In Search...

This is a post asking for prayer...

I along with another missionary (Alynena from the USA) will be leading a girls group for about 6 months here at the Lighthouse Community Center.

We are now in search of girls to be in our group.  As everyone says here in Brazil, "Life begins after Carnival."  Now that the Carnival holiday has come and gone, we can move forward and begin our group.  Very exciting!

During our recent trip to the United States I was really praying and bringing before the Lord if I should work with children during this year, 2012.  As I prayed over this I was reminded of all the girls I have worked with in the past, girls I know personally and love dearly...  Girls who live in the harsh reality of life in a slum.  I felt a deep conviction to work with girls, in my little amount of spare time.  It will be challenging on many levels (juggling this along with being a wife and mommy) but I sensed the Lord calling me to this...

Even though my favorite age group to work with is 5 to 7 year old children, the Lord really burdened my heart for girls from 9 to 12 years old.  I feel specifically this is the age I am to work with in 2012.  Girls in this age range, of 9 to 12 years old, are extremely formative and influential.  These are the years that lead up to the teen years.

School only runs half-day here in Brazil, so we will have our group in the mornings, two days a week, while Felipe will take care of Sophia. What a great Daddy and supportive husband he is!  

  

 

Only the girls who go to school in the afternoon can participate in our group.  Some of the girls we had really hoped could be in our morning girls’ group actually cannot be in it because they are in school in the morning, but hopefully many of them will have an opportunity to be in another afternoon group here at the Lighthouse.

All this being said, please PRAY!  We are in search of girls who can participate in our morning group.  Please pray that the Lord would direct our steps and lead us to the specific girls HE DESIRES to be in our group.

Thank You! 

Also, just so you know, all the photos you see in this post are of girls I have had the honor of working with in the past here at the Lighthouse Community Center.  Last year I helped out every once in a while in a girls' group, but many of the girls I already know from working with them in previous years.

 

 These are precious girls, full of GREAT worth and value!  Many of then desperately need a revelation of God's beautiful truths of who Jesus says they are.  I am excited about sharing this with them and I am already praying that God will give us a fruitful and fulfilling time together in our girls' group.

As I am in search for the girls that are to be in our group, I am sensing that the Lord is also in search of His daughters as well.  In 2 Chronicles 16:9 it says,

 "The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him..."

It is my prayer that God will find girls who are fully commited to Him here in the slum of Cafezal.  I pray they will be strengthen in the Lord through the power of His might, that they will dream dreams and live lives that bring honor and glory to His mighty name!

February so Far...

We are not even half way through the month of February, but so much has already happened so far.  We have been busy!

Last weekend, Felipe was traveling (by train to be exact), leaving Sophia and I at home for a girls' weekend! We missed daddy, but had a good weekend together just us girls.

 Felipe enjoyed taking photos and seeing the beautiful Brazilian country-side as he traveled to the state of Espirito Santo (translated Holy Spirit) to take photos of a wedding,  Isn't it cool there is a state named this?

Felipe was one of the official photographers at a wedding of two YWAM missionaries who are friends of ours and serve with us here at YWAM Belo Horizonte. 

Congratulations Rodolpho and Luciana!

 

 

To see more wedding photos click here.

Felipe returned late Sunday night and then Monday morning we began our special TEAM WEEK here at the Lighthouse Community Center.   Almost all the missionaries who serve here with us are back from vacation and ready to start the programs and activities that we run here for the families and children living in the slum.  

Our most recent team photo, taken on Monday!

This week our team spent time praying, worshiping, seeking God, spending time together as a team and planning and preparing for 2012.  It was a productive week full of meetings!  We are expecting God to do great things in this new season of our ministry!

This week I led the team in a creative activity about VISION.  We all creatively recorded the visions and priorities God was giving us personally for 2012 on a sheet of paper.

This is Felipe's and my finished product!  We hung our visions up in our house to be reminded of the things God is calling us to during 2012.

 We also had a fun night out eating ice cream with the Lighthouse team and family!

Beautiful Sara Joy, the daughter of our friends and team members Joyce and Aldenito.  She was all smiles!

Nunes, the Lighthouse swimming coach/teacher, and son enjoying the evening.

Sophia was completely serious and focused on  eating her ice cream.  She loves ice cream!

We also had our first YWAM Belo Horizonte worship service of 2012 here at the Lighthouse Community Center on Thursday night. The missionaries who serve in the various ministries of YWAM Belo Horizonte came together to worship and celebrate the presence of the Lord!

 

This weekend we were able to spend time with Felipe's family, who live here in Belo Horizonte.  Now that I am driving it is much easier for us to go and visit them.  If we were to go to their house by city bus it would take us anywhere from 1 and half hours to 2 hours just to arrive.  Sophia is enjoying riding around town in the Lighthouse VW van.

 

  I am extremely thankful to have family living here.  Being so far from the USA and my family, it really helps to have Felipe's mom and siblings living close by.  They are a huge blessing to our lives.

And Sophia absolutely loves her Tia (Aunt) Renata!

It has been a full and fulfilling February so far!

Encouraging Words...

Here are some super encouraging videos of one of my favorite worship leaders, Christy Nockels, talking about being a mom, living close to the Lord and being filled with His Spirit.  What an encouragement and example!  I was so blessed today watching this - hearing words of truth and life.  I was so affirmed in my role as a wife and mother - and just where God has me today.  I can find joy in the mudane, in the simple things.  I can meet Him, know Him, see Him and worship Him.

I hope you are blessed by these encouraging words too!

Officially Driving in Brazil

I have finished my driving classes and I am now officially driving here in Brazil!  During the month of January I have spent about an hour almost every weekday doing driving lessons - driving a manual car (stick-shift) and learning my way around in the crazy traffic and hilly city of Belo Horizonte.
It has been an adventure!
  

Yesterday, I did a YWAM driving test, with a very experienced driver who is also a missionary here at YWAM Belo Horizonte.  He officially approved me to drive the Kombi (A VolksWagon van), which is owned by the ministry.  I can now officially drive on my own here in Brazil with the YWAM Kombi!  I never thought this day would come...

Really as I reflect on this, I see God at work in my life.  God equipped me.  He gave me the courage and confidence that I never thought I would have to be able to drive in Brazil.  This is amazing to me!  I can do all things through Christ!

It is a simple thing really, driving, but I see that God has given me this ability and I want to drive for His glory. Now I can officially serve the ministry of the Lighthouse Community Center through driving.  I am also excited as we, the Matias Family, are allowed to use the Kombi to do a few personal things as well.  This is a huge blessing to us!

 

This Sunday we are excited about driving to church!   Normally, in order to get to church we walk about 25 minutes to get to the bus-stop, and then we take a 45 minute to 1 hour bus trip.  We leave home at 8:30 am in order to get to church by 10:00 am.   Then after church we made the same long trip home.  It can be exhausting...  Now, we are able to drive to church which saves a lot of time! YAY!

Please pray for me as I begin this adventure of driving here in Belo Horizonte.  Pray for protection and wisdom as I continue to learn my way around and get used to driving the Kombi.  Now I want to practice, practice, practice to be a good driver!

I am thankful and rejoicing to be officially driving in Brazil!

A TRADER

I stumbled across this video today and was challenged to live my life as "A TRADER".  This video is a reminder of what is most important in life -

to have a Kingdom focus,

to pursue Christ,

to live out my faith loving God and others,

to sacrifice,

to fight for justice,

and to worship God in all I do... 

 

 I hope you are challenged as I was by the truths in this video.

   Let's be "TRADERS" for the GLORY of God!

A Perfect Day for Making Memories

What are some of your most fondest memories of childhood?  

What are the things you most remember with JOY from when you were just a kid? 

For me, I nostalgically remember playing "beauty pageant" with my two older sisters.  As a talent, we would stand and dance on top of the sofa (our stage) and sing along with our favorite songs from the radio, using a hairbrush as a microphone.  Sometimes my sisters would make me be the judge of the contest, and my oldest sister Becky always loved me being the judge because I would "help" her win.

  I also remember sunny summer days fishing at the pond in my grandma's backyard - using corn on the cob as my bate. (Who wants to mess with squiggly worms?)   My grandma's house was once a full working farm so she always had tons of animals everywhere and of course I loved this!  I also remember long walks in the fields surrounding her house, picking juicy blackberries and then later eating the berries in a warm cobbler with sweet vanilla ice cream on top.

These are just a few of my favorite memories from childhood...

This past Sunday, the boys who live here in the Cafezal slum made some wonderful childhood memories here at the Lighthouse Community Center!  

Felipe recently was cleaning up the area around the swimming pool and decided to take away an old plastic pool cover, since it was not helping the condition of our pool and taking up lots of space.  Felipe had the idea to spread the pool cover out over the hillside, lather it up with soap and water and  then let the boys from the slum slide down the hill on the pool cover.  

The boys had a BLAST! 

Pure FUN!

As you can see, even Sophia joined in on the FUN!  The boys were so sweet and gentle with her as they helped her slide down the hill. Our adventurous daughter was ALL smiles and loved every minute!

JOY!

ADVENTURE!

Without a doubt, I think this past Sunday was a day that many of these boys will never forget.  An unusual simple afternoon of pure fun with friends at the Lighthouse Community Center.  Many of these kids come from harsh realities with broken families.  Childhood is often stolen away from children living in slums today. Yet, on Sunday afternoon, their childhood was awakened...  They were able to just be kids.

Moments like these make being in missions all worth it.  THEY are worth it!  Investing in the lives of these children, spending quality time with them, giving them opportunities to make childhood memories, teaching them that life is good because our God is GOOD and He wants to redeem all things - this is our passion of working with children living in at risk situations.

 It was a perfect day for making memories...

Justice and the Love of God

It was a rainy December day here in busy Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  I was standing under a covered area just outside the grocery store, with my shopping cart and my daughter Sophia, while my husband was unsuccessfully trying to flag down a taxi to take us home. The rain was pouring, and Sophia and I stood patiently waiting, as it was extremely difficult to get a taxi due to the rain.  

 

Then a little girl suddenly approached us.   She was probably about 9 years old, and she had a sad look in her eyes.  Her clothes were tattered and worn, but she was well-kept enough to show she was not living on the streets.  She spoke to me, asking for some money so she could buy herself a snack.

I turned to her and asked, "Why are you asking me for money?  Why doesn't your mom give you money to buy a snack?"

Silence...

I then said with a kind smile, "You know what?  You should not be out here in the streets begging for money.  You should be at home playing or at school with your friends learning."

The little girl continued to stare at me with her sweet sad face, waiting to see if I would give or not.  My heart was aching for her.  In situations like these, many times I want to give, but I also know it is not always the best thing to do.  I try to stay sensitive to the Lord and what He would have me say or do.

On this day I continued to talk with the girl.  She told me that she lives in a nearby slum with her mom who does not work.  She then moved on to others to see if she could get anything out of them.

About 5 minutes later I glanced back to see if the little girl was still close by.  She was sitting with what appeared to be her mother and her older sister, eating a snack from a nearby stand.  Mission accomplished. She had gotten her snack, probably as a result of her begging.

My heart was deeply saddened...

This is all to common here in Brazil.  Children beg in the streets everyday here in the city of Belo Horizonte and in other major cities across the country. Children are actually often pressured to beg by their parents, to obtain food, money or other things.

I am not sure if this little girl was being pressured by her mom to beg or not, but my heart did break for her, for the situation.  No child should ever be put in the situation to have to beg in the streets.  The negative results of this are many...

At the beginning of this year I made the decision to read through the Bible in 2012.  So far, so good!  I have been reading daily and God has been showing me new things in His Word.

The other day as I was reading in the book of Luke, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, actually correcting and confronting them, about the condition of their hearts.

Jesus said, "What sorrow awaits you Pharisees!  For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God.  You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things."  (Luke 11:42)

This verse struck me.  Jesus wants us to deeply value JUSTICE and the LOVE of GOD.  He wants us to live this.  He wants our lives to reflect His heart of justice and love.  As Jesus told the Pharisees, yes it is good to tithe, it is good to follow rules, but we should not "neglect the more important things" which is justice and the love of God.

I examine my own heart... I don't want to be like a Pharisee.  I pray God would purify me, and give me a heart that is seeking for His justice and His love.   How can His love and justice be expressed through my life?

As I was thinking about all this, God reminded me of the little girl outside the grocery store begging for money.

I PRAY...  I pray she would have an encounter with the love of God and that He would move in His justice in her life. 

I HOPE... I hope for more opportunities to talk to children like her, to tell them of God's love - of Hope Himself.

I PLAN... I plan to work with girls living here in the slum of Cafezal. How many of them are pressured to beg in the streets?  How many of them suffer the consequences of living a life of suffering and poverty? 

I want to bring light into the darkness, speak God's truth instead of the lies, teach the needy about His promise of abundant life that comes from a loving and just Father God.

JUSTICE and the LOVE of GOD

  We can share this only by the grace of God... 

 Lord, teach us...