Hi everyone, we hope you are well?
We are finally all better after a wave of sickness that passed by. First Lorenzo was sick for a week - high fever and sore throat, then Keoni got it when Lorenzo got better then Nico got it when Keoni got better… very thankful I (Rachel) managed to avoid it but I am exhausted taking care of everyone else!!
Anyway, here we are, all better and ready to give you some news…
New house
Of course the biggest news is that we moved house! This was really from God, as you know we have been searching since January. The house we found is AMAZING!…. but that also means the rent is very high, we calculated and with some sacrifices we gave our highest possibility to the owner who thankfully accepted, lower than she wanted! God is always in control and does the impossible! It all worked out well and we moved in on the 7th October. Since we moved in, life has been so crazy and we haven’t enjoyed the house as much as we would have liked (especially with the 3 weeks of sickness!) But, we are so happy to be in such a beautiful house. We brought all our furniture with us, even the kitchen (as the new house only had a sink), and it all fits so well in the new house - looks like it was made to fit, we made a few purchases like wardrobes for example as our old apartment had inbuilt ones and a mini trampoline for the kids in the backyard!
It’s amazing how God cares for even the little things. One day we had a BBQ with some friends and I happened to mention how nice it would be for a wee set of plastic table and chairs for the kids outside. The next week we received a donation of a table and 3 chairs!! I had looked online for a play house for the kids for the backyard but it is sooooooo expensive here! So, I just let the idea go. This week I randomly received a text from a friend who was donating theirs as their kids are too big now to use it (they had also received it donated, for their kids)…. God cares so much for us and our families and blesses even our kids in amazing ways! The kids LOVE the play house and we love our big house!!!
Lorenzo Turns 4!
We didn’t get to move in for Lorenzo’s birthday (4th October) but we celebrated him turning 4, 10 days later with a little party in the new house. He was so excited to invite the boys from his class (4 of them) and a few other friends he has on the YWAM base and in the slum. They played outside all afternoon and didn’t even want to stop to eat any food! Another blessing to tell…. We won Lorenzo’s birthday kit in a raffle - His cake, some finger food and some chocolates! It’s amazing to see how God watches over us and how often he shows his care for us in blessing us in these ways! He is so good to us!
Bible Course
Nico started his Bible School and is really enjoying the classes and readings but not so much the work he has to hand in, in a few weeks! Although he loves it, it has been a struggle to find enough time weekly to dedicate to it with so much going on in the ministry, moving house, and the sickness in our family. But he stays focused and is learning how to organise his time between the school, ministry, playing and watching football and his family.
Enough about us!
We have a lot to share about the ministry!
First, some quick updates about some people we shared about in the last blog:
- Mum no. 1 - alcoholic with 3 kids. She finally started showing changes in her life. She started a treatment at a government run facility for addicts, I, Rachel have been taking her for her appointments with the doctor and psychologist. And she has stopped staying by the dangerous roadside with her 1 year old. The kids love to come to our house to play and be shown love and we have been bringing them to church with us a few times also. Please keep praying.
- Mum no. 3 - in hiding from her boyfriend who tried to kill her - finally, she moved house away from the slum where he is from. She moved into a family shelter, this has been a good decision for her until she can get back on her feet. There she doesn’t have to pay rent and receives a food package each month. She is safe from her ex-boyfriend and so she can work on her anxiety etc and take care of herself. She has received a government monthly stipend for rent so she will start looking for a place outside the shelter when she feels ready, she still shows a desire to move closer to the Rock House. Please keep praying.
Pedrinho - is very close to the end of his DTS (Discipleship Training School). He has loved it and has been learning so much. He is currently on the outreach phase in another state in Brazil. He will graduate on the 17th December, we will be able to attend the graduation and bring him home as we will be at a huge YWAM conference for 4 days, in a city 3 hours from where he is (11 hours drive from Belo Horizonte). The timing is perfect!
- Leandro unfortunately left the rehab shortly after a month, he was doing really well there but gave up and went back to the streets. We still see him a lot and always chat with him and continue to encourage him to stop the drink. Even Lorenzo prays nearly every night for him! Since then we brought another man from the streets to a rehab but he also didn’t last long as he had some huge side effects from the drink withdrawal and actually ended up in hospital. He is also back on the streets.
Mum’s and tots group
The group is still going really well! We have 9 mums connected but 7 who come faithfully. In Brazil you get 4 months maternity leave and so one more mum has stopped coming because she had to return to work but she stays connected and when she can, she changes her shift, so she can come to the group. Thank you so so so much for all who have given financially or who have promised to give to this group! I was able to buy some really nice things for the group - a bouncy chair, another play mat, lots of toys and a nappy changing station! We have also been super blessed by a christian lady who saw on instagram that we had the group and started collecting things in her church. The mums have been blessed with baby clothes, toys, sippy cups, and much more!
I was able to buy some prams for the mums to use, each one signed a contract from the Rock House that they are borrowing it and will take good care of it and can renew the contract every 6 months until they no longer need it. It has especially blessed the mum of twins (who just turned one), she lives in the apartment of her boyfriend’s family and basically stays 24 hours a day in a small bedroom with the babies, now she has more freedom to get out and about.
We did a day trip to a park in the city and it was so much fun! The mums and the “tots” loved it! We chatted, laughed, played, enjoyed the nature and of course ate a lot! Each mum brought something for the picnic and it was so nice to see how they each wanted to participate, even if it was difficult financially. One of the mum’s didn’t have any money even to buy a few packets of biscuits and wasn’t going to come - we said it was more important that she comes rather than what she brings but she refused. So we invited her to come to the Casa Rocha and use the ingredients we have… she came early in the morning to the Casa Rocha (twins in tow) and made pancakes with bananas - they were a hit with everyone! The majority of the mums don’t take time or have the conditions to be able to do a day trip like this - even though its only 20 minutes from where we live. They were all so grateful. I brought my camera and took some beautiful photos of the kids and the mums with their babies!
I received some feedback from the mums and one of them specifically shared how the friendship with me and the other mums has been so good for her and that she is learning so much, not just from the short ‘words’ from the bible that I share weekly but just by being together. I have been so encouraged to see how the girls have grown, how they feel comfortable enough to share their difficult stories and to listen to one another. One morning a few of them started to open up sharing how they were brought up… I was in tears hearing their stories and seeing the pain on their faces as they shared; one that was made to get married at 14 years old, another who’s step dad tried to rape her, and another who’s mum sent her out of the house because her mum was dating and much more. God is moving and I believe he has many great things that he wants to do through this group!
Two of the young mums gave birth to their baby girls in the last 2 weeks!! Both are doing great and their babies are well.
In other news:
October 12th was “Children’s day” in Brazil, a bit like our version of mother's day or fathers day. There are lots of street parties, the children get a present and basically have a blast! As a team we went to the slum for the day as they always have many things organised! It was a lot of fun and the streets were full of kids! There was free food, games and they even made a make shift water slide on a hill as it was a very hot day! All the kids received a plastic ball as a gift - Lorenzo and Keoni also got one and they were over the moon!
Teenage boys camp
In October, Nico took the teenage boys to a camp, led by another project called Lamalma, 9 boys went and they had a blast! It was a great time to hang out and bond more with these boys! This ‘boys group’ in Casa Rocha started the year with 20 boys and a waiting list and we finish the year now with about 12 boys. We are thankful for the good relationships we could build that became friendships and this camp was really a blessing in that way. The boys were so excited and enjoyed so much.
We (Nico and Fabricio) were moved by a boy who said at first he couldn’t come because he didn’t have the 15 réais (€3/£2.50) we ask to help for gas (more for them to give value to the camp). We told him he could give whatever he had but more importantly we wanted him to come. He said ok! Later, we heard he found a way to get the money by selling some snacks because he didn’t want to be the only one who couldn’t pay. He told us on Friday that he would come but didn’t show up on Saturday morning. We went to his house with the van full of boys… he was ready but didn’t come because on the Friday night his mum had used the money that he had made, to buy some food. We took him anyway and he spent 2 days with a huge smile on his face!!
Teams
Finally we are starting to receive teams again after the pandemic! It was only for 3 days but it was great to have them. They were students from another YWAM school called “Urban Missions” in São Paulo. We showed them our work, took them to the slum, organised a play time with the kids in the slum where they did a drama and we did family visits. It was a busy 3 days but really a blessing to receive people to come and help out in the work.
World Cup
So the WORLD CUP has started!! There has been a lot of commotion in Brazil! Every where you go people are selling the football shirts and talking about the world cup! As you know Brazilians are mad about football and its when an event like this comes around that you really see it! On the days that Brazil plays, schools will be closed or close early, shops close down and the streets are empty! All day long you see the yellow football shirts worn by the brazilians! Of course we have to join in!! So far we watched a game in the Rock house with some kids and teens and Nico went to the slum for the second game to watch with some of the men from the slum and some teens have been asking to watch the games with Nico and Fabricio! It might get tense the closer it gets to the final especially if France and Brazil get there! Which football shirt will we wear that day!!? Haha
Next months:
As mentioned above, in December we have the YWAM conference so we have been closing up all our groups early because of that, much to the disappointment of the kids! Then we will go to the graduation of Pedrinho - this will be nice to also see another YWAM base!
During this time Lorenzo will also have his “summer holidays” from school, so no classes for about 2 months! I think he will really miss seeing his little friends as he has really grown to love school. We are praying about whether we put Keoni in the school next year in the creche (schools start back in February). The reason for this is to give me (Rachel) a chance to get a little bit more involved in the work than I have been and for Keoni himself, as he is very attached to me and only has interaction with other children in the Mums and Tots weekly group and in church. But the cost is high, as it is a private school, the public schools here are very low quality with many students in each class! Even the free creches are full and over capacity and to be honest we don’t really trust that he would get the care that he needs. Please pray that we make the right decision.
This year we won’t be heading back to Europe as we had our big trip last year. So we will spend Christmas here. We are thinking of inviting any YWAMers who also won’t go home to family or who will be alone, for a Christmas eve party!
In January we plan to do some family visits in the slum and take time to pray for the coming year. We don’t start back with our full schedule until mid February as all our team will be on holidays and only return at the beginning of February. Please pray that God will give us direction and for our team to grow numerically.
We have also received contact from an DTS team from South Africa who would like to come to Casa Rocha for the month of February. This is not yet confirmed so we will see...
So.... it has only been 2 months since we wrote our last update but it's seems like an eternity away - so much has happened!!! Our lives have been changed in a way we never expected... read on to hear why... but first a few updates on what we have been up too!
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