Davi`s kidney function is a lot better

In the beginning of this year we heard from two different doctors, that our adopted son Davi, who has Spina bifida, had a very bad kidney function of only 15-20%. After a series of tests and antibiotics against a bladder infection it got slightly better till 27%, but still very close to the danger zone of having to start hemodialysis.

However we believe that we can report a minor miracle. Many people have prayed. The doctors did a procedure to relax his bladder in order to increase its capacity. Latest tests show that his kidney function increased to 45%. We want to thank all who prayed and stood with us during this time. Let’s praise God together for this miracle!

Modern slavery, Lisa Kristine, Ted Talk

Furlough in Holland and worries and concerns about Davi

Dear friends,

We've just arrived back in Brazil after a wonderful furlough in Holland. We are so thankful for all those that helped make it such a blessed period.

Lots of snow in Holland!

“You guys opened my eyes,” one person said. Another wrote, “I just started a blog about human trafficking after hearing your message.” Still another person told us that the church service had been something she would never forget.

These are just a few of the many reactions we got after our presentations in a variety of churches, cell groups and seminaries for missions. It was so cool and encouraging to see so many people, young and old, seeking the will of God for their lives. We also enjoyed the hospitality of the many different places we went to.

It is always a remarkable experience to minister in cell groups which take place in people's homes. To be able to tell about our experiences in missions and the needs of victims of human trafficking, right in the living room of a home, gives us the opportunity to share on a much more personal level. We were able to speak about the many projects we are involved in, like the upcoming football/soccer 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the danger of people being trafficked for sexual exploitation during such big events.

Some groups we visited had even done some homework before our presentation by reading my book “A Cry From the Streets.”  This made for an even more intimate sharing time about our lives and we were able to answer the personal questions people had.

Our hearts are full of gratitude for all those who received us with so much kindness. We wish them God's richest blessings.

Christmas breakfast with the traditional red Jelly!

Dilma

In our last newsletter we mentioned that our adopted daughter Dilma (who in addition to her deafness also has intellectual limitations) has moved to Holland. She now lives in a home, run by a Christian organization, which does an excellent job in helping people with certain limitations. Many people have prayed for Dilma, as this is a huge step for her. Imagine... A new country, new friends, new work, new language and another sign language as well.

I believe that all these prayers have really helped. Dilma is adapting very well into the group she is living with. Three days a week she goes to a “Sign Language Farm."  Really!  It’s a chicken farm with 25,000 chickens run by deaf people who also provide occupation therapy for the deaf with extra limitations, like Dilma. Besides this she helps in a gift shop with very creative merchandise. She takes lessons in Dutch grammar, vocabulary, and sign.  Dilma goes to swimming and fitness classes and already has a good number of people in her social circle, including friends and members of our extended family.

Davi, Johan and Dilma

We are so grateful for all the people that have been helping Dilma with her adaptation process. She is picking up Dutch sign language pretty fast! A lot faster than us, but of course we can still use the Brazilian sign language to have a good conversation with her. She cried at the airport when she had to say goodbye to us, but to our comfort she has already written to tell us how she is enjoying her new friends, all while missing us a lot.

Davi, who had his birthday on the 25th of december

Davi

Davi, our 26 year old adopted son (who is paraplegic because of Spina Bifida), has been living in Holland in a home run by the same Christian organization for 6 years already.  At first Davi was a little apprehensive about his sister coming to Holland. I think he might have been afraid to lose the special attention they give him. Soon he found out that in reality it is nice to have his sister close by, although they live in different units about 2 miles distance from each other. Davi’s positive attitude is helping Dilma to adapt faster.

During our time in Holland both Davi and Dilma spent two weeks of Christmas holidays with us in the holiday cabin where we stay when we are in Holland. It was great to be in Holland for a change through the holiday season and to also spend some quality time with our oldest son, daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, and of course brothers and sisters who live there as well. Our daughters in Brazil didn’t like it very much, but such is life when you have family living on two different continents.

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During the Christmas holidays however, Davi started having some strange symptoms. We were shocked when the doctor mentioned that he had kidney failure. His kidney function has diminished drastically. After some more thorough tests in the hospital of the University in Utrecht, they were able to define a kidney function of 27%. If this diminishes to 15% he will need to start hemodialysis. This was frightening thing to hear.

Davi was born with Spina Bifida. When we adopted him at 3 years of age he already had problems with bladder infections, however, this had been quite stable until now.

During the month of March Davi will be submitted to other various tests to see if they can stabilize the kidney function so he won't get to the 15% limit and have to start dialysis.

It was a bit difficult to go back to Brazil under these circumstances, but for the month of July I have been invited to teach in a school in YWAM Switzerland on the subject of Children at Risk. During that trip I plan to stay for a couple of weeks in Holland with our children on the other side of the ocean. However, if Davi's health takes a sudden turn for the worse, we might have to go to Holland sooner than that.

We have many questions and little answers just yet, but one thing we know for sure: God has our lives and the life of Davi in His hands. We trust Him. He promised to never leave us and to be with us in every situation, everywhere, always.

We would like to finish this letter with this, and pray that not just Davi or ourselves, but each one of you may have a deeper revelation of trusting in God’s presence in every situation, everywhere, always.

With much love we wish you God’s richest blessings,

Johan & Jeannette Lukasse

Prayer points:

• Thank God for the wonderful time we had in Holland and all the inspiring people we were able to meet.
• Thank God for the speedy process of adaptation of Dilma in Holland and the wonderful people around her.
• Please pray for Davi.  Please pray for his health, his emotions, for the people that guide him through this process, the people who live in the same house with him, and of course for the medical team.

Historical event during this furlough Johan with his 10 brothers and sisters!
(They had not been able to be all together for more than 30 years)

Just a little more news about Davi.

We would like to thank everyone who responded to our previous mail and has been praying for Davi. We could really see the difference after we send out the news: Suddenly he felt a lot better, both physically and emotionally!

Last Friday we were able to a specialist at the University in Utrecht. However he couldn’t tell us a lot of new things. He explained that to calculate the exact failure of the kidneys, we need to do a complete collection of urine during 24 hours in the hospital. We expect this to happen until the end of March.

We are going back to Brazil on the first of March. Davi lives in a wonderful sheltered place where people love and coach him. It is a bit difficult for us to leave under these circumstances. We will maintain close contact, by email and Skype and I Jeannette, am planning to visit again in July, when I will be passing through on my way to Switzerland where I am invited to teach for a week about Children at Risk.

If it would be necessary to go to Holland for an emergency visit, we are ready to do so.

Please continue praying for us. Thanks a lot and we wish you all God’s blessings!

Davi needs prayer

Here is just a quick post, to bring you an update about our youngest adopted son, Davi. As you may remember he is paraplegic and lives already a couple years in Holland. We are right now on furlough in Holland since the beginning of December and plan to go back to Brazil the first of March.

When both Davi and Dilma were staying with us over the Christmas holidays, we noticed some physical changes in Davi. He got tired real fast, ate slowly and very little (this is a real indicator of bad health as he normally eats lots), and on top of that he started shaking and trembling almost continuously. He did not have a fever, but it made him very tired. The doctor soon indicated that he suspected kidney failure.

Friday a week ago we went to do various tests in the hospital and the specialist confirmed kidney failure. He suspects that Davi’s kidneys only work with a 15-20% capacity, and indicated that with 10% he would need hemodialysis.  However the doctor admitted to never have seen or treated a patient with Spina Bifida (Davi was born with this) and has written a request for him to be treated by a specialist team at a university hospital.

Please pray for a speedy consultation in this new hospital. We would like to see that through before we leave again for Brazil.

Also pray for God’s miracle of healing in Davi’s life.

Pray also for his emotions and ours as well. We know that God is with us and will never leave us.

Thanks so much for your prayers.

May God bless you all richly!

Davi last month, on his 26 birthday.

Dilma goes to Holland, and Human Trafficking in Paraguay

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 30^th, 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

One of our seven grandchildren 

Fewer streetchildren, but more drug addicts and more children forced into prostitution.

Dear friends, 

Brazil changes at a rapid pace. When we came here in the beginning of the nineteen eighties, it was “normal” to see hundreds of young children living in the streets, scores of teenagers with young babies and “independent” children from ages six and up.  Very little was done to attend to those needs. The government and educational institutions had little to offer in the way of programs or degrees in social studies. The Protestant church also did not offer many solutions.  In order to distinguish themselves from Catholic and Spiritist groups, that often defined “good works” as a way to qualify for heaven, the Protestant and Evangelicals limited themselves to evangelizing.  They preached a message of salvation through faith and grace, but otherwise didn’t give much thought or attention for other values of the Kingdom of God.

Our family in 1986 with staff and some ex street boys.

The taxis in those days were mostly little yellow VW beetles, and besides big colored buses you didn’t see many vehicles like private cars. In the slums you saw little shacks of black tarps and most of the kids there didn’t go to school at all.

And now??

The city of Belo Horizonte, as well as all big cities of Brazil, suffers with major traffic jams. The road system cannot keep up with the enormous number of very fancy cars. Everywhere construction is going on and high-rises fill the horizon.

Brazil is a much richer country and is already recognized as the sixth largest economy of the world. Much is lacking however in terms of human development, which is measured by life expectancy, education and the distribution of wealth among other things.  Brazil finds itself on the list of the 187 countries on the 87^th place. In comparison, Holland is number three on that same list…

There are still more than 32 million Brazilians who actually go hungry on a daily basis, and another 65 million that are on the edge of poverty. The wealth of the country is in the hands of only 10% of the population.

Crack, Youth Prisons and Prostitution

There are fewer children on the streets today than 30 years ago, but second only after the USA, Brazil has the highest number of drug addicts in the world.  It is estimated that at least 6 million people are addicted to either crack or cocaine. Youth detention centers are full with young people without any significant activities at all.

Prostitution is on the rise, and last month there was even an attempt to lower the age of consent for sexual intercourse to the age of 12. In that way it would be very difficult to even prosecute those who have sex with minors even though they may be exploited in the sex industry because they may already the 12 years old! There are even voices to bring the age down to 10 years old! Imagine how that would have an effect on the already huge amount of women and children being trafficked into sexual exploitation.  With the two biggest sports events in the world just around the corner here in Brazil, the Soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, we are greatly worried and moving towards many different actions and interventions.

The end of October we will have our second seminar on Human Trafficking, moving towards more mobilization and intervention. Please pray for this event and the actions afterwards.

Brazil is changing, the needs are changing, and therefore the focus of the work of the 60 full time missionaries that are currently serving on the base in Belo Horizonte is changing. We are in a time of seeking God for a renewed vision. Many things are being restructured, and at the same time Johan and I are handing over the base leadership to the next generation by the end of next year. In this process we meet with staff, the leadership team, and recently we were part of a weeklong international leadership meeting seeking God for new direction on a global level. God’s direction is key during this crucial time, with the many fast paced changes all over the world.

Students of the Children at Risk school in Belo Horizonte, 2012

Teaching

Besides many meetings that we alternately lead, that are mostly prepared by me (Jeannette), we also lecture in many YWAM schools. I have been involved with the students of the last DTS (Discipleship Training School), during their daily intercession time.  

Johan just finished a marathon of lectures. First he taught for a week in Brasilia with a video link to 3 more location in Switzerland, Columbia and Costa Rica. Soon after that he spent a week teaching in Sao Paulo for an all Korean DTS, then 3 to 4 weeks teaching at the Children at Risk school, 4 days teaching for the DTS on the base here, and 3 more days teaching at the DTS in Contagem, which is 26 KM from here. 

Our students in Mozambique

At the end of October we will have the second seminar on human trafficking and straight after that a congress form Call2All in Paraguay. As you can see, there is never a dull moment. 

http://traficohumano-jocumbh.blogspot.com.br/

A couple weeks ago my laptop got stolen. Although we have had things stolen from us before, it is still a shock to realize that people would get their hands on MY stuff. Luckily, I had made a back-up just a few days before. I am happy though that there are things that no thief can steal from us, like my relationship with God, bonds of family and friendships.  These are the things that are precious treasures for us. In all the challenges that come our way, we know that God upholds us and that there are many people who stand with us in prayer and deed. We are so grateful to all of you! May God bless you all richly!

Two of our grand daughters!