On Wednesday evening this week (28th Jan) I (Dave) went out with the street team from 'Rescue House' to meet some of the street kids. We also joined up with a team called 'The Masters Commission' who were doing some of their outreach phase with YWAM in Belo Horizonte. So, all in all there were about 15 of us. Initially, to me, it seemed like there were too many of us but after some walking about we found a group of about 20 children, ranging from around 10-18 years. Four of them were girls, 3 of whom were pregnant. We broke up into smaller groups and played Uno, sang Christian songs with them, chatted and played a game of throwing an American football around. It was a really good evening, being able to spend some quality time with those children.
These particular street kids were at a stage of not permanently living on the streets yet because many of them had houses in the favelas where they could go and sleep if they wanted to so it is an important time to work with them to prevent them from continuing along that road. This does not just mean working with the kids but also the families from where they come. Not an easy task.
These kids were all high on glue or paint thinners, dirty, smelly and uneducated but lovely at the same time. Spending time with them really gave me a sense of compassion for them. The Rescue House team normally go onto the streets once or twice a week but at the moment are unable to because they do not have a man to go with them, so I am likely to be regularly joining them working with the street kids as well as my other work at Luzeiro. But I need wisdom about that so will spend time seeking God about the way forward in that area.
The girls house in Belo Horizonte has had to close down due to lack of staff so if you hear God calling you to work in this area then send YWAM Belo Horizonte an e-mail (CLICK HERE FOR CONTACT INFORMATION).

We now have a new car!
I took a 1 1/2 bus ride to another part of the city to look at a bright orange car which I had previously seen at the stadium, having made an appointment with the owner to view it the day before. When Felipe and I got to the house neither the car nor the owner of the vehicle was there. So we turned round to go back...again without a car. However, we spotted ANOTHER car only a few hundred yards away which we had also previously viewed at the stadium, but forgot to take down the number of, and took it as a sign to go and buy it. The chances of seeing this particular car again was really slim as the city is SO big but there is was. So...after some negotiation, I bought it and drove it back to Luzeiro. Here's a photo:
Beckie was expecting me to return with an orange 'fusca' (Beetle) but I drove back in a green one. Thankyou all who have been praying about this. It has been quite a hassle and challenge looking for and buying a car here and now it is done.

Today I (Dave) spent the morning attempting to buy a car. Every Sunday morning there is a huge car sale at the large city stadium. How it works is that if you have a car to sell you take it there and if you want to buy a used car which is privately owned then that is the place to go. The cars are all parked in the stadium car park and you just go up to one and start making enquiries. Some have the price on and some do not. Some look beautiful, as if new, and some don't.
My task today was to return with one....I failed! What I discovered is that looking at over 2000 cars takes a long time. Finding a bargain also is quite a challenge...in fact I do not believe there is such a thing as a bargain here when it comes to cars. They were either too expensive or too rubbish. So, I have about one week to find a car before the boys return to school. May God send me one!
I already have my Brasilian permit to drive. All we need now is a car.

Well!......
Yesterday, Gideon found an abandoned puppy. Apparently this is quite common here, that people put their unwanted puppies in the street in a box to die, or be taken in by someone else. Gideon was very sad that people would do such a thing and really wanted to adopt him. The puppy came to us hungry and dirty, we don't know how old he is or what type of dogs he is descended from. Dave and I agreed to look after him. Gideon is very besotted by "Rambo" (said in Portuguese it sounds like 'humble'). We will need to chat to the whole team to see if it is ok with them too, because they will need to look after him when we are not here. Thankfully our other house dog, "Lady" has taken him under her wing, or paw.

We still don't have anything particularly exciting to write. We have 2 weeks of maintenance here, all very necessary, but also very dull to do, and a bit back-ache inducing. Oh well..... as you all know, these jobs have to get done, and when the work begins with the groups we only have enough time to do basic maintenance. Dave has had a productive time, fixing locks and showers. I've been doing weeding and scrubbing moss off floors. I guess this is the boring part of being a missionary, I always thought it would be much more exciting than this.
Dave and I are currently devoting evenings this week to prayer for the community, and seeking God for what we should be doing this coming year. We really want to be led by the Lord in everything, and not just fit in with patterns of work in previous years.

We've not got much to say really, other than we have had a fantastic holiday with my Mum and Dad (Beckie). We spent a week dashing around our favourite places in Belo Horizonte and then we had 5 days relaxing on a farm 1 1/2 hours outside of the city. It has been so good to catch up. Especially for Josiah and Gideon to really spend quality time with them. We all felt thoroughly blessed, as we enjoyed some long and leisurely days together. Here are a few of the photos of our holiday together.

I know we have not posted anything for almost 2 weeks now and we will soon, but before we do I would like to direct your attention to another blog....this is one which Josiah has created to put his drawings on. Drawing is something he is particularly passionate about at the moment (cars mainly) so take a look at his first entry.
Ah yes, the blog address is: http://josiahsdrawings.blogspot.com