Challenges of preparing for the World Cup

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,

Johan and Jeannette Lukasse

How to pray for the 32 nations that will come to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil

32 nations of the World Cup to pray for from JeannetteLukasse

Highway to hell and freedom for all.

Dear friends,

“Hi Auntie…” with a deep frown she took me in, “I hope you’ve done this before?” Without waiting for an answer though, she stretched her leg on the bench at the busstop, and pointing at the dirty plastic bag around her foot and up to her knee, she said in a high trembling voice, “but I’ll remove the bandages myself, okay?

Josie, on the run from the police

Johan had met her during his daily run. She caught his attention, a teenager obviously living on the streets, with a huge infected wound below her knee and walking with crutches. He stopped to chat with her. She said her name was Josie and explained she had broken her leg at various points when hit by a bus two months previous. After eight weeks in the hospital she had finally run away out of fear that the police would pick her up for some crimes committed on the streets months before. So here she was on the streets again…

Gathering courage…

Armed with a first aid kit full of bandages and antiseptic fluids, I went with Johan to check it out and see how I could help her. Johan had promised Josie he would get me as I am a registered nurse. She was waiting for us at the same spot where he had left her. She made it quite clear that she wouldn’t go back to a hospital, afraid as she was of the police. She had tried to go to a medical post, but because it was a national holiday, all medical posts were closed.

Carefully we helped her untie the plastic bag around the bandages.

“I put those around it because of all the flies”, she explained.

Under the plastic, her whole leg was covered with greenish bandages, deeply stuck to the horrendous wound. I swallowed hard, took a deep breath and gathered my courage. If this wasn’t taken care of properly, she could lose that leg.

Carefully I poured sterile fluid on the bandages as Josie herself pulled to loosen them. Soon her brow was covered with big beads of perspiration. Luckily I had brought disposable gloves, plenty of fluids, medical sprays and bandages.

“Oh, thank you, uncle and auntie,” she finally sighed. She happily looked at us and then at the clean white bandages around her wound.

12 years old and totally stoned

Josie and her brother both live on the streets and were already known by the Rescue House team. But she was not yet ready to give up on her life in the streets. “Tomorrow I will go to the medical post,” she assured us. A street boy, totally stoned and who appeared to be no older than 12 years old had come slowly up to us, and putting his arm around Josie’s shoulder, asked her with a slurring voice if she already had a boyfriend. She pushed him away aggressively, shouting: “Stop it Alex, you’re much too young.” He looked at her confusedly, as if not really understanding, and then dejectedly shuffled away.

Gone

The next day we went to pay her a visit on the street where she used to hang out. We found her quickly, and with a beautiful and happy smile, she assured us that she was much better. But by the next day, she had disappeared. The Rescue House team finally informed us that she was now living with one of her boyfriends in a slum.

Street kids

There are a lot less children on the streets now than 15-20 years ago. But still they have not totally disappeared. Every now and then, the police round them up and put them in juvenile detention centers, in order to clean up the city for a big event. So on occasions, it looks as if there are no street children anymore, but the team from the Rescue House is still very busy reaching out to them. Please pray for kids like Josie and Alex and for the Rescue House team.

“Highway to Hell”

Girls like Josie often get boyfriends who abuse them. We hear all the time about the sexual abuse these girls suffer and how they become victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation.  One of the areas that we are very concerned about is the notorious highway which runs all the way from Fortaleza in the north of Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro in the south. It is nicknamed, “Highway to Hell’ and covers 4,385 kilometers or almost 3,000 miles. Along this highway thousands of girls, often as young as 10 or 11 years old, are being forced to sell their bodies. Studies show that on an average of every 16 kilometers or 10 miles, there is an area of sexual exploitation along that highway.

Teaching freedom

Some of our staff produced an information packet for schools, to teach teenagers from 11 to 17 years old about the dangers of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The packet contains a letter of presentation to the school director, various classes, a power point presentation, 3 short mime dramas posted on YouTube, a flash drive with the music that accompanies the dramas, as well as some posters and leaflets.

God seems to be opening doors

During the months of March and April we plan to reach 10,000 teenagers with this program through our local YWAM base in Belo Horizonte. But the potential is much bigger. Other organizations are also showing interest in this program, including some organizations that work along the notorious “Highway to Hell”. And all throughout Brazil, in the twelve host cities for the World Cup, we have Kickoff coordinators interested in using this material. Amazing how God seems to be opening many doors!

Libertodos

This program for schools is called “Libertodos”: liberdade = freedom, todos = every one, all. So literally: freedom for all. Please pray for this program.

Come to Brazil during the World Cup

We’ve made a special website, inviting teams from all over the world to sign up to come to Brazil and help with the outreach during the football/soccer World Cup in June and July this year: www.ywamkickoff2014.com. It is expected that 600,000 foreign tourists, in addition to another 3 million Brazilian tourists, will come to the twelve host cities for a very special holiday.

At the same time we plan for hundreds of teams to come and, alongside Brazilians from local churches, share the Good News with these tourists. They can share the Bible and the Jesus film in many different languages through Bluetooth on their mobile phones, go to groups of teenagers and share the “Libertodos” program, participate with a 24/7 prayer room in a red-light district, or join in with many other types of outreach.

Free download

If you access the website, www.ywamkickoff2014.com and click on “resources”, you can download a free and beautiful match schedule, so you can keep track of which teams play in which cities at what times during the month-long tournament.

I personally am excited about the fact that Iran will play in Belo Horizonte. I will certainly download an online Bible and the Jesus movie in Farsi and hope to share it with someone from Iran on the day of that game.

Give a donation?

If you would like to help pay the costs of the Kickoff outreach or the production of the Libertodos program, please make your gift available as indicated on this link of our donations and contact info.  Please make sure to add that it is designated for “Kickoff” and/or “Libertodos”.

Unity

One of the things we are very happy about is that so many churches and organizations are joining together around the World Cup and starting to work together. This is also what Jesus prayed for, that we would be one. Together preparing and praying, together proclaiming the message of God’s Kingdom and fighting against the evil of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. . .

A year in Rio de Janeiro

We are praying about living for a year in Rio de Janeiro during 2016, when the Olympics come to Brazil. We would like to offer a training program that combines a “Discipleship Training School” and a “Children at Risk (C@R) School” to a group of up to 150 young people. Imagine the many opportunities that the city of Rio offers to practice what you learn during a training program like that! Who wouldn’t like to spend a year in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro? We will keep you posted on developments.

Kids

What a blessing our children and grandchildren have been to us. We are so thankful.

Our daughter Dilma, who is deaf, came for a month on holiday to Brazil. It was amazing to see how well she can communicate in the Dutch sign language already. She told many funny stories of her life in Holland, and we are happy to see how well she has already adapted to this new culture.

The health of our son Davi is fairly stable, but his kidneys continue to be a point of concern. He is being monitored regularly by a good team of doctors.

Our oldest son and his wife just had their third child, a beautiful daughter. Her sister is really enjoying having a little sister, but the 4-year-old brother wanted to know if it wouldn’t be better to exchange her for some useful toy…

We would like to thank all of you who have stood so faithfully with us in prayer and support over the past months. We pray God’s richest blessings upon you!

Love, Johan and Jeannette

Prayer points

• Thank God for the Rescue House team and the variety of ways they use to reach the street kids. Pray that teenagers like Josie will take the opportunity to leave the streets.
• Give thanks for the many opportunities we have to share about the dangers of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in schools. Pray for the thousands of children and adolescents who are being sold along the “Highway to Hell”.
• Thank God for the cooperation and unity among many churches and organizations. Pray that many more teams will sign up to come to Brazil and that we will see dramatic change so that this World Cup will be known for its all-time low in cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. 

Be blessed in this New Year!

For anyone who is struggling these days, we wish you God's comfort and peace. May you feel His arms around you, His love in all the small twinkles of light, His hope for a new day, a new year.

For anyone who is happy and enjoying these holidays a lot, we wish you open eyes, for all that God has given you, a grateful heart that keeps counting your blessings, today and in the new year.

To all our family and friends we want to tell that we are grateful for your love last year.

We pray for you, that when you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will speak to your heart; that when you get up in the morning, it may be with a song of praise on your lips; that when you go to work, the Lord Jesus leadership and friendship you will know next to you; that when you just rest, you will experience God's Father-love. 

Be blessed in this New Year!

Johan and Jeannette Lukasse

Preach through your actions!

Dear friends,

“Namaste!” This time I am writing our newsletter from India, and this is the greeting we hear every day. We are here for a whole month in the huge city of Mumbai, with over 20 million people.

Preach through your actions

The first week we were speakers in the conference of “Call2Compassion and Justice.” More than 400 people, including many pastors, had come from all over India.  The conference was about the integral mission of the church, or as a young Indian woman in a beautiful green and gold sari said: “Preach the good news of God through your actions!”

20-30 clients per night

Halfway through the week, everyone in the conference had the opportunity to visit a ministry of a local mission organization. Some went to see the work in the red light district where an estimated 150,000 girls and women work. They are forced to prostitute themselves with 20 to 30 clients every night. Others from the conference went to visit the aftercare programs for girls rescued from sexual exploitation.

Deeply shocked and tremendously encouraged

It is so important to see personally the joy and the suffering mirrored in the huge brown eyes of those children and teenagers. Everybody came back deeply shocked but also tremendously encouraged by all the wonderful people who inspire so much hope working in the different projects.

Wherever we visit, everywhere are lots of children!

Teaching in the Children@Risk School in Mumbai, India

C@R School: Multiplying work among children

During the remainder of the month we are teaching in the Children at Risk (C@R) School. The students come from various parts of India and have dedicated their lives to the Lord Jesus to be used by Him to reach children in need. They plan to go back to their cities after this school. We hope and pray that the classes we are teaching will be of great value for their work and lives!

Just one of the beautiful kids in Mumbai.

Needed: Places for 58,000 people to stay!

While we are in India, the preparation for the World Cup 2014 continues. Some international organizations had told us that they would like to bring 6,400 evangelism and compassion teams of 10 to Brazil during the World Cup.

So the big question is: Do we have room for 64,000 people?

Hmm… Yes, we think so.

Of course, if you divide them up over the 12 host cities the numbers become a little more manageable. It comes down to 500 teams per city. We believe there will be 500 churches in every city that can host such a team. So we are hard at work to see this happen. Some big churches have already guaranteed 6,000 beds, so we have “just” 58,000 to go!

Meeting God in Brazil

During the last two football/soccer World Cup competitions in Germany and South Africa, there have been very disturbing reports of the growth of prostitution, human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Will this happen in Brazil as well? When Brazil is already one of the most popular countries for sex tourism?

We are asking local churches and international teams to partner together during the World Cup to evangelize and to participate in the battle against human trafficking and sexual exploitation, so that Brazil will become famous internationally, not because of the children, teenagers and women forced into prostitution, but because of the extraordinary beauty of its nature, for it’s wonderful soccer, for its loving and hospitable people, but above all for its churches and followers of Jesus, where they can meet the love, the compassion and the justice of God.

Awareness through documentaries

One of the best documentaries on human trafficking we have ever seen is the movie “Nefarious.” It was made by Exodus Cry and IHOP (International House of Prayer). One of their film crews visited us in Brazil the day before we left for India and interviewed us for a new documentary about human trafficking in Brazil.

Another film team from Operation Blessing, linked to CBN, also came to do an interview. As soon as we have their material, we will post the link so it can be used for spreading greater awareness and action.

Little clips on mobiles

Besides the production of the bigger documentaries, we have asked for the release of 2-3 minute videos for specific audiences, for example, for taxi drivers. Here in Brazil there are associations for Christian taxi drivers. We would like to offer them these short clips, which they can use on their mobile phones.  When asked for a ride to a prostitution area or night club by a tourist, the taxi driver can show the clips, making him aware of the terrible life of the girls, forced to prostitute themselves to 20-30 different men each night. We hope lots of tourists will change their minds after seeing those clips.

Highways to hell

Another clip will be created to go viral on the mobile phones of truck drivers. Alongside all major highways are many places where children and teenagers sell their bodies. We would like to stop the lie, so easily believed, that those kids chose this life themselves--a life of humiliation, exploitation, abuse, violence and disease on roads that are nicknamed “highways to hell.”

Help through an App

Girls and women who clean hotel and motel rooms are another group we need to reach with awareness. For them and the general public, we hope to provide a free app to download, through which they can provide information without endangering themselves, if they believe they are witnesses of human trafficking.

24/7 prayer

All kinds of national and international organizations are joining together to help, each in their own area of gifting and focus. One organization wants to maintain a 24/7 house of prayer in the red light district in each of the 12 host cities. In Belo Horizonte we have offered the Recanto House for this purpose.

Bibles and the Jesus film on all mobiles

Another organization offered us a fantastic new technology for downloading the Bible and the Jesus film through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on mobile phones. There is a choice of 6000 written languages, 700 languages for spoken New Testaments, and the Jesus film in over 1100 languages. What a great opportunity to be able to bless every tourist with the word of God in his or her own language!

In Brazil there are approximately 30 million evangelical Christians. Can you imagine the tremendous impact it will have if all of them know how to download the Bible on their own mobile phones, and also know how to share the Bible in various languages to the smart and feature phones of the tourists?

With God’s blessing

These are big plans. Johan and I will still have numerous meetings with YWAM coordinators and their teams in all of the twelve World Cup cities, as well as with pastors and leaders of partner organizations.  Without the blessing of God, a project like this is impossible. But we want to obey God and ask Him to increase our faith, in order that many lives will be transformed, injustice will be reported and exploiters punished. Salvation, freedom and healing will take place. With God’s help, local churches and international organizations will join together in unity for the glory of God. Please pray with us until we see the fulfillment of this dream!

Thank you so much, all of our friends who have upheld us in your prayers and supported us with your messages, emails and donations; you are such an important part of our lives. Without you it would not be possible to be the missionaries we are and to do the things we do. We want to thank you all, wish you a Christmastime focused on our Lord Jesus, and lots of blessings for the coming New Year!

Red cards and a teaching marathon

“Good afternoon sir.  May I present you with a red card?”

A little hesitant, the man with his yellow soccer jersey stops and looks at us. “Hmm… What did I do to deserve a red card?”

“Hopefully nothing…” comes the answer, “but we are alerting people about the fact that during big events like the World Cup thousands of children, teens and women are trafficked and forced to fulfill the demand for prostitution. We want to stop this…”

Johan explaining the red card

Evangelism and Red Cards

With a large group of young people, we distributed red cards to many of the fifty thousand supporters who came to see one of the soccer games during the Confederations Cup. Add to this the tens of thousands of people who went to the streets, the exact same week, for protesting against political issues.  We had an enormous crowd to reach. What had started as a protest against prices of public transportation soon became a platform for protesting against corruption, for better education, healthcare, etc.

The protests and manifestations continued in our city, Belo Horizonte, and all through Brazil for more than two weeks. Especially in the beginning, people were very open to receiving the red cards, discussing the issue, and also reading the gospel messages we handed out to them.

Praying and Evangelizing

During the Confederations Cup (which is really a test drive for the World Cup next year) the city arranged for big screens to be placed in various strategic city squares to show the games to thousands of people.  This idea did not work out.  The people didn’t come to watch, as most went to participate in the protests!

We also had planned to target one of those squares, close to a prostitution area, for evangelism and distribution of red cards, but we saw we had to change strategies. We decided to join the manifestation, while they were still peaceful, to be on the streets among the people, praying and evangelizing. The team from our DTS (Discipleship Training School) decided to spend every evening worshiping and praying in public at the central city square. Several evenings we went out with the whole base. It reminded me of many years ago, when we established the base, and would go out at night together with our staff to reach out to street kids living in those same downtown city squares.

Expecting Hundreds of Teams

Overall, we had an effective practice run for the World Cup next year. We are expecting hundreds of international and national evangelism and compassion teams to come to all of the 12 host cities of the World Cup Brazil. We look forward to showing the love of God expressed in proclamation, compassion and justice.

Korean in São Paulo and French in Switzerland

Straight after these very intense weeks, Johan and I had to travel to do a series of teachings. Johan went to teach in a Korean DTS (Discipleship Training School) in the city of São Paulo, and I went to Switzerland to teach in a combined school about Children at Risk. Part of the students came from French speaking countries in Africa, so my classes had French translation, while Johan’s teachings were translated into Korean!  We enjoy these opportunities so much. It is wonderful to be able to pass on some of the things we have learned over the years to young people from other cultures.  Especially if we can encourage them to stay close to God, trust Him with their lives and ministries, and walk in the perfect plans He has for them.

Jeannette with the leaders of the school in Switserland

Vacation in Holland with Davi and Dilma

A nice detail about my trip to Switzerland was the fact that I could pass through Holland and stay there for two weeks, exactly during the time that Davi and Dilma had their summer holidays as well. Holland experienced a rare tropical, Brazilian summer, and we had a great time together.

It was wonderful to see how much Davi’s health has improved. His kidney function was only 15-20% at the beginning of this year, but now has improved to 50%. God has really worked a miracle.  Davi was much less tired, didn’t tremble anymore, and enjoyed little pleasures again like a nice cup of coffee or a sweet desert. While at home, with my iPod playing soft worship music most of the day in the background, I heard him softly singing or humming along with the music a number of times. We are so thankful to God and for all who prayed for Davi!

Dilma and Davi

Dilma’s Cultural Adaptation

Dilma is still very much in the process of adapting to the Dutch culture. She moved to Holland in November of last year, but still needs to learn many things that are typical Dutch. Although she grew up with us, a Dutch family, living in Holland is quite different.

Both Dilma and Davi have intellectual limitations, however, Dilma is picking up Dutch sign language pretty fast. The staff of the therapeutic community where Dilma lives has really invested in teaching her to communicate in sign. A couple of days a week Dilma works on a chicken farm where the focus is on creating activities for deaf people. She also enjoys going to church and conferences where there is always translation into sign. When compared with Davi, we can see how much more he has adjusted to living in Holland. Of course Davi has already been in Holland for 5 years and Dilma not yet for one year. Please pray for her adaptation.

Second Book

I recently started to write our second book. This one will focus on the classes we give at the Children at Risk Schools. This is going to be a big project. With all the evangelism and compassion teams we expect during the World Cup and all the traveling and teaching we have lined up, it may take a while before the book is finished.  Right now the goal is to publish it by 2015.

A Teaching Marathon

During the next few months we have a very intense schedule of traveling and teaching. A true marathon! Firstly we go to Mexico City to visit a ministry that works with girls who are rescued from sexual exploitation and human trafficking. From there on we will go to a conference of the University of the Nations. The Children at Risk School, which we started 24 years ago, is also registered at this University.

Then we plan to teach at the Children at Risk School here in Belo Horizonte and in October at another Children at Risk School in Curitiba in the South of Brazil. On our 35^th wedding anniversary, the 10^th of October, we will be giving a seminar of Human Trafficking and sexual exploitation.

In November we will go on to India to speak in a Compassion & Justice Conference in Mumbai, and stay there for the rest of the month to teach in the Children at Risk school there. On the trip back we have a short stopover in Holland again to hopefully see our eighth grandchild, who is expected to be born around that time into the family of Pieter and Melissa.

We feel so blessed with all our children and grandchildren.  We thoroughly enjoy them!   We will then return to Brazil where we will participate in a national staff conference.  Just a few days before Christmas we expect to be home to celebrate the holiday season with our two daughters, son-in-laws and five grandchildren who live in Brazil, together with Dilma who will come for a month holiday to Brazil too.

Please pray for sustained health during all this travelling. Also pray for wisdom and anointing as we speak and teach.

Thanks for standing with us in missions.

We pray God’s rich blessing on all of you.

Johan and Jeannette Lukasse

Prayer points:

• ·      Please thank God with us for the great time of evangelism we had during the Confederations Cup. Pray for the preparations of the reception of hundreds of evangelism and compassion teams during the World Cup in 2014.
• ·      We thank God for the improved health of Davi. Pray for the further adaptation of Dilma in Holland.
• ·      We give thanks to God for the various Children at Risk schools in Brazil and around the world.  Pray for the students in those schools and for us as we travel and teach.

A lucky guy, a training session, and retirement or recycling?

“Mom, I was so nervous when we went to see the doctor!” our son, Davi, told me over Skype. Davi was born with severe Spine Bifida and hydrocephalus, which resulted in him being paraplegic and mentally challenged. “I thought the doctor would tell me I needed surgery, but luckily she didn’t say so...”

Davi loves to play basketball

Kidney Function Now 45%

Yes, we too were very worried when in the beginning of this year we found out that Davi’s kidneys were failing. The doctors told us that there was a big possibility that he would need to start dialysis shortly. They gave us very little hope for improvement. However, hundreds of people started praying; those close to Davi, family, church, friends, but also people from all around the world who knew about it through emails and facebook.  Through God’s miraculous intervention, as well as creative solutions by the doctors, Davi’s kidney function went from 15 - 20% to 27%, and then to 45%. Fantastic! We are so thankful.

Would God perform another miracle?

It’s strange maybe to hear this from a missionary, but I almost didn’t dare to hope... God already saw Davi through various life threatening situations before.  Would He do so again?

Since we adopted Davi at the age of three, we have spent many hours inside hospitals with him. Every time Davi needed a surgery I was able to be there in the operating room with him. He has even been on the brink of death on a number of occasions. In the beginning, doctors predicted Davi would not live past eight years old… Well, here he is at twenty-six years old.  Yes, Davi does have a number of limitations, he sees the doctor quite often, he needs medicines, but on the whole he feels well and enjoys life!

Lucky guy

“Mom, I am such a lucky guy, am I not?” Davi asks me over Skype. Wow! Tears come to my eyes. I choke up a bit before answering, “Yes, you are a very lucky guy.”  Wow! I think. What a lesson to learn, Thank you Lord!

Twenty-eight Years, Thousands of Kids

This year we are handing over the base leadership (of all the eight centers that attend various categories of Children at Risk) to Alexandre and Lorinda. We have been working towards this for a number of years now. In May we participated together in a YWAM leadership meeting for all of the Americas where we were able to ordain Alexandre is this new role. In October we will have a local ceremony and then by the first of January 2014 we will not be the base leaders anymore.

This seems strange as we have been in this role for the last twenty-eight years, ever since we started the first initiative with the kids on the streets. Since then we have seen hundreds of people come through as staff, many short term volunteers come to help, and many students complete a Discipleship Training and the Children at Risk courses. A big group of supporters provided prayer and finances, and thousands of kids were reached with the Love of Christ.

Growing

What now? No, the work here will not stop, much to the contrary.  We believe there will be a new season of growth.  Alexandre is a Brazilian with wonderful leadership qualities. He has been on the base already for eight-teen years and has lots of vision for implementing growth and multiplication. His wife Lorinda, originally from Malaysia, came here twenty years ago.  She stands with us believing God for many new things on and through the YWAM base in Belo Horizonte.

Alexandre and Lorinda

Recycling

“Are you guys going to retire now?” This is an often heard question. No, especially not if you see retirement as a phase when you stop what you’ve always done and finally start doing what you always wanted to do. We certainly have always enjoyed what we have been doing. What is better and more exciting than walking with the Lord, to obey Him, and be used by Him to help children in need? I cannot think of anything better really. No, retirement is not really a word that we use in our mission family. Rather we will start a new cycle of life in which the goal is to mentor, support and give covering, teaching and blessing to the younger generation.

New Book and Frequent Teaching

How to implement all this is still a process of discovery, but we already have lots of ideas and projects waiting. I just started writing our second book in which we plan to integrate the subjects Johan teaches in the Children at Risk school. We also expect to have more time available to go teach in other countries. This July I am going to teach in Switzerland, while at the same time, Johan will be teaching in Sao Paulo. In October we will both spend a few weeks in the South of Brazil teaching.  During the month of November we plan to be in India to speak at a big conference and then we will teach for a few weeks at the Children at Risk school in Mumbai. When the final responsibility of the base is in someone else’s hands it will be much easier for us, as we will be free to travel and teach in other parts of the world.

In front of the soccer stadium, "Mineirao", in Belo Horizonte

Soccer (Football) World Cup 2014 in Brazil

We are looking forward to all the things that God still has in store for us. Our agenda for 2014 is already very full. Johan was asked to be the national coordinator for all the evangelism and compassion teams that will come to Brazil for the World Cup. We are expecting hundreds of teams, which will be a big challenge. One of the main focuses will be an initiative against sexual exploitation and human trafficking, but how do you implement this during such a big event? Many people are offering to help and share their experiences with us based on outreaches during previous events like the London Olympics and the last two World Cups in Germany and South Africa.

40,000 Extra Girls, Forced into Prostitution

During the World Cup of 2006 in Germany it was estimated that the staggering number of 40,000 extra girls and young women were imported, trafficked and forced into prostitution.  In South Africa in 2010 estimates were as high as 60,000 extra women in prostitution. This is something we would not like to see repeated in Brazil in 2014, but how can this be avoided? One of the first steps is awareness.

Soap Operas

Here in Brazil, soap operas are very popular. People joke that it has even caused a reduction in the amount of children born each year because people are so busy watching TV, that they are dead tired by the end of the day…

Girls Saved

The last couple of months the most important soap opera airing on prime time TV was about human trafficking.  It showed how girls are lured into prostitution through nice promises about jobs in restaurants, hotels and the fashion industry.   Upon arrival in a foreign country the girls soon find themselves tricked into having a big debt, and since their documents are taken away by pimps they are forced to work as prostitutes. This soap opera has actually caused a positive effect. People became aware that girls who lived in their neighborhood may have been victims of trafficking as they compared their situations to the TV show. In some cases the police were called, and a number of girls were even rescued. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean that the problem is solved yet.

Instruction Films for Flight Attendants, Bus Drivers and Hotel Staff

Wouldn’t it be great if there were short training videos to teach flight attendants, bus drivers and hotel staff how to recognize girls being forced into prostitution? These videos could show workers in the tourist industry who to contact and how to properly respond to the situation. We still have a long way to go to make this a reality, but it is just one of the many ideas we will be working on. Please pray for us in all these plans, that we may understand God’s guidance.

Training Session

During this coming month of June, the FIFA Confederations Cup will be held for eight national teams in six of the twelve host cities for the World Cup. It will serve as a preparation for the World Cup in 2014.  It is sort of a training session for them, and thus for us also. Last week we were able to take most of our staff from the different ministries to the huge renewed soccer stadium. There was a big manifestation against sexual exploitation, and as a statement, we went with thousands of people to embrace the stadium. Great! A good start of course, but now we need to move further. Johan has been meeting regularly with pastors and leaders in our city to plan strategies for evangelism and transformation, taking advantage of these big events. Please be praying for these initiatives.

In the "Mineirao"

We would like to thank all of those who supported us over these last couple of months in prayer, through encouraging emails and finances. Words cannot express how truly blessed we have felt through all of you. Thank you so much!

We wish you all God’s richest blessings!

With love,

Johan and Jeannette