Screaming desperately, she ran through the multitude of
people crossing one of the busiest intersections of the city, downtown Belo
Horizonte. Dozens of shocked people watched as a big aggressive guy grabbed her
and dragged her to the middle of the road.
She screamed and kicked, but he was
much too strong for her. He put his big filthy hand over her mouth and muffled
her screams. As he held her tightly, he looked menacingly towards the drivers
who had just stopped for the red traffic light and watched the scene with
horror. Most of the pedestrians passed quickly and turned to watch from a safe
distance.
One man, however, decided to intervene and help. He pulled a
revolver he had hidden on his back behind his belt, and started walking towards
them….
Drama
Oh my, something was going terribly wrong! Rodolpho, one of
the YWAM staff who was filming the scene, ran towards him, shouting: “No, no,
this is not really happening--it’s just a drama!”
Irritated and still uncertain, the man looked at him.
“Seriously,” Rodolpho said, “we are drawing people’s
attention to the fact that we shouldn’t ignore violence and abuse, but we
should report it.”
The man still was not wholly convinced until he saw the
shock on the faces of our two actors. Slowly he lowered his gun and put it
away.
Behind the man and girl, a big banner was now held up,
saying: “If you don’t report it, it won’t stop! Call 100!”
 |
| Where is Wally? :) |
This happened last Saturday morning, when over 200 people
from YWAM and various local churches were at the central city square to
evangelize and to alert people about sexual exploitation. There was even a team
from Holland. Johan and I were there together. How wonderful to be able to talk
openly about the love of our heavenly Father and see how open people here in
Brazil are to talk about God and faith!
Can I have the Good News
too?
There were various other groups who performed dance and
drama, and many people stopped to watch. We were able to pray for a number of
people, and it was so encouraging to see that people would even come up to ask us
for the tracts and literature we were handing out.
During these last months before the World Cup, we have organized
various evangelistic events, to get really prepared for the big events during
the World Cup. At each subsequent event, the number of young people from
different churches who have joined us has increased, through their contagious
enthusiasm.
We saw, however, that we have to be careful with some of the
dramas--this one was almost too realistic, as the guy who was acting the part
of the aggressor was almost killed by someone who was just passing by… Oh my! Of
course, in the end it is a funny story, because it had a happy ending. But
please be in prayer for the teams and people who will join us for the World Cup,
that God will protect us and keep us safe.
Protests
During the World Cup there is a real possibility that there
will be many demonstrations and protests. A large percentage of the Brazilian
population is not very happy with the current government. They believe that all the money spent on
stadiums should have been spent on education and health care.
In the latest polls, the president, Dilma Rousseff, had only
37% approval. There will be presidential elections in October and she would
like to be reelected for her second term, but she will need more than 37%. So
she announced last week that she would raise the “Bolsa Familia,” a monthly
benefit for the poorest families (36 million people), 3 dollars a month. But it
remains doubtful if this will sway enough voters.
During the World Cup the eyes of the world will be on
Brazil, and many people want to use this media attention to put pressure on the
government through big organized protest marches on the streets. Unfortunately
those marches often lead to violence and vandalism. Please pray for peace and
against aggression and fighting.
Assaults
Brazil has such a high violence and crime rate that foreign
embassies and governments have published materials to educate tourists how to
react when they suffer an assault in Brazil...
We would like to see the churches go in great numbers to the
streets during the World Cup, because the presence of the people of God will cause
the rates of crime and violence to decrease significantly. The devil doesn’t
like us to go to the streets to evangelize and have people commit their lives
to Jesus. So please pray with us that many churches will mobilize their people
to go out.
Prayer for 32 Nations
Speaking of prayer, our team prepared a presentation with
prayer points from each of the 32 nations that will participate in the World
Cup. The focus is to pray against human trafficking and injustice in those
countries. The presentation is already translated from English into Portuguese,
Spanish and Korean. Thousands of people around the world are using it. We would like to see it go viral and have
thousands of churches and teams praying during the World Cup. Please download
it and start using it too: www.slideshare.net/JeannetteLukasse/presentations
Weekly News on the
Kickoff Blog!
We just created two blogs, in Portuguese and English, to
help churches and teams in each of the 12 host cities of the World Cup. On
those blogs you can find all kinds of suggestions for activities teams can do
during the outreach. There is a page with downloads for printing tracts and
materials to bring to the outreach. Another
page shows how to download portions of the Bible and the “Jesus” film on mobile
phones. We will have a schedule of activities in Belo Horizonte and the other
11 cities. Other pages contain photos, videos and prayer needs. We will post frequent updates during the World
Cup. Have a look at: www.ywamkickoff2014.blogspot.com.br
State government
Last week, Johan and one of our staff were invited to speak about
human trafficking to the state government. They were able to describe
everything we have been doing over the last few years against human trafficking
and also about what still needs to be done, especially in preparing for the World
Cup. It was all transmitted live on cable TV and on the internet. It went very
well--Johan even had time to clarify that our programs are based on biblical
values and to explain some key Scriptures. Those are great opportunities. We
have also been able to give TV interviews, share on documentaries, and write
for magazines. All these things help to bring the plight of human trafficking victims
to the attention of an ever-widening public.
Praying in the Red Light
Districts
In each of the 12 host cities for the World Cup, Exodus Cry
has been able to rent a prayer room for 24/7 (twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week) prayer in the downtown prostitution area. Churches and teams can
sign up to participate. Exodus Cry is the organization that produced the
documentary “Nefarious,” a shocking
account of the worldwide trade of women and children for sexual exploitation.
This movie is a “must watch” for those who want to know more and be involved in
combatting this crime. They recently produced another documentary on human
trafficking and sexual exploitation in Brazil. We have been working closely
together with Exodus Cry over the last few years.
Not Alone
Just a few more weeks and the World Cup will be upon us. This
is a big task for us, as we are the National Coordinators for teams that will come
through YWAM to participate in the outreaches in Brazil. Luckily we don’t have
to do it on our own. We have a great team here in Belo Horizonte, and in the
other 11 cities, there are additional YWAM coordinators/teams. And we know that
many of you will participate in the army of prayer warriors. But above all, we
know that God is with us and will guide and help us in everything.
Davi ‘s Dream
Davi, our youngest son with special needs, lives in Holland.
He is a great soccer fan and has the opportunity to travel with a team from
Holland to be with us for two-and-a-half weeks during the World Cup. His kidney function has improved a lot; it is
now around 50%, against all the expectations of the specialists--a real miracle!
His doctors have released him to travel. This is fantastic, as his big dream is
to be in Brazil during the World Cup. We are looking forward to having him with
us for awhile.
Holland
In September we plan to go to Holland. Davi will have
another surgery, and we want to be close to him during that time. Also, we plan
to write a second book!
We want to thank all of you who have been involved with us
in any way over the last months. We wish you all God’s blessings,
