Dear friends,
Great news! Dilma (31),
our adopted deaf daughter who is also intellectually challenged, moved to
Holland! We were planning to go together with her in December, but because of
the need to finalize all the necessary paper work for immigration by November
30th, she had to go to Holland a month earlier than us. (We will go on furlough to Holland in December-January) Two of our good
friends from Holland were able to visit us in Brazil and travel back with Dilma.
Saying Goodbye
The last couple of weeks
of the month of October were dedicated to saying goodbye to everyone dear to Dilma.
Goodbye to the many deaf people in her church and the YWAM staff at the base.
We were even able to pay a last visit to her biological mother whom Dilma
hadn’t seen for 8 years. Through contact with one of her biological brothers we
were able to find her. This was very important to Dilma.
Ice Cream Party
On the Saturday afternoon before Dilma left we gave a
farewell party with ice cream for all her friends. With temperatures between 35
to 40 degrees Celsius (around 100 degrees Fahrenheit), this was a great
success. During Dilma’s last afternoon home, just before leaving that night, we
had a final farewell barbecue with just our family. Then she was ready (and so
were we J). Her biggest challenge is going to be communication.
She can of course sign very well in Brazilian sign language, but the Dutch
signs are different. She can write in Portuguese and English, but not in Dutch
yet. Please pray for her as she is trying to adapt, and pray she will learn
this new sign language really fast. For those who would like to send her an
encouraging card please send it to: Dilma Lukasse Pinnenburgerweg 73, 3881 VC
Putten, Holland.
Human Trafficking in Paraguay
One of the other things that needed our attention during
this time was the second seminar on Human Trafficking that was organized at the
base in Belo Horizonte. A wonderful group of very motivated people participated
in this.
Straight after this, Johan and I went to Paraguay to
speak and give workshops in a mission congress called Call2All in Paraguay.
Many pastors, mission leaders, business people and civil servants attended. The
current Minister of Justice and the former president and his wife, who have
become Christians, attended as well.
Paraguay is still a country with lots of
poverty where there is very little attention for the hundreds of thousands of
children at risk. It also has the highest index of all South American countries
for girls who are trafficked into sexual exploitation and prostitution. Please
pray that God will bless the messages we were able to share. It is our hope that people would not just
listen to the things we share, but find a way to put into practice what they
have heard.
We would like to thank all of those who supported us in
the past months through prayer, finances or any other actions. Without your
support we would not be able to do all these things.
Christmas
We would also like to
wish all of you a blessed Christmas season and a wonderful New Year. May the
Lord Jesus Christ, who became Emanuel, God with us, inspire and comfort you
with His everlasting presence, until the end of this age! Glory
to God in the highest, and peace to all people on earth.
We wish you God’s
richest blessings,
Love,
Johan and Jeannette
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| One of our seven grandchildren |
