Thursday 14 May 2009
City life.
As I strolled along Monsenhor Tabosa on my way to meet Juliana at Dragão do Mar, I saw a man sleeping on the other side of the road. It was one of the parts where there are no shops, just this concrete building, and this man had put down his cardboard and was sleeping on top of it. He appeared to be at peace, but I am sure that although sleeping, his senses were alert. Alert to those who would want to mess with him, the police, other street people…there is no such thing as restful sleep when you’re on the streets. I kept walking with my mind and heart full of memories. I don’t know this particular man, but I know so many others who have made the streets their home, and I was remembering some of their stories and conversations we’d had. It made me wonder if they also were asleep somewhere in the city on a piece of cardboard.
Walking home again later on in the evening I passed a street corner where a prostitute was getting ready for a working night. With her face covered in makeup and wearing a top that barely covering anything, she was posing, hoping to attract customers. I wonder what she was feeling. I wonder if there was any hope left in her. As we walked past I looked at her eyes, and the quick glance I got revealed no life. Her gaze was empty. What is her story? How did she end up on that street corner? What did she want to be when she was a little girl? Does she know there’s a God who loves her? These are the questions I am left with, and I know she is only one of many.
Friday 15 May 2009
Smiles and tears.
Today has been a day of feeling many different emotions. This morning I went to see the house in the city centre on Princesa Isabel, 661. It was strange to go into the project where I used to go 5 days a week to work for many many years. It’s really worn down, but not as bad as I had expected. It’s hard to maintain it well when no-one is living here. I got there to find Michiel and 3 of the boys form the farm hard at work cleaning as a team from Crato was joining them for lunch and they wanted to receive them well. Friday is the street work day for the project and it’s pretty amazing to now see Paulo, Hemerson and Mardônio all participate in this work. No longer as boys on the streets, but as those whose lives are living proof of what Jesus can do!
Since I was already in the area, I popped over to the apartment block I used to live in on the corner to day hi to the doorman. It was the same one as always, Auterir, and he was pleased to see me. He told me my flat is still available, that since I left no-one has moved into it. I’m not surprised really as it’s really expensive, and the price keeps going up. It was fun to see him again, and he told me that Sr. Francisco, the other doorman, was still there also. It’s funny how even though I was gone for 2 years, things have remained pretty much the same.
Lourdes, the lady at the bodega (little kiosk) next to the project is still there, but has become very skinny. I asked her why and she told me she’d been “dead” for 8 days…I imagine she was in a coma or something. Her story was that she was in hospital and when she woke up again she was at home. Although very thin, she seemed to be doing ok, and they continue to sell the same things as always.
In Oitão Preto I walked around with Andrew who heads up the SHINE project. One of the highlights was to visit one family where the mother used to drink and be really angry and violent. I hardly recognised her when I saw her. She has totally changed. Her face has such a peace on it and she is shining. Why? Because she’s now walking with Jesus. It was so funny to go into her house, and where we before would pray and it would be us asking if we could, she now got out her Bibles and asked us to pray and share a bit from the Word. The joy in her countenance and the way she’d speak about her son, who is really going in the wrong direction, shows there is a real change in her. It made me so happy! I am so grateful for what God has done and for His faithful servants in that place.
After a lovely lunch we headed back to the community to do discipleship in the surf-school that is run there. This guy who is a surf-champion runs a school for the kids in the community where he teaches them to surf, but also has discipleship as part of it. Jesus transformed his life, and so he knows the value of including Jesus in the work with the children. It was great to be there and the kids are great also.
The next activity on the agenda was street work at Beira Mar. I got the 52 topic from LesteOeste to the Texaco Petrol Station on Abolição, and walked down to Beira Mar. The team from the farm hadn’t arrived yet, so I sat down on one of the concrete benches opposite McDonald’s to wait. A man came and sat down next to me, asking me where the others were. I said I was waiting for them to come, to which he commented that it was a bit dangerous for me to be there on my own. I responded that I didn’t think so because everyone there knows the project and it would be fine. He agreed with me and said he’s known me for over 5 years. I know I’ve seen him before, but never really talked to him that much, I think. I asked him if any of the kids I know were around, and they weren’t. A few boys and girls came over to us, and I ended up talking to this girl, L., whom I didn’t know. She was very open to chat and it turns out she’s just started to come to the streets. We had a really good conversation and we ended up sitting down a bit away from the others to pray. As I prayed for her, her eyes were filled with tears and she was crying. Her guard was let down and she let God touch her heart. She said she’d been a Christian, but was backslidden. We talked about forgiveness and life and Jesus, and she said she wanted to get back to God. It was now her turn to pray, and she uttered a few phrases as she cried. She said she was reminded of a song about asking Jesus to come in and have fellowship and change her life, and so I encouraged her to sing the song as a prayer to Him. She did, crying, and when she was done I could see that something had changed. I don’t know if she will go home or what direction she will choose to go in, but I will remember her and pray for her. She is only 14 and isn’t (yet) involved in prostitution. Her eyes still have life in them, and I pray they continue to have life in them!
By the time I was talking to L. the team from the farm had arrived and it was really touching and powerful to see especially Mardônio and Paulo there. Mardônio came over to me and pointed to McDonalds; “that’s where you used to find me and talk to me”, he said. As I was talking to L., he’d commented to one of the other workers that that’s what I used to do with him. It moves my heart to see what God has done in his life. It’s really powerful. This boy who had no hope is now a young man full of hope, who is going back to the place where he was so lost to bring Jesus to those in the same situation he was in.
As we were leaving the streets I gave the boys hugs. But not because I was leaving them on the streets, they are no longer street-boys, but because they were going back to the farm and I was heading back to Andrew and Claudia’s. God does miracles!
On Monday it’s the national day for the fight against sexual exploitation of children and adolescents here in Brazil, and so Fabiano and I drove over to Curumins to get t-shirts and materials for those from “My Father’s House” who will be a part of the campaign. As I walked into the room with the materials I saw Marcia from Curumins and Marcos who used to work for Pequeno Nazareno. It was very surreal to see them again. They are the same, and seem to continue with the same heart and same passion for the cause of children and adolescents in this city. I don’t know if they now think I’m back working with the project or not, there wasn’t really time to chat, but it was fun to see them again, and brought back good memories of the days I was involved in NUCLEO, going to meetings and being light amongst those who pour out their lives for children in need in this city.
City life.
As I strolled along Monsenhor Tabosa on my way to meet Juliana at Dragão do Mar, I saw a man sleeping on the other side of the road. It was one of the parts where there are no shops, just this concrete building, and this man had put down his cardboard and was sleeping on top of it. He appeared to be at peace, but I am sure that although sleeping, his senses were alert. Alert to those who would want to mess with him, the police, other street people…there is no such thing as restful sleep when you’re on the streets. I kept walking with my mind and heart full of memories. I don’t know this particular man, but I know so many others who have made the streets their home, and I was remembering some of their stories and conversations we’d had. It made me wonder if they also were asleep somewhere in the city on a piece of cardboard.
Walking home again later on in the evening I passed a street corner where a prostitute was getting ready for a working night. With her face covered in makeup and wearing a top that barely covering anything, she was posing, hoping to attract customers. I wonder what she was feeling. I wonder if there was any hope left in her. As we walked past I looked at her eyes, and the quick glance I got revealed no life. Her gaze was empty. What is her story? How did she end up on that street corner? What did she want to be when she was a little girl? Does she know there’s a God who loves her? These are the questions I am left with, and I know she is only one of many.
Friday 15 May 2009
Smiles and tears.
Today has been a day of feeling many different emotions. This morning I went to see the house in the city centre on Princesa Isabel, 661. It was strange to go into the project where I used to go 5 days a week to work for many many years. It’s really worn down, but not as bad as I had expected. It’s hard to maintain it well when no-one is living here. I got there to find Michiel and 3 of the boys form the farm hard at work cleaning as a team from Crato was joining them for lunch and they wanted to receive them well. Friday is the street work day for the project and it’s pretty amazing to now see Paulo, Hemerson and Mardônio all participate in this work. No longer as boys on the streets, but as those whose lives are living proof of what Jesus can do!
Since I was already in the area, I popped over to the apartment block I used to live in on the corner to day hi to the doorman. It was the same one as always, Auterir, and he was pleased to see me. He told me my flat is still available, that since I left no-one has moved into it. I’m not surprised really as it’s really expensive, and the price keeps going up. It was fun to see him again, and he told me that Sr. Francisco, the other doorman, was still there also. It’s funny how even though I was gone for 2 years, things have remained pretty much the same.
Lourdes, the lady at the bodega (little kiosk) next to the project is still there, but has become very skinny. I asked her why and she told me she’d been “dead” for 8 days…I imagine she was in a coma or something. Her story was that she was in hospital and when she woke up again she was at home. Although very thin, she seemed to be doing ok, and they continue to sell the same things as always.
In Oitão Preto I walked around with Andrew who heads up the SHINE project. One of the highlights was to visit one family where the mother used to drink and be really angry and violent. I hardly recognised her when I saw her. She has totally changed. Her face has such a peace on it and she is shining. Why? Because she’s now walking with Jesus. It was so funny to go into her house, and where we before would pray and it would be us asking if we could, she now got out her Bibles and asked us to pray and share a bit from the Word. The joy in her countenance and the way she’d speak about her son, who is really going in the wrong direction, shows there is a real change in her. It made me so happy! I am so grateful for what God has done and for His faithful servants in that place.
After a lovely lunch we headed back to the community to do discipleship in the surf-school that is run there. This guy who is a surf-champion runs a school for the kids in the community where he teaches them to surf, but also has discipleship as part of it. Jesus transformed his life, and so he knows the value of including Jesus in the work with the children. It was great to be there and the kids are great also.
The next activity on the agenda was street work at Beira Mar. I got the 52 topic from LesteOeste to the Texaco Petrol Station on Abolição, and walked down to Beira Mar. The team from the farm hadn’t arrived yet, so I sat down on one of the concrete benches opposite McDonald’s to wait. A man came and sat down next to me, asking me where the others were. I said I was waiting for them to come, to which he commented that it was a bit dangerous for me to be there on my own. I responded that I didn’t think so because everyone there knows the project and it would be fine. He agreed with me and said he’s known me for over 5 years. I know I’ve seen him before, but never really talked to him that much, I think. I asked him if any of the kids I know were around, and they weren’t. A few boys and girls came over to us, and I ended up talking to this girl, L., whom I didn’t know. She was very open to chat and it turns out she’s just started to come to the streets. We had a really good conversation and we ended up sitting down a bit away from the others to pray. As I prayed for her, her eyes were filled with tears and she was crying. Her guard was let down and she let God touch her heart. She said she’d been a Christian, but was backslidden. We talked about forgiveness and life and Jesus, and she said she wanted to get back to God. It was now her turn to pray, and she uttered a few phrases as she cried. She said she was reminded of a song about asking Jesus to come in and have fellowship and change her life, and so I encouraged her to sing the song as a prayer to Him. She did, crying, and when she was done I could see that something had changed. I don’t know if she will go home or what direction she will choose to go in, but I will remember her and pray for her. She is only 14 and isn’t (yet) involved in prostitution. Her eyes still have life in them, and I pray they continue to have life in them!
By the time I was talking to L. the team from the farm had arrived and it was really touching and powerful to see especially Mardônio and Paulo there. Mardônio came over to me and pointed to McDonalds; “that’s where you used to find me and talk to me”, he said. As I was talking to L., he’d commented to one of the other workers that that’s what I used to do with him. It moves my heart to see what God has done in his life. It’s really powerful. This boy who had no hope is now a young man full of hope, who is going back to the place where he was so lost to bring Jesus to those in the same situation he was in.
As we were leaving the streets I gave the boys hugs. But not because I was leaving them on the streets, they are no longer street-boys, but because they were going back to the farm and I was heading back to Andrew and Claudia’s. God does miracles!
On Monday it’s the national day for the fight against sexual exploitation of children and adolescents here in Brazil, and so Fabiano and I drove over to Curumins to get t-shirts and materials for those from “My Father’s House” who will be a part of the campaign. As I walked into the room with the materials I saw Marcia from Curumins and Marcos who used to work for Pequeno Nazareno. It was very surreal to see them again. They are the same, and seem to continue with the same heart and same passion for the cause of children and adolescents in this city. I don’t know if they now think I’m back working with the project or not, there wasn’t really time to chat, but it was fun to see them again, and brought back good memories of the days I was involved in NUCLEO, going to meetings and being light amongst those who pour out their lives for children in need in this city.
That concludes the events of this day so far. I plan to go down to look around the Beira Mar marked a bit later on. Andrew and Claudia live really close and it’s a nice evening walk to go over there. Tomorrow is a full day of kids work in the community followed by Brazilian BBQ in the evening. I can’t believe that I only have a few days left…