over to the dancers to worship to the song Lord I Lift Your Name On High, and they did a fantastic job! Through it all, we were simply able to share with them that Jesus loves them and they are special and chosen by God to be HIS children.

Christen, Risa, and Jessie made a quick stop at Christen´s place to regroup and drop off some things, then we went to visit Monik, a young woman here who expressed she wanted to talk with us. On our first day in Bom Retiro, the girls went to meet Monik in her home, and prayed over her because she has severe back problems and is in constant pain. She shared her story with us, and the fingerprint of God is all over her life! It was so encouraging to hear her heart for missions, and how she felt like God placed her in Bom Retiro to meet with us. So we told her we were meant to visit Bom Retiro to meet with her! We laid hands on her and prayed for healing, perseverance, and a continued excitement to know the Lord more deeply. We made another stop after Monik, and visited a family in the community. Things were pretty hectic at their home, and with 3 daughters under 8 and one son that is 10, it´s no wonder it was crazy! We felt very welcome in their home and were reminded of the contrast of America to other countries, and how rare it is to go over to someone´s house unannounced and share the gospel with them. It was such a blessing to spend time with them, talking about Jesus!

We came back to a very full house at Sammy´s! A lot of Sammy´s family was over, so we were able to get to know them better. Deco (the girls visited his mother on Day 8) treated us to an amazing dinner of 4 different types of fish! He cooked some of the fish fresh from the river here in bamboo in the wood oven! There were about 16 of us that gathered to enjoy dinner together. After dinner, we showed some of the Brazilians our favorite American dessert: S`MORES!! And they loved it! It was so much fun melting the marsh mellows and watching them take messy bites and laughing.With today being Jessie´s last day here in Brazil, today was such an incredible day to leave on! Jessie has been an integral part of our team and we will miss her greatly this last weekend we are here! Please be praying for her safe travels back to Maui!

And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
--Mark 10:16

From the Team-
Risa (with editorial comments by Jake)

Day 13

2010-05-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

4.28.10

Today, Jason and Sammy had a full afternoon. First, Jason got a "top of the line" hair cut by Carlos Andre, a brother in the Lord who attends Hope Chapel Bom Retiro. Second, they went to the church where they took photos of the 2nd story expansion project which will provide four ministry classrooms and three rooms for housing mission teams. Third, they prayed over Kiko, a church member who is starting a snack shop on the side of the home in which he and his wife Jaque live. They finished the afternoon drinking chimarrão while having a pastoral visit with Dema and his family. (His daughter Francine, whom many of you know, was also around). A rare moment was Jason petting the family dog!

Meanwhile, Christen, Risa, and Jessie took advantage of the wonderful sunny weather and, after some spectacular complications with the workings of the Brazilian lock on Christen´s front door, they set out to take care of some errands down town. The Lord set up a divine encounter for Christen to meet Joel´s sister, whom she has been hearing about since last year but never met until today! We met up with Jason and Sammy back home and grabbed dinner before the girls headed to cell group at Angelica´s home. Angelica shared an amazing message on Colossians 3, with the emphasis on emptying yourself of everything and filling it back up with Christ.

After cell group, we met up with Jason, Sammy, and Marianna at the local radio station. It is a two hour show that newly ordained Pastor Edderson was running. All four of us had the opportunity to share Christ. Christen encouraged all the listners that God has a special plan for their city, Jessie presented the gospel message and Risa shared from Matthew 13 about the different types of responses to the Word of God (indifferent, impulsive, distracted & receptive) from the Parable of the Sower. It was an incredible opportunity! Again, how cool it is to see Mariana (Sammy/Marcia/s daughter) step out of the boat and co-partner with us by being the interpreter at the live radio broadcast.As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
--Isaiah 55:10-11

From the Team
Risa (with editorial comments from Jason)

Day 12

2010-05-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

4.27.10

Last night we went to bed early (4:30am) and woke up to be picked up by Vini at 7;00am! Jason, Risa, Jessie, and Christen embarked on a two and a half hour trek to Gramado, an affluent tourist town nestled in the mountains of southern Brazil. The trip there was stunning. Seeing the sun rise over the mountains was such an incredible way to start the day!
We met up with Jonatas Rocha (whose spiritual life was impacted from the 2004 mission team), who lives Nova Petropolis, a town close by to Gramado and had espresso and a late breakfast at a cafe in this quaint German city. Vini took us to his favorite place in Nova Petropolis which was a maze made out of bushes in a park. Unlike Kihei, the weather was cool, crisp, and sunny...perfect weather for our day of exploring!Next, we headed to the city of Gramado to stroll around the Lago Negroe, a beautiful lake. Jessie and Risa took a Swan boat out on the lake to paddle around while Jason and the others drank expressos.. We took lots of pictures and spent time walking around on a path that circled the lake. We walked around downtown for awhile, soaking up the sights and sounds of a different cultural life.
Our final visit in the Gramado area was to the Parque do Caracol. We were stunned by the enormous waterfall that greeted us when we entered the park. Vini, Jessie, Jonatas, and Risa decided to walk down the 730 degraus (stairs) to the bottom of the waterfall. It was a breeze on the way down, but quite strenuous on the way back up!! We decided that it was "vale a pena" or "worth it" for the view looking up on the 130 meter tall waterfall!!Once back to Bom Retiro, Jessie and Risa got to teach worship workshop #3 and Christen had English classes. We relied on God´s strength and were able to finish our day strong.

Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!
--Psalm 66:5

From the Team
Risa, Jessie, Jason

Day 11

2010-05-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

4.26.10

Hello!

Traveling to a new city to proclaim the word of God makes me feel like we are truly living out the book of Acts! Tonight, we went to Lajeado to share our Romans 6 message with a crowd who are cell leaders from Sammy´s church, along with fellow church leadership colleagues who Sammy served with prior to starting his church. What was particularly great about this group was how attentive they were during the message! A BIG highlight for Jason is seeing the spriritual growth and leadership development in Jaime & Jociele Weiand. They are presently cell group leaders in Lajeado who are members in Bom Retiro. They are high capacity leaders who will be impacting their city for a long time, bearing fruit some 100, 60, 30 fold (Matthew 13.23)
Jason changed up his message on Romans 6 a little bit. And it was powerful! The girls had the challenge of sharing their same testimony, but each had faith that God would use what He wanted for each person that was there tonight.

After Sammy concluded with prayer and a challenge to live as the new person that Paul talks about in Romans 6, a time of fellowship followed. Tonight was tricky because we did not have anyone but Sammy to translate for us. Jessie and Risa were able to talk to a man in a mix of Spanish, English, German, AND Portuguese. Out of it we learned that this man´s office was the purpose of our meeting location (we met in a business center). It was quite the conversation!

The spiritual hunger and attentiveness to the Word tonight, reminded me of the Thessalonian Christians--

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
-- 1 Thess 2:13

From Risa for the team (with editorial comments by Jason and Jessie)

Day 10

2010-05-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

4.25.10

Oi everyone!

The church building expansion roof is not sealed. The 2nd floor is only a slab. Although we prayed for the weather to be dry and sunny today so that the church roof doesn´t leak, God had other plans. It rained all day long! However, God was merciful and the water leaks were very minimal and not a distraction.
Jason, Jessie, and Risa spent the afternoon drinking coffee and preparing for the Sunday evening service message. Tonight was a very special service. After worship, Sammy made the announcements and then him and Jason presented diplomas to 29 School of Leaders graduates. These graduates went through a nine month ministry course equipping them in Bible knowledge and ministry skills. These folks will produce at least 10 cell groups in the Hope Chapel church family this year.
After many photos and congratulations, there was also a special comissioning of 6 new pastors in the church. Sammy and Jason prayed over them to release them into ministry. Two will be serving here in the local body and two will be serving with their wives in other communities nearby. Here, husband & wives is a joint comission, and they send them out together. It was a treat for Jason to see them grow into this position after all of his years coming here.

The message tonight was a continuation of his Romans series out of Romans 7. It was about the law´s purpose to bring us to total defeat so that we will turn to Christ for our proivison. Risa shared a short testimony from her life about her realization that God´s love can´t be earned. And Jessie shared a bit about the key to living the Christian life is Christ in you, not in different circumstances. Jason ended the message with a reminder that Jesus didn´t come only to give his life for you, but to give His life to you, so He can live His life through you. The service ended with the 29 graduates receiving personal prayer from all of the pastors that were there.

After the service which ended around 10:30pm, all of us were very hungry, so a large group met up at Danilo´s restaurant (where the younger crowd ate the night before) to eat pizza and pastels. With full and happy stomachs, we returned home to process and discuss the exciting events of the day, and plans for the new week ahead!Just as Jethro observed Moses, who was burning out due to ministry overload, and told him to select leaders to partner with him, so likewise, a highlight tonight was seeing this same principle happening in the church here in Bom Retiro among leaders whom God is raising up.

"Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain, and you shall place these over them, as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens...if you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure"
Exodus 18:21,23

From the Team
-Risa, Jessie, and Jason

Day 9

2010-05-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

4.24.10

Hi Everyone!

Jessie, Risa, and Christen got to spend a lot of quality time with the young adults today! The youth group age here ranges from teenagers to adults in their twenties. We all gathered together for a time of worship, a message, food, and games. Risa lead worship in English, but was able to pick songs that could be sung in Portuguese as well. Then Jessie rocked the house with her message on holiness! She shared from Psalm 119:9 and how the secret to being pure is by growing in God´s Word. Jessie had everyone draw out a couple illustrations that really aided in bringing the message home. At the end of it, Sammy had us stand up and asked to have anyone that felt like the Holy Spirit spoke to them in the message to raise their hand. 90 percent of the crowd raised their hand!! We prayed, and then Maninho, a member in the youth group came up and played another worship song in Portuguese.

Next, the best game of bilingual telephone pictionary ever took place! 16 people participated in this rambunctious game and there was lots of laughter and even some tears of joy! It was a huge hit and from what it sounded like afterward, they will be playing it again in a lot of different settings :)

By the time midnight rolled around, we decided to leave the church and congregate at Figueirão, a restaurant, which they reopened in order for us to come in. Vini Guzzo (former worship intern) and his friend from Lajeado came with us, along with some other now familiar faces. The boys ordered massive cheeseburgers, which is the norm here, and the girls ordered chicken pastels, and chocolate pastels. They were delicious! And Risa made it through eating hers unscathed with no chocolate spills! Jessie and Risa enjoyed conversation with everyone due to both Christen and Vini translating. It has been such a blessing to have them close by!

Our time here is half over...we have been building a good foundation for the next. We are expecting great things ahead!

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light"
--1 Peter 2:9

From the Team
Risa, Jason, Jessie

Day 8

2010-05-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

4.23.10

Hello Everyone,

At the special request of Jason, today’s daily update is being written by his former intern Christen. Living here nearly five months now, I am still amazed by the sweet hospitality that is continually extended to me.

Way back in January, while taking some photos of church members, I was introduced to Deco and his family (who were gathered on the sidewalk enjoying grapes and the warm summer weather.) The invitation for me to come back was extended at that point and having postponed to the point of the family thinking I’d left the country, I decided I really should pay a visit. So, together with Jessie and Risa, we set off to find out where Ivone (Deco’s mother) lives.

We expected to meet with this woman, who is nearly seventy, and share the gospel. However, upon hearing shouts of her name from outside, she welcomed us in, served home-made bread, and shared story after story of the work the Lord has done in her family! It is evident that she is filled with a joy that only Christ can bring! As a mother of five (including two adopted children) grandmother of ten, and great-grandmother of two, Ivone both prays for her family and regularly welcomes them in for her wonderful cooking. Demonstrating a Mary spirit as she sat and shared with us, we were both inspired and challenged by the life this sweet woman and the love of Christ that she expressed! We went to encouraged her but ended up being encouraged.

After Sammy’s mother prepared a shrimp stew cooked in a pumpkin (Yes, we ate again!), we spent some time preparing for the evening activities before driving an hour and a half to Novo Hamburgo. With Sammy’s help, Valcir and Claudete planted a church in this city four years ago. Jason (who makes an annual visit) was well-received, and even though it was my first time back since last April, I was excited to see a few familiar faces. Jason preached the same message from Sunday on Romans 6 with Jessie and Risa’s testimonies and the response to the altar call was overwhelming! Many people expressed a renewed commitment to the Lord and several made decisions for the first time. We heard later that 30% of the crowd were newcomers Praise the Lord for this growing body of believers and the way the church continues to expand here!

Just when we thought the evening would end, we gathered with the entire church body at a local house for dinner at midnight. Besides the yummy food, the highlight was sharing more personally about the Lord with two teenage girls. The conversation could’ve lasted for hours but was brought to an end as we still had to drive home. We finally arrived back in Bom Retiro at 2:06am to see that the temperature had dropped to a whopping 59 degrees (perfect for Christen’s long-underwear that she had changed into earlier) and were greeted by special visitors and long-time friends, Jonatas and Daina. As we type away, the hospitality and warmth of Brazilian culture continues to be extended into the wee hours of the morning! We girls are soon to leave to Christens to sleep...but Sammy and Jason will still be going strong till 5:00am!

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it" Hebrews 13:2

For the team,

Christen Roszkowski

Day 7

2010-05-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

4.22.10

Hello Everyone!

Today we woke up to rainy, cloudy and cool weather. It was great for a field trip day!

First, Sammy took Jessie, Jason, and Risa to the leather factory in Bom Retiro for a tour. The owners are Lizandro and Jackie Vasques. They were led to the Lord by Sammy in the early 2000s. Jesus restored their marriage, they became cell group members with Sammy/Marcia and are active participants in worship ministry etc.A cool recent thing is that in October 2009, he quit a good paying job in a factory as a dept supervisor to obey God's prompting on his heart to start his own factory...and now 8 of his 16 employees are from the church. The other 8 aren't christians...yet!
Then Sammy took us out to go see the dam outside of town.The dam is where Hope Chapel holds their baptisms which happen four times a year.Consider, yourself lucky that you Maui folks are baptized at Kamaole 3!!!
Close to the dam is a piece of property owned by the church. We were able to explore their property and visit God's creatures by hanging out with the pigs, cows, and dogs. Currently this property is used for baptism celebration parties, youth nights, and church gatherings. The vision that Sammy and Marcia have for the property is to create a boarding school to provide a nurturing and God-centered education disadvantaged children.We returned home to shower and clean up since we smelled like animals... Christen made a wonderful taco dinner and served ice cream for desert for Risa, Jessie, and Vini. She is an excellent hostess! Vini was our special guest who came to visit from Lajeado, also a previous Worship Intern from 08-09 at Hope Chapel, and we all enjoyed his company! It was a fun time of fellowship.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The Lord reigns!"
-1 Chronicles 16:31

From the Team
Jason, Jessie, Risa

Day 6

2010-05-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

4.21.10

Hello Everyone!

Today was a busy day! Jessie and Risa were able to be a part of a couple of Christen's English classes. It was encouraging and refreshing to see Christen´s ministry in action. The Lord is really using her gifts and passions here! Paola was the first student of the day and Jessie and Risa had a lot of fun acting out English phrases for Paola to learn. She is an excellent student. She is a prime future intern candidate for Hope Chapel.Next, the three girls walked over to Camila and Maninho's home to help with another English class. Camila and Maninho are also very dedicated and excited to learn English. After all the studying was over, Camila made everyone chocolate covered popcorn and it was delicious!Teaching English is such a tool! Not only does this help youth in a small town receive opportunities for personal education and career advancement...but the discipleship and spiritual mentoring is off the charts in effectiveness!

The three girls continued on by walking with Camila over to Angelica´s home for the cell group that Christen attends. There were 13 young women there, including us, and Angelica shared a message that was very challenging and solid. She read from Psalm 1 and went on to discuss how instead of focusing on what we are leaving behind when we walk with the Lord, we should focus on what we are gaining and receiving with Christ.After cell group, the girls headed to the church for night 2 of the Worship Workshop! Risa played two songs on being hungry for the Lord, and then shared a follow up message to Jessie´s about all the different ways we can worship the Lord. You worship the Lord where your passions are. Then Risa continued teaching the Holiness song and we split the group into dancers and singers. The dancers already memorized a four minute dance! The guitar playing turned into an awesome worship session. Even though we don't know each other's language, we learned very quickly that worship transcends all language barriers.

To finish off an already wonderful day, we returned back to Sammy´s to almost 20 friends ready for a meal at 1am in the morning! Which is not an uncommon experience at the Diab home.

Jessie's favorite things of today: Cell group at Angelica's, the sugar free chocolate Sammy bought her to have with her coffee, lots and lots of hugs from the little girls at the worship workshop, and seeing Christen in her element.

Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Psalm 3:8

From the Team
Jason, Jessie, Risa

Day 5

2010-05-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

4.20.10

Hello Everyone!

In preparation for tonight's worship workshop, Jason, Jessie, and Risa spent time studying the story of Mary of Bethany who worshiped Christ in the home of Simon from Matthew 26:6-13.

Upon arriving at the church, we circled up about 30 chairs and everyone settled in. Jessie shared the lessons from Mary of Bethany with these four points:
1. Worship is a response to God
2. Worship is vulnerable and personal
3. Our worship often manifests in a gift or act of devotion
4. In an atmosphere of worship, Jesus is in our midst and responds with delight

A highlight of the worship devotional teaching of Jessie was how the Lord encorporated Mariana, Sammy and Marcia´s daughter to partner with us as an interpreter. Little did we know in the sovereign plan of God, that this 24 year old woman, who attended Awanas and Tweens at Hope in the mid-late 1990s, was the reason for their return to Brazil in the first place when she was 12 years old and now is being used at the church here in Bom Retiro with her mom and dad.

After the teaching, Risa then taught the the whole group the first half of the song Holiness, a good theme to be talking about with the church here.

After the group singing, we divided into groups. Jessie was able to teach a dance to Lord I Lift Your Name On High. The dancing group had all different ages--from mothers to young children to one brave 7 year old boy! They picked up the moves very quickly and were very eager to worship the Lord in dance.

Risa took a group of about 6 people upstairs to work more on guitar and singing and they concluded with a sweet time of worship.

We all stayed at the church until about 10:30pm spending time with some girls and talking with Paola a special 16 year old gir and her heart for missions.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.
Psalm 150:6

Thank you for your prayers!

-Risa, Jason, Jessie

PS
Risa´s 4 favorite things about today: Waking up to a Brazilian thunderstorm, Bible Study with Jake and Jessie, worship in Portuguese with Christen´s guitar, and everything I ate for dinner had lime juice on it :)

Day 4

2010-05-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

4.19.10

Oi Amigos!

Today the mission team got Sammy to take a day off. We began the day in their home office for lunch and fellowship and then took a road trip.

Leaving town we stopped to take a photo of us at the entrance of Bom Retrio Do Sul. We then posed next to the famous german couple whom we call `Fritz and Frieda` at the entrance of the city called Estrella colonized by german people.

Then we got to our destination city called Lajeado (where last year´s worship intern Vini Guzzo is from) and visited a mandatory bakery to enjoy Brazilian deserts and great coffee. Next we went to the mall and met up with Lito and Gloriha and their family to fill up on pizza and fries. Lito is a close friend of Sammy since their teen age years and was an instrumental co-worker in the formation of Hope Chapel Bom Retiro Do Sul.

This evening Risa and Jessie are preparing for the part 1 worship guitar/dance workshop that begin at Hope Chapel Bom Retiro tomorrow night. Christen believes there will be lots of people there, and that it will be an inter-generational and perhaps slightly chaotic experience. So please remember the team in your prayers for God to show up.

How nice to spend the day encouraging one another.

"Encourage one another daily" Hebrews 3:13

For the team,

Risa and Jessie

Day 3

2010-05-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

4.18.10 (Sunday)

Hello Everyone!

Last night, our evening ended with the most amazing meal ever! Sammy had cooked, in their barbecue pit which is inside the living room, NINE different types of meat! Each course was more and more delicious and he topped it off with the unbelievable dessert of roasted pineapple with cinnamon! We were all stuffed by the end and went to bed around 4:00am!

On Sunday afternoon, we all prepared for the evening service. Some of the highlights of the evening service were:

*It was another historic milestone for Hope Chapel Bom Retiro as it was the first service with the newly expanded building. Over the last few weeks and 48 hours they broke down the existing wall of the building and extended it by 51 feet. This added 150 more seats which were much needed because it was already 80 percent full when the service started! Sammy/Marcia commented that so many new faces were in the crowd.Thanks Maui family for your financial partnership.

* 57 kids from nursery to twelve years old in 3 classes upstairs. How remarkable is this!

*Jason offered a prayer of dedication for the new building extension using the text in Luke 4 where the Spirit of God is promised to come upon Jesus to impact the poor, brokenhearted, captive and prisoners.

*Jason taught in Romans 6. Amidst the teaching, Jessie and Risa came on the state and shared their testimonies illustrating the principles in that chapter.

*Sammy´s sister, who is Arabic, accepted Christ along with many others.

After the service that lasted from 6:30 until about 10:30, we made our way home for processing and dinner.

Today brought to mind Psalm 34:3, and we would like to echo the words of David,

"Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exhalt his name together!"

From the Team
Risa, Jason, and Jessie

Day 1-2

2010-05-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

4.17.10

Hello Everyone,

We made it!! The weather was beautiful when we landed, and there was no need for rain boots yet!

Once we made it into Bom Retiro, Jessie and Risa went to Christen´s to settle and rest for a bit before dinner. We enjoyed a fabulous meal along with fellowship and catching up with Sammy and his family. After 2 days of traveling without sleep we finally got to bed at 2 am.

Saturday morning (or afternoon since we slept until one!!) Christen introduced Jessie and Risa to friends all around downtown Bom Retiro. Christen had invitations to church that we were able to extend to women we met. We got to visit a girl who is bed ridden with back pain, and we were able to pray over her. In the mean time, Jason spent time in fellowship with Marcia and preparing his messages.

Tonight we had the opportunity to travel to a town called Faxinal in the outskirts of Bom Retiro. Douglas, a member of Sammy´s church started a cell group that has grown so much that they have birthed a new church! Jason spoke about heaven from Revelation 21& 22. It was so crowded inside that they had to create overflow seating outside! After the message, there were 3 baby dedications, and then a time of prayer that was very powerful! There is a lot of pagan worship here, so Sammy prayed over people who had demonic bondage. This time of prayer after the teaching portion of the service is a regular and necessary part of the ministry in these growing churches.

We are excited to see what God has in store for tomorrow´s Sunday service in Hope Chapel Bom Retiro Do Sul :)

"Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ to all generations forever and ever, Amen" Ephesians 3:20

Tchau!

-From the Team.

Risa, Jessie & Jason