On a journey...

I opened my eyes, and in the corner one of my friends had her hand on the head of a little girl. She was probably 4 or 5 years old. As my friend prayed for her, the little girl’s head was bowed and hand stretched out. It was a beautiful picture of Jesus encountering the little ones in His presence. Encountering a little girl who is full of joy and life and who loves to shout to her friends from the balcony of the prayer room. And yet the prayer room means more to her than simply hanging out with people who treat her well. The prayer room also represents a place where people love God as they love her. It’s the perfect place for a prayer house to be located; in the midst of a community where children are so in need of love and encouragement. And what better place to teach them the way they should go. As we were leaving the prayer house, having asked for God’s presence to bring transformation to a community full of violence, we greeted several ones that we passed along the

We had a funny moment yesterday. Sitting together with a group of friends, suddenly the girl next to me points out that there is a flock (or is it herd?) of cows leisurely strolling in through the gate and coming into the property. A random trail of thoughts passed through my mind including, “that’s interesting... maybe the local cow-herder has an agreement that he can bring the cows in to graze on the football field...” However, my thoughts were quickly interrupted (and proven wrong) by a couple of the guys jumping out of their chairs when they realized what was happening and running outside to shoo the cows back out using palm branches. I was amazed at the speed of their reaction (the guys, not the cows- they seemed in no hurry to leave, although they did eventually make their way out the gate again). It was what you could call and amusing interruption.

One in Amsterdam. One in Fortaleza. Two interactions which marked my life; one full of hope and new life. The other void of future and dreams. I was driving back from the city centre last after praying with a team that was heading out to evangelise on the beach front. Driving along my thoughts wandered to two beautiful women I’ve had the privilege to get to know on my journey in ministry, and how meeting with them on the beach front meant such different things. The first was Anna . When I first got to know her she was a bubbly 12-soon-to-be-13 year old who came to our open house for street children in Fortaleza around 2003. She quickly connected with us, and we celebrated her 13 th birthday during one of our times. A few months later I remember the same girl come to our door in quite a different state. Her hair bleached blond and tangled, and her body bruised. I remember sitting in the office listening to her story of finding herself in a taxi on her way to a client, decidi

It’s only been a week since I got here, and yet it feels like so much time has gone by. I have gotten into a nice rhythm and am (mostly) managing to not stress. I get up early in the morning and sit outside and get to feel the sun slowly warm up the air. Although rainy season arrived with me, so some mornings it’s more a matter of not getting drenched as I walk between buildings here on base. I have drunk maracujá juice (passion fruit), eaten mousse de limão (lemon mousse), eaten açaí na tigela com granola e banana (açai pulp with granola and banana)- to which my friend after eating it for the first time exclaimed: “it’s...it’s like.. chocolate!!!... I mean, not like chocolate, but good like chocolate.” We laughed. I have braved driving in Brazilian traffic (this city has been at the top of the list of worst traffic in Brazil for 10 years in a row someone said the other day) and driven to the shopping centre and shopped at Lojas Americanas. I have been to the beach.... oh, how