Let Light Shine Out of Darkness

Lacey, Leah, Jeff and I are preparing to leave tomorrow to serve at CENA which is located in crackland in downtown Sao Paulo.  

CENA is a beautiful, intense and effective ministry that reaches out to the homeless, children of the street, prostitutes and transvestite prostitutes.

Please pray that God continues using Joao Carlos and all of the missionaries there to impact the kingdom of God!  Pray for their continued effectiveness and safety!

Pray that we are able to encourage them while we are there and that God gives us opportunities to gain souls for Christ!

Privileged to serve in the name of Jesus,

Diane and Jeff

 2 Corinthians 4

Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ² Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
¹³ It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^[b] Since we have that same spirit of^[c] faith, we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. ¹⁵ All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

God Didn't Call Us To Hear the Gospel...He Called us To Hear and SHARE the Gospel!

 Silvania with a bible I had given her 3 or so years ago

 Lacey, Tabitha, Diane and Cristian

This afternoon Leah, Lacey and I went out into a nearby neighborhood to share the gospel of Christ.

Our first encounter was with Silvania who recognized me from 3 or so years ago.  She remembered that I had given her a bible and she went to the back room of the restaurant and got it.  She keeps it in her purse.  I had written a few words of encouragement in the bible and signed it.  It was awesome to see that she still has it and is reading it!  She told me she is always reading it. She doesn't attend a church.

We gave her a map to CELivre Recreio and invited her to church.  Pray she comes!

Our next encounter was with Christian who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  I shared the gospel with him, but he said he had never heard the rest of the story after Christ was crucified!  He had never heard that Christ rose from the dead and conquered death, and that Christ is returning, but he attends a church here in Rio!

His mother, Fernanda, has cancer, as well, and so Leah, Lacey and I prayed for her and Christian.

The other worker in the store, Tabitha, said she believes in God but not in Jesus.  We gave Christian and Tabitha both maps to CELivre and invited them to church!

Please join us in praying for Silvania, Christian, Fernanda, and Tabitha!

Blessings,

Diane

Matthew 4:19, "And He said unto them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Today is a beautiful day for fishing...for men!

Pray for us this afternoon as we go out onto the streets in Rio de Janeiro in this 104 degrees heat with Caju church!

Pray for fruit that remains!

Fishing where Jesus would fish,

Diane and Jeff :)

Always Prepared to Share the Hope of Christ!

Leah, Lacey and I recently needed to take a taxi to a children's program where we taught about the fruit of the spirit.

On the way there, I met Rodrigo, our taxi driver, for the 2nd time.  He had once given Jeff and I a ride to the airport and he remembered me!

Rodrigo is married to Fernanda, a doctor, and they have a 3 year old son named Joao Arthur.  Rodrigo went to church with his mother when he was a child, but doesn't attend one now.

The plan was for us to follow Jeff in our car and so, as we waited for the rest of our group, I was able to share the gospel of Jesus with him using an Evangecube.

 I invited Rodrigo and his family to our local church he knew where it is.  Pray that some day soon they come and join us!

Please pray that salvation comes to Rodrigo, Fernanda and Joao!

Sharing the message of hope,

Diane

Psalm 34:8; "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him."

Yesterday, without me knowing it, Leah snapped this picture at "Projeto Amar" where we partner with Atuacao Voluntaria.

This little guy was visiting this children's program for the first time and wouldn't stop covering his face most the day with his arm because he was bashful!

When he finally sat down and tasted the delicious fruit, he grinned from ear to ear!  For the rest of the day he was so joyful and content!

This picture reminded me of how we gently tell unbelievers who Christ is, what he did for them on the cross and we want them to taste and see that He is good!

Pray that Ian returns to Projeto Amar, that he becomes a Christ follower to know the joy that God offers those who take refuge in Him.

Pointing to the one and only true hero, Jesus Christ,


Diane and Jeff

Setting the Captives Free from Slavery...

 Diane, Nelci, Lacey and Leah

Last Saturday our Reach Global female missionaries here in Rio were blessed to hear the testimony of Nelci, a wonderful sister-in-Christ from Caju who came out of a life of prostitution in a prostitution zone here in Rio called Vila Mimosa.

We have begun to work together with Exodus Cry in the area of human trafficking and have spent a lot of time praying for God to raise up Brazilians to lead this massive project in preparation for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016.

Nelci is a huge answer to prayer because she came out of the darkness of prostitution and she has passion to help other women and children leave this type of modern day slavery.

Nelci was first sexually abused at the age of 6 by a man who worked for her father.  She was then sexually abused by family members.  After the sexual abuse she suffered, it was not so difficult for her to move into prostitution when she was older in order to financially support her two young sons---she felt she had no other choice. To paraphrase one line from the film, "Nefarious",  "We (the pimps) have to thank the fathers and family members who abused these girls because it prepares them for their lives in prostitution".

Nelci has invited us to return to Vila Mimosa soon to meet some of the prostitutes she once worked with and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray for us as we strive to set the captives free...but especially pray for those being held captive!

We cannot fight this battle alone!  We need you!!!

Diane and Jeff

Combating the Destroyer of Lives

We have been taking the film, "Nefarious" a documentary trilogy, to many different churches here in Rio and Cabo Frio to raise up awareness to fight against modern day sex slavery.  

Nefarious is a documentary filmed by Benjamin Nolot, founder and president of Exodus Cry, a ministry of International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

One recent evening at a screening we were blessed to run into Simone!  She is a beautiful sister-in-Christ that has come out of extreme darkness to become a Christ follower.  The road of recovery for Simone has not been an easy one.  We love her dearly and pray for her often!   Please join us in praying for her!

With the World Cup and Olympics coming to Rio soon we will have many opportunities to take the message of Christ to a lost world.

Federal legislators are currently considering a reform of the penal code that would reduce the age of sexual consent in existing law from 14 to 12 years of age!

Our desire is to raise up an army of believers to join together to pray, share the precious message of Christ out in the streets and set the captives free!

Last evening while pre-screening the film with a local pastor and his wife, we communicated our desire that this project, "projeto liberdade", be Brazilian-led.  

The wife of this pastor agreed, but added how important it was to have foreigners walk alongside as well, in light of the fact that Brazilians have a great respect for Americans and it will be much more effective if we fight this fight together!

Please pray for us as we work together here to combat the enemy, the destroyer of lives.

Privileged to serve with our Brazilian Christ followers,

Diane and Jeff

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?!!!!

Two days ago while in Santa Teresa, Jeff was bitten by a street dog :(

We spent many hours at the public hospital and finally left at 5 a.m.  The private hospitals here in Rio don't carry the vaccine for rabies and so we had the sad experience of going to a public free hospital.

Jeff had 5 shots and will now have another 4 sets of shots (24 more shots). 

Please continue to pray for our safety as we are constantly proclaiming Christ here out in the streets.

Blessed to be here in the name of Jesus,

Diane and Jeff

Inviting ALL to the Wedding Banquet of Christ!

Saturday we went out to the streets to evangelize with Caju church in a different neighborhood in the city called Santa Teresa.

Leigh Mackenzie gave her testimony of when she came to Christ at the home of a Brazilian family with a four-month old baby.  What was sooo beautiful about her testimony is that she came to Christ around the time when her son, Julian, was born.  It fit in so beautifully while visiting this family with a small baby!

God is good----ALL THE TIME!

Privileged to be in Rio,

Diane and Jeff

There's nothing better than holding a precious baby! In 4 weeks I'll be able to hold our granddaughter, Marissa, as we'll be stateside for a month!

This young mother and her husband have been in a small group and came to the Caju church for the 2nd time last Sunday!

Pray for salvation to come to their whole household!

Diane and Jeff

The Body Strengthening the Body

One of the reasons that God has brought us to Brazil is to share the good news with a people group that we absolutely love----Brazilians....or so we thought!  One particular day last week, God planned another sort of conversation for us!

While out and about in the city with our visiting friends from Illinois, I attempted to start a spiritual conversation with a man named Francisco.  Francisco told me that he had walked away from his faith and his "religion" and that he really didn't have time anymore for Christ.  He clearly didn't want to talk to me about Jesus.

I walked away with a heavy heart feeling very sad for Francisco and caught up with my husband, Jeff.

Jeff had met a young man named Alvin who DID want to talk about Christ!  Alvin is already a believer, and is taking the next six months to travel to various countries in the world.

We spent the next several hours with Alvin.  Alvin is from Indonesia and went to school in New York.  He comes from a christian family and shared his testimony with us of how he came to be a Christ follower 7 years ago.

He also shared, however, that he has gotten a bit weak in his faith.  I shared the gospel with him using the Evangecube and then he shared it back with us in indonesian and then again in English.  He was quite taken with the cube and so we gave it to him and he was thrilled!  He couldn't wait to take it home that night to share it with his unbelieving Brazilian friend that he is staying with!

He told us that it was really good to practice with the cube because it reminded him of who he is in Christ at a time in his life that he was weak!  God brought the family of Christ into this young man's life to strengthen him as he was traveling alone in Brazil!

Pray that Alvin goes back to Indonesia, New York and wherever else in the world he travels with the Gospel of Christ!

Celebrating a brother strengthened in his faith,

Diane and Jeff

Let us introduce you to Leigh, Chris, Julian, Isabela and Scout!

Thursday we will receive our friends, brother- and sister-in-Christ, Leigh and Christopher, here in Rio!

God has placed on their hearts the desire to serve Him someday, somewhere in the world, as full-time overseas missionaries, and we will be blessed to show them His work here in Rio!

Christopher and Leigh are from Illinois and have 2 beautiful children, Julian and Isabella, and one four-legged cutie named "Scout".

Please pray with us for God's clear direction as they take this huge step of faith and come to Rio this week on a vision trip!

1 Thessalonians 5:24, "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it".

Blessings,

Diane and Jeff

I am the vine; you are the branches....

Nothing is more beautiful than a new life in Christ!  Christ tells us that when we ask it will be done....

The Word says, "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."  John 15:4-8

Several years ago we met Getulio and had the privilege to share the gospel with him.  We see him several times a year and enjoy his friendship!

Getulio moved to Rio for work with his parents 46 years ago.  His father has passed away now and his mother has returned to her home in the north.  He lives alone and works almost every day.  Last week we saw him again and brought him a framed photo we had taken a few years ago with him and his horse chariot, Hannah, Jeff and I.

As we work to further God's kingdom here in Brazil, we ask you to pray for Getulio.  That he would trust in Christ alone.

Always prepared to share of the hope we have in Christ,

Diane and Jeff

...Oh the wonderful Cross Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live...

God blesses us daily here in Rio with encounters and conversations with people about Jesus Christ!

Recently, we had the opportunity to further our relationship with Luanna, a student at a school in downtown Rio.  Twice a day she rides a ferryboat to and from her school in downtown Rio de Janeiro from her home on the Island of Paqueta.  We've now been blessed to meet her mom, Solange and her sister, Vitoria.

We met Luanna and her classmates on the ferryboat en route to Paqueta, an island here in the Guanabara Bay last June and I shared the message of salvation with them using the Evangecube. 

Luanna is studying hard and some day wants to be a biologist.  Her mother is retired and worked for the Brazilian newspaper, Globo.

Pray that we would be able to further these relationships and that one day Luanna, Vitoria and Solange proclaim Christ as their Lord and Savior!

Pointing to the one, true hero---Jesus Christ!

Diane and Jeff