hanging in there...

Wednesday of this week, our last week at USP, we had an outreach in both FEA and POLI. The idea was to put up a sign saying - "What is holding you back from God?" and duct tape a person up on a wall. My group was supposed to do it in FFLCH but there weren't enough people so we headed to POLI, where most of our outreaches have been. Megan, one of my roommates, had volunteered to get taped so she stood on me and Johnny's hands up against a pillar near the entrance of POLI while Weston and Sarah duct taped her to the pillar. Weston had been duct taped to a wall before so he kind of instructed the rest of us on what to do, but we were sort of in uncharted territory. Within minutes of getting her on the wall, all of the POLI group was in conversations with students who had walked by. I was talking to a student who seemed pretty interested, when all of a sudden he said "is she ok??" I turned around to find Megan being cut off the wall. Her face was pretty pale and her feet were very red. After laying down for awhile she felt better, but didn't remember anything after asking Trevor to come over and get her down. We think she blacked out, as the tape was probably cutting off circulation to part of her body. She rested for awhile, then we went to get something to eat. Luckily Lila stopped by the cafeteria and could take her home in her car so Megan didn't have to ride the bus, since we were leaving campus an hour from then. She's fine now, but the whole situation was pretty scary. She said it was worth it as several students got to hear the Gospel.

Several students have accepted Christ this week- around four, I heard. That brings the total close to 25! I have had the chance to meet at least 50 students this summer, share the Gospel with half, and have second and third meetings with a few of the students. Carolina, who we've been meeting every Monday since we've been here (a total of 5 times) cancelled on us this week and hasn't replied to our e-mails requesting a time to meet and say good-bye. A disappointment, as Andy and I have been putting a lot of time into our meetings. I have one final appointment tomorrow with a student I shared part of the Gospel with today. It's been hard to meet students this week as they've been interested in talking, but have to study for their exams. I feel a sense of urgency as we have one final week. I wonder what ministry would have looked like had I had this urgent-get-to-the-point-right-away mentality all summer.

My last post will be Friday or Saturday, unless I post one last time when I get home. We head to Rio de Janiero on Sunday morning, and fly out Wednesday, (July 4th) at 1055pm. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers and encouragement!

Amy

Natty.

Today I went to campus with Heather. By the time we mailed postcards, waited for the bus, ate lunch @ POLI, walked around, took some scenic photos, it was time to meet up with Natty (pronounced Natch-ee). She grew up in a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but isn’t really set on their beliefs. We first met her last week in IME where she studies and have met with her twice now. After our first meeting she demanded to meet with us again soon as she still had more questions. She had even more today, and we talked about a lot of different subjects. She actually met with a STINTer (basically a year-long summer project) like two years ago - they talked about spiritual things several time. In a nutshell she believes:
-Jesus was the Son of God, but not God.
-Jesus died for our sins and we are forgiven by Him.
-‘Elite’ believers, the 144,000, will go to Heaven. Other believers will live on a ‘new’ earth.
Her questions were numerous and challenging:
-Why we would want to go to Heaven?
-Why would God create people who just end up going to Hell?
-How could a loving God send people to Hell?
-Why is the Jehovah Witness’ Bible different from the Christian Bible?

Just a few of many good, hard questions. She really kept us thinking the hour and a half we talked to her. Heather is meeting with her again Wednesday and I will possible be there.

Pray Natty would understand faith - that she would be able to trust Christ without knowing and understanding every single bit of Christianity. She’s close.

Amy

I Agree With The Gringos!

This week was our "I Agree With" Campaign. (A gringo = a North American). We advertised for a few days by handing out and hanging up posters- and we also wore t-shirts that had the phrase on them in both English and Portuguese. Tuesday was a tough ministry day. Natalie and I got rejected quite a bit in IME (Math) and FAU (Architecture)- there was actual pointing and laughing. I've never experienced that before, and wasn't really sure what to do with that. Brasilians in general are open to talking about spiritual things, but we are also finding that many have the 'everyone can believe what they want' attitude.

Wednesday I went sharing with Kiki, a spunky painting major from Chicago. She's totally opposite from me- yet we fit well together and are learning a lot from each other. We had two awesome conversations in which both students were in agreement over the Gospel, but wanted to make sure they were ready to make the decision. We are glad they realized it is an important decision to make, but we are praying they realize the urgency in deciding.

Today (Thursday) we had a few games, free pop, and three testimonies at the Clock Tower, a kind of central meeting place on campus. [USP is very segragated - students stick to their specific college and that's it. I feel like I know more about the campus as a whole than a lot of the students do. That being said, it's hard sometimes to get students to come to campus-wide events]. Anyway, I think we were praying for like 1,000 students to show up-- we had about 100. But God is good- those who were there needed to hear what was said. Two students accepted Christ, one of which has been hanging out with the project the whole summer. It was awesome to see Him finally realize that a relationship with God is something he needs, and really does want. That brings our total to somewhere around 19 USP students who had made a decision to follow Christ. Praise God!

I also had a meeting with a student, Natalia, today. She had met with a STINTer from the U.S. a few years ago and wanted to talk about her and our beliefs. We learned she her parents are Jehovah's Witnesses and she isn't sure about the religion...but she isn't sure she belives in Jesus as God, either. We have another meeting with her Monday.

Tomorrow we have our regular Futebol Friday, and then a good-bye party with the Alfa e Omega group here, as they have finals this coming week and then some of them take off to CM2007, the Campus Crusade international gathering in Seoul, South Korea.

On a sidenote, I am trying not to worrying about it, but I still need $570 of support by the time I get home from Brasil. Pray that I would get the money- but mainly that I would have enough faith to trust God to provide it for me.

I can't believe I will be back in Minnesota in two weeks. I am looking forward to this next week of ministry - God is giving me an urgency in sharing with students that I haven't had before. I pray it will continue all week, and then remain in me when I return! Thanks for your encouragement and support and prayers.

Amy

Ahh...ministry

What a crazy week...
The highs and the lows of ministry were evident for me this week.
The highs would include about four people indicating a decision for Christ in about three days. Praise the Lord :) It's really cool to be excited with other members of the team who have had that experience of letting God work through them to influence the lives of people.
The low would be that these are the first fruits of our labor that we've really seen. I'm not doubting God, but in reality we would probably only see two or three more people make that decision, tops. No one is joking when they say that the Australian culture is apathetic and they really just don't care about their future and what will happen for eternity. Heidi and I were talking with a girl on Wednesday, I think, and we did a Quest survey with her. When we asked her the question "What do you think happens after death?" she said "Nothing." And she was completly fine with that. She said that doesn't bother her, that's just how life is. We live. We die. We're done. What?? It was so heartbreaking to know that people think that. And she's only the most recent person I've talked to who thinks that. I would venture to say that 75-80% of the people that I've talked to either believe that they die and that's the complete end or that they will be reincarnated.
Then on Wednesday Melissa and I had a meeting with two or three girls that we've developed great relationships with. This would have been the fourth time we've hung out, but they didn't show up. It's hard to not have a mobile because they can't get ahold of us if something does come up. So we're trying to think the best that they didn't just stand us up. But it's hard because we've been praying so much for them and for our relationship with them. Then Heidi and I, yesterday, had another scheduled meeting with a girl who we were excited to get to know and she didn't show up either for the second time.
Project has been such a growing experience in trusting the Lord. Since we don't get to continue many relationships after we leave campus for the last time today, we can only trust that the seeds we have planted will be for the glory of God. I'm trying to hold to these truths and to understand that God has brought us into these relationships for a reason, and that he will use our small efforts to work in huge ways for the people we have met.
Sooo that's about all I have for now.
Smaller updates - last weekend we went snorkeling in the Great Barrior Reef, then Miranda, Britt and I went on a horseback ride through the rainforest. Pretty much amazing, I'd say

Next week is debrief in Towoomba, so I'm not sure that I'll have much to blog about for that. I'm guessing I'll blog when I get home, to let ya'll know how the trip home, etc...went.

I'd love your prayers for continued encouragment and safe travels home.
I'll be back in the country next Friday :)
thanks for reading :)

Jesus Film.

On Monday afternoon, the project headed to a favela (a slum about 30 minutes from USP) to share the Jesus Film with help from a church there. We broke up into groups and handed out fliers to as many people as we could. Within 5 minutes I was in tears. Standing on top of the hill, you could see tons of homes built one on top of another, surrounded by piles of junk and stray dogs fighting. The hardest part for me was seeing the hotels and skyscrapers surrounding the favela, knowing that the people in those building looked out on to the favela every day – and the lives of both groups were totally opposite yet they existed in the same area. The actual film went off without a hitch, except for a few breaks in the 9mm film we used. Some adults showed up, but the crowd was mostly kids. The movie was shown at the bottom of a hill, amidst the piles of debris and concrete and litter. Because we had three roles of film to show (on the oldest projector I’ve ever seen), one other project student and I shared a two minute testimony of how we became Christians (which was really four minutes with the Portuguese translator). Some of the team took pictures while we were there, because the kids loved being able to see themselves right away after the flash went (so cute!!) but we were fairly reserved considering the closest building to the movie area is involved in drug making/buying/selling of some sort.

At one point, I was sitting next to a 5 year old named Giovanna. There was a rowdy group of kids sitting between her and the movie, but the whole time her eyes were glued to the images on the screen. I watched her watch the soldiers pound the nails into Jesus’ hands, and she truly looked mortified. She turned to me with sorrowful eyes and said a small voice, (in Portuguese) “Why did Jesus have to die??” All me and Kristi, an American student with us, could say in broken Portuguese was, watch the rest of the movie and they will explain at the end.

18 adults accepted Christ, along with almost every single child we gave a comment card to- I don't know the attitude of their heart. But to hold a 5 year old and hear them pray to receive Christ in Portuguese is about the best thing I've ever experienced!

Mid-Project Retreat

Last week we had another four students accepted Christ! Awesome to see God at work in us and through us right before our break from ministry. Friday we headed off to Ubatuba (the beach) about 4 hours away. We got a flat tire on the coach bus about 5 minutes from hotel but no one was too concerned. Our hotel basically resembled the set from The Shining. It was a little creepy, secluded (we were the only guests) and just all around made us feel weird. It was also straight out of the 70s or 80s or one of those old decades.

Saturday: the beach. It was pretty awesome! My first trip to the Atlantic Ocean, and the male project director threw me in, fully clothed (it was about 65* and cloudy). Fun. I bought some cool souveniors form beach vendors and ate amazing pastels (pastries) for lunch. It raining by 2pm so we went back to the hotel and hung out until supper at 8pm.

Sunday we had our own church service by the pool, after which I broke my camera (I think), after which we went to the beach again. We spent 5 hours on the coach bus back to Sao Paulo, and most of the group got motion sickness. A fun weekend, though!

Yet another amazingly short post from Australia!

Hey ya'll!! I only have five minutes to type two weeks of updates so it'll have to be abbreviated -
Last wednesday I came down with some odd infection and thought I was going to die (well, that's a bit of an overstatment,but I was pretty sick)
Saturday we went to the Gold Coast and people went surfing - Dan and Jordan went, I didn't - It was Jordan's birthday! Woo hoo! It was fun, though
Sunday was an amazing day of rest and relaxation and I finally was feeling mostly up to par
Monday was the Queen's birthday - a national holiday so we weren't on campus. We went to a park for games and whatnot, except three minutes after getting there I rolled my ankle on a small little hill playing frisbee. Egh - four years of sports in high school without an ankle injury but now I get one playing frisbee...how's that happen? But it's getting better now, it's just a little sore and a lot bruised
Last week was a great week getting to know more people on campus and watching the State of Origin rugby game which I can maybe explain later - it's a HUGE deal. Like the superbowl times three.
Three students have come to Christ in the past four days....how amazing is that!!! It's soooo great to see God work.
Please pray for a meeting I have tomorrow tihe another projecter and three s we know....hopefully we'll get to share our testimonies and perhaps the gospel.
out of time! love you all!

The Fellowship of Believers.

"They devoted themselves to teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer...Every day they continued to meet together. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." -Acts 2:42, 46, 47

My summer in Brasil is about half-way over. In the big picture, time has flown by the past three weeks. When I am stuck on campus and we can't find anyone to talk to, or we wait for the bus for an hour, the day seems to crawl- 12 hours with the team seem like a week by the time we get back to our rooms at night.

But great things are happening. The past week our team has truly been as Acts 2 Community in every way (except for the whole miraculous healing stuff the disciples did). We are a team who eats together, laughs together and prays together in all circumstances. Some of the women have been having nightmares since we checked into the hotel. In the past four days the men have prayed over every single room. The spiritual warefare is more intense than I've ever seen. We take it as a sign we are doing something right.

And, the Lord is truly adding daily to our numbers those being saved. In the past 6 days of minsitry, eight students have come to Christ. Lately, every day someone has come back with a story of a student who has accepted the amazing grace offered through faith in Jesus.

On a lighter note, yesterday was Valentine’s Day. As if once a year wasn’t enough! (actually, Brasilians don’t celebrate the North American holiday in February). In light of this holiday, the guys surprised the women with a little gift. Each guy on project wrote a nice note and bought a flower and piece of chocolate for one woman on project, and presented these in a unique way- fun facts, songs, skits- one guy even made up a rap. It was pretty cool! My particular gentleman tried to play the guitar and write a song. I am now teaching him a few chords so the next time he wants to play a song he wrote, he will know how.

Because we were unable to get permission at USP, we ended up having a score a basket competition today- we gave each student three tries to make a free-throw. If they made any of the shots, the survey they filled out was entered into a drawing. We gave away some DVDs, Guarana and a PS2. A student on the project shared her testimony about her personal dislike of the church she grew up in- their focus on rules and regulations instead of on grace, which a lot of Brasilians can relate to. In all we think at least 150 students attended. Also, I got to meet the Director of Campus Crusade for Christ for South America. Pretty cool. Thanks for your prayers, everyone! I really appreciate them, and they are truly important to me and our team. Boa Noite-

Amy

weekly update - brasil

Here's a quick update of my week to catch you up on my life. :]

Because a student I was supposed to go sharing with on Tuesday got sick halfway through the day, I ended up riding alone on the bus to campus last Tuesday. I only got worried once when I thought the bus had already passed my stop. I walked around for half an hour on campus trying to find people from our group. Once I did and we got supper it was time to leave campus, so Tuesday was spent mostly praying and walking.

Wednesday we did a ‘Cup and Coke’ Outreach at both POLI and FEA. We had cups of Guaranna (a soda so highly caffienated they don't sell it in the US) given out at each faccodaje to any student who filled out a short survey. Many on our team were even able to answer questions students had about the organization, and several shared the Gospel. Overall we now have around 400 surveys, which we have stared to follow up.

We had a long weekend with an extra day off since USP had no class Thursday and Friday in observance of Corpus Christi. Saturday a group went downtown to visit an old, huge cathedral and do some shopping. I bought a pair of puma’s for $15 USD. The subway station was very different from the rest of the city – quiet, clean and efficient. Downtown was beautiful – awesome architecture. I even did a little shopping and bought a pair of shoes for 15 USD.

On Monday, Andy and I talked with a 'record' 10 students - but half of which did not care to hear about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s the first time all summer I’ve had more than one rejection per day. I did come home happy with the day and not even really discouraged.

Andy and I are becoming very direct in our approach- take a minute to explain who we are and why we’re in Brasil, then do a Quest survey- which provides us a chance to get to know them a bit, then transition to the Gospel, if they are intersted. It seems like a good system. We shared the Gospel twice- with two Buddhist students, and two Masters Philosophy students. We also met up with Carolina, a student we had met two weeks ago. She still believes in Spiritism, and we are still trying to muddle through the difference between it and Christianity.

All in all, a great week! Tomorrow we are trying to have an outreach but the Evangelism Team just got word that they were denied permission to use the area- we are hosting "Score a Goal on an American" - students have two tries to shoot a penalty shot on someone from our team (if they make it, their name gets entered in a drawing for a PS2, which is really sweet because electronics here are way expensive. We want to use the grassy area outside the Engineering building (the same place you did it last year, Wendy), but for some reason they heard we were associated with Alfa e Omega and they said no because it's a religious group. this has really been the first time we have been 'persecuted' against in Brasil, which is good. Pray that we would have wisdom in what to do, that we'd find a spot to hold it, that students would show up!