I sure apologize that it has been since February that I posted anything on th is blog. My goodness, so much has been happening, and it all has to do with what I have written here about Brazil one year ago now.
Yes, it was one year ago this month, June, that I was in Brazil, and experienced these amazing things, and from that, God began an amazing series of events that has turned my life upside down. Today, June 14th is actually the one year anniversary of landing in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, and seeing first hand the story of Algodao de Jandaira. Since then I was there this past March to do interviews with the people in First Baptist Church, Valentine, and in Algodoa. The purpose of those interviews is to write a book about what God has done, and continues to do there in that community. A narrative/ novel style book that would tell the story and communicate the transformational principles that are woven throughout this amazing story, like repentance, humility, obedience...
Actually, on our last day in Joao Pessoa, the Lord did give me a warning, sort of.
Here is a section from my journal,
The group went out in the afternoon to see some of the places in Joao Passao. I stayed at the hotel to rest and pray. I actually didn’t get a lot of sleep. As I was praying, I had three separate, what I guess I will label “visions” for lack of a better term:
1) I saw a land, I saw trees and rivers, and hills, and they all seemed to be under water. It seemed strange and I asked the Lord what this was. He said that it was the land covered by the love of God. It seemed this was in answer to the cries of God’s people, that He would flood the land with His love. Is this Brazil? Yes, and anywhere his people will cry out to Him. – Now, when I shared this vision on Monday night when we were out to dinner, they said that then the church brought their builder to Algodao, he was very resistant. He didn’t see any worth in it at all. Too hard. When they took him up on the mountain, and he looked down over the town, he began to cry. When they asked him why, he said that for the past three days he had had dreams and they were of that land covered with water!! Like in my vision.
2) As I asked the Lord what I should do when I go back, He said he was pleased with my obedience on the mountain top, and that I should continue to obey Him. Not to worry about tomorrow or the next week. His call was to “Follow Me” and “Obey Me,” and He would accomplish His purposes.
3) Another separate time, there I was just overwhelmed with the grief of God, the broken heart of
God for lost people.
Well, number 2 there turned out to be quite prophetic, because it has been continuing to obey Him, and following Him that has kept me going through the difficulties of this past year, and has brought be into a new focus of ministry.
As of July 31, I will end my service as Executive Director of Prayer Transformation Ministries and will begin full time with The Sentinel Group as the Senior Community Consultant for the Journey to Transformation. It has been quite a journey for us, and we are now asking the Lord to provide a buyer for our house and we will move to Seattle, Washington to join the Sentinel Group team there.
All a part of how God has used this time in Brazil in my life. Wow.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Transformation of Algodao de Jandaira (part 2)
It has been a little while since I posted here. It has been pretty hectic, but I do want to tell you more about this amazing work of transformation in Algodao de Jandaira.
The believers from First Baptist Church in Valentine, Joao Pessoa were faithful in their prayers and visits to Algodao. When they would drive in, they would stop by the "Tree of Life," and pray and consecrate themselves, then drive on into town. They would hold gospel meetings, and every time poeple would come to the Lord.
On the way out of town they would drive a good 45 minutes up a very steep mountain, park and walk the rest of the way up to the top of this granite mountain where they would pray over the city. This was not convenient or easy, but they were faithful in their prayers and visits.
As I mentioned, in December 2003/ January 2004, the rains came. Everyone knew that it was the prayers of the believers that had brought the rain. The rains came so strongly that as the water filled the resevoir, and flooded over the spillway, it was throwing boulders up in the air.
There was even a place up on one of the mountains not too far from there, where water was coming out from the rock!
Today, they catch shrimp and fish out of the resevoir. There is a resident missionary who is there to minister to the people.
The stick and mug shacks that once were about all anyone lived in are now replaced by cinderblock homes. The streets are paved. Where there was once no water table, now there is a water table that would last at least 16 years. They grow three of four different types of crops.
The change has been truly miraculous, and is a testimony to the power of God and His faithfulness to His Word to "heal their land."
There are so many "layers" to how God worked in this story that it is not possible in this brief overview to even give justice to the story.
It began in mid-2002 when First Baptist Church of Valentine, in Joao Pessoa was going to celebrate their 7th anniversary. They were a church plant from the Lagoinha church in Sao Paulo. One night as they were practicing the songs for the celebration, and began to close in prayer, God came with great power and conviction. They spent two hours in repentance on their faces. In the following weeks, God continued to visit them in this way. One of the choir members, Vitoria, had come one evening to quit the choir, but was not able, and when she went home, late in the night she had a dream of this community. God gave her the name, showed her what it was like, and she even saw the faces of the people! As they prayed, God put this place on their hearts. They had no car, and had to borrow a car and hold bake sales to raise money for gas. When they arrived, it was all as Vitoria saw in her dream. When they went to one house in town, they met a believing couple who told them that they had been praying that God would send someone to help them.
Thus began God's miraculous work of the Transformation of Agldao de Jandaira.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Transformation of Algodao de Jandaira (part 1)
Saturday, June 14 –
We arrived in Joao Pessoa, actually about 3:30 am. We were all totally blown away when we got out of baggage claim, and there were about 30 people there at the airport to greet us! Some with their children! They met us just outside the doors, and then they put the Brazilian and their 
State flags on the pavement and invited us to kneel on the flags as they prayed over us to welcome and bless us, and blew the shofar.
This area used to be an Indian settlement. When the settlers moved in, they took the land. The Indians would raid the settlers. One time the police took a number of them to a large rock outcropping and massacred them. As the Indians died, they cursed the ground, so the people have been working at breaking the curse. They said that there were no indigenous peoples around now, they have all been intermarried, but they have done a lot of prophetic deeds. That massacre was 200 years ago.
They explained that when they did the consecration of the land, one of the women was healed of heart problems.
The Baptist missionary that lives here (Magdalene) is doing rural outreach. She bought a car, but the roads are so bad that it keeps breaking down.
A Hospital (health clinic) has recently been put in, but they are still looking for staff. They can do most regular procedures there.
The place had been 23 years without any amounts of water. Then the great "Shower of blessing" in January of 2004 and everyone knew it was the Christians who brought the rain. When they came there was no vegetation, everything was very dry. They were concerned and wanted to go to the politicians, but God never allowed it. He wanted to show what He could do through weak vessels. And as the community was being transformed, the church was being transformed.
More of this amazing story next time...
We arrived in Joao Pessoa, actually about 3:30 am. We were all totally blown away when we got out of baggage claim, and there were about 30 people there at the airport to greet us! Some with their children! They met us just outside the doors, and then they put the Brazilian and their 
State flags on the pavement and invited us to kneel on the flags as they prayed over us to welcome and bless us, and blew the shofar. It was a moving and powerful time, and that was in the first few minutes!
We had some "sleep-in" time in the morning, and then headed for Algodao de Jandaira. I think it must have been about a 4 ½ hour drive. We arrived in town after dark. The road coming to the town is just a small dirt road that would give no indication that there was a town at the end of it. 
After we pulled onto this dirt road, we stopped at a tree. The pastor explained that this is the kind of tree that does not turn brown, even in the summer, so when everything else was brown when they first came here, there was this lone green tree. Sort of a take on Moses and the burning bush. So they would stop here at this tree and pray on the way into town and on the way out. They called it "The Tree of Life."
After we pulled onto this dirt road, we stopped at a tree. The pastor explained that this is the kind of tree that does not turn brown, even in the summer, so when everything else was brown when they first came here, there was this lone green tree. Sort of a take on Moses and the burning bush. So they would stop here at this tree and pray on the way into town and on the way out. They called it "The Tree of Life." When we got into town, some of the towns people, and some of the people from First Baptist 
church joined us and we had a wonderful worship service together. There was special music by some of the young girls, and the woman who is the missionary there from the church. It was a great time, after the service, they fed us dinner. We found our rooms in the only hotel in town. It is run by a wonderful Christian lady. We got to bed about 11:00 pm.
church joined us and we had a wonderful worship service together. There was special music by some of the young girls, and the woman who is the missionary there from the church. It was a great time, after the service, they fed us dinner. We found our rooms in the only hotel in town. It is run by a wonderful Christian lady. We got to bed about 11:00 pm. Sunday, June 15 –
Today we did a tour of Algodao. We were introduced to one of the key young men in the town. 
They call him "Little John." He had been a hard core Catholic. He used to take statues of Mary around to peoples houses. Now he is called to be a pastor, but can’t afford seminary, so he travels by bus every day to study journalism. That’s all he can do as far as education right now.
They call him "Little John." He had been a hard core Catholic. He used to take statues of Mary around to peoples houses. Now he is called to be a pastor, but can’t afford seminary, so he travels by bus every day to study journalism. That’s all he can do as far as education right now. This area used to be an Indian settlement. When the settlers moved in, they took the land. The Indians would raid the settlers. One time the police took a number of them to a large rock outcropping and massacred them. As the Indians died, they cursed the ground, so the people have been working at breaking the curse. They said that there were no indigenous peoples around now, they have all been intermarried, but they have done a lot of prophetic deeds. That massacre was 200 years ago.
They explained that when they did the consecration of the land, one of the women was healed of heart problems.
They said, at first the water came, and then it dried up. They did some prophetic acts, and the water came back permanently.
Every week they have five people who do an all night prayer walk. Once a month they bring a bus of people out and go to strategic points in the city.
Before, the Catholic Church was closed, and then when things began to happen in the town, they opened it again. There is a priest that comes from another place, but nobody comes. There is a Mariology group that comes in and tries to provoke them, and baptize people in Mary. At this point, many people have said that they have accepted Christ, but there are only about 20 really committed believers. However, the Catholics got so concerned that they imported an Italian priest to pray over places where the Baptist Church had prayed.
Before, the Catholic Church was closed, and then when things began to happen in the town, they opened it again. There is a priest that comes from another place, but nobody comes. There is a Mariology group that comes in and tries to provoke them, and baptize people in Mary. At this point, many people have said that they have accepted Christ, but there are only about 20 really committed believers. However, the Catholics got so concerned that they imported an Italian priest to pray over places where the Baptist Church had prayed.
The Baptist missionary that lives here (Magdalene) is doing rural outreach. She bought a car, but the roads are so bad that it keeps breaking down.
A Hospital (health clinic) has recently been put in, but they are still looking for staff. They can do most regular procedures there.
They said things have really changed over the past four years. Before, they would have about one person who would pass the University test. Now there have been 5.
The place had been 23 years without any amounts of water. Then the great "Shower of blessing" in January of 2004 and everyone knew it was the Christians who brought the rain. When they came there was no vegetation, everything was very dry. They were concerned and wanted to go to the politicians, but God never allowed it. He wanted to show what He could do through weak vessels. And as the community was being transformed, the church was being transformed.
More of this amazing story next time...
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Forest Prayer Meeting
This one might push your envelope a bit, but what I write here is absolutely true.
For obvious reasons, I have no pictures of this time. It was just too holy an experience to bother with that kind of mundane stuff.
After dinner we headed to the prayer mountain. We had been told about this place at the conference. This one was not so high in elevation, but has been richly prepared in the Spirit. We got out of the vans and cars. George and the film crew were with us. We walked a ways along a path, across a rickety bridge, through some woods until we got to an ant hill. This was the stopping point, for the first stop. Here, we were instructed by the Brazilian pastors. No more talking and chit-chat. We stopped and prayed and prepared our hearts, sanctifying ourselves to enter the forest. It was dark, so we could see the stars above – not quite a half moon.
Then after prayer, we walked a little ways, read from Exodus 3 in English and Portuguese. We were instructed that we were to take off our shoes and put them by a tree next to the narrow path because the place we were entering was holy ground. Then, in our socks (or some with bare feet) we walked just to an adjacent clearing and each took our places around the clearing to pray and worship. We were still for a while, then the Brazilian pastors began to cry out to God and then we all prayed and worshipped and after a while, something began to happen.
The presence of the Lord came softly, at least to me. As I was kneeling, holding on to a couple roots or branches, (it was dark and I could not see anything) I noticed a little light right in front of me. Then others began to point out lights all in the bushes. Some picked up leaves and brought them around, and you could see little lights on the leaves. Then it seemed as though the trees across from where I was standing now, and some to my right were taking on phosphorescence. Like something held under a black light.
At first I thought it was the moonlight, but as soon as I thought that, it was like the Lord said, “oh yeah? Watch this!” And then it got brighter right before our eyes. These trees became different than all the other trees that were under the moon, and different than they were just a few seconds before. It was really like they were glowing!! There were lights that would appear like the one in front of me. Some people picked up leaves with the lights on them. J.R. and Lisa and others picked them up and showed them around as they held them in their hands.
The worship of the Lord increased at this time. There was a place where the trees became almost like a glow stick and the frequency of the lights increased. Then the Spirit of God really broke through in our hearts in adoration and praise, crying and laughter. When we saw the forest go back to its former state, it was all the more incredible. There was a sense of such openness and freedom and “lightness.” For myself, I was overwhelmed with the awe and wonder of it. We were all expressing our wonder and adoration to the Lord. It was a wonder that He would share such a thing with us! It was like the Lord was just so happy to come to us. He was delighted to be with His children, and in a holy way, it was almost like He was “showing off” a little for us. The whole group was just filled with joy and laughter. I talked with others afterward, and they said they too felt like it was very open, and “airy” and free.
We spent a while worshipping, laughing, crying, praising and singing. A lot of laughing, mixed with crying our of sheer delight. Then we got into small groups and prayed for each other. After this time of prayer together in small groups, at the instruction of the Brazilian pastors, we all shouted in our own languages – three times – Lord, Thank you for opening Your treasures to us! We got our shoes on, went to the ant hill and again, three times shouted, Lord, Thank you for opening Your treasures to us.
I talked with George afterwards, and he said that there are credible reports of this happening in four to five other locations. Since that time, I have had a totally different understanding of God's love and His delight in us as His children. I have also have a different perspective on how much of the glory of creation was lost in the Fall. Sin has "greyed" everything around us, and we don't even realize it.
For obvious reasons, I have no pictures of this time. It was just too holy an experience to bother with that kind of mundane stuff.
After dinner we headed to the prayer mountain. We had been told about this place at the conference. This one was not so high in elevation, but has been richly prepared in the Spirit. We got out of the vans and cars. George and the film crew were with us. We walked a ways along a path, across a rickety bridge, through some woods until we got to an ant hill. This was the stopping point, for the first stop. Here, we were instructed by the Brazilian pastors. No more talking and chit-chat. We stopped and prayed and prepared our hearts, sanctifying ourselves to enter the forest. It was dark, so we could see the stars above – not quite a half moon.
Then after prayer, we walked a little ways, read from Exodus 3 in English and Portuguese. We were instructed that we were to take off our shoes and put them by a tree next to the narrow path because the place we were entering was holy ground. Then, in our socks (or some with bare feet) we walked just to an adjacent clearing and each took our places around the clearing to pray and worship. We were still for a while, then the Brazilian pastors began to cry out to God and then we all prayed and worshipped and after a while, something began to happen.
The presence of the Lord came softly, at least to me. As I was kneeling, holding on to a couple roots or branches, (it was dark and I could not see anything) I noticed a little light right in front of me. Then others began to point out lights all in the bushes. Some picked up leaves and brought them around, and you could see little lights on the leaves. Then it seemed as though the trees across from where I was standing now, and some to my right were taking on phosphorescence. Like something held under a black light.
At first I thought it was the moonlight, but as soon as I thought that, it was like the Lord said, “oh yeah? Watch this!” And then it got brighter right before our eyes. These trees became different than all the other trees that were under the moon, and different than they were just a few seconds before. It was really like they were glowing!! There were lights that would appear like the one in front of me. Some people picked up leaves with the lights on them. J.R. and Lisa and others picked them up and showed them around as they held them in their hands.
The worship of the Lord increased at this time. There was a place where the trees became almost like a glow stick and the frequency of the lights increased. Then the Spirit of God really broke through in our hearts in adoration and praise, crying and laughter. When we saw the forest go back to its former state, it was all the more incredible. There was a sense of such openness and freedom and “lightness.” For myself, I was overwhelmed with the awe and wonder of it. We were all expressing our wonder and adoration to the Lord. It was a wonder that He would share such a thing with us! It was like the Lord was just so happy to come to us. He was delighted to be with His children, and in a holy way, it was almost like He was “showing off” a little for us. The whole group was just filled with joy and laughter. I talked with others afterward, and they said they too felt like it was very open, and “airy” and free.
We spent a while worshipping, laughing, crying, praising and singing. A lot of laughing, mixed with crying our of sheer delight. Then we got into small groups and prayed for each other. After this time of prayer together in small groups, at the instruction of the Brazilian pastors, we all shouted in our own languages – three times – Lord, Thank you for opening Your treasures to us! We got our shoes on, went to the ant hill and again, three times shouted, Lord, Thank you for opening Your treasures to us.
I talked with George afterwards, and he said that there are credible reports of this happening in four to five other locations. Since that time, I have had a totally different understanding of God's love and His delight in us as His children. I have also have a different perspective on how much of the glory of creation was lost in the Fall. Sin has "greyed" everything around us, and we don't even realize it.
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