When the Cat's Away....the Gamba will Play!

It's been an interesting few days here in Rio while Jeff is in the South and I'm here, home alone :)

Four visitors came to our Recreio church on Sunday whom we had recently met while street evangelizing with a short-term team! Pastor Frido is in the south of Brazil with Jeff and it was wonderful to see the body so easily come together and study the Word!

On Sunday, because of high winds, the phone line fell. I can see it laying in the street. I have no home phone and no internet! And so, I haven't been able to update you all on the happenings in the South!

Jeff reported back (via cell phone, PTL!) how sad it is to see so many homes ruined by the water....people are emptying their belongings into the streets into large piles for the garbage collectors to pick up! It's a horrible sight seeing all that garbage and meeting people that have lost everything!

On the positive side, the church has had so many opportunities to share of eternity with Christ, where things won't rust or come to ruin!

Please continue to pray for Brazilians in the south as they clean-up and rebuild after the flooding. Pray for many to come to know Christ through this crisis.

Also, we've acquired an uninvited guest, a Gamba (possum)....and our dog Moses is having a blast teasing it and keeping it up in the trees in our yard!

Serving together,
Di
www.touchglobal.org/brazil

God's Timing is Always the Best!

At the end of August we received our last short-term team for this year.

Keith and John were a great encouragement to us! They knew they were the last of 5 teams and that we were a bit tired, so they went to great lengths to be an encouragement to Jeff and I. They blessed us so beautifully!

We enjoyed what we call here on our ReachGlobal team, a "PRD", a Personal Retreat Day. We each have one 1 day each month. But while Keith and John were here, we enjoyed it together! We worshiped together, studied the Word together (thanks Pastor Keith for the awesome "gate" study from chapter 3 of the book of Nehemiah), spent time alone with the Lord and then came back together and shared deeply with one another of how God was speaking to us.

In addition to this, we had been wanting to visit Rio's newly constructed transit solution: A gondola line running above a collection of favelas known as the Complexo do Alemão (German Complex). It runs along a 2.1-mile route over the neighborhood, transforming the hour-and-a-half trudge to a nearby commuter rail station into a 16-minute sky ride. We didn't know it then, but what good timing God had!

While up at the very top of the line, God blessed us with a divine appointment to share Christ with 3 young men and then meet our brother-in-Christ, Jonathan. Jonathan shared that he is feeling lead to become a missionary, but has struggled with sharing Christ in his own neighborhood. We had unknowingly encouraged him greatly to begin to share more often. He then invited these three youth to his nearby bible-teaching church!

Since John and Keith have left us, the Complexo do Alemão has had several clashes between civilians and police officers. These shootouts are the largest between police and civilians since the community was invaded by peacekeeping forces in November of 2010.

We celebrate God's plan and timing for that day! Three men heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, Jonathan was encouraged to share starting in his own country, and it was a peaceful day for us in this beautiful and far-away land!

In His grip,

Diane

Opportunities to share the Living Water....

In the year 2003, Jeff and I traveled on a short-term mission trip to Blumenau, Brazil. For us, it was the beginning of our call to serve full-time as missionaries here in Brazil. And so, it holds a very special place in our hearts.

We were saddened to learn of the recent intense rains that have once again caused floods in Blumenau and surrounding cities. Since September 8, floods, flash floods and landslides have hit 96 cities in the region and nearly 1 million people have been affected. The State of Santa Catarina went through a similar tragedy in 2008.

As I write this, Jeff is preparing to travel to the south of Brazil with our brother-in-Christ, Pastor Frido. They are taking a supply of rubber boots and gloves for the workers there....but most importantly, waterproof bibles and EvangeCubes!

Please pray for our brothers- and sisters-in-Christ in Santa Catarina. Pray for their energy, strength, perseverance, and many opportunities to share the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ!

In His service,
Diane

For further information from Reach Global on this situation use this link:

Brazil need

Narrow is the road....

Our ReachGlObal Rio City Team is currently involved with coordinating details for a viability study at one of our ministry partners, a recovery farm in Sao Paulo. The hope is that they can raise fish and plants at the farm to become self-sustaining. We recently traveled there to meet with topographers and solicit their expertise in creating a topological map of the farm.

I was excited for this trip, as it meant that I would have some time to listen to the women there, something I always enjoy doing. My heart is always touched by this ministry and I love to be a listening ear. Everyone has a story and everyone wants to be heard and understood.

It was a privilege and honor to this time sit and listen to a full-time missionary who lives at the farm 24/7. Barb (not her real name) had shared her testimony (below) with me a month or so ago on a previous trip to the farm...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For many years she had lived on the streets and was addicted to drugs. Her story of salvation begins the day that she heard the salvation testimony from a woman on the street. This woman had traveled to Sao Paulo on a short-term team and was out street evangelizing. While Barb did not receive Christ that day, she was drawn to this woman and wanted the peace she spoke about. She remembers that it was the beginning of her search for the truth about God and Jesus Christ. She subsequently visited the rescue stage of this ministry in downtown Sao Paulo and went through the 3 stage program: Rescue, Restoration and Reintegration, and ultimately gave her life to the Lord.

A few years later, God called her to serve at this same ministry full-time. She was given the opportunity to travel to Germany with the mission. She looked for this woman to share with her how she had impacted her life. She was saddened to learn that this young woman had died of cancer shortly after returning from that trip to Brazil. However, she looks forward to seeing her again one day in eternity!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And so, our conversation this day centered around her challenges and difficulties in ministering to women in crisis who come to the farm to overcome their addictions and restore their lives.

So many women return to the streets, as it is all they have ever known. So many get pulled back into their past lives of prostitutes and/or drug users. Only a few choose Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives and remain committed to Him. These beautiful women have passed through difficulties that I cannot even begin to understand. But Jesus does. And he offers hope and eternal salvation to those who find that narrow road.

As our team was returning to the city, driving the long, narrow and dusty road back to the main highway to Sao Paulo, it was a perfect word picture for me from God's Word..

Matthew 7:13 & 14 says,“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Please pray for Barb. Pray she can stay strong to minister in a difficult and intense ministry. Pray she has those times of rest to sit at His feet and soak up the Word. Most importantly, pray that through her efforts, many will find the narrow road that leads to life.

Serving together,

Diane