After a wonderful time in Holland, we are now back in Brazil for more than a month. A question that people ask us every now and then: “As YWAM base leaders, what do you guys do exactly, what are your activities in a regular week?” Maybe it is time to have a look over our shoulder…
Monday: We start every morning with an hour of Bible reading, prayer and reflection. Then Johan fixes breakfast, including soft boiled eggs and coffee with whipped hot milk! We go over our weekly schedule together and have a time of intercession. At 8:30 AM we are ready to go to our office, comfortably at our own home, each one behind our own computer. Like always, there are lots of emails to read and answer, which we mostly do in between major tasks. Last week the newsletter of the YWAM base of Belo Horizonte was written and edited, and this week I’ll get to send it. Since last year we have two separate newsletters, one for the base, and one which is our personal news (this very one). Initially this creates a little more work, but eventually other people will be taking over the base newsletter. So I quickly send the base newsletter to the YWAM mailing list, jump in the car and go to the Light House, our community center in one of the slums, where I am teaching for two mornings in the FCD (Foundations in Community Development School). This is one of the three schools we are offering on the base. Johan and myself teach regularly in those schools. I get there at 9:00 AM sharp. Johan continues at home in the office, preparing for a meeting he will have on Wednesday morning, and also for a sermon on Thursday evening. Between things, he solves administrative issues with some of the staff. Today he gets the job to cook lunch. We try to keep that as practical possible, and have a load of little food containers with rice and beans in the freezer in order to prepare lunch fast. When I get home at a quarter to one, all I need to do is to sit down and eat. It`s delicious!
In the afternoon we have a meeting with our base council, a group of 15 people that carry together the responsibility for the base, which today consist of 8 operation locations and 100 fulltime missionaries. We host those meetings in our own home. I quickly prepare some coffee and snacks and at 1:30 PM we are ready to start. We normally finish at 5:00 PM, but today it extents till 5:30.
In the evening we spend a little more time to bring our emails up to date.
Tuesday. After breakfast and prayer, I’ll check my emails before I rush off to teach again in the FCD. Johan needs to do various things at the bank.
In the afternoon we have our weekly meetings with all the department leaders. We take time to pray together, do a training session, and discuss various subjects that relate to the functioning of the work.
At 6:00 PM we put our sport clothes on. Johan goes for a run, while I go to the fitness center on the next corner of our city block. My left foot is partly paralyzed, and I use an orthopedic piece to keep it straight. But on the treadmill I can hold on to the handles, and happily keep going for a few kilometers. After an hour we are both home again and fix dinner. Today will be extra special, because we are receiving a couple of young leaders from one of the departments of the base. It will be a cozy evening in front of our fire place that keeps the place comfortable during the winter months.
On Wednesday I take an extended time to put my correspondence in order. I read and respond scores of emails. In the meantime, Johan has a monthly administration meeting with representatives of each ministry.
In the afternoon I have a reporting time with our communication team and right after start preparing our new weblog for our congress and seminar about human trafficking we are organizing for the end of September – beginning of October. Johan sits down with the missionaries that will staff the Children at Risk school with him, which starts at the end of August.
Wednesday night is separated every week to something special for just the two of us. Today we decide to rent a DVD. Johan prepares a special hamburger sandwich, which he proudly calls McLukasse . We enjoy a good movie together.
Thursday: Two masons are coming to do some repair work on the house. Well, that will give some extra excitement. We sit together to decide all that needs doing. Then we go over the details for the afternoon meeting with the team that will organize the congress and seminar about human trafficking. Johan finishes his Bible study in Power Point for the service tonight, and downloads a clip from YouTube. On Thursday evenings we have our weekly service with staff and other members of our YWAM community. Tonight is going to be extra special because of the graduation of our DTS (Discipleship Training School). I fix lunch today and make a cake and coffee at the same time for the afternoon meeting.
So in the afternoon we decide a lot of things and leave with the sense that the congress and seminar about human trafficking will be very special indeed.
In the evening there is a sudden rainstorm. Trees are knocked over, rain pours down, and the city becomes chaotic as in many neighborhoods the electricity is cut off. Our service starts half an hour late in an improvised room, because the main auditorium got flooded. But the enthusiasm and excitement is contagious. The little film and the preaching from Johan is well accepted, and we finish the evening with two huge chocolate cakes!
On Friday I need to go with Dilma to the doctor because of her medical insurance. They need to confirm if she is really deaf. They phoned the other day and asked to talk to her so they could ask about her deafness, well that was a bit complicated to arrange! Johan takes us there by car so he can swing by the flower market where he buys some beautiful roses for me in honor of the Brazilian Valentine’s Day on Sunday 12th of June.
The remainder of the day is spent in doing more emails, the writing of an article about human trafficking, and a Skype meeting with the people of Notforsale, the organization that will provide the teachers for the congress and seminar about human trafficking at the end of September.
At night we relax in our easy chairs with a good book and some magazines.
On Saturday I visit the fitness Center again, while Johan takes his mountain bike and goes cycling with some friends in the mountains. After our workout, we go to a big construction depot to buy materials for the house.
In the afternoon Dilma comes home. During the week she helps in the Sower House, the project with the deaf children. Today they had an extra program for the moms of the kids. I update our blogs in English and Dutch. Johan fixes some lights around the house, and Dilma makes 3D postcards, her new hobby.
In the evening I watch a part of the ER series, and Johan reads a book.
Sunday. In the morning we go to church. Have a late lunch around 3:00 PM, and in the evening we go to another church to give a presentation. When we get home it´s a bit late and time for a cup of tea, and soon we roll into our beds because tomorrow will start a busy week!
I hope this will give you a little bit of an idea how our lives are organized. We are very thankful to able to work here and give leadership to this YWAM base with its 100 staff and various houses and departments that attend to hundreds of children at risk with the love of God.
Without the support of those who pray, give and participate in various ways, this would not be possible. We are very thankful to those of you who help us in any way.
May God bless you all richly.
Johan and Jeannette Lukasse
Prayer and thanksgiving points:
• Thank God for the lives of the young leaders we have the privilege to train and mentor here at the base. Pray that they will reach their full potential in God.
• Thank God for the team preparing the congress and seminar about human trafficking. Pray that many people will be motivated to reach out to children forced into prostitution.
Just some nice pictures:
Bruno’s wedding! Bruno was one of the ex street kids who lived in the Restoration House from when he was 12 years old. Now he is a missionary to children at risk himself! He married a beautiful girl and together they plan to work with children in need in Vitoria, a city at the coast of Brazil. It is a wonderful party where we meet a whole group of our ex-street boys and girls, who all have become missionaries. What an encouragement!
Eva, our youngest grandchild, who had her first birthday.
Together we admire her birthday cake!
With our grandchildren "western style".
Little house on the prairie? No: our wonderful family!
