This is our last full day in Brazil before we leave to go back home tomorrow. I cannot wait to see Annalise's face at the airport when we come through the doors!!
We've been working at a different church past two days that is much larger. There are many children and youth who are very passionate for God. Brazil itself is not at a place of revival so much as Argentine or other cities in Latin America, but you can tell that people here are hungry and open for that to happen. We've been praying that it happens in their own land and they can take off with it. I believe that many children and youth were called into enormous destinies and calls of God on their lives last night. One of the things that has been the most stretching for me on a short term outreach trip is that I have been more used to the long term types of outreach where we lived in another country and got to know people better. Also, long term outreach places you in a more learning/dialoging position as opposed to imparting something to people. But I guess the whole reason behind imparting something to people here is so that they have the same experience themselves and can spread it around them here. And there have also been several times where we have been able to connect personally with people here and keep in touch with them. We all are kissing each other on the cheek :) The Latin American culture has been very refreshing for us and sometimes a little different from Northern China where we had been. We still feel called to go back to China soon, but sometimes it might be nice to take a little break in Latin America once every couple years on one of these trips. It has gone really well for me, even while being 6 to 7 months pregnant, and I have been surprised at the energy I've had. By the way, many testimonies of healing people have had have resulted in either salvation or returning to the church. There has been a lot of fruit, even though we have not seen any dramatic healing on this trip. Here is one more testimony to share ~
After the healing service, a young lady needed prayer for cartilage damage in her shoulder and back of knee from a sport called Jiu Jitsu (martial arts) that she used to do. She also had a sinus infection and headache, and near sighted vision problems. I prayed about 3 times for her, thanking the Lord in between, for each area needing healing or restoration. And I commanded the pain to leave in His name. Her sinus headache was gone and she was also able to read from a distance a sign on the wall and it was not blurry. During the whole time she was really being touched with God's presence and peace. Her shoulder and back of knee pain was also gone after praying, and she could bend her knee and move her shoulder in circles without pain. We thanked God – she could go out and do her martial arts sport again if she wants to now!
The next evening I saw her again and asked if she needed more healing. She said no, she didn't need any more, but wanted the Holy Spirit. She was very touched – God will move through her powerfully!
-Lisa
茶
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
This is so much fun!
We are into the third day of out trip here in Brazil and it is getting better and better. We've had plenty of opportunities to rest in the afternoons between meetings, after the first day. The coffee is delicious and the lemonade! I (Lisa) just wanted to share how coming here being 6 months pregnant has really spoken to the Brazilian ladies. All the ladies in the church services who want to conceive and have a baby are coming up to me and asking for prayer. Some have not been able to conceive and others just maybe haven't yet. I also got to pray for another young lady today who is pregnant. She wanted prayer for her husband who does not come to church with her. I am finding that many women are wanting me to pray for their families or husbands. We felt led in intercession to pray for the men in Brazil to have greater passion for God and to join their wives in the things of God. Amazing things are happening with the women in church we have met, and I believe God is going to bring the men to where they need to be as strong leaders. Praying for all the ladies who want to have babies is not something that I can visibly or immediately know when there are answers to prayer, so I think we can tell the Brazilian church pastor and he can get back to somebody later to let us know. God wants to bless marriages and families, and bring more babies into that church!
I was also able to pray for an older man today for healing of diabetes and gouter in his knees, and he said most of the pain left his knees. He was able to bend his knees when he couldn't do that before. We prayed for his circulation and blood sugar return to normal levels, and the end of diabetes. There are many other stories like this that I could share but sometimes it happens so fast when you are praying for person after person that you can easily forget the names and details of what happened! I just have to try to remember the ones most recent or that stood out to me the most. One that also stood out to me was a lady who wanted me to pray for healing in her abdomen from a "cosmetic surgery" she had had, and she said she was healed from all the pain her surgery caused her. This somehow stuck out to me because many people are judged for getting "tummy tucks" and cosmetic surgeries, but God doesn't care. He just loves this woman and healed her of any consequential effects of the surgery. He wanted her to know how beautiful she is and how He loves her.
Lisa
I was also able to pray for an older man today for healing of diabetes and gouter in his knees, and he said most of the pain left his knees. He was able to bend his knees when he couldn't do that before. We prayed for his circulation and blood sugar return to normal levels, and the end of diabetes. There are many other stories like this that I could share but sometimes it happens so fast when you are praying for person after person that you can easily forget the names and details of what happened! I just have to try to remember the ones most recent or that stood out to me the most. One that also stood out to me was a lady who wanted me to pray for healing in her abdomen from a "cosmetic surgery" she had had, and she said she was healed from all the pain her surgery caused her. This somehow stuck out to me because many people are judged for getting "tummy tucks" and cosmetic surgeries, but God doesn't care. He just loves this woman and healed her of any consequential effects of the surgery. He wanted her to know how beautiful she is and how He loves her.
Lisa
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Live from Brazil
This is our view from our hotel in São Paulo, Brazil. We arrived this morning around 9:30 am. We got settled into our quaint little hotel room. We had lunch with the rest of the team. We are missing 10 from DC who had their flight delayed. I'm supposed to be resting, but I'm a bit wired from my shots of espresso that I had for lunch. It's 85˚ here and everything is vibrant and colorful.
Our Brazilian guides from Global Awakening just got back from Thailand and told us about all the amazing things the Father is doing there. They said that they had around 90% healed at a meeting of 500. It will be interesting to see what happens here. There are about 25 on our team. Tonight will be orientation.
--Jeremy
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The Big Girl
Annalise 16 months, with such personality. We're going to miss this little girl next week!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sao Paulo, Brazil
This is the big city in Brazil we will be flying into on Tuesday morning! I don't know why, but it seems like the Father takes us to some of the largest cities in the world....we lived in Beijing, China for 5 + months, now we are traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil for a trip. Both China and Brazil are two of the largest countries in the world and are both called "emerging economies." I love being in large cities simply because there are so many opportunities to meet people and so many people from all over. Different ethnicity's and nationalities of people settle in the world's largest cities. We were sent off tonight by our family with many good words. I think this increased our excitement and expectation of what we will see and experience!
Trip to Brazil
We are leaving for our Brazil trip on Monday! This is our outreach trip for the school year. Everyone needs to go on some type of trip whether international or local, and we really wanted to go international as usual. Since I am due the end of June the other international trips the rest of the school is going on would be a bad time for us. This one is a better time for me to go. I visited my nurse practitioner the other day, who I see for all my prenatal appointments, and she wrote a note authorizing me for travel by air until the end of May. We were still not entirely sure what facility I am going to deliver this baby. Olmsted is where I had Annalise and I liked the private rooms and the fact you could stay in it the whole time (no delivery room), but they do not have midwives there. I am not totally happy with all of the O/B doctors and would rather have a midwife present for delivery, but as long as I have a detailed birth plan it should go better this time. I love the nurse practitioner I am seeing and it's too bad they can't do the deliveries too! When we get back from this trip I will have more time to think about it and plan for the baby's arrival. I will have 3 months left to do that.
The biggest preparation has been getting ready to leave Annalise with the Grandparents (mom's side) for one whole week. She just turned 16 months and I have never been away from her for more than a weekend. We will be gone from Monday the 22nd to Tuesday the 30th of March. I've been getting her all packed and trying to tell her that we will be gone and she will have fun - we know she will because she seems to have more fun with Grandparents than she does at home with us! I need to go shopping for some food that she will like and eat while we are gone, and is easy for them to fix for her. She's been drinking cow's milk that I buy organic, but my aunt recommended checking out goat's milk sometime or finding a place that gets it from goats locally. I got her a little jug of it the other day and she loved it, so I'm thinking of switching to that since it is much better for toddlers. I am so relieved that the snow has melted and spring is here. At least I won't have to worry over bad driving conditions while we're gone. We will bring Jeremy's computer to have skype available and maybe we will have time to update our blog or send email updates of our trip.
We have a couple days left for attempting to learn Portuguese phrases we will need. I have several long pages printed out. It looks like Spanish at first, but the pronunciations can be different and less easy to read. We have our team list and are all meeting at the Sao Paulo, Brazil airport on Tuesday morning where we will be met by staff from the organization we're going with. The rest of the week we will be in meetings in the morning for training, and in the evening for ministry. Alot of people will come to the meetings and we'll be up late, getting back to the hotel around 1 or 2 am. We really appreciate everyone's wishes and thoughts for us, lifting us up to the Father for our safety and protection. Thank you so much! Bless you!
The biggest preparation has been getting ready to leave Annalise with the Grandparents (mom's side) for one whole week. She just turned 16 months and I have never been away from her for more than a weekend. We will be gone from Monday the 22nd to Tuesday the 30th of March. I've been getting her all packed and trying to tell her that we will be gone and she will have fun - we know she will because she seems to have more fun with Grandparents than she does at home with us! I need to go shopping for some food that she will like and eat while we are gone, and is easy for them to fix for her. She's been drinking cow's milk that I buy organic, but my aunt recommended checking out goat's milk sometime or finding a place that gets it from goats locally. I got her a little jug of it the other day and she loved it, so I'm thinking of switching to that since it is much better for toddlers. I am so relieved that the snow has melted and spring is here. At least I won't have to worry over bad driving conditions while we're gone. We will bring Jeremy's computer to have skype available and maybe we will have time to update our blog or send email updates of our trip.
We have a couple days left for attempting to learn Portuguese phrases we will need. I have several long pages printed out. It looks like Spanish at first, but the pronunciations can be different and less easy to read. We have our team list and are all meeting at the Sao Paulo, Brazil airport on Tuesday morning where we will be met by staff from the organization we're going with. The rest of the week we will be in meetings in the morning for training, and in the evening for ministry. Alot of people will come to the meetings and we'll be up late, getting back to the hotel around 1 or 2 am. We really appreciate everyone's wishes and thoughts for us, lifting us up to the Father for our safety and protection. Thank you so much! Bless you!
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