Dedication Night

Dedication Night---Day 3

This was the most amazing and spiritual night in most of our lives....we were not prepared for many of the moments we shared tonight. This trip was not like any trip in prior years. Here are some pics we wanted to share of our arrival..

It is so amazing to pull up to the church in the bus and see the Light coming from
this building that you have been praying for

The flowers..the stage...the band equipment....the chairs...all so unexpected. 
Many times, we leave the church looking very dull and it takes them many
years to set it up and make it look like this.  This church was very blessed. 

Scripture on the wall...

The women of the group

Brant, Samantha, Janderson

In the previous post today, you probably read about the paralyzed woman we met.  Kevin, Brant, me and Janderson found a lady with a car and we went to pick this woman up from her house.  The guys carried her out to the car .  At the church....they slowly helped her in.  Everyone was watching in amazement at this woman....who was so determined to come to church.  It reminded me of the Bible story when the men lower their friend through a room (a lame man) in order to get healed by Jesus.  We all cried....men....women.....everyone teared up as she took her seat.  Here is a pic of her so you can pray for her and her grandaughter.  She felt like she didnt matter....but today she now knows that she does and this church will watch over her. 

Ok, so at this point everyone is crying...and then the service starts.  It started off with a dance group performing to Christian Brazilian music....then a drama group performed.  The Brazilians kept looking over at us to see if we were pleased with them.  And we were!  They are very anxious to please.  All these big burly men cried during all of the presentations....and then the pastor had over a hundred people come and hug us individually.  It took a long time but we just all got so choked up.  I have never been hugged so tight and so many times.  It was their way to thank us.  Then they began to sing a Portuguese version of GOD OF THIS CITY...it was so beautiful.  After that, a member of our group...Oneilda (former resident of Brazil) gave her testimony of finding God and her husband and coming to America. 

Standing room only.  Many Brazilians were viewing the service
by looking in the windows. 

Dance group performing.

The entire theme of the service was that we all have pasts that we are ashamed of and we all have sinned so much but that doesnt have to be who we are.  When we let Christ in, we become a new creation through him.  It doesnt matter what we look like or what language we speak because we are all loved just the same. 

The hardest part of the trip is saying goodbye to the friends we made.  We tell them we will see them in Heaven someday...as you get on the bus...they are calling your name...saying I love you.....asking for one more picture with you....

Brant friends that are involved in the new churchs music ministry.
If you could only here the one on the left sing! oh my

Helena would like to give special thanks to the Life Group
for helping with the purchase of the chairs. 

Samanthas sweet girls

In the closing of this blog, we would like to go back to something that Janderson said to us last night and also mentioned it on the blog.....he said that when we leave the kids.....as we drive off into the night...we can no longer see their faces....but we can still see the church.  Eventually you cannot see it as you drive off but you are reminded that the mission was to help build a building that would help the people of the community of Codo know Christ better.  Though we feel sad to drive off....we see the church and we know....Mission Complete. 

See you soon. 

Day Three

The church is done! The last brick was laid today. I cant explain in words how amazing it is to see it completed....now the only part that remains is cosmetic. They will put plaster on the walls and paint but before they do, we were all allowed to write scripture all over the walls of the church. That way, the Word of God will always be there.....literally!

We also went to a different school today....the kids were WILD!  And that was before we gave them sugar and little Bibles!   The teachers were so thankful and hospitable....they were trying to give us their food because they were so glad that we came.  We did have some Pineapple punch and it was the best drink we had ever had....the men in our group had 4-5 cups each....and I wont say how many the women had!!!   LOL

CMU hires a bus driver who takes the team to the work site and to dinner each day...that is the only responsibility they have.  This year, our bus driver was helping us lay brick so we invited him to lunch and to our Share Time.  He was asked to pray and bless the food.....it was the first time he  prayed in his life!  Later, someone gave him a Bible and since then, he is constantly reading it.  Its cool how God puts people in our paths unexpectedly. 

_____________________________

During outreach, Janderson found a lady that was partially lame...half of her body would not move.  We prayed and prayed for her and she cried and cried.  She said it broke her heart to see that we could walk and she could not.  We invited her to church, she declined...she did not have full control of her bladder....and she was so embarrassed.  My friends, listen to this......   Janderson then took us to a pharmacy on foot about 1 mile away and we purchased adult depends - he then asked the cashier at the pharmacy to borrow her bicycle - then he took the diapers to this lame lady.  Later tonight he will find another person that will lend him a car and he will go get her and take her to church.  Now, THAT is the love of Christ.  THAT is what changes a world.  One act of love at time. 

_______________________________


Ok, wiping away the tears.... the last thing we did today was hand out  DONATIONS!  Check out the some of the pics--

Tonight is the dedication---please pray for the service

God Bless...
Team Texas

Good evening  (Boa Noite),

Janderson (Brants closest friend; Pastor of a church near Manaus; CMU Translator) wanted to post a message on our blog....to you. Here is his message...


There is not a words for me to tell you how much I appreciate the love you put in all the prayer, donation, and money.  Tomorrow we going to see almost 400 kids laughing, singing, joking around with all the toys, all the supplies, all the donations you give here.  By the time Brant, Samantha, and Helena get on the bus, you going to see all the toys and supplies in the hands of these kids....but their faces are not going to be the same because everytime they see what they got, they going to remember that day when the Americans poured out the love.  Maybe this can change the life forever.  Maybe your love and prayer and donation going to change them for Christ. 

The seeds is here...its now planted here....these kids.  So I hope you pray for all these kids.  We dont have all the names but we have the name of the city....Codo.  Keep in prayer for this little community.  We love all with our heart. Keep in prayer for this church because the church is the most important gift to the kids and their families.


In His service,
Janderson
Philipians 4.13

Day Two

Wow!  The church is really coming along.  Today's main mission was outreach to the schools; two members of our group "performed" and presented the gosple of Christ (in the schools)!  We cant even do that in our own country!  Anyway...we had Magic Bob, who performed a Christian magic show and also Strong Man Larry, who does strength feats.  Then we passed out candy to the kids and cross necklaces....they freaked out!  It is so sad that one piece of candy means so much to them.  It made one of the men in our group cry....it really puts things into prospective.  We also donated some of the items that friends/coworkers gave to us.

As we were get ready to leave the school, I was amazed how almost every child was picked up from school on a motorcycle by either a parent or another child.  Yes, I did say CHILDREN driving motorcycles??? Also, sometimes someone will drive by with an infant baby; its very shocking!

When we arrived back at the church, Helena had lunch ready for us.  We had "share time" and went over Titus 2; Brant shared testimony about his 6 trips to Brazil while Janderson, his best friend, translated.  He said that after his second trip, and after meeting Janderson, he felt like God had taken his heart out of his chest and buried it in Brazil. 

After that, we all lined up with some of the donations (toys, personal items, and monetary gifts) and presented them to the church's pastor so that they can do ministry after we are gone. 

Here are some more pictures from today:

I am bringing these twins home mom!

Brant in action!

These kids wanted their picture with some Texans!  They did not understand why we are NOT cowboys!  The rest of the day, I kept say "yee-haw" at them!

Helena met a Doctor (Pedro) at a gas station who was not a Christian and invited him to come to Thursday's Dedication Night.  He showed up today at lunch and asked to speak to the group.  He said he had a dream about building a home for his family....in his dream, he remembered the details of the structure...and when he walked in to our church, he said that it was the structure he had dreamed of....a new home for him and his family. 



The church is coming along great and we thank you for following us and praying for the mission trip.  Tomorrow will be the last day of building and also dedication night.  Please pray that people will not only come but also hear the Word of God. 

Day One

As many of you know, our travel was rough (canceled flight, stranded, no sleep, etc) BUT we are glad to announce WE MADE IT! 

Today marked the first day of the building process!  We were pleasantly surprised to see that the Brazilians had done some of the work prior to our arrival.  This is great because we have only 3 days to finish the church instead of our usual 4!

After 3-4 hours of sleep, we hit the ground running and started bricking.  Its weird how you really dont think you have the energy to keep going but God always gives the boost you need.

Helena worked on making sandwiches while Brant and I began the bricking process.....we had great help, Janderson (Brant's best friend and Brazilian pastor) worked along side us.

During lunch times, we discussed the town of Codo (where we are building) and how it is the capital of witch-craft in this state.  This will be the first church built in the state of Maranhao by CMU (our mission organization) so we are honored to plant this seed.  This will be the third Baptist church in Codo...and the congregation is already at 150 members...that is AWESOME considering they had no building to meet in. 

After eating, Helena, Brant and I went into the town and began to invite the Brazilians to our Dedication Night this Thursday at 7:30pm (5:30 Texas time).  We did not pass out the toys that were donated and hope to do this tomorrow. 

Helena and Onielda (Brazilian translator) worked with the girls that were hanging out around the work site....making bracelets that symbolized the process of salvation.

The main drink that Brazilians have is called Guarana and it is pronounced:  Gwad-a-na ....its more popluar than Coke.  Well, while we were walking around, we stumbled upon this brand of Guarana!  "Jesus" Guarana!  The rest of the day, I was telling the other Americans that they could have the "Spirit of God inside of them"!  ;-)

Well this concludes todays post..please pray for the dedication night on Thursday!