Nous aimerions vous présenter notre fils ... Lorenzo!
Le 4 octobre, le rendez-vous avec le médecin était très excitant. Nous avions une consultation de routine et allions devoir prendre une décision... Lorenzo voulait rester dans le ventre de maman plus de 9 mois. Comme il ne s'était pas retourné à la naissance, le médecin a conseillé une césarienne. Nous étions d'accord et languissions qu'il arrive.... Cette décision a été prise à 16h30 et à 19h le même jour, Lorenzo était né! Ce n'était pas exactement ce que nous avions imaginé quand nous sommes allés au rendez-vous de contrôle!! Mais tout s'est bien passé et après 9 mois d'attente, nous avons pu, enfin, rencontrer notre fils! Quelle belle surprise le 4 octobre 2018!
Nous sommes restés à l'hôpital deux nuits et, comme Rachel récupérait bien et Lorenzo était en bonne santé, nous avons pu rentrer à la maison. Nous sommes très reconnaissants d'avoir pu décider d'aller dans un hôpital privé. Après une visite à la maternité de l'hôpital public il y a quelques mois, Rachel est rentrée à la maison en larmes... L'organisation, le manque d'intimité et l'idée qu'elle ne pourrait peut-être même pas être avec moi après la naissance du bébé, s’il n’y avait pas assez de place dans les chambres bondées, c’était trop difficile à supporter! En priant ensemble, nous avions la paix que Dieu allait pourvoir l'argent dont nous avions besoin pour aller en privé... Il l'a fait! Avoir un médecin que nous connaissions (avec un bilan de santé au cours du dernier mois de grossesse), être dans un hôpital mieux organisé, avoir une chambre rien que pour nous 3, était une expérience incroyable et une réelle bénédiction! Dieu est si bon! Il nous connaît si bien et sait exactement ce dont nous avons besoin. Nous sommes très reconnaissants à chacun d'entre vous qui avez participé pour aider à couvrir les frais, merci d'avoir été une si grande bénédiction dans nos vies!
Comme la médecin nous a dit, «quand un bébé naît, des parents naissent aussi!» Elle nous a conseillé de rester calmes et de nous rappeler que de la même manière qu'il est nouveau, nous sommes aussi nouveaux dans notre rôle de parents... Très bon conseil!
Les deux ou trois premières semaines ont été un peu stressantes. Même si Lorenzo est un bébé facile à vivre, tranquille et qui aime dormir! Il ne se nourrissait pas assez… nous devions le réveiller pour le nourrir! Ce qui ne marchait pas car il était énervé d'avoir été réveillé et donc ne mangeait pas bien non plus! Il ne prenait pas assez de poids. Après avoir finalement rencontré une pédiatre, elle nous a conseillé de compléter la tétée avec un petit biberon. Ça a marché. Il a commencé à prendre du poids et depuis, il va très bien.
Maintenant, nous nous sommes bien adaptés à la vie à trois! C’est bien différent, mais quelle bénédiction d’avoir un petit garçon à aimer et à prendre soin. Nous sommes si reconnaissants pour ce cadeau que Dieu nous a donné!
Un autre cadeau est la venue des parents de Rachel! Ils sont arrivés et ont adoré prendre Lorenzo dans les bras, jouer avec lui, changer des couches sales et le faire sourire! En plus de cela, ils ont cuisiné, fait la vaisselle, nettoyé et pris bien soin de nous. Mon père a même trouvé quelques petites choses à faire à Casa Rocha. C'est bon de les avoir ici. Nous attendons également avec impatience la fin décembre, lorsque mes parents viendront également rencontrer leur petit fils Lorenzo. Jusqu'à présent, le reste de nos familles a seulement pu voir Lorenzo sur skype!
Merci encore pour vos prières, pour vos cadeaux et pour votre amour. Nous sommes toujours touchés par votre soutien. Continuez s'il vous plaît à prier pour nous dans l'apprentissage de notre rôle de parents, et pour Lorenzo, pour qu'il grandisse et se développe bien. On vous remercie.
We would finally like to introduce to you our son... Lorenzo!
It was a very exciting appointment with the doctor on the 4th October, as we went for a routine check up but with the idea in mind to make a decision... Lorenzo decided he wanted to stay inside mummy’s tummy more than 9 months so stayed breech! Since he wouldn’t turn or prepare for birth the doctor suggested a C-section. We agreed.... this decision was made at 4:30pm and at 7pm the same day Lorenzo was born! Not what we had imagined when we went to the appointment!! But everything went well and after 9 months of waiting we could meet our son! What a great surprise on the 4th October!
We stayed in the hospital 2 nights and as I was recovering well and Lorenzo was healthy and well we could leave and return home. We are very thankful looking back at the decision we made to go private. After a visit to the maternity ward in the free public hospital a number of months ago, I had returned home in tears... the set up, lack of privacy and the idea that I may not even be able to have Nico stay with me after the baby was born if there was no room in the packed wards was too much to bear! Praying together we felt peace that God would provide the money we needed to go private... He did! It was such an amazing experience to have a doctor we knew (having check ups with her in the last month of pregnancy), to be in a hospital that is well organised, to have a room just for me, Nico and the baby, etc etc was such a blessing! God is so good! He knows us so well and knows just what we need. We are so thankful to each of you who offered money to help towards the cost, thank you for being such a huge blessing in our lives!
As the doctor told us, “when a baby is born, parents are also born!” She told us to stay calm and remember that just as he is new we are also new to our role as parents! Great advice!
The first weeks were a little rocky, although Lorenzo is such an easy going baby, very chilled and likes to sleep! But he wasn’t feeding enough... we would wake him to feed but then he was annoyed we had woke him and wouldn’t feed well! So turned out he wasn’t gaining weight. After finally meeting with a paediatrician she suggested topping him up with a little formula. It worked. He started gaining weight and since then has been doing really well.
So now we have been adjusting and adapting well to life as three! It’s definitely different, but what a blessing to have a little baby boy to love and care for. We are so thankful for this little blessing that God has given us!
Another blessing is the arrival of my parents! They arrived and have loved having cuddles with Lorenzo, playing with him, changing dirty nappies and making him smile! Along with that they have been cooking, doing dishes, cleaning and taking really good care of us. My dad has even found a few little projects to do around the Rock House. It is so nice to have them here. We also look forward to the end of December when Nico’s parents will also come to meet Lorenzo. Until now the rest of our families have been spending time looking at Lorenzo on skype!
Thank you again for your prayers, for your gifts and for your love. We have been overwhelmed with such great support from home. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to learn to be parents, and for Lorenzo, that he will grow and thrive. Thank you
Salut tout le monde, encore une fois, pas mal de temps a passé et nous avons tellement à dire. Ce blog est plein de petites histoires, nous avons essayé de les garder courtes, alors j'espère que ça vous donnera une idée de toutes les choses que nous avons vécues! Régalez-vous...
GO Team Chaque été (notre hiver à nous au Brésil) nous recevons une équipe de Hollande. C'est un groupe de jeunes de 17 à 25 ans qui viennent pour environ deux semaines pour vivre une expérience de mission à court terme. On en profite toujours pour nous impliquer davantage dans la favela et faire des actions qu'on ne peut pas en tant normal. Une équipe de 7 filles est venue et ce fut un bon moment. Nous sommes allés dans un centre de réhabilitation pour femmes, continué le travail dans la crackolandia et les visites en familles et dans la favela, également à la prison pour adolescentes (avec la Casa Resgate, un autre projet de JEM à Belo Horizonte). Ce fut un bon moment pour voir chacune des filles grandir dans leur foi et être utilisées par Dieu. Beaucoup sont sorties de leur zone de confort et ont donné leurs témoignages, ont prié pour les autres et ont vu Dieu travailler à travers elles! Vraiment cool!
Déjeuner dans le bidonville Nivaldo et Tiane sont un couple d'amis qui vivt dans la favela avec leurs deux enfants (sur la photo ci-dessous avec leur nièce aussi). Nivaldo et Tiane ont connu le Seigneur à travers le travail de Casa Rocha et chaque année, nous voyons les changements dans leur vie de cet engagement qu'ils ont pris il y a quelques années. Cette année, ils ont investi dans la rénovation de leur maison, ce que beaucoup de personnes dans la favela ne considèrent pas comme important, et c’est magnifique à voir. L'équipe GO Team a aidé avec ce processus pendant en peignant leur maison avec eux. Maintenant que tout est fini, ils nous ont invité, Nico et moi, un dimanche à midi. Quel privilège! Quel temps incroyable avec cette belle famille. C'est génial de voir Dieu au travail dans leur vie.
Vacances
Cette première moitié de l'année a été très folle avec nos deux visites à la maison, la fin des travaux de construction ici à Casa Rocha et la réception des nouveaux staffs. Nous avons décidé en équipe de prendre une semaine de congé après que l’équipe GO Team soit partie.
Beaucoup de gens nous ont donné le conseil à Nico et moi de profiter de chaque moment ensemble parce que quand le bébé arrivera, la vie ne sera jamais la même! Certains ont suggéré un "Baby moon!" (dérivé de la lune de miel). J'ai adoré cette idée! Nous avons donc décidé de prendre la semaine et d'aller à la plage! Quelle semaine de repos - dodo, plage, dodo, plage...! Quelle bénédiction d'avoir ce temps ensemble, juste nous deux et loin de Casa Rocha où nous avons réellement pu nous reposer!
On s'entraine avec les bébés des autres
On dirait que c'est l'année des bébés! Partout où je regarde, je vois des personnes enceintes! Dans la favela où nous travaillons, deux mamans avec qui nous travaillons étroitement ont eu des filles il y a un mois! J'ai eu l'occasion de visiter les deux dans la semaine suivant leur naissance!
Être enceinte a ouvert la porte à un nouveau niveau de relation avec les femmes de la favela - maintenant, nous avons tous quelque chose en commun! C’est incroyable de voir mes relations s’étendre, pas seulement avec ces deux mamans, mais avec toutes les mamans que je rencontre dans la favela. Chacun me donne des conseils sur la grossesse, le travail et l'éducation des enfants! C'est vraiment spécial d'entendre cela et d'avoir les yeux encore plus ouverts sur la culture brésilienne où Dieu nous a appelé. Quel privilège de porter un bébé mais de voir comment Dieu utilise cette grossesse non seulement pour nous bénir, Nico et moi, avec un fils, mais aussi pour ouvrir les portes à des relations plus profondes avec les mères. Et bien sûr, Nico commençait à s'entraîner, ce qui a fait sourire les mamans!
Baby Shower 1
S'intégrant encore plus loin dans la culture brésilienne... ils disent "quand on est au Brésil, on doit faire comme les brésiliens!" Lorsque vous êtes enceinte, l'une des choses que chaque mère fait est une "Baby Shower"… ou traduit du portugais «un thé à couches"! La raison est que les invités apportent un paquet de couches pour les futurs parents! Quelle bénédiction quand tu vois le prix des couches et que tu sais le nombre de couches utilisées par un bébé !!
Certains de nos amis ont voulu organiser la fête pour nous, cela nous convenait bien car nous ne savions pas vraiment ce qu'il fallait faire! Et ils travaillé dur! La décoration était parfaite - avec un thème de l'arche de Noé. La nourriture était incroyable, y compris un gâteau fait maison de l'arche de Noé avec Noé et quelques animaux! A la fin, chaque invité part avec un petit souvenir de la fête ... les filles ont fait un petit aimant en nuage (environ 50!) pour correspondre au thème!
De nombreux amis sont venus (de JEM, des bénévoles de Casa Rocha et des amis de notre église au Brésil). C'était un super moment d'être ensemble, de manger et de partager. Il y a eu un temps de prière pour nous et notre bébé. Les invités pouvaient nous écrire des messages sur des papiers découpés en forme d'animaux, et un jeu pour voir qui pouvait deviner combien de centimètres mesurait mon ventre… et celui de Nico !! Cela a fait rire tout le monde. Personne a deviné! Une belle après-midi!
Baby Shower 2
Beaucoup de dames de la favela et nos voisins nous demandaient de faire une "Baby Shower". Nous avons donc décidé d'en faire une seconde! Nous avons pu utiliser les décorations de la première et j'avais gardé la partie du gâteau de l'arche de Noé de la première fête (il y avait tellement de gâteaux)! C'était une autre occasion d'approfondir nos relations avec eux. Ils sont également venus avec un paquet de couches chacun pour nous bénir. Tellement généreux!
Alison
Une amie de Rachel, Alison, est venue nous rendre visite! Tout le monde a dit qu'elle était folle de vouloir venir quand j'étais enceinte de 8 mois !! Heureusement, le bébé n'est pas arrivé en avance! Comme je suis incapable de suivre notre emploi du temps habituel ici à Casa Rocha, cela a donné à Alison et Rachel du temps pour être ensemble!
En plus de passer du bon temps ensemble, Alison a également laissé sa marque ici à Casa Rocha. Elle a réalisé une grande fresque murale sur le mur de la grande salle où nous accueillons la majorité de nos groupes. Notre thème pour ce semestre est "les héros de la Bible". Elle a donc peint une image de Jésus en train de parler avec les superhéros de nos séries TV, en écrivant la phrase "... et c'est comme ça que j'ai sauvé le monde!" Le vrai super héros dans nos vies!
Alison a également apporté de nombreuses fournitures d'art et travaux manuels et a fait quelques activités avec le groupe des adolescentes et le groupe d'enfants de l'après-midi! Les enfants adorent avoir le temps de faire de l'art et de l'artisanat car à l'école ils n'ont pas le temps de développer cela car ils n'étudient que quatre heures par jour, et les fournitures sont très chères ici au Brésil. Quelle bénédiction pour les enfants! Merci Alison d'avoir donné ce matériel et de ton temps à Casa Rocha, et cela pendant tes vacances !!
Les cultes du jeudi soir
Chaque jeudi soir, nous organisons un culte de JEM où tous les missionnaires se réunissent. Il est très agréable de voir les collègues des autres projets de la base. Les cultes sont toujours traduits en anglais pour ceux qui visitent ou ceux qui sont récemment arrivés et qui n'ont pas encore appris la langue. Nico aime faire ça! J'adore le voir traduire les pasteurs car cela m'étonne toujours, il traduit normalement du portugais vers l'anglais - deux langues qui ne sont pas sa langue maternelle! Quelle bénédiction d'avoir ce don de langues!
Aussi, notre équipe est très douée pour la musique et, récemment, elle nous a conduit dans le temps de louange du culte de la base. Cela nous a rendu si fiers Nico et moi de les voir utiliser leurs dons pour bénir notre base! C'est incroyable de voir comment Dieu nous ouvre les portes pour utiliser les dons et les talents qu'il nous a donnés. Le bébé arrive!!
J'en suis à 39 semaines de grossesse !! Bébé peut arriver à n'importe quel moment maintenant! Sommes-nous prêts? Tout le monde nous demande... Je demande, qu'est-ce que cela signifie? Nous avons acheté les vêtements et le lit, reçu les couches, les lingettes, etc... Mais nous sommes super motivés par l'arrivée de notre bébé! Neuf mois d'attente, c’est long et nous avons hâte de voir son petit visage et de tenir ses petites mains! Les prochaines nouvelles que vous recevrez de nous seront surement à propos de son arrivée! Alors surveillez vos mails! Mais s'il-vous-plaît, priez pour que l'accouchement se passe bien et qu'il soit en bonne santé. Merci beaucoup d'avoir lu toutes nos nouvelles! Merci de continuer à faire partie de ce voyage! Nous apprécions chacun de vous. Que Dieu vous bénisse.
Hey everyone, again, so much time has passed and so we have so much to tell. This blog is full of little stories, we have tried to keep them short so I hope you get an idea of all the things we have been up too! Enjoy
Go Team
Each summer (our winter) we receive a team from Holland. This is a group of youth from 17 to 25 years who come for about two weeks to have a short term mission experience. It's always a time for us to enjoy a full house and to do things we are unable to do during our normal schedule, such as evangelism in the community. A team of 7 girls came and it was a great time. We took them for an experience in the ladies rehab, to crackolandia and we did a few evangelism outreaches in the community, also to the girls youth prison (with the Rescue House). It was a great time to see each of the girls grow in their faith and be used by God. Many stepped out of their comfort zone and gave their testimonies, prayed for others and saw God working through them! So cool!
Lunch in the slum
Nivaldo and Tiane are a couple we know who live in the slum with their two kids (In the photo below they are joined by their niece). Nivaldo and Tiane came to know the Lord through the work of the Rock House and year by year we see the changes in their lives of this commitment they have made. This year they have invested in redecorating their home , something many in the slum don't see as important, and it is beautiful. The Go Team helped with this process as they painted their home. Now that it is all finished they invited Nico and I over for Sunday lunch. What a privilege! What an amazing time together with this lovely family. It is awesome to see God at work in their lives.
Holiday
This first half of the year has been super crazy with our two visits home, the finishing of the construction work here in the Rock House and receiving the new staff. We decided as a team to take a week off after the Go Team. Everyone was so happy to hear this!
Many people have been giving Nico and I the advice; enjoy every moment together now because when the baby comes life will never be the same!! Some suggested a "Baby moon!" I loved this idea! So we decided to take the week and go the beach! What a week of rest - we just spent the whole time on the beach or in the pool and sleeping! What a blessing to have this time together, just the two of us and away from the Rock House where we could really rest!
Practicing baby
It seems like this is the year for Babies! Everywhere I look I am seeing people pregnant! In the community where we work, two mums who we work closely with had baby girls a month ago! I had the opportunity to visit both within a week of their births!
Being pregnant has opened a door to a whole new level of relationship with the women in the community - now we all have something in common! It's been amazing to see my relationships grow, not just with these two mums but with all the mums that I encounter in the slum. Each one giving me advice about the pregnancy, the labour and the raising of children! It's been really special to hear this and to have my eyes opened even more to the culture that God has called me too. What a privilege to carry a baby but to see how God will use this pregnancy not only to bless me and Nico with a son but to open the doors to deeper relationships with the mothers. And of course Nico was getting some practice in too, which brought a smile to the mum's!
Baby Shower 1
Jumping in further to the brazilian culture... they say "when in Brazil do as the Brazilians do!" When you are pregnant one of the things that every mother does is a baby shower.... or more commonly called "A nappy shower!" The reason being that the guests bring a packet of nappies! What a blessing when you see the price and hear about how many nappies a baby uses!!
Some of our friends wanted to organise the party for us, this suited us well as we didn't really know what was involved! Oh my, did they work hard! The decoration was perfect - with a theme of Noah's ark. The food was amazing including a home made cake of Noah's ark with Noah and some animals! At the end each guest leaves with a little souvenir from the party... the girls hand made a little cloud magnet (about 50 of them!) to tie in with the theme!
So many friends came (from YWAM, volunteers from the Rock House and friends from our church here in Brazil). It was a fruitful time being together, eating and sharing. There was a time of prayer for me and Nico and for our baby. The guests could write messages to us on animal cut outs, and they played a game to see who could guess how many centimetres round was my tummy.... and Nico's!! This made everyone laugh. Not too many guessed right! What a blessing as we saw how generous everyone had been to bring us a packet of nappies! An amazing afternoon!
Baby Shower 2
Many ladies from the slum and our neighbours were asking about doing a baby shower for us. So we decided to do a second one! We were able to use the decorations from the first one and I cheekily froze the "Noah's ark" part of the cake from the first party - there was so much cake! We handed out the invites and had another party with the ladies from the slum and our neighbours. Another opportunity to deepen our relationships with them. They also came with a packet of nappies each to bless us. How generous!
Alison
My friend Alison, from home, came to visit! Everyone said she was crazy wanting to come when I was 8 months pregnant!! Thankfully the baby didn't come early! As I am unable to keep up with our usual full schedule here at the Rock House it gave Alison and I some time to be together! She also came over a bank holiday which gave us an extra day to be together without work commitments!
Apart from having an amazing time together, Alison also left her mark here at the Rock House. She offered to use her skills that God has blessed her with and she did a huge mural on the wall of the big room where we host the majority of our groups. Our theme for this semester is "Heros". So she designed an image of Jesus talking with the Superheros, finishing with the phrase, "...and that's how I saved the world!" The true super hero in our lives!
Alison also brought loads of arts and crafts supplies and lead the activities in the teenage girls group and the afternoon kids group! The kids love to have time to do arts and crafts because in the school they don't have time to develop this as they only study four hours per day, and also supplies are super expensive here in Brazil. What a blessing for the kids! Thanks Alison for giving so much here at the Rock House even though it was your holidays!! Come back soon!
Thursday night services
Every Thursday evening we have a church YWAM service, all the YWAM workers get together and we have worship, announcements and a receive a word. It's a great time to receive instead of giving and to receive a word of encouragement. Also it is so nice to see the other Ywamers as we live spread out among six houses across the city, each with a different project. The services are always translated into english for those who are visiting or those who have recently arrived and haven't learnt the language yet. Nico loves this job! I love to see him translating the Pastors as it always amazes me, he is translating normally from Portuguese to English - two languages that are neither his mother tongue! What a blessing to have this gift of languages!
Also, our team are very musically gifted, and recently they lead us in worship. It made us (me and Nico) so proud to see them step out and use their gifts to bless our base! It is amazing to see how God opens doors for us to use the gifts and talents that He has given us. I can't imagine how proud He is when He sees His children using these gifts to glorify him!
Baby is coming!!
So I have made it, 39 weeks pregnant!! Baby can come any day now!! Are we ready? Everyone keeps asking.... I ask, what does that mean? We have bought the baby clothes, nappies, wipes, cot, dummies etc etc.... so yes?! Have a name chosen....there is still some doubt.. so no?! Haha! But we are super excited for our baby to arrive! Nine months is a long time to wait for something and we cannot wait to see his little face and hold his little hands! Next news... will be about the arrival! So watch this space! But please Pray for God's hand on the delivery, that all will go smoothly and that He will arrive well. Thank you so much for reading all our news! Thank you for continuing to be a part of this journey that we are on! We appreciate each and every one of you. May God bless you.
This blog will be a little bit of everything as it has been SO long since we have updated you and SO much has happened since our last blog! But before we start, we are delighted to tell you that we FINALLY both got our visas for one more year!!!
First thing was a flying visit home, again!! My brother proposed to his girlfriend at Christmas and they booked their date for the end of May 2018! God is good and provided us with enough money to fly back for the glorious occasion! We stopped off in France first for 5 days to celebrate Nico's dad's 60th birthday and retirement party! And then we arrived in N.Ireland! We feel so blessed to see that God takes care of all these details and although we had just been home we could go again and not miss out on these events happening in our families.
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22&23
Back to Brazil, again and getting stuck into the work, here is the latest on how it's been going:
World Cup Madness
As the Brazilian temperatures drop, hearts and heads are heated with the excitement surrounding the World Cup!
Brazilians are crazy for football and the World Cup showed this once again. Normal life stops when Brazil is playing, children don't have school and shops close down during the game. Every goal is loudly celebrated with horns and lots of shouting. We joined with some teenagers in our house to watch the games together. It was a lot of fun to watch and celebrate together when they made a goal, and of course make fun of Neymar falling! Unfortunately, Brazil didn't win, but Nico is over the moon that France are champions!!!
Watching the final on a big screen with some teen boys and other YWAMers
New Staff
We are super excited because at the end of June we received two new full-time, long-term staff members; Daniel and Elise! A couple from The Netherlands. We have been praying a lot about the expansion of our team and have big expectations for this year. The first two have arrived, so we are a team of 7!!! Please pray for them to adapt quickly and feel at home here! Here you see a picture of a staff outing!
Girls, fun girls!
This month we had the privilege to take our teenage girls to camp. It was an awesome time to bond with the girls and we have noticed a big difference in their behaviour, being more open and receptive toward us. The girls were encouraged to conquer their fears as they were experiencing things they had never encountered before (living the outdoor life). There was time to go deeper in conversations and to get to know each other outside of the Rock House. Such a great weekend!
This month, we had a party with the girls and we invited their mums to join us. One of the mums told us how she was so happy with The Rock House and the change she had seen in her daughters' behaviour since she started attending our group!
Boys will be boys!
The teenage girls group is flourishing.. and the boys group is doing well too. We have a good group of boys attending the evening group. Some boys are very faithful, others come and go but it has been a good season of creating relationships with them.
The afternoon group has had some more difficulties with boys not showing up (this is the15 year plus group), so we started praying and asking God for direction. This resulted in us stopping the group and going into the community with the focus of reaching the teenage boys - same focus, different strategy. As you can see on the pictures below, we have had some good groups of boys interested in hearing more about what God has for their lives! The coming weeks we will keep going into the community specifically to build more relationship with the boys hanging around in the streets in the afternoons. Our goal is to start a weekly 'small group' in the house of one of them. Please pray with us as we meet the teenagers and for real heart-to-heart connections with them.
Blessing the community
This year one of our desires was to spend more time in the community. Consequently we changed some things in our schedule. One of the things was having a weekly time of intercession in the community. It's been very good to be more visible and pray for specific things while walking around the community. Below you see us proclaiming/singing God's truth over the community!
Challenge 2017 completed - within a year and a three months!
Do you remember that we shared last year about our challenge for 2017? We wanted to do some much needed construction work in/around the community centre. The last day of June we were able to let the construction workers go home because all the work we had for them was finished!
Thank you so much for your prayers and contributions in the finances we needed to be able to complete the work. We are still amazed at how God provided the HUGE amount of money we needed and helped us to succeed all the work just in time for us to have a space to receive our two new staff members!
We did some calculating and discovered that last year when God asked us to do this work, we only had R$3,000 in the bank account. We payed R$35,500 for the construction work, and still have some left over!! With the money left, we will be able to do some (also much needed) work on the walls around our house which are mouldy because of the water that entered into the walls, and freshen up the place by painting.
Isn't it amazing to see how God blesses if we follow Him where He leads us, trusting He will provide all we need?! God gave us enough to be able to do even more than what we had planned to do! We thank you again for your faithfulness in partnership to have made this happen.
Cool experiences!
This week Nico had a cool experience as he went to get his hair cut. He usually cuts his hair with a barber from the slum (our goal here at the Rock House is not just to preach the gospel but to live it, as we 'live' in community). But this week, Nico had his hair cut by the barbers son! He is now 17 years old but when Nico arrived in Brazil he was one of the kids in the groups here at the Rock House!! Today he is studying, working and completing courses, and now cutting hair, following in the steps of his father. His father is a Christian with a testimony that shows that nothing is impossible for our God! Praise Him!
Normal day to day life!
One of our family visits
In the Rock house we also continue with our normal day to day life as we have our kids groups, the classes (violin, jujitsu, english, guitar, drum, maths etc), visiting the families, street outreach to the drug addicts etc. All of which we love to do, continuing to be with the community and sharing with them about God's love for them.
Beginners guitar class!
So, as you have read, it has been a busy time but we have been receiving so many blessings. As the verse above in Lamentations reads, 'Great is His faithfulness!' We have been witnesses to that here at the Rock House, and we are sharing these stories here because you are our partners! Thank you
A last personal point, I am now just over 6 months pregnant! So far it is going very well, but I am starting to feel that I can't keep up with the pace that I could before! But God is gracious! For those who haven't heard, it is a boy! Still no name! It is wonderful to feel him moving around and giving a few kicks! Our team is super supportive and also so excited for his arrival! They are all happy that they also can feel him kicking! What a miracle!
Please pray for the last trimestre, that I will know my limits and be able to stop when I need too. Pray for the delivery as well. We have been blessed with a discount by a very caring doctor, so it will be possible to go to a private hospital. This was a huge prayer request of mine after we visited the public hospital where I was supposed to give birth, the shock of the lack of privacy and the overcrowded rooms, made me ask for yet another miracle! God is so good!
A friend from YWAM is pregnant, 7 weeks more than I. Here I am with her (and Mireille)
at the baby shower for her baby girl who will be named 'Ana Mel'.
Le 4 octobre, le rendez-vous avec le médecin était très excitant. Nous avions une consultation de routine et allions devoir prendre une décision... Lorenzo voulait rester dans le ventre de maman plus de 9 mois. Comme il ne s'était pas retourné à la naissance, le médecin a conseillé une césarienne. Nous étions d'accord et languissions qu'il arrive.... Cette décision a été prise à 16h30 et à 19h le même jour, Lorenzo était né! Ce n'était pas exactement ce que nous avions imaginé quand nous sommes allés au rendez-vous de contrôle!! Mais tout s'est bien passé et après 9 mois d'attente, nous avons pu, enfin, rencontrer notre fils! Quelle belle surprise le 4 octobre 2018!
