Our mission trip was to a suburb of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil--a metropolis of 11 million. Rio and its suburbs are a contrast in classes of people. Some very rich, millions very poor--not many in between. Most of the people we ministered to were poor by American standards.
He was sitting out by the little quiet street just watching any activity that might be going on. We spoke to him and walked by at first but were drawn back to him. We went back and told him about Jesus and asked him if he was sure he would go to heaven when he died. He was not sure and wanted to pray with us but asked if he would have to resign from his religion--We told him no because his church is basically of the Christian faith. He had not completely understood how to receive salvation.
If you look really closely you can see a tear under this eighty-seven year old eye--and one in the inner corner of my right eye. We both shed quite a few tears--tears of utter joy and happiness. The feeling of leading someone to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is the ultimate happiness for me.
This beautiful young couple was working out in front of their home. They both prayed to receive Christ. Thank you, Lord! You will notice bars on the front of these homes. That is a way of life there. The pastor where we served had a 10 to 12 foot stone wall with iron gates around his residence. Crime is rampant.
And another precious couple and young man accept Christ--the rest of the group are from the church that we went to help. The pastor is in the ball cap and my interpreter is standing next to me. She was an incredible interpreter. She seemed to know the exact words I was going to say before I said them.
A young woman and her daughter sing of Jesus at a home meeting.
A few people at this meeting were already Christians but all of the rest, except one young man, accepted Christ.
Everyone at this meeting accepted Christ. I think this was the first home where I spoke to a rather large crowd. It was overwhelming that they were so open, so hospitable, so loving, so beautiful and so eager to hear about and accept Jesus.
Another young lady accepts Christ. Containing all this joy is not easy!
These children overheard me telling some adults about Jesus. They started gathering around and wanted to hear about him also. They all prayed to receive Christ. You've heard of bursting with joy?!
My precious interpreters. They gave of themselves tirelessly, lovingly and faithfully.
We had been to this little old man's house early that morning and his whole family--about 12--accepted Christ. We saw him out on the streets later in the day and were so glad because we hadn't gotten a picture that morning. Isn't he precious?
Our pastor's house was nice with the wall around it but this was the lot next door--a place where everyone threw garbage. One night we saw a raging fire outside our upstairs bedroom. Running to look out the window, we saw that someone had thrown their worn-out sofa into the street and set it on fire. We learned that that was not unusual.
This road led up the side of a mountain that we climbed to make some home visits. It was extremely hot and I had to go home that afternoon and go to bed. My blood pressure shot up pretty high--I wrote about it here.
We were there about a week so we took a day of rest and drove in to visit the gorgeous Rio coastline, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue.
And these are our incredible interpreters and the pastor (in baseball cap) and his daughter kneeling in front. I cannot say enough about this group--the loveliest people you could ever hope to meet in your life.
the romantic twist? I am so sorry I don't have pictures of the wedding itself but one of the members of our team from the states who did the phone calling to Brazil to set everything up, fell in love with the young spokeslady from the church we were working with and we had a gorgeous Brazilian wedding while we were there. And then she moved to America! This picture was taken when they visited us at our home in Oklahoma.
Oh, and if anyone from there happens to read this, all of you ladies who cooked around the clock for us (yes, three huge meals a day)--you were wonderful and there is no way to thank you enough.
It was a trip I will never forget. Thank you Brazil. You were wonderful and I love your beautifully flowing Portuguese language.
All my love,
Dianne
share your heart?
I am linking with Kelly who is highlighting mission trips this week.
He was sitting out by the little quiet street just watching any activity that might be going on. We spoke to him and walked by at first but were drawn back to him. We went back and told him about Jesus and asked him if he was sure he would go to heaven when he died. He was not sure and wanted to pray with us but asked if he would have to resign from his religion--We told him no because his church is basically of the Christian faith. He had not completely understood how to receive salvation.
If you look really closely you can see a tear under this eighty-seven year old eye--and one in the inner corner of my right eye. We both shed quite a few tears--tears of utter joy and happiness. The feeling of leading someone to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is the ultimate happiness for me.
This beautiful young couple was working out in front of their home. They both prayed to receive Christ. Thank you, Lord! You will notice bars on the front of these homes. That is a way of life there. The pastor where we served had a 10 to 12 foot stone wall with iron gates around his residence. Crime is rampant.
And another precious couple and young man accept Christ--the rest of the group are from the church that we went to help. The pastor is in the ball cap and my interpreter is standing next to me. She was an incredible interpreter. She seemed to know the exact words I was going to say before I said them.
A young woman and her daughter sing of Jesus at a home meeting.
A few people at this meeting were already Christians but all of the rest, except one young man, accepted Christ.
Everyone at this meeting accepted Christ. I think this was the first home where I spoke to a rather large crowd. It was overwhelming that they were so open, so hospitable, so loving, so beautiful and so eager to hear about and accept Jesus.
Another young lady accepts Christ. Containing all this joy is not easy!
These children overheard me telling some adults about Jesus. They started gathering around and wanted to hear about him also. They all prayed to receive Christ. You've heard of bursting with joy?!
My precious interpreters. They gave of themselves tirelessly, lovingly and faithfully.
We had been to this little old man's house early that morning and his whole family--about 12--accepted Christ. We saw him out on the streets later in the day and were so glad because we hadn't gotten a picture that morning. Isn't he precious?
Our pastor's house was nice with the wall around it but this was the lot next door--a place where everyone threw garbage. One night we saw a raging fire outside our upstairs bedroom. Running to look out the window, we saw that someone had thrown their worn-out sofa into the street and set it on fire. We learned that that was not unusual.
This road led up the side of a mountain that we climbed to make some home visits. It was extremely hot and I had to go home that afternoon and go to bed. My blood pressure shot up pretty high--I wrote about it here.
We were there about a week so we took a day of rest and drove in to visit the gorgeous Rio coastline, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue.
And these are our incredible interpreters and the pastor (in baseball cap) and his daughter kneeling in front. I cannot say enough about this group--the loveliest people you could ever hope to meet in your life.
the romantic twist? I am so sorry I don't have pictures of the wedding itself but one of the members of our team from the states who did the phone calling to Brazil to set everything up, fell in love with the young spokeslady from the church we were working with and we had a gorgeous Brazilian wedding while we were there. And then she moved to America! This picture was taken when they visited us at our home in Oklahoma.
Oh, and if anyone from there happens to read this, all of you ladies who cooked around the clock for us (yes, three huge meals a day)--you were wonderful and there is no way to thank you enough.
It was a trip I will never forget. Thank you Brazil. You were wonderful and I love your beautifully flowing Portuguese language.
All my love,
Dianne
share your heart?
I am linking with Kelly who is highlighting mission trips this week.
