The end of 2016...

Phew..... we are nearly there, the end of 2016! What a year it has been! There has been ups, downs, straights and a few corners! We are tired! The events of 2016 have really left us exhausted, Nico was even sick for a few weeks due to exhaustion and possible dengue (a disease transmited through a mosquito), we are ready for a little break! We spent Christmas this year in Brazil, invited by our friends in the slum, a lovely Christian family! We enjoyed the experience of celebrating Brazilian style! They meet about 10pm on Christmas eve and start eating the big Christmas dinner after midnight! There was lots of food and some good chat! (I, Rachel, brought a little Northern Irish to the party as I made some Banoffee and some of my Granny's shortbread!)

On the 25th, Nico and had a nice breakfast and spent the afternoon preparing a nice meal, but waited til after Church to eat it! It was a nice way to spend our first Christmas as husband and wife!

For new years we will go to stay at a friends house about an hour from Belo, it's in the middle of nature so two nights there will help us breathe a little easier away from the city! We are also planning 10 days to the beach in January to really get a break away from the Rock House and the city.... this will be just what we need! So we have some nice things to look forward too.

But although we are exhausted and ready for a break we wanted to 'finish well' with our groups and work here in the Rock House. We planned some very nice activities. Unfortunately Nico was too sick and couldn't participate as much as he would have liked.

We decided to finish up with a little party in each of the groups. It involved nice food, games and a present. We were very thankful to receive generous donations from Europe and Brazil giving us the opportunity to bless each of the kids with a really nice present! The kids received a Christmas book that had pop out bits to create the stable and characters, along with colouring books and sweets. The teens each received a teen bible in a version that makes it easier for them to read, the bible has little bible studies throughout it. It was super special to see their reactions as they received their presents, many won't receive much this Christmas so it was very touching to see them as they hugged their book or bible, exclaiming wow's and ooww's!!

 

Normally the Rock house hosts a holiday programme in Rock House for the kids of the slum. Because of limited space the max limit is 50 kids and every year they must turn kids away. Nico had an idea to host the programme again but rather than in the Rock House, to do it in the centre of the slum! We did! It was a great success except for the rain, as it is rainy season two days we couldn't go into the slum. The other days we had great fun playing games, getting to meet new faces and telling them stories about Jesus and how much he loves them!

Then on the week leading up to Christmas we took it easier and hosted a few activities with specific groups. Such as a movie night for the teenage boys with a 'thought from the movie', an outing to "see santa" with a group of kids from our groups and we accompanied our Church's Christmas Carolling in the slum! Some fun activities!

And last but not least we took a group of the most frequent participants in the Jujitsu classes to a Tournament against other kids in different social classes. We were accompanied by some of the mothers which was very special! They, along with us were very proud to see the kids in the competition, doing their best! Many of them walked away with medals which we have later seen hung in a special place in their homes!

As we stated, this year has been a full one. And although we were able to finish well here in the Rock house, which left us very satisfied, and then we had a really nice Christmas, unfortunately we were struck with some bad news on the 27th about someone who I (Rachel) worked with, her name is also Rachel, she is the same age as me and her birthday one day after mine! I have gotten to know very well over the years, building a real friendship with her and getting to know her kids and see her change her life from the streets and drugs to a life of honour, raising her 5th daughter with dignity. Going to church, holding down a job and paying her bills on time etc.

The message no one wants to receive: "Rachel's daughter has died. She was killed by her boyfriend." Little 'Eloa' was only one and a half. Rachel left her with her boyfriend while she went to work, came home and found the baby alone, dead on the floor. After some exams, they found that he had strangled her to death. It was a great sadness to see that little tiny white coffin, with that little baby lying there looking so peaceful, none of us know what she went through in her last moments. But we have the peace in our hearts that she had a good life until that day, Rachel was raising a happy, content little girl and we know that she is now in the arms of Jesus, maybe that's why she looked so peaceful as we laid her to rest.

Our worry is for Rachel. Please pray for her, that this tragedy will not ruin everything she has worked for. Pray that the relationship she has built with God will hold her strong. That her friendships with those in the church and around her will help support her and hold her during these next difficult months. We really appreciate your pray for this as we know that it will only be our loving Heavenly Father that will be able to carry her through this.

Thank you for reading till the end, we apologise for the length.... we know it was a long one!

We hope that you had a great Christmas and as you also reflect over the year of 2016 I am sure that you will also have many ups and downs. But we pray that as you reflect that, like us, you will be able to see God's faithful, loving hand with you all the way.

May we wish you a very happy 2017 with many blessings!

The sun came out...

It rained, and rained and rained for about 2 weeks straight. It was cold and miserable! This was not the ideal weather that we had been hoping for as it was getting closer to the weekend of our camp with some teenage boys..... camping in tents, walking in the forest, doing outdoor activities!

We had been praying for months for an opportunity to take some of our teenage boys on a camp, away from the city. To cut a long story short we received an email from the daughter of the founder of YWAM here in Belo, we have known her and her husband for a while. They were starting a new project called 'Lamalma' (you can see a little more about this great project on Lamalma website or on their facebook page). Their idea is to offer a camping experience away from the city for groups of kids/teenagers who are attended in social urban projects, like the Rock House.

We jumped at the opportunity explaining we had been praying for this! We marked the date, choose the boys, there were 12 spaces and began to plan.

So with everything organised, the only thing left was the weather.... how would we camp!? The day before, we thought they would cancel...but they didn't. So we prayed, God please just let it be dry!

Saturday morning, 7am, the boys started to arrive at the Rock House, it was dry!..... we left together in the Kombi, unfortunately only 5 boys had turned up, arriving at the destination for the camp..... and the sun came out!!! We had two wonderful days of sunshine.... actually we got sunburnt because we didn't bring our suncream!

We were disappointed that not all the boys came, unfortunately this is the reality of the people group we work with, very unreliable in their commitments. But the 5 who came certainly had a good time. We were surprised by this group as one was from a different slum (we actually receive boys from 2 slums that are usually at war with each other) and the one didn't know the other boys. We thought he would leave as his friend didn't come but he put his bag in the kombi. During the time there, the boys related very well and the four integrated him quickly in the group! At the end of the camp he specifically said good bye to each of them. 

Lamalma had everything planned: activities, food, times for sharing the word etc. It was fantastic, for us as we could just join in and invest in our relationships with these boys. Some activities were learning to guide with a compass, following instructions to arrive at a destination in the middle of the forest! Crossing a bridge made of a metal rope, abseiling, building a shelter with bamboo! Awesome!

In the afternoon there was plenty of free time for football and swimming, as well as building each one their own tent!

In the evening after dinner we built a camp fire and roasted marshmallows. During which we heard a testimony from the Lamalma team.

Before breakfast we had a time of sharing again, and some one-to-one chats with prayer. During this time we presented each teen with a piece of paper, on it were words that we had received from God for each of them. We had prayed together with a group who don't know these boys asking God to speak directly into their lives. The boys were really touched.

So Beautiful!

After breakfast we put on our trainers and headed on a nature trail through the forest to a beautiful waterfall. There was some pretty tricky parts to pass, including heavy bush, through a river and even part of it walking up river. I (Rachel) usually like to attempt these myself especially being the only female, but when I saw the teens wanting to help me, I let them. It was amazing to see their care and concern for me along the way, holding back branches so I wouldn't get scratched, holding my hand through the water so I wouldn't slip, and gathering together to get me up the steep parts! Usually these boys are "the lads" so it was really special to see another side of them!

The project Lamalma prepared all the food and for Sunday lunch they did a typical Brazilian BBQ! So good!!! The boys don't have this often as it is quite expensive as it basically involves a lot of meat!! What a treat!

Before leaving one of the boys was desperate to ride one of the horses in the field, so after asking permission from the owner he went! He loved it!! These are the kind of things these inner city boys don't get to experience, many of them don't leave the slum! To be able to enjoy a weekend in the nature, with the beautiful sun shining was such a treat!

The boys were able to recognise that it was All from God! As we explained how we had been praying for the opportunity and to have had such a good time, and the fact that the sun had come out! Before leaving the boys home that evening, we had a time of encouraging them pointing out the positives we had seen in them over the weekend, telling them of the potential that each has to be so much more! That God loves them and that he gave this time away just because they were special!

One of the boys prayed to finish and he thanked God for everything and prayed for a blessing on the Lamalma project!

The new thing on-line is the "Mannequin Challenge", so we thought we would give it a go...

Back to School!

Nico and I went back to school for a week!

And it was great.... we got our notebooks ready, tested our pens, filled our water bottles and off we went! It was a funny feeling to sit again at a desk, notebook and pen out, taking notes! It was a course called 'Claves'. All about sexual abuse. 

This topic is so real today and at the Rock House we are faced with this daily. At the course they defined abuse in many forms; physical, emotional, negligence and sexual. Anything that goes against the right of the child.

The aim of the course is Prevention against sexual abuse (including awareness of where there may be risk). This part of the course Claves was with the goal of teaching through play, the theme: "Playing we strengthen to face difficult situations."

The course breaks down this theme to teach in sections... starting with difficult situations, how to face them and who we are facing (including looking at reasons why people abuse), what to strengthen and how to do this through play.
It was a very interactive course with 21 students, two teachers and always a translator for those who do not yet speak portuguese. It included discussion groups, teaching, videos and playing!


The part that I found most interesting was when we learnt about the importance to build up 'resilience' in the child. This resilience becomes one of the barriers that stops an abuser abusing. We talked about 22 resilience blocks that would build up a wall of resilience in a child. Here are a few:

• Develop an attitude of self worth
• Know your rights, and be able to make them be respected and put limits to peers and adults
• Develop problem solving skills and strategies to navigate different risk situations
• Able to recognise in your environments people in whom you can trust, inside and outside the family
• Learn to know, value, care for, control and enjoy your body
• Count on adequate sexual education

We played! It was fun to play, it was a strategy for us to learn how to play with the material that could be bought to be used with groups of children and teens. For example, a game like dominoes but with emotion cards. The idea was to play the game but each time talking about one of the new emotions displayed. Asking questions like; how does she feel? why do you think she feels like this? what should she do? Very effective.

The course suggests a 10 til 12 week programme focused on specific age groups. Depending on the age group you choose will depend on the material and games etc to use. The programme with the kids or teens is divided into three blocks; me and my body, me and my intimate parts and me, my body and others. We received a book that gives much information and many ideas for how to plan each day of the programme. 

The last day of the course we were in groups and had to choose an age group, one of the blocks and plan a 15 minute presentation. This gave us a little idea of what it would be like! It was difficult but fun and informative!

As the Rock house Nico and I are already thinking about how beneficial this could be to do with the kids and teens we work with here. Please pray along with us as we plan for this to happen next year. We are so thankful for this opportunity to learn more that can be beneficial in the work we do here. With information comes responsibility.

Receiving our certificates at the end!

Three weeks turn into full time!

"...And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" 

Esther 4:14 

For the last two months the book of Esther has been coming to my mind in response to my searching for guidance from God for what to do next. As I explained when I was at home, in returning to Brazil, I would move house to live with Nico at the Rock House but my desire was to continue working in the Restoration House. The difficulty with this was that I didn't have a team at the Restoration House anymore (one moved to another YWAM base and the other had a baby). So I sought God for answers. 

This verse above spoke to me, that for now it is my time to be here at the Rock House 
with my husband, helping and supporting the ministry here. Oh, don't worry, it's definitely not a royal position such as Queen Esther! haha. But it's a nice place to be!

I will visit with the small group of boys from the Restoration House, inviting them here in the Rock House and visiting when I can. But for the foreseeable future, my place will be here in the Rock House beside Nico. 

The Rock House has been involved in the favela called Pedreira Prado Lopes since 2009. Since Nico has stepped into leadership of this ministry, he decided to stop all activities and take some quality time really seeking God's heart to hear from Him what He wants for this ministry. It's easy to get caught up in the activities and general day to day things and forget to seek God. And actually God confirmed that we should continue all activities that were already running, but He gave us new direction and focus for the groups. It gave us new passion to serve the people of this community, and also opened the door for a few new activities. And it encouraged us to be more in the community, as much as possible.

So what does that involve??

Internal activities... involve kids groups(6-12 years), teenage boys groups, tutoring, teenage/young mums groups, and ladies water aerobics. We also have jijutsu classes, run by a professional teacher.

The aim of each of these groups is to have a time of discipleship followed by activities such as the pool, games in the big space we have, arts/crafts, water aerobics etc

External activities...  
Home Visits: We have the aim to visit each family that is represented in the groups here at the Rock House. These visits will allow  us to get  to know the families better but also see if there is more we can do to help the family. If we only serve the child but not the family we can't make as big an impact as we would like.

Crackolandia: Every Friday night there is a team that goes to an area we call crackolandia. This is an area on the edge of the favela that many crack addicts stay day and night using drugs. The team take some coffee and donated bread, used as an open door to start conversations. The aim is to listen, to pray and to invite them to know Jesus and with the hope they will leave this life behind.

Evangelism: Once a month we hold an evangelism event in the community. We invite churches/volunteers to come along and participate. We call the attention of the kids by doing face paints, skipping rope, playing football, a trampoline and of course some loud music. When you arrive there may be 10 kids, by the end there could be about 50+ and many adults. Then we sit them down and give 'a word', this could be through songs, dance, drama etc. And then we finish with prayer.

A general presence in the favela is also important and sometimes we just go walking there without a specific goal, this leaves us open to be used by God in whatever way he wants. This presence in the favela lets us as a team be seen and known. We make new contacts or visit families that we know but who don't participate in one of the internal activities. This time usually is just walking around and talking to people and kids on the streets of the favela, as it is a hot climate culture generally people stay outside as inside can be too hot and stuffy. It's a great opportunity to chat and share about God's love for each of them.

There are some other activities that we have that are more irregular. Such as camps, this can be for the kids or teenagers or the entire family. We help support a rehab that is the contact for when someone from the crackolandia or the community is in need and desires a life away from drugs etc.

There is a lot involved and it can be quite busy, but it's a good place to be, at the centre of God's will. I am filled with peace to be here and I know for such a time that this is my place to be, until when, I don't know. But for now I will invest my time, my energy and my love into this community. Please pray for me as I adjust to this new way to work, as I get to know the people of the community, that God will grow my love for the people who live here. Pray also that I can be a good support to Nico and for Nico as He seeks to lead this team. For wisdom and discernment. And that us a team continue to seek God's heart for this community.