Missionary Sunday!

Here's a snapshot of how Sunday rolls here in my part of the world...

Ok, here we go!

It's Sunday school and here are two girls 
that participate in my class.

After Sunday school we meet for choir practice 

(teens and adults).

Two hours before the evening service...
we have Sunday afternoon orchestra practice!

Well, I call it orchestra. It's basically all recorders with one student on a flute. There are three students starting violin this year and one on the clarinet.  Slowly but surely we'll build, right?

Each week (usually during orchestra) I listen to each recorder student play a short song through the Recorder Karate method.

And....each week they work to advance to their next level...earning colored ribbons representing their achievement. 

Yellow Belt!

Green Belt!

We also have a youth choir that meets after orchestra.
 Here they are singing: Lugar Santo/The Holy Place 

(not actually sure of English Title & sorry, no video).

The girls and I also sang a special: Adoro a Ti

Looks like I'm teaching him flute, huh? Wrong! Though I own a flute, I am by no means a flautist! The Lord gave us a unique and gracious blessing in providing this student with a professional teacher that lives in a nearby neighborhood. In the few weeks of lessons, he's really doing well!

Thanks for "reading" through my pictures. What do you think?   Are your Sundays full like mine? I would love to hear about where the Lord has placed you! 


May the Lord be honored and glorified through each ministry. Hope you gave and received a blessing today!

What did you do today?

Great question! Here's todays' snap shot:

THURSDAY:

8:00 Get on the road!

9-12:30     Portuguese class

1:30-2:30 Grocery store run/ Last minute food prep

3:00 – 4:30  Female Personal Trainers from my 

"just women" gym 

Over for afternoon coffee!

4:30-5:30 Work out

5:30- 6:30 Shower/dress

6:30  Piano Lesson: Bible college student

7:00 Piano Lesson: Bible college student

7:30  REST!

7:45 Piano Lesson: Wife who's husband is studying for the ministry

9:00 Practice Piano/Get ready for Video Recital

10 something...do my portuguese homework for class tomorrow!

Sorry--didn't get anymore pictures today. Would love to show you who these other people are. So thankful for the opportunities to minister and point friends to Christ.

Everything is Lent

It was back in high school, in a Bible class on a weekday morning, that I was first impressed that nothing was mine. The simple pronoun “my” was actually the first clue to see that that “thing” was actually—not mine. 

Everything, in fact, is given and lent to me for a season. My hands, my arms, my eyes, my school books, my time, my parents, my family, my belongings….it’s an unending list.

So, God lends people and things for a season; He may also take these things away. But for every season, for every person, all are gifts from the Lord and require that I remember to be…..


thankful.

The Purge

Just got back this week to Brazil and I am in intense purge! Everything I put aside all year is now getting full attention (while still planning for VBS, camp, and a video). It seems to me that if you organize well your personal life, you are able to organize better your ministry life. At least, I find that is  true for me.

I´ve been doing blog reading on tips to do it better and I am in the process of adopting "simplify is better than organizing."  Why keep things I haven´t used in the past three years? Stuff just "grows" and after living here five years, I have an idea of what I should keep and what I can do without.

I love the "clean" uncluttered look! Worked on the bathroom and drawers and came up with a better system to adapt to my morning routine.

Top drawer: Toothbrush, toothpaste, contacts case, creme (day/evening), face cleanser, hair straighter. Middle drawer: Contact solution, eyeglass case, contacts.
Bottom drawer: brushes and waxing kit.

On Monday a friend came over and worked the drill--a real drill!--she helped me put up hooks and now I have pretty pink/black baskets hanging with things that croweded my drawers:

Basket 1: makeup
Basket 2: hair ties/rubber bands/clips
Basket 2: bobby pins

I love bobby pins; you can do so much with your hair! :) Have seen some great links with lots of ideas to try.

Ministring with TEENS! (Unsaved teens!)

Public School Ministry

As with any ministry you need to prepare and over-prepare....yet we never know what to expect at the project. After brainstorming some, our team (two members at the church and a bible college student) decided to try out a different VBS theme each month until December. The theme for August was Joseph: from Prison to Palace (we had done this in our VBS in January). Two weeks ago we had the worst week yet—there was almost no teaching, chaos, and I recruited the monitor to sit in and help us out.

This past week the layout was a little different—the kids were divided into four groups instead of two. OK—(deep breath) this should be better, I thought. The younger age group seemed were more likely to respond to a VBS layout. Well…can I just say …let me give you two kids to pray for: Richard and….the other we’ll call Victor (I don’t remember his name). These two created so much chaos that it was, again, almost impossible to teach. In the end, we were finally able to hold their attention by having one of the kids dress up in a pharaoh outfit we brought, and thus teach a principle from God’s Word!

The second hour we had the teens. Here, as I have shared before, I am out of comfort zone. Get their attention? I really have struggled in how to do this. We showed half of the movie Facing the Giants one week only to not be able to get them to watch the second half the next week (we had no control as to making them participate). This past week we tried something different. One in our team prepared what we term “creative evangelism” to share the gospel and the other prepared an object lesson.

In working in a place that students have free reign for immoral behavior, where arguments and fights are the norm and not the exception, and where exists disrespect and minimal fear of authority, we have prayed and asked the Lord to show us how and what to do in this one hour each week.

It seems that the first objective is to give an understanding of the law of God: the Ten Commandments. Plant what God says about what is right and what is wrong. Have them read and hear what God says about hate and lust.

It was a blessing straight from heaven: this past week they did listen. We used a chair, broom, and cord to teach how it is so much easier to sin, to take the easy road than to stand up and do what is right. Sin drags each of us lower than we ever thought we would go. They listened to what happened to Joseph—the evil sin of his brothers, the love God had for Joseph, and the deliverance of the famine---all the while sharing about their sin, God’s love and plan for each of them and the deliverance of the Gospel God offers!

Please continue to pray as we press forward in this ministry. The monitors have asked that we help with the end of the year program but they plan to use rock music and dancing as their program while also incorporating (I assume separately) a live manger scene. Pray for the salvation of these teens.

Only God Breaks the Chains!

In July, I wrote a blog about an unexpected opportunity to give a Bible study to ladies in the community. This hasn’t happened, but pray towards this that it would yet become reality. Tina, who is Lucas’s mom, has since come to visit a church service with her daughter (Alessandra), granddaughter (a newborn) and friend, Ivette. We have been so glad to see Lucas’ faithfulness to services and youth activities. If he were the only one reached from the public school ministry, we all know that that would be worth the energy and effort to organize that ministry!

As it is, a few days after their church visit, the Lord opened a door to have a long conversation with Ivette. We asked her about her relationship with God and surety of going to heaven. She wasn’t sure but was willing to hear what the Bible said. In hearing the gospel she stated that she understood and had not heard it explained before. That afternoon, that divine appointment gave cause to…

“Go sound the horn! Start up the choir! a sinner is saved….saved from the fire! No more in darkness…(she’s) received God’s Son! All heaven rejoices; that’s the value of one!”

Grow, grow, grow….pray for Ivette’s growth! We’ll be visiting her and encouraging church attendance. She has already shared that she would like to do a Bible study with Tina. Pray for Tina’s salvation as well.

The Unexepected

Why do I insist on pulling into parking areas backwards? Who am I trying to impress, really?  But I do love the easy of pulling out straight from whatever spot I “masterly” pulled into.  And—I have to say, I do have a good laugh at myself when I get out to check out how I did and see that I “masterfully” came in crooked! So the bad news is that in pulling in backwards through a narrow brick-wall driveway, I craftily gave my left mirror the worst headache it has ever had. I’ll be getting that checked out today.

But the distress of that moment could not touch the pulsating joy of the possibility of another huge opportunity to bring others to Christ.

Yesterday afternoon I had visit #2 with a mom of one of the public school project’s kids.  Her son had come to an activity at church and a couple weeks back I had come out to get to know his family.   That first visit went well as far as first visits go—and she even invited me back! So here I was with visit #2.

We had a great time chatting and getting to know each other—she too, was very interested in the school and had in the past organized several moms to help out in varying ways.  Her current desire was to get these moms (and ladies in the community) together to teach them a craft as a source of income for their homes. In fact, she had already talked to the principal with the idea of putting this into action on Monday afternoons at the school.

As we talked and shared in many topics, I was praying asking the Lord how I could show Himself to her.  The time passed and it seemed that this visit would close without much conversation related to spiritual things. I began thanking her for the cake she prepared and for inviting me over when—something changed. She mentioned how so many people come to her for advice and help, yet in reality, she couldn’t be their source of strength.  As she had already spoken of having faith in God, I followed her awareness of this truth by supplying—“and what an opportunity to be the person to direct them to the Ultimate source of strength!”   We talked some more and I restated to her that if she was ever interested in studying the Bible together or reading some passages together I would enjoy the opportunity.

Well, then something unexpected happened.

She looked at me and it was as if she changed the topic.  It went something like—  “I think the Monday afternoon project for these ladies will go well.” “Everyone together to learn some new things.”

 Huh? I was not following. 

“I know several ladies and I know they will come out to participate,” she continued.

Wait…was she …..“Are you inviting me…. to….?” my question came out a bit halted and uncompleted. 

“Each person can share in the area that they understand best.”

“Do you mean...share with them about the Bible?.....oh, it would be a great pleasure…”

“Ok, great.   I’ll just check with Cristina (the principal) and we should be starting mid-August.”

What? Really? You’re kidding--did she really just ask me to give a Bible study? To a group of ladies in this neighborhood?

Friends and co-laborers in the Lord, I never expected to have such an opportunity given to me! Yet, here is the possibility share God's love, grace and His generous gift He offers to all.


I am greatly humbled to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands-- and in much prayer that He would direct me in how to reach these women.  I ask that you pray for me……and that you would pray that this possibility becomes reality.

Thank you so much,

In Christ,

Tati Cordeiro