When you walk with someone, how far do you walk? How much time, money etc do I invest into the life of someone else? I do not know. I think the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10v30-35 is challenging enough but in practice it is a bit more difficult.
There is a guy from this community who has been addicted to thinners for many years and he came to us for help. After a couple of weeks with him we managed to take him to a rehabilitation house (more like a farm, actually) 1 1/2 hours from Belo Horizonte. For this to happen, we had to invest a lot of time into his life, meet with his family, buy him medication, give him food, give him some things which we will never see again, be shouted at and verbally abused by him and then take him to this place. He was glad to get there but did not say thankyou. Also, he had been to 2 rehab places before and not succeeded in their programmes, only lasting a few days in these places. He is HIV+ and does not take his medication, homosexual, has lived in the streets, has been shot in the head, fallen twice into the main city drain which is about 10 meters deep (normally people die when they do this), has been burnt but got no sign on his skin of this and has also thrown a brick at a drug trafficker (they would normally kill you for this). Knowing this history and experiencing his nastier side, we still chose to help him because he is so loved by God. He is not a nice person but God´s love in us is bigger than that. It has to be. His rather colourful life story also gives me hope that he is well protected because he is still alive after all he has experienced.
In contrast to that, 2 days ago a lovely lady in this community fell down some steps and died, leaving 3 children. She got no second chance, or third, or fourth......just the one. Sometimes it does not seem fair but that is the reality and contrast of life here. There is a funeral for her in the basement of casa Luzeiro as I write this (someone has just come to our house to borrow a fan to keep the flies off the body).
I heard some teaching this week about Spiritual Warfare. It was very good. One of the things the preacher said was that God will put people in your path....one or 2 at a time, sometimes more....and they are the ones you are to love, take care of because he is entrusting them into your care. More than that we cannot do. Sometimes even that is difficult enough.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
I (Beckie) just wanted to post some of the things I was thinking about and challenged by, when our laptops were stolen.
At first, it was very weird to think that someone had entered our house during the night and I heard nothing (I am now glad that I heard nothing), in not very much time I didn´t worry about someone having been in the house as I realised that his sole intention was to grab something he could use to pay off a debt. It wasn´t to case up the house or to harm us in any way, purely a desperate act.
We also always have worship with the team on Friday mornings, it was great to readjust my focus back onto God and not to worry. However, some of the songs have so much more meaning during these times, e.g "Blessed be your name" (praising God in the good and bad) and "All that I have is yours".
There were a few times when I was quite annoyed by the inconvenience, and one of the things that really bothered me was that he had taken both of the laptops, including the broken one (which maybe we could have used for a few things in an emergency).
God really brought my attention to the verse that speaks about when someone wants to take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. Wow! Jesus says some hard stuff. It was hard enough to be gracious about the loss of one, let alone both. I am thankful to have them back, but I certainly want to learn a lesson about not valuing things too highly, and really taking seriously what Jesus says.
At first, it was very weird to think that someone had entered our house during the night and I heard nothing (I am now glad that I heard nothing), in not very much time I didn´t worry about someone having been in the house as I realised that his sole intention was to grab something he could use to pay off a debt. It wasn´t to case up the house or to harm us in any way, purely a desperate act.
We also always have worship with the team on Friday mornings, it was great to readjust my focus back onto God and not to worry. However, some of the songs have so much more meaning during these times, e.g "Blessed be your name" (praising God in the good and bad) and "All that I have is yours".
There were a few times when I was quite annoyed by the inconvenience, and one of the things that really bothered me was that he had taken both of the laptops, including the broken one (which maybe we could have used for a few things in an emergency).
God really brought my attention to the verse that speaks about when someone wants to take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. Wow! Jesus says some hard stuff. It was hard enough to be gracious about the loss of one, let alone both. I am thankful to have them back, but I certainly want to learn a lesson about not valuing things too highly, and really taking seriously what Jesus says.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Yesterday we had 2 laptops stolen during the night while we were asleep in our house, so when we got up they were missing. By the end of the day the laptops had returned. This involved waiting around, conversing with people who you do not normally want to meet and praying. I´m unwilling to post the details on a blog where everyone in the world can read but it was a strange and interesting day and even as I write this I am unsure what to make of it. What I did hear during the day were 3 testimonies from 3 completely different people as to what they are now doing with their life, several years after spending some time at the Lighthouse (Luzeiro).
1) The first I heard was from a Judo / Ju Jitsu instructor who came to the house to ask if he can use some of our space to hold some classes . He said that he was here 16 years ago and was telling me about how he climbed up the pylon. He also told me about how this place was during his time, without swimming pool, without sports area and with more fruit trees. He is not a Christian.
2) The second was from a drug trafficker who said he was here 14 years ago. Also not a Christian.
3) The last testimony I heard was from a guy who learnt to play guitar here several years ago and now he travels Brazil playing and singing in churches and he also has 3 CDs to his name. He attributes his success to his time at Luzeiro. A Christian.
When seeds are sown into someone´s heart, it is difficult to know what the result will be but the Bible does give us some insight in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Luke 8) about the possible outcomes. In the Western church we seem to be more like the seeds which are sown among the thorns as we worry about so many unnecessary things and produce little or no fruit. But here you can see a complete mixed bag of results in a lot clearer way when you start hearing peoples life stories....at some point they have had some connection with church or Christians but what is the result of this - transformation or nothing or something in-between which also amounts to nothing in the end?
1) The first I heard was from a Judo / Ju Jitsu instructor who came to the house to ask if he can use some of our space to hold some classes . He said that he was here 16 years ago and was telling me about how he climbed up the pylon. He also told me about how this place was during his time, without swimming pool, without sports area and with more fruit trees. He is not a Christian.
2) The second was from a drug trafficker who said he was here 14 years ago. Also not a Christian.
3) The last testimony I heard was from a guy who learnt to play guitar here several years ago and now he travels Brazil playing and singing in churches and he also has 3 CDs to his name. He attributes his success to his time at Luzeiro. A Christian.
When seeds are sown into someone´s heart, it is difficult to know what the result will be but the Bible does give us some insight in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Luke 8) about the possible outcomes. In the Western church we seem to be more like the seeds which are sown among the thorns as we worry about so many unnecessary things and produce little or no fruit. But here you can see a complete mixed bag of results in a lot clearer way when you start hearing peoples life stories....at some point they have had some connection with church or Christians but what is the result of this - transformation or nothing or something in-between which also amounts to nothing in the end?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
I (Beckie), have just returned from carnival in Ouro Preto. I went with a few people from our house here and loads of other people from YWAM bases and Churches to evangelise during carnival.
Carnival is a big party, a celebration and also an excuse to indulge your flesh before lent begins.
What were some of my observations? (I could write a LOT)
Carnival is a big party, a celebration and also an excuse to indulge your flesh before lent begins.
What were some of my observations? (I could write a LOT)
- noise
- rubbish
- devils horns and pitchforks
- people leaning out of windows to look
- shouting
- dancing
- Brazilian JOY
- old poor men collecting cans to recycle
- transvestites
- beer
- loud drums (day and night)
- sweat
- lust in eyes
- bright colours
- drunks
- Catholicism
- young girls inappropriately dressed
- desire to find entertainment somewhere
- beer glasses on necklaces
- street sellers
- REALLY loud drums
- people walking in a daze
- beer
- SO many people
Thursday, February 11, 2010
One thing that Maarten and I (dave) concluded about our work at the end of last year was that, although we prayed with people and shared some of the Bible with them, we wanted to bring Jesus even more to the forefront of what we do. We aim to be more practical in our assistance in this way too.
Yesterday was our first afternoon back in the favela. We started by visiting a dear elderly lady who lives in the most apalling conditions - wooden, single-roomed house (no bathroom), borrowed electricity from a neighbour and it is located near a stream which doubles up as a sewer. Her son was also in the house at the time recovering from being beaten up over a dispute with a woman. He had a swollen jaw but did not look too bad. We were able to encourage them to think bigger than their circumstances dictated, during which her son read Psalm 23 to us and we prayed for them. She has bad health and is unable to do much for herself and her son does not help much either. It is another one of those situations where we find ourselves in need of a solution bigger than ourselves...and there is only one - Jesus.
After this we visited our crippled friend and he was glad to see us after 2 months absence. He seemed quite low and not much had changed for him although there were promises of him learning to read from his mother. He also has not left the area here in our time away so we plan on taking him out in the car some time soon so he can see another part of the city.
Life is so difficult for some people here and it is very easy for them to live defeatist-type lives, unable to look out from where circumstances or choices have left them. Giving hope to these people is so important.
We got given some money to buy a new camera over the Christmas period which we spent in England and it is really good at taking night-time shots. Here´s one of part of the favela at night:
(Click on image for bigger version)
Yesterday was our first afternoon back in the favela. We started by visiting a dear elderly lady who lives in the most apalling conditions - wooden, single-roomed house (no bathroom), borrowed electricity from a neighbour and it is located near a stream which doubles up as a sewer. Her son was also in the house at the time recovering from being beaten up over a dispute with a woman. He had a swollen jaw but did not look too bad. We were able to encourage them to think bigger than their circumstances dictated, during which her son read Psalm 23 to us and we prayed for them. She has bad health and is unable to do much for herself and her son does not help much either. It is another one of those situations where we find ourselves in need of a solution bigger than ourselves...and there is only one - Jesus.
After this we visited our crippled friend and he was glad to see us after 2 months absence. He seemed quite low and not much had changed for him although there were promises of him learning to read from his mother. He also has not left the area here in our time away so we plan on taking him out in the car some time soon so he can see another part of the city.
Life is so difficult for some people here and it is very easy for them to live defeatist-type lives, unable to look out from where circumstances or choices have left them. Giving hope to these people is so important.
We got given some money to buy a new camera over the Christmas period which we spent in England and it is really good at taking night-time shots. Here´s one of part of the favela at night:
(Click on image for bigger version)
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