KNEEL.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – Ephesians 3:14-21

Lately I have found myself engaging in a type of prayer that before this summer was not even in my vocabulary. If you keep up with my extremely scatterbrained blog or know me well you know that a certain portuguese girl has a huge piece of my heart! This summer I was sitting in Glebba-B (the favela, that Jacqueline lives in) during a worship service and I felt a strong urge to lift Jacqueline and her family up in prayer, this act in and of its’ self was not foreign but after a few minutes of prayer God was telling me to take a step further and pray on my knees. My first reaction was what?! I have never done that before and I am one of two Americans in this whole service that will cause an inordinate amount of attention to myself, so after a few minutes of wrestling with the spirit I ducted outside and the next thing I knew I was on my knees in a favela church restroom lifting up a very broken young girl and her family. Since that day I have found myself in my closet kneeling beside my clothes hamper lifting up certain people, situations, things, etc. to the Lord. Every time I have prayed in this manner I have acquired a huge amount of peace and closeness with our creator. At first I was unsure why God asked me to come to him in prayer on my knees but now I look at it as a chance to praise God in a refreshing and humbling way- off the top of my head three different things happen more or less in this position. Babies first learn to crawl before they can walk: babies are an incredibly sensitive creation that needs constant attention, care, comfort, guidance, and love from their caregivers- are we any different? Beggars often times cry out from their knees for whatever it is that they  need- when we pray do we not often times cry out for our needs? The traditional proposal is done by a man kneeling on one knee to ask for his future wife’s hand in marriage, this state is one of great vulnerability and displays the uniting of two hearts in love  thus painting a beautiful picture of Christ the bride-groom opening up himself to us, the bride of Christ.  My hope in sharing this with you is that you will not be like me and neglect this opportunity to praise and pray to our Father in a way that not only humbles us but brings us closer to our maker as well! The whole concept is still incredibly new to me but I feel as though I needed to share this experience and encourage others who may be very much like myself and are completely uneasy about the idea of occasionally or daily kneeling to prayer.

“Beauty Will Rise”

This morning I woke up to an extremely heartbreaking text message… Favela Moinho, a favella that I have spent many days inside playing with beautiful children who by God’s mercy alone can still find happiness inside of themselves to laugh and to play despite their brokenness and despair, burnt down. This morning thousands of people who barely had anything to call their own lost everything: clothes, food, homes, and lives. The only part of this story that gives me any hope is the the fact that A.M.O (the ministry in Brazil that partners with my church) has been pouring themselves into this ministry for several years. This favela is the only one that ever made me uncomfortable, in fact one many occasions it was said to be “hell without the flames”, this favela, more than others, was FULL of drugs, poverty, adultery, prostitution, despair, sickness, etc. Every time I caught myself questioning my presence there I remembered that these people were in desperate need of the Father and if I was not willing to provide this then I had to assume that no one else was either. This past summer when I was serving in Brazil I noticed that we were focusing much more heavily on favela Moinho then any other year I had been and today God revealed the reason why. Beauty will rise from this destruction. Though many were lost, some were saved. A.M.O has done any amazing job of growing in fellowship with the inhabitants of Moinho this is going to be a great blessing in the days to come, they will be able to provide aid and hope to the survivors in a personal and religious way. I do not know nor understand the will of God but I do know that he has a hand in everything that occurs and that he is beyond capable of rising up beauty from these ashes. Please, please, please, be in prayer over these beautiful people they need YOU desperately. I cannot stop thinking of this sweet little boy who begged me over and over again to spin him in circles, for hours we spun and laughed and threw frisbee, it destroys me to know that that precious little boy lost everything if not his life this morning as I was waking up in the safety of my apartment. We are so richly blessed and I so often take that for granted. Please join me in prayer over  Favela Moinho !

“Beauty Will Rise”- Steven Curtis Chapman

Prayers Please

There has been a lot going on around here lately which is both good and bad. Good because that means rooms for growth and development but bad because in order to get there suffering and pain are a large part of the process. Jessica, Jacqueline’s sister, is still standing firm in her decision of wanting to come and live here on the property! This is an incredible opportunity for her however it’s not exactly an easy process. First there is the matters of the state and all the legal processes that entails but there is also the problem of while Pete and Jodi are incredible people who are going above and beyond what most people are capable of, they are not invincible and taking on more children would do more harm than good. On the flip side of this Jacqueline is staying with a single mom of 5 children who has multiple boyfriends and her own children running away from home frequently. We found out yesterday that Jacqueline is running around the streets at night and going to lots of parties… so needless to say she has not parted with her old ways. While the death of Marly, Jacqueline and Jessica’s mother, was an eye-opening experience for Jessica it didn’t have the same effect on Jacqueline. Some of you have been asking how you can pray for the girls and I asked Pete the same question and for now prayer for Jessica in terms of God allowing doors to be open for more people to join the A.M.O team to aid in the upbringing of her and more children like her, as well as financial support in terms of providing for their daily needs. For Jacqueline pray that God will some how get her attention and allow all the doors Satan has opened to be shut and more doors be opened so that she can change her life and gain a future.

Also, Pete received a phone call early this morning that Marcella (14), Karol (17), Filipe (19), and Diego’s(21) (these are all “kids” who live here on the property) uncle was in a bad motorcycle accident  two days ago and he passed away this morning,. So please be in prayer for their family, they have experienced a lot of loss.

And also selfishlessly I ask you to pray for Callie and I and the things God has and is revealing to us and the plans that he has for our futures! Thank you so much for everything you are doing! Love and miss you all : )

 

 

Oi from Brazil : )

Oi (Hello) from Brazil! My trip has been incredible! I’ve grown a lot both spiritually and physically (this Brazil food will get to ya) : ) God has shown and reminded me of a lot of things. One of the best things he’s shown me is how important relationships are to me and the passion I have for people. I began building relationships here in Brazil in the spring of 2009 and was blessed to continue them last summer and blessed even more to spend a longer period of time with all of the incredible people this summer! The kids have grown up so much and the ministry here in unstoppable. A.M.O and the people here in Brazil have changed my life and my heart in a number of ways I am so thankful for them and the person they have helped make me!

Jacqueline- Callie, Anderson, Pete, and I went to Marly, her mom’s, funeral yesterday. Brazilian funerals are very diffrernt from ours to say the least. I am so glad that I could be there for the girls (Jacqueline and Jessica) during this time. There were multiple dates that I could have came to Brazil but God had this in his plan. Who will take care of the girls is still being decided so please continue to keep them in your prayers!

Claudio- Is back with his mom for now, however, the city tore down his mom’s house two nights ago because it was an “invasion of land” so they are currently staying somewhere else with their mom at night and hanging out in Glebba-B during the day. This family is very special to me and I hate to see them struggling, but as always I know God will do big things through all of this destruction!

God has already done so much during my stay here and I can’t wait to see what he does over the next two weeks! I love all of you and wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you! Tchau (Bye)!

 

Brazil July 27, 2011 11:47 a.m.

I apologize for the lack of blogging but Internet here is touch and go. I also apologize for the circumstances my first blog from Brazil is written in. I’m not sure when this will be posted but I’m typing it on July 27 at 11:47a.m. I woke up this morning to some pretty heartbreaking news. Jacqueline, for those of you who don’t know she completely stole my heart the first time I came here and I have made it my responsibility to be her prayer warrior, she comes from a reapply broken home and has some unthinkable habits for a 12 year old girl. This morning I found out that in the middle of the night her mom passed away. As if that’s not bad enough she doesn’t have a father or an relatives so at this point we have no idea what will happen to her and her older sister Jessica. Shorty after I heard the news of Marly, Jacqueline’s mom, Pete told us that Claudio, another little boy who along with his brothers have a huge piece of my heart has run away yet again. His mom has lots of boyfriends who abuse the children and Claudio who is only 10 has a new found habit of running away and honestly who can blame him? He has been picked up by child services on multiple occasions so last week Pete decided that it would be good for Claudio to spend a few days with all of us here at the Shakura. Needless to say Callie and I along with the rest of the AMO team loved having him around. We were sad to take him back to his house or lack there of but we had to. That same night we took him home he ran away and as of now his where-abouts are in question. During are devotion time Anderson received a phone call that his brother is in trouble with the law again. So I would just ask for you to please be in prayer over all of these things. Today and all of it’s happening have the potential to tear us down, make us angry and resentful, and question are faith but they also have the ability to have a positive effect in the long run if we let them, glorify God, and strengthen our faith. Today has already been heartbreaking and emotionally draining but as always God has an amazing and intricate plan that is far bigger than we can ever imagine. Thank you for all of your support and prayer, I love and miss you all!

And so the Journey Begins!

Oi! I am currently in Dallas awaiting the last leg of traveling to Brazil! I am beyond pumped to get there an serve with the A.M.O team! However, I want to spend this blog post talking about what God has done over the last two weeks. As most of you know Lifepoint held their student church camps over the last two weeks! The first week God gave me the opportunity to serve as a leader to an AMAZING group of upcoming junior girls and the second week I was blessed with an incredibly sweet group of upcoming seventh grade girls! I’m not sure who was impacted more, the leaders or the students! I think I speak for everyone that was involved in camp when I say that God did some INCREDIBLE things. We witnessed the Lord break hearts by his conviction and re-make them with his grace and love. We also saw many first time believers come to know the Lord as well as multiple re-commitments. The last two weeks were amazing and I can’t wait to see what God has in store of me and the rest of the team over the next week and how he will use Callie and I over the next month! Thank you for all of the encouraging words and prayers! I will try and blog again as soon as possible!

Haiti Mission Trip Video!

Haiti Mission Trip Spring Break 2011

Here is a short video of my mission trip to Haiti this Spring!

Can’t believe that I forgot to post a copy to my blog!

My Lame Attempt at a Miniature Online Store… You Can Now Purchase Online : )

** You do not have to have paypal account to donate or purchase! Cards are accpeted!

Click Below To Purchase A Travel Mug

For Pick-Up or Delivery (Local)

$15.00

Click Below To Purchase A Travel Mug

For Mail Delivery (Covers Shipping Cost)

$18.00

Click Below Purchase A

Pray for Brazil Bracelet

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of Any Amount

Can I Seriously Relate to an Ancient King?!

A little background to this post: I am currently doing the Daniel study by Beth Moore with my college girls small group at church.

Today my lesson (why yes I just may be beyond a few lessons…) focused on the dream of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter 2. Oddly enough God used this lesson/ story from the bible to hit home with me. The first question in Beth Moore’s study for today’s lesson was “List evidences of the dream’s impact on King Nebuchadnezzar’s” I answered this question by creating a list of the following words: troubled mind, no sleep, hostility, lack of patience, and a demanding attitude. As I wrote these words I realized they described me the last few days… As I continued on with the study and re-read the scripture that Daniel has to offer I began to see the very apparent similarities in my life and Nebuchadnezzar’s (yes, I do think it is weird that I can relate to a king who lived thousands of years ago). He faced a dream that impacted his mood, his thoughts, his environment, and his faith, but in my case and the cases of many of you I presume is the problem(s) we face aren’t necessarily a dream. Our problems range anywhere from college to work to stress to love to children to friends, the list is ultimately endless but there is one HUGE  similarity in my story and King Nebuchadnezzar’s…

“So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.” – Daniel 2:2

I may not call a magician, an enchanter, or an astrologer but I do however call a friend, my own knowledge, and advice in various form… When in reality I should be calling God. Though the resources I turn to in times of need, comfort, or guidance aren’t necessarily wrong they are not what I should be looking to or leaning on first. So needless to thanks to a really old king and God’s ability to speak through a number of vices I’m going to go spend a bit more time chatting with God then seeking all my other resources…

Send Me Merch!

I’m selling the items below in hopes of raising money for my summer internship in Brazil! The bracelets are in and ready for sale and the mugs will be here May 16th! Your support will be appreciated beyond belief! Let me know if you are interested!

Travel Mug $15.00

Pray for Brazil Bracelet $3.00