A Great Weekend!!!

Things are going great here in Johannesburg! Thanks for all your prayers! I wish you all could be here with me! Yesterday was an awesome day, probably the best so far. In the morning I went with a group to the boarding house that I talked about in one of my older posts. We visited with people for a while then had a little program with them – a personal trainer did stretching exercises, a dentist taught them about how to care for their teeth, and we also had a time of music. I was the interpreter and was even able to share with them a Bible verse and encourage them to look to Jesus for joy and peace. It was such a blessed time!!

In the afternoon I went with another group to a hospital (a door that God opened this week!!). We went through the first few floors and visited the patients. A couple of the Brazilians dressed up like clowns and they even gave me a funny hat and clown nose to wear... it's amazing how just seeing us made people smile. And then we talked to them for a few minutes and prayed with each patient. You should have seen this one woman's face when I told her we came all the way from Brasil to visit her and not to go to the World Cup games! When we asked if another patient had any prayer requests, she wanted us to pray that God would change her life. And the nurses loved us! One asked for a present from Brasil and we gave her one of the salvation bracelets and I explained to her the meaning of the colors. And then all of them wanted one so I shared with them as well. We prayed with the nurses and I was able to share with them that I was also a nurse and I know what a hard job it is and what a great ministry it is. I don't have the words to describe how great the visit was to both places or how much I felt God using me. Hopefully I will get to go back to the hospital but it's just amazing how we gave hope to patients that were there and made friends with the nurses which will hopefully help keep the door open. Thank you for all your prayers!

This morning we divided up in different churches and I went to a small church with a pastor from Rio. The church was in the favela/slums, a part of Joburg I really hadn't been in yet. It's a squatter camp and there are 20,000 people living there... and it really was just shacks made of aluminum, worse than most of the favelas. I've noticed at the other squatter camps we've driven by and this one as well that there are 2 port-a-pottys (however you spell it) at each camp... I guess the government puts them there... they just look so out of place there. haha The church was made of aluminum as well and was very simple... they didn't have power until halfway through the service. They were so hospitable, joyful and so receptive to us. It was wonderful to be with them and God blessed Edson as he shared and me as I interpreted. God was in that church with us! This is Pastor Edson's first mission trip and he was nervous since it was his first time to preach through an interpreter... but it all went great! We talked on the bus about this trip, missions and I was able to encourage him and share some of my other experiences. It's been amazing to see God at work in these 200 Brazilian volunteers... I really do believe God is going to great things with each member of this group, even after this trip is over!

Continue to pray for our health and safety, for strength and discernment. Pray for open doors and for the leadership as they have so many decisions to make every day regarding logistics. Pray that God would bring people into our paths and that we are able to know what to say and how to help them. Pray especially for the Brazilians that know some English, that God would give them the words and the confidence to speak and that people would understand their English. Pray that I would have wisdom to know when I need to be an interpreter and when I need to talk to people on my own. I can't thank you enough for your prayers!! You are a part of God's work here in South Africa!!

P.S. I just found out that I'll be going tomorrow to one of the neighborhoods to talk to the director of a clinic about the possibility of us visiting. Pray for us, that God would grant us favor in their eyes and that the door would be opened.