Praying for Fruit that REMAINS!!!!

 Artwork by Lacey Anderson, a ReachGlobal 6-month Intern

Hanging on the wall in the dining room of the mission house is a list of people with which we have had "divine" appointments the last 3 weeks.  The list grows daily, as we are out and about in Rio with our six TREK7 short-term missionaries, traveling to and from Vila Mimosa and active serving the Lord in various ways.  For all the people we meet and have a spiritual conversation, we are praying for seeds planted and ultimately, fruit that remains!

Today was an incredible day!  We were greatly encouraged to have 2 sisters- and 1 Brazilian brother-in-Christ travel with our TREK7 group from Recreio to Vila Mimosa!  It takes us 2 hours to arrive there, as we take 2 buses and the metro and then walk the rest of the way.  That gives us wonderful "extra" time to speak to a lot of people en route and to share about the hope that we have in Jesus Christ!

Neide and Regina at the Prayer/Worship Room in Vila Mimosa

Today on the bus ride there, I sat next to a Brazilian woman and began a conversation with her.  We had a fun and meaningful conversation and I shared the gospel with her.  She is an anthropologist and doesn't have time in her life for God.  I invited her to church and gave her the EvangeCube to keep to remind her to think about making a decision for Christ.  This highly-educated, successful woman began to cry!  The gospel message had touched her heart!  I left Amanda with my phone number, e-mail address and map to the church.  Please pray with me that she contacts me or visits church!  Pray that she becomes a Christ follower!  Pray for fruit that remains!

After our time in worship at the Prayer and Worship room at Vila Mimosa, Jeff felt the Holy Spirit prompting us to stay past our planned time, and so we did.....and God had a wonderful plan!  I'm so glad he listened to the Holy Spirit!

While making our way back to the metro, a  woman recognized me from last week and asked if we could help her.  She is 7 months pregnant and still "working" on the streets!  After speaking with her for a while, I invited her to the Prayer and Worship room.  There, we spoke more and I prayed for her.  She was given food and baby clothes.  The Brazilian church is connecting her with people that can further minister to her.

Please pray for effective ministry and fruit that remains as we use ALL opportunities during the World Cup to share the good news of Jesus Christ!

Celebrating Christ,

Diane and Jeff

May God be Glorified!!!

Body-of-Christ from Caju

Jeff, John and I left the house early to go to the evening service in Caju last night in order to avoid heavy traffic.  Traffic has been HORRIFIC here in Rio lately as the city is preparing for the World Cup and Olympic Games.

We were blessed to not get stuck in a "engarrafamento" (traffic jam) and arrived an hour early in Caju.  We decided that since John had already been here 3 days, he really should try a famous "Bobs" ovomaltine milkshake---one of our favorite Brazilian treats---and so we stopped by at "Bob's", a fast food restaurant here.

God had already been at work, as he usually is, orchestrating an opportunity for us to share the gospel with a young man named Igor.  Igor was excited to have the opportunity to exercise his English language skills with John.  I invited him, if he had a break, to sit down and chat with us while we enjoyed our milkshakes.

When he asked us what we were doing in Brazil, we proceeded to tell him a little bit about the time we'll spend these next 32 days praying and worshiping God in Vila Mimosa.  We asked him if he was familiar with Vila Mimosa and he boldly replied that he did know it well, for he is a client there in this well-known red-light district.

We spent some time talking about the signs we're seeing in the world and that we believe that Jesus is preparing to return soon.  He said his life was too busy and he really had no time for Jesus.  

We shared the gospel with him using the Evange Cube and left it with him as a gift to remind him to consider where he'll spend eternity.  He was delighted to receive it and said that he would think about the things we had shared.  We invited him to the Caju church across the highway and he said he knew where it was.  He hugged all three of us and thanked us profusely!

...mission accomplished!  One more valuable life, created in the image of God, that heard the true gospel message, in love and respect.  

We were given a chance to share Christ and we were obedient.   It's all up to the Holy Spirit.  I am thrilled when God gives us an opportunity to share Christ!  It doesn't matter if you're rejected...God is glorified...it's a win/win situation....EVERY TIME!


1 Peter 4:14, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified."

Privileged to share Christ,

Diane and Jeff

The Cross---Our TRUE Calling!

What a blessing it is to be a missionary in the beautiful country of Brazil.  We have such a love for Brazilians and this wonderful culture!  These last 8-1/2 years we have seen God do some amazing things here on the field!  So many miracles…

If you would have asked us 10 years ago if we’d be involved in some of the things we’re involved with ministry-wise today, we might have laughed in unbelief!  But NOTHING is impossible with God!  He has given us amazing ministry opportunities and even more opportunities to share the great love of His son Jesus and the price he paid for each of us on the cross!

We’ve always enjoyed opening up our lives, home and ministries that we’re involved with and receiving people who want to come and have an overseas missions experience here in Brazil.  We do so because we’ve seen God use many of the teams and individuals that come.  As well, we’ve seen them impacted greatly!

This morning, we received a brother-in-Christ to serve with us for 7 weeks.  Pray for him!  It won’t be easy and he will have feelings of loneliness.  Usually when people come they begin to feel alone.  They have left all that is familiar---country, home, language, family and work.  They begin to learn Portuguese and realize how difficult this beautiful language is!

We wish we could make it easier.  God doesn’t promise us “easy” though….does he?   He promises us that He will be with us through it all!  

God’s calling on our lives to come to Brazil years ago started us on a challenging, yet invigorating journey.  From the minute we said yes to God's call to missions, life suddenly got hard.  This was difficult to believe!  If we were following God’s plan and the leading of the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t pursuing our God-inspired call have been easy?

NO---our calling was never meant to be easy!  Many men and women in the bible with great Christian faith experienced great difficulties.  God told Abraham to go to a land he wouldn’t know until God told him while waiting more than 20 years for God to fulfill the promise of a son. Noah was told to build an ark, put two of every animal on it and save the last of humanity before a flood would destroy the whole earth.  Queen Esther risked her life and the lives of her people when confronting King Xerxes.

When we do great things in the name of God, we can be sure that while His ways will always be the best, they definitely won’t be the easiest.  We need to remember that although we feel like it, we are never alone!

God told Joshua He was with him right before Joshua lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Maybe because being called by God can feel like we are alone?

When we answer God’s call, well-meaning people don’t always understand our specific calling, and that can cause some people (even friends) to turn away. 

God’s voice led Abraham outside his comfort zone of a land he knew. Even Sarah didn’t understand the weight of God’s promise on their lives.

God’s calling can set us apart, whether for a moment or an extended season.  In the same way that God promised Joshua he would never leave him nor forsake him, he makes us that same promise. We have been given the Holy Spirit with us and within us. God’s Spirit instructs, guides, comforts and testifies that we are heirs to God’s kingdom.

If there are moments on your journey that you feel alone while following God’s calling, remember you have the power of the Holy Spirit in you and with you. You are not alone.

A call from God maybe difficult at times and may require more than we ever expected.  But, we can trust in God’s character. God is faithful to provide ALL we need!

We need to remember as well that the calling is not the ministry.  The calling was in the work already done on the cross!  Philippians 3:13 says, “But I press on to take hold of that for which Jesus took hold of me”.  The calling God has given each one of us won’t always be easy but we can be encouraged that our TRUE calling has always been and will always be at the cross!

Pressing on,

Diane and Jeff

My Friend, Nelci----a Life Transformed by Christ!

Jeff and I have had a wonderful day today celebrating Christ here in Rio.  This morning, with our fellow Christ followers at CELivre Recreio (our local EF church) and this evening, with the body-of-Christ in Caju at Caju Life church.

I spoke to my dear friend, Nelci, this evening after the service at Caju Life Church and I want to share about her transformed life in Christ.  She was glowing with the joy of the Lord!

Two years ago, I was blessed to be at a church retreat with Caju Life church where I met and began a wonderful friendship with Nelci.

Nelci's life transformation has been incredible for me to watch over these last two years that we've been friends.  She recently began discipling new believers in Christ and is always looking for opportunities to share Christ and serve Him.  

Her eyes light up when she speaks of Christ and His love, and she's making a huge impact on her ex-husband, two sons and husband through her walk with Christ, just to name a few...

This week, her ex-husband will begin treatment for chemical dependency at a christian recovery house, through connections with Caju Life church.  She has been praying for him through the years and when he finally hit rock bottom, Nelci directed him to this recovery program and encouraged his family to stand with him through it all.

Nelci's two sons have seen the life transformation in their mom and are beginning to make great, godly choices in their lives, as well!

Recently, after our ReachGlobal City Team traveled around Rio to various churches showing the documentary, "Nefarious", and raising awareness of human trafficking here in Brazil, Nelci approached me and wanted to help in our World Cup efforts to combat this atrocity.

The area that we will be working in, Vila Mimosa, Rio's oldest and largest red light district, was once Nelci's place of work.  She supported herself and her two small children by selling her body for sex.

She'll now return with us, years later, to Vila Mimosa for completely different reasons.  Her life has been totally transformed by Christ and her heart's desire is to save girls that are believing satan's lie that there are no other options for them to make money.

Most importantly, however, she desires to share about the hope that she now has in Christ and how they, too, can have the assurance of salvation.

Nelci's excited, too, about speaking with our TREK7 missionaries and sharing her story of how Christ has transformed her life and her life now in the body-of-Christ!

Amazed by His miracles daily,

Diane and Jeff