Kids Are Back and Tuck Celebrated a Milestone Birthday

Before the new semester started, we had the important tasks of delivering Moyo sponsor gifts and local donations. Chris and Liandro took the interns (while we watched their kiddos) and delivered the sponsor gifts and some local donations of food and bikes. Most of the gifts were delivered to families in a rural location in Atibaia. The kids and teens rely on school vans, public transportation or their family car. But when we get heavy rains, it’s often not possible for the kids to get to school or Vinde.

The kids were so excited to receive their Moyo sponsor gifts. It is a good time to check in with families and pray with them.

Although the gifts are appreciated and needed, the greatest opportunity is that we get to share Christ with them, they see Jesus is a tangible way. Praying with and over these families, brings us closer. Shoes, which she is super excited to have gotten, are wonderful but they will wear out. They will get dirty, but the love of Christ never wears out, only He can change our dirty hearts to clean ones before the Lord. These visits are important. When parents drop off and pick up kids, we don’t have a lot of time to spend with them. These visits give us that opportunity to better know what’s going on in these homes. The parents feel at liberty to share with us their struggles and praises.

If you want to be a child sponsor, you can contact Moyo.org and someone there will be more than happy to help. And if you want to come on a mission trip here, you can even meet your sponsor child and their family. Will all of these families come to know Jesus, they could, maybe not. But will some? Absolutely! We know it works because we’ve seen God move in these families.

Isn’t that what we are designed for: for worshiping the Lord and telling others about Him? Yep, and that’s what we’re doing. And the ministry is walking alongside them; not just dropping seeds and praying for the best. The ministry is tilling the soil, planting the seeds, watering, tending to the small buds, and praying for the harvest. My previous pastor used to say, if you pray for rain, you better bring your umbrella. So we are constantly trying to grow and improve the ministry here to be ready to reap that harvest.

With gifts delivered, there was nothing left to do but wait on the semester to start. And here we are. The kids are back and we couldn’t be more excited. We have two new interns, Dawson and Cianna, and three of our teens are back as official helpers, Eduardo, Marcella, and Giovanna.

I am teaching three English classes, two of which Mason is helping me with, and he is also helping teach jui-jitsu with Liandro. Tuck is everybody’s helper. The teens are doing such an amazing job. They have taken ownership of the classes they are in charge of and taking it very seriously. The kids respond well to the teens.

I didn’t get any pictures of Eduardo and Giovanna in action, but I was able to snap a couple of Marcella (no reason; just happen to be luck of the draw). All three have been in the program since they were around 5 and all three were baptized last year. It is wonderful to see the fruits of the ministry. They are evidence of reaching and raising the new generation for Christ.

The location at Imperial is off to a good start. They are even learning how to plant a garden. They planted lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and kale. I love it.

The rain let up and we were able to partner with a local church to spread the gospel to a favela near by. This is the area we were warned not to go in without “someone on the inside” due to the crime. Note the people in the orange vest, they were our “in.” It was a little nerve racking at first because we were there at night but no one hassled us as we walked through the area asking kids to come see our presentation. Kids would just pop out of a house and walk down the road with us. These kids were in an even more impoverished area. It was pretty heart breaking. I believe I mentioned this before, but in case I didn’t, we when we go in these areas that we have relationships with, we are mostly left alone. The drug dealers look at it this way: some of the kids get helped by us, so they allow it, knowing they’ll get their pick of the rest of the kids. It’s so sad. Several parents sat through the program but most stayed where they were and drank, smoked, and listened to music. I wish I had better pictures but 1- it was dark; 2- it wasn’t the best place to have my phone out; and 3- I didn’t want to be disrespectful.

We sang songs about Jesus.

Ellis and Sarah did a great job presenting the Gospel through a character named Carlito and we prayed with them. Several kids lived in this makeshift home in the background.

Each kid received their very own Carlito stuffed monkey, a gospel bracelet, and the full Carlito booklet. They were served a snack and a treat. It was a bittersweet time of fellowship. It’s hard to see people live in such conditions, but it was so great to see smiles on their faces; to see joy. My prayer is that these kids will one day know everlasting joy.

Speaking of everlasting joy, the Bible says in 3 John 1:4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” This young man turned 13.

For his birthday he asked for a single balloon (again), a new switch game, a trip to the trampoline park, açaí, and pizza and that’s what he got.

This kid loves to be moving.

To see him grow and serve the Lord is such a blessing. He has my moodiness but Trevor’s sense of humor and he makes great faces for pictures.

He feels all the feels but it also makes him empathetic and kind.

He’s usually up for an adventure and candy…

Or anything sporty.

He loves running, push ups, jiu-jitsu, playing baseball and tennis, and watching football and he’s learning to like soccer.

He loves making videos and games and fishing.

His love affair with pizza, sour candy, and doughnuts is real.

I love this kid, excuse me, this teenager so much. I can’t imagine life without his fun and frustrating personality. I can’t wait to see the man he becomes.

And on that sentimental note, I’m going to go grab a tissue…..there’s um…something in my eye. Until next time, tchau.