Thursday, April 9, 2020

God still abounds and Covid-19 will not stop Him!

We are so excited to share that we had our first Monday-night service at the new Shores Base! It was an incredible night where we invited local leaders, pastors, longtime friends and new friends. Unfortunately, the fun was for one night only because the Coronavirus arrived here as well. The world seems to have stopped for a moment. But it’s a time we recognize what a part of the world seems to live without daily. Three meals a day, a family, a home: these are basic necessities but to those we serve, these are a luxury. It’s a great time to reflect. But also know that in the midst of it all, God is still working. Even though these might be uncertain times, we stay hopeful and full of expectation of what God wants to do during these next couple of weeks. We have already seen so many creative solutions for us to continue to minister to people in need of guidance. Since Vila Betania and Hadassah House will keep running, we have plenty to do.

Just two weeks ago, we received a very special little boy of just 5 years of age. He had cerebral palsy and spent his entire life in the hospital. He was neglected and went unloved all his life. With the virus abound, the boy was brought to his first home with us at Vila Betania. Unfortunately, we discovered that he was fighting a few infections himself. With great sadness, we report that his body could no longer fight off the infections and went home to be with Jesus. We are so grateful that we had the time to serve him and love him for the time we had him. We are grateful that while only for a few days, he had experienced the love of God upon this earth through us.

Also, we have been doing classes with the Bethany and Hadassah girls. So far, they got to experience a lesson on coffee from our Cafe staff, cooking classes and music production lessons. We have plenty of talented staff to teach the girls new things every week. This picture shows our Shores cafe staff teaching coffee and theology. About the process of the coffee seed being planted and processed to be poured out as a cup of coffee, which illustrates our journey of faith. Of course the girls were also taught different brewing methods and how these methods influence the flavor profile of the coffee/us!?

With our Father’s Love Team, we switched to video call discipleship the minute the decision was made to cancel all outreach activities. We had no idea how this would work and whether this would be the way to continue guiding the men and women we are discipling. However, God works through all means and forms and it turned out to be a true blessing to be able to continue our work this way. The first week, we shared about our first video call discipleship on social media and a few days later, we received a message from one of the girls who came to our small banquet. She shared that she also would like to schedule a video call with us. She shared about her anxiety due to the coronavirus and we are grateful we had the ability to begin discipleship with her that same week. God is bringing the people in need to us when we cannot go to them anymore and is creating new connections and opportunities to pour even more into the lives of the people around us!

With the community boys who come to our soccer/discipleship on Saturdays, we were focusing on three of our core values; Intimacy with God, dependency on the Father and joy in the journey. This year, we were planning to talk about choices. The choices that we make and how this decides where we are and where we are going. We wanted them to know the importance of making choices in their lives. We have been noticing a change in that they now come for the Word. Sometimes, we have snacks but they come for the something we offer that they can not find anywhere else, the presence and Word of the Lord. We can see their behavior and attitude changing: the way they speak, the way they act, the way they respond to things that are shared with them. We see them living in a way where they stop and think about consequences of the choices that they make. So it has been great to see them coming to talk to us and respond to what we are discussing. One of the boys used to ask for money every time he came, but now he hugs us and spends quality time with us. Quite a few come now but it’s not about numbers; we are blessed to be a part of their growth and their journey! Sometimes, it may seem like they are not listening, but they are absorbing everything we tell them. Even though our Communities Team is not able to gather with the kids right now, we are still able to call and check in on how they are doing.

Most of the people in the communities do not have a fixed job. Many have small short-term jobs to earn enough money for just that day. With everything shutting down, this has been really hard on some of these families. We are asking God for wisdom in this time to find creative ways to keep in touch and do what we can to help. Please continue to pray with us for these children and the families in the communities.

We ask you to keep all of us in your prayers.

Guidance and wisdom for our leaders, safety for all of our staff and for the national and local governments of Brazil and the US.
All the people who we work with. People from the communities, those who are still in prostitution or those who we meet at street church or in local parks already unable to buy food even without the international crisis. Pray that God will keep them safe and will provide for all of their needs during this time!
For Vila Betania and Casa Hadassah, that the girls will have a time of rest as well as a time of going deeper with the Lord and that the houses continue to run smoothly as our missionaries jump in to cover for staff that aren’t able to come to work
The staff so that during this time no virus or anything else that is not from God will be able to touch us, but we can proceed with our work without any problems!
Provision for the ministry and especially to care for the special needs babies we have received at Vila Betania

Please note:

For USA Donors, the CARES ACT provides for Charitable Contribution Deductions.

For those who do not itemize:

$300 Universal Charitable Deduction permits individuals to deduct up to $300 of cash contributions to most charities in 2020 for those who do not itemize their deductions.

For those who do itemize:

Changes to limitations on charitable contribution suspends the limitation on deductions for cash contributions to most charities for individuals who itemize. Increases the limitation on deductions for similar contributions by corporations from 10% to 25% of taxable income. It also increases the limitation on deductions from 15% to 25% for contributions of food inventory.