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 87th 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.
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| 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!
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| Two of our grand daughters! |
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